Hawaiian wedding, Disneyland & 4/1/12 MR Wonder cruise- finished 5/14 !

[mom2aidanNpiper]

Just checking in! We leave first thing tomorrow morning

It has been quite the week- lots of packing, cleaning house, etc. And yesterday I got the flu I am a nanny and the family I work for has been battling it this week. I had hoped I was immune to it, but nope- started throwing up yesterday around 4pm and didn't stop until 8. Luckily that was about it- I woke up this morning feeling mostly better. The thought of a tropical drink or yummy food does NOT sound appealing though so I'm hoping tomorrow will be even better.

Matt hasn't gotten it yet- and I am so worried he may come down with it overnight (not sure how we can travel that way) or on our wedding day on Tue. I am also worried about my kiddos while I am gone. While I know they will be cared for, I feel horrible if they get sick and I am not here to take care of them Hopefully all will work itself out.

Anyway, I will be back on the 9th! Expect an entry on the 10th!!

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Have such a wonderful time!! I hope good health to all!

 

[MandyMommytoReaghan]

Loving this PTR Can't wait to hear all about your Hawaiin adventure and the cruise with your family!! It's wonderful you have a great support team to help you with the kiddos. Take lots of pics!!

 

[hood98]

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

So I decided even though part of my trip wasn't Disney to do a full trip report. We did a lot of great Oahu activities and since DCL will be going there a couple of times I thought it would be fun to include everything we did.

Day 1

We made it!!

Today our morning started very early! My alarm went off around 4:30 and I thought I would be dreading it, but I had actually fallen asleep pretty early the night before since I was still recovering from the flu and gotten about a good 6 hours of sleep. I got ready pretty quickly, woke Matt up around 5 and were both pretty much completely ready to leave by 5:30. The kids woke up a little before 6 (when Sarah was scheduled to arrive) and Aidan was in a good mood. Piper seemed to be happy but as the minutes passed she increasingly seemed more frantic and just kept repeating that she didn’t want us to leave. By the time our town car showed up at 6:15, she was buried under a blanket basically sobbing. It made me sad I know she will be fine, but I still felt pretty guilty leaving her like that.

We got to the airport around 6:55, walked right up to the ticketing counter to check our luggage and walked right through security. I think I texted Sarah at 7:05 letting her know we got here ok. Easiest and quickest airport security/lines ever! We got coffee and relaxed until the started boarding at 8:10. Our flight was pretty turbulent, which sucked for me because I hate flying in general. Matt read a book off and on and I read Hunger Games and started the 2nd one as well. Otherwise nothing worth mentioning about the flight. Our landing was really rocky though, we walked forever to baggage claim and then waited another almost 30 minutes to get our bags so it seemed to take forever to get out of the airport! We went and got our rental car (a convertible!) really quick and were headed to our hotel (Outrigger Waikiki on the beach) at about 1:30.

We checked in early and our bags were brought right up (yay!) and we could finally relax. It was about 80 degrees today so a cold drink and some good food was just what we needed. We got settled into our room (though didn’t unpack since we are headed up the coast tomorrow) and off we went to Rumfire- a hotel restaurant that we saw featured on a Rachel Ray show awhile ago. We decided to try the fish tacos that we saw on the show and each get a yummy drink. We were right on the beach and had a great view of Diamond Head.

We stayed at Rumfire for about an hour and a half before we decided to go shopping and walk around. I hadn’t brought any sweats to lounge in so we stopped in Victoria’s Secret to get a pair and also a cute Hawaii tee they sold there I decided quickly that I definitely was glad we weren’t staying in Honolulu during our stay here. While the hustle and bustle and endless shops and restaurants is fun for an afternoon, it isn’t my idea of a Hawaiian vacation.

We went back to the room to get a little more organized and then call the kids (who are 3 hours ahead of us) to say goodnight. We didn’t have our laptop set up so skype was a little unsuccessful (my phone app for that sucked) but at least we got to talk to them (ok, well Piper. Aidan didn’t care. Lol).

We got ready for dinner and I was so thankful I was back to feeling 100%- we were headed to Alan Wong’s- an award winning chef and restaurant in downtown Honolulu. The food and service were amazing. We each got a flight of wine, shared 2 appetizers (the nori wrapped ahi and also the ahi sashimi), I got the clam and shrimp penne with lemon garlic black with bean sauce and Matt got the braised short ribs. I couldn’t even finish all my wine (I don’t think I have ever done that!) or my entrée. Matt finished like a champion though AND ordered dessert- some sort of chocolate nestle bar thing with truffles). We also each ended with French press local Hawaiian coffee that was so good Our waiter was great and took a cute picture of us (looking horribly run down after a 15 hour day!). I think this has been the most expensive dinner we have ever done.

After dinner we came back, watched the sunset, watched Amazing Race and are now just relaxing for the night. It’s only 8 here but we definitely are on Seattle time still so it feels super late. We have another great day tomorrow and then Tuesday is our wedding day!

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

My day started out not exactly as planned. Lol. We were super tired last night and fell asleep about 10ish here (so 1 Seattle time) and figured we would sleep in until our alarm went off at 5:45. Nope! I was wide awake and laying in bed at 4am. At about 4:30 I decided I might as well just get up, so I took a shower and Matt got up around 5:15. We planned on hiking this morning but first decided we definitely needed coffee. We walked a few minutes to a Waikiki Starbucks by the beach and got breakfast and lattes and then back to the hotel to get our car.

We drove about 10 minutes to the parking lot of Diamond head and were pleasantly surprised it was pretty empty (it was about 7:30). The average person gets up and down the crater in about an hour and a half to 2 hours. We did it in one hour flat! Go us It was pretty cool though- lots of stairs, a great view all the way up, some dark tunnels to go through and some abandoned never used bunkers to explore. The view at the top was pretty great.

After Diamond head we drove a few minutes to the Hawaii dept of health to get our marriage license... Oddly, it was completely dark and no one was there. A very small moment of panic hit me… we were getting married tomorrow and kinda needed this piece of paper. I noticed a phone number on the window for an after hours agent and decided to call her, thinking even if she couldn’t help me directly maybe she could tell me why the office was closed. She quickly informed me that it was a holiday today (of course it was- just my luck)- and that if we could fill it out online then she could print it and sign/file it for us. At her house. So we did what she said. We sat in the car and filled out a lengthy form on my smart phone, paid the fees and then drove to her house about ten minutes away (meanwhile many more couples were showing up at the dept of health a well trying to figure out what to do).

We pulled up to a duplex in a cute neighborhood with some patio furniture out front. There was an older couple in swim suits waiting there as well. We watched her give them their paper work and take oaths, pay her and off they went. Then it was our turn- explanation of paperwork, pay her and then take oaths. At her patio table. Lol. We tipped her well because we felt bad for this little Hawaiian lady having to scramble all day for people like me It was a very funny and odd experience for us.

We left our funny lady who gave us permission to marry, and headed back into Waikiki. We still needed to semi pack (we never really unpacked), change clothes for the day out of our hiking stuff and then get out of the city. We left around 11 or so and headed up the west coast to Ko Olina where the new Disney Aulani resort is. We plan on taking the kids there next year so we wanted to check it out.

We walked around for about an hour, taking pictures to show the kids and seeing how we felt about it all- plus we had to get the kids a couple gifts from here (hawaiian plush Stiches). The resort is really great- Disney really pulled it together here to make an amazing experience. It feels somehow authentic, yet still has Disney touches to it. We can’t wait to take the kids here!

Our lunch was great- we ate at Ama’Ama and while I had heard some negative reviews we got great service, great drinks and great food. The ginger vodka lemonade is really great! We shared the jumbo shrimp to start and then both ordered the todays catch for an entree. It was very good! We got different desserts- I had the liloko'i meringue mousse with the carmelized banana and Matt got the Hawaiian chocolate cake with ka'u coffee cream mousse and carmel brittle on top. Yum

After lunch we wandered a bit more- we checked out the beach area (very calm waters because it is man-made), the private snorkeling lagoon, the kids water play area, the kids club, etc. We were super impressed with the resort.

Around 3 or so we headed up the North Shore to Haleiwa after a few hours at Aulani. It's definitely surfer country out here. Beaches just line the side of the highway and cars are always pulled off to the side where people just cross the street to get to the ocean.

I had done some research and wanted a bungalow or house to stay in up here so we had some privacy. We came across Ke Iki beach bungalows and I booked them right away. I am not disappointed! The owner Greg is really nice (a total hippie surfer guy) and basically just gave us our key pointed us to the bungalow and said have a great week. Super easy. There are multiple bungalows here but ours is the only one up on stilts so you can see the ocean perfectly. Under our house were outdoor showers, patio furntiure and a BBQ. We are right on famous Sunset beach.

After getting settled in, unpacking and talking with the kids (again, only Piper) on skype we headed into town to get some food. We settled on this great fusion Mexican restaurant and were both really happy with the choice. Our margaritas were great (Matt got classic, I got passionfruit) and we both got the fresh catch of the day which was swordfish with a pesto sauce, tomato marmalade over saffron rice and grilled squash. It was very good!

After that we headed to Foodland (grocery store) to get a couple things for the week then back home to our bungalow. We were still super jetlagged- it was only 8pm and we were exhausted! It has been a long day though.

Coming up- wedding day!!

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

Our day started with me getting woken up super early in the morning (pre dawn) to massive rain storms. I laid in bed for awhile with my stomach churning and thinking of how I could still have great wedding photos with us being indoors. Luckily though it lasted only until about 8 or so when it cleared up and beautiful skies opened up!

We packed up all our wedding day items, along with things we needed for our dinner at the resort and loaded our car up and headed to Ted’s – a local bakery down the road. We got some giant pastries and coffee and came back to our bungalow to relax a bit. We watched the ocean (and whales and dolphins!) and took a walk along our secluded beach. I handled some phone calls from our planner and made sure all was in order for the day. So far so good!

Around 10 or so we headed out for the day and headed into town. We found a great little kids store called Growing Keiki’s and spent WAY too much on things for the kids, but we miss them! We walked to a couple surf shops, bought Piper her much requested big dried starfish and then decided to head up to Turtle Bay resort where we were getting married.

We checked into our dayroom around 11:45, and I started my hair around 12:15 or so after getting everything all organized. It took me about till 1:30 to get it done (with a couple hiccups along the way). Normally it would’ve gone much sooner but nerves definitely didn’t help me here (the pressure to get it right!). I had two small French braids on with side going back to a messy curly bun with some orchids in my hair. Very simple and out of my face for a windy beach wedding.

Matt went and got food from the bar downstairs (and a drink I later find out!) while I started my makeup. He came back when I was about halfway done with it and I tried to eat the lunch he brought me but I was too focused and nervous to eat much then. I called the kids and Sarah while doing my makeup to say hi to them since I knew I wouldn't probably get a chance to say goodnight (they are 3 hrs ahead) after the wedding.

I got done with my makeup around 2:15 and then we headed down to the florist at 2:30. I picked out my bouquet wrap color and my ceremony lei color and we were done!

Our photographer (Elizabeth Morgan) showed up right at 3:00 and told us to basically ignore her while she did detail shots (dress, shoes, flowers, ring) – she talked to us the whole time though so we got to know her. It was nice- Matt and I just sat and watched tv while she did her thing and she commented how we relaxed we were It was really nice to be so calm and just hang out- not many people have such a laid back wedding day.

After getting all her detail shots we did some getting ready shots- Matt getting me into my dress, putting shoes and jewelry on, and some fun ones of us on our balcony. Elizabeth seemed pretty happy to be working with us- all my years of watching Top Model certainly helped me out when I knew what she was asking for in certain shots

We went down to the lobby at 3:50 and met our planner Joann and off we went to the ceremony in a golf cart! Our pastor was waiting for us there and we all talked a bit about how the whole thing was going to work

Our ceremony started with a Hawaiian prayer and then him talking at us a bit about marriage. We chose to partake in the Hawaiian lei ceremony, which is an exchange of leis and Hawaiian words to symbolize your unity. Then came our vows, then our rings, then more talking, then we were married!

We signed our certificate and then our planner and Joann left. For the next hour and a half we did photos with Elizabeth- they are gorgeous! We took photos in the woods, at the stables with the horses, at the barn area and up on the farmhouse porch, as well as in the water. Great location (nothing was more than 50 feet away or so from our ceremony location) for our wedding and photos- it was so much fun.

At 5:30, with Matt and I completely covered in sand, the bottom 12 inches of my dress soaking wet and twigs all over me, we got picked up again by Joann. We thanked Elizabeth and dropped her off at the car, then thanked Joann and off we went to change! Traipsing through the lobby was pretty funny- we definitely looked like a washed up mess! We got back to our room, changed clothes and packed up and checked out of our room. We put everything back in our car then headed back to the resort for our wedding dinner. It was so great! Comped bottle of wine and a coursed dinner- prefect way to end the night. Afterwards we did some shopping in the gift shop then came back and sat on our patio for awhile watching the ocean.

We couldn’t have asked for a better wedding day!!

Sorry for all the photos below- we got back over a thousand (here are our favorite 25). Next up, early morning hike, a private LOST filiming site tour and back to Aulani.

 

[KristiMc]

Congratulations on your beautiful day. I love your dress.

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

this morning today was an early one- and we had a VERY long day ahead of us. My alarm was set for 5:30 but at 4:45 or so the roosters from next door woke me up so I decided to just get up and get ready. I woke Matt up around 5:45 and he got up- then we were out the door at 6:30.

We made a stop at Starbucks for breakfast, coffee and bottled water and then we were on our way down the coast to Makapuu point (southern eastern tip). On the way we found a post office and mailed our wedding announcements! The drive along the eastern coast first thing in the morning was so pretty!

It took us about an hour and a half to get all the way down there but it was worth it- the hike was great! It didnt take us that long but the view from the top was amazing! We could see Maui which was pretty cool. We also were very close to the old Hawaiian royalty birthing stones which was neat to see.

After the hike we headed to Kailua town for an early lunch at Kalapwai Café (very good food and coffee!) and did a little poking around in shops before heading to Kualoa ranch for our LOST tour.

Kualoa ranch does all sorts of tours- it is a working cattle ranch as well so they horseback tours, bus tours (pretty limited in what you can see though) and hummer offroading tours (what we did). Most of the tours are just of the cattle ranch and maybe a brief overview of tv shows and movies filmed here. Our tour was a private company that specializes in LOST filming tours (since the filmed a TON of the show here)- Matt and I are huge fans of the show so this was perfect for us!

We got to the ranch right around noon and checked in at 12:15. We had one tour guide (Aaron) and one other couple with us (Christy and Andy) who we got to know pretty fast. I will say that this was the best thing we have done on the island. The valley and inside of the Kualoa mountains, along with the film/tv sets are not open to the public. The entire time we were there we didnt see anyone else and if no one was talking you couldnt hear a sound. It was breathtakingly gorgeous and we felt so blessed to be able to experience it all in the intimate way that we did (along with a couple new friends lol). Seeing the LOST sets was just a perk, I would definetly book another excursion through the ranch (maybe horseback tour next time). After the tour we said goodbye to our guide and got our tour dvd and t-shirts

Tempest hatch from season 6 (minus the door)- where Juliet goes to stop Charlotte

Richards house (in a flashback, where him and his wife lived)

Us with Richards house

Logs where Ana Lucia and Goodwin talked (and then she killed him)

The hydrogen bomb tower from the flashback season

The main LOST walking sites from season 1 (on way to the radio tower, hiking to the front of the plane, etc)

Us "pushing" Hurley's van down the hill

Us and our awesome tour guide Aaron

Smoke monster attack!

Us and the mountains behind us. So peaceful in the valley!

Us at a hatch door. This was used in season 2 as the Arrow station door (the tailies hideout) and also as the abck door to the main hatch (minus the quarantine label)

They also filmed Jurassic Park here.

At Hurley's golf course

Golfing with Hurley

Leaving the ranch- great shot of Chinaman's hat island

After our tour we got changed then headed west to Ko Olina for our luau. We got there a little early and went over to Aulani again to the pool bar and got a drink and ordered a little bit of food (we knew that food at the luau would be late). We got over to the luau (which was in the same resort complex as Aulani) and checked in, got some drinks and wandered around seeing what was available to do/buy. We got a cute hand painted personalized wooden plate with a plumeria on it and our wedding date

We honestly didnt stay too long at the luau. It was fun, but we just wanted to go home to the bungalow. We had been on the go for SO long! So left early and called a restaurant right by our bungalow for take out and ate in. Here is Haleiwa in the evening- such a quaint town

In all today was a great first day of being married! Up next, our last day in Hawaii before heading to Disney and seeing the kids!!

 

[luvslikepi]

Seeing the LOST sets was just a perk, I would definetly book another excursion through the ranch (maybe horseback tour next time). After the tour we said goodbye to our guide and got our tour dvd and t-shirts

How fun!!! I'm a huge fan of Lost and love, love, love your pictures. How long was the actual tour of the Lost sites?

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

How fun!!! I'm a huge fan of Lost and love, love, love your pictures. How long was the actual tour of the Lost sites?

We did the 2 hour tour, but they do longer tours that then take you around the island to a few other places (which Matt and I did on our own the next day- so that's coming up!).

It was an amazing tour- as I mentioned it was just us, another couple and our tour guide. We ddn't see another person the entire time we were in the valley for those couple hours until we were leaving and passed a few people on horses. It was the most quiet I think I have ever experienced!

There were MANY other sites that I didn't post pictures of, so we covered a ton. The tour company was KOS tours. On their website it talks about other movie sites as well included on the 2 hr tour but beacuse all of us were LOST obsessed our guide pretty much just stuck to that

NOTE:Oh, and let me add for anyone going on the ranch tour through Disney on the Hawaii cruise- this is NOT the same company that Disney uses. If you look at the description on the ranch tour in the port adventure section, it clearly states that you board a school bus. We asked our tour guide about those tours (we saw them in the parking lot of the ranch) and he said they weren't great because you only get to see a couple of the LOST sites (if that interests you over other movie sites)- the bus just can't go offroading. Just wanted to put that in there

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Wow! What a great start to your trip and your wedding photos are stunning!!!! Can't wait to read more.

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

Our day once again started super early with the roosters next door waking me up around 4:30. I finally rolled out of bed around 5:30 or so and then woke Matt up at 6. We wanted to leave around 7 or so for the day so we had a little time to get ready more leisurely which was nice!

The surf was really high this morning and had come up much closer to our bungalow than any other day – it was starting to retreat a little so we went out to look into the tide pools and watch the waves. The surf on the North Shore is pretty amazing- very high waves and they all break on shore. The water was unswimabble the entire time we were there (red flags on the beach). I am not an ocean swimmer though, so the whole week I was content watching the surfers on the beaches by us and the high waves on "our" beach.

After picking out some shells and coral for the kids, we hit the road. We stopped at Ted’s Bakery for some yummy pastries on the go, then Starbucks for coffee. We took our beach towels (bungalow provided them, along with chairs, boogie boards, etc all in a shed) and went about 15 minutes away to Mokuleia beach- which was pretty deserted. It was a very pretty beach and had a lot of little tide pools where we saw a lot of fish. I wished the kids were with us- they would love all the sea life we were seeing! This beach was the main crash site beach in LOST. The tide was pretty high though so it didn’t look as big. Still kinda neat though- as it was so quiet and off the beaten path so I could see why they filmed here.

After our breakfast picnic we headed to the east coast to visit the Byodo-In Temple. It was an hours drive to the temple where we were headed but very worth it. When you first enter there are cemeteries lining the winding driveway up to the temple. Each cemetery is a different faith which was really neat to see.

The Byodo-In temple is a non denominational Buddhist temple that welcomes all faiths and encourages learning about peace and meditation while there. There are zen gardens, mediation benches, a peace bell and a large statue inside the temple where you can light incense in the name of peace. It was a very serene and beautiful place. It’s often used for wedding and sometimes used in tv/movies (Jin and Suns wedding for LOST was filmed here). I’m very glad we got to come here- and no, not just because we crossed another LOST site off our list, lol- Matt and I are very spiritual and it was great to spend time here. Even if you aren't buddhist, the grounds are worth checking out.

While walking the grounds we came across the back side of the temple which was lined with bamboo forests and trails. One huge section was a "love" section that everyone had carved intitals and dates into. So Matt went to work! Then we walked around more - it took a couple of hours to explore all the trails, hidden waterfalls, particiapte in the peace rituals, etc.

All of the sudden though, Matt realized he was breaking out in some sort of hives (had started in the morning) so we went to a drug store in search of something to help. It passed by the time we got to Disneyland though, and we found a WEIRD bug in our bungalow the next morning while leaving for the airport so we suspect it was some sort of bug bite. Last year in Puerto Vallarta Matt got the same thing when we were in the jungle of the Sierra Madres (I had a couple small bites but he had a bad reaction).

At this point we wanted to go back to the bungalow but we had to go back into Waikiki to where we stayed Sunday night because we forgot our tablet charger and nothing else is the same voltage. We got lunch there at Dukes beach café at the same time- which was ok food. Nothing great though. By this time we just wanted to get out of the city again and back up to the North Shore.

We got back to our bungalow at 2pm, changed into our swim suits and went to go lay on the beach for a bit. We realized we still had our wedding night champagne that Turtle Bay had given us but we didn’t really want it plain so we decided to make mimosas. We took a walk to the grocery store (5 min walk away) to get some OJ On the way we discovered Sharks Cove, a set off from the road little beach that was really rocky and took some maneuvering to get through but was neat. Because it was essentially a natural lagoon with so many rocks the water wasn’t as crazy as down the beach so we were able to get in the water. It was nice to cool down!

After getting our OJ, we sat on our patio and the beach for a couple hours just drinking and relaxing in the sun. I also called the kids for the last time – I am so excited to see them tomorrow!! Piper was bouncing off the walls over the phone, it made me miss her Aidan once again had zero interest in talking to me. Lol.

We headed into town at around 5ish to get some food to go from Grass Skirt Grill and took it back to our patio to eat dinner and watch the sunset. After dinner we went down to the hammocks on our beach and laid together for about a half an hour watching the sun go down and just enjoying our last night in Hawaii. While I can’t wait to see the kids, I know that traveling without them isn’t going to happen for a very long time so I wanted to really enjoy it!

After the sun went down, we went in to pack which took about 40 minutes or so. It was sad to get ready to leave! We can’t wait to take the kids here next year. Our plan is to stay at the bungalow a few nights to do North Shore activities then head to Aulani for 4 nights. I already can’t wait!

Tomorrow is a very early day (up at 3:30, out the door at 4:30) to be at the airport at 6:00 (we also have to return a rental car). It will be a long travel day but I can’t wait to see the kiddos!!

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

So I thought I would write up a quick thing on the different excursions that DCL offers in Oahu on their April/Oct Hawaii cruise that we tackled just in case anyone is curious

DCL EXCURIONS:

*Be Our Guest at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina -
We did a day trip to Aulani but weren't granted access to their pools/activites (see day 2 of trip report). If we had the kids with us we would have definetely liked to have this perk. Going here without the excursion for the day would not be worth it with kids in tow (only looking at pools/water activities, etc). Just adults though you could prob do this on your own (renting a car for the day) if you just wanted to go to lunch, relax on the beach- which is public- and enjoy the adult bar. The day pass for the spa was $100 each fyi- however you could book a spa treatment for about the same price (you can book dining reservations and spa online). We loved Ama'Ama so check that out! It's about 45 minutes from Honolulu- valet parking free if you spend more than $35 (we easily did with food and souvenirs for the kiddos).

* Kualoa Ali‘i (Royal) Experience AND Kualoa Experience: Movie Sites, Ranch Tour & Jungle Expedition
We did this through a different company that actually takes you into the valley more than this excursion can (which uses a school bus). See day 4 of our trip report for details/photos. We saw the busses and asked our tour guide about them and from what we gathered it wouldn't be worth the money. If you can rent a car then I would suggest this HIGHLY with KOS tours. The valley is amazingly beautiful and if you are a LOST fan you will be in heaven! About 45 minutes or so from Honolulu.

* Explore and Taste Oahu's North Shore
Having stayed on the North Shore and loving how remote and beautiful it is, I say yes to this excursion lol! They stop at the Byodo-In Temple (day 5 of my trip report), the shrimp trucks in Kahuku (right by where we got married at Turtle Bay- day 3 of trip report), Sunset beach (the beach our bungalow was on- see day 2 for photos of beach) and past Waimea Valley (which we didn't venture into it but plan on taking the kids next time), Drive through Haleiwa (which I am not sure DCL will let you out for- if so there are great places to eat and shop), and onto the Dole Plantation (which Matt and I didn't do because it's more aimed for kids but will take them next time).

*Diamond Head Crater Summit adventure
DO NOT PAY FOR THIS! lol. It is $60 per person which is insane considering you only are going to Diamond Head and nowhere else. We did this day 2 of our trip report (for details/pics). Unless it is just you I can't imagine paying this. You could easily take a taxi (it was 7 minutes from our hotel in Waikiki- Google maps says it is 9 minutes from the cruise terminal). Entrance was $5 a vehicle or $1 or $2 a person if walking (which if a taxi dropped you off you would be). You would just need to make sure you had a cab company number to get picked back up again afterwards. There is a little store, restrooms, etc at the base to hang out while waiting. With transportation and then the hike itself it would not be a long excursion. It says 45 minutes up, 15 minutes at the top (not reasonable- it is TINY up there and with so many people you can't just hang out up there and 45 minutes down is crazy). Matt and I made it up, hung out up there for about 5 min and then back in under an hour. Granted we are in shape, but we weren't power walking or trying to rush it either (and we stopped for pics a lot along the way). Also, we stopped and walked with an elderly couple for awhile as well, and still made it back to our car in under an hour.


ON YOUR OWN
If you plan on doing something on your own- I highly suggest renting a car and heading to the North Shore. You could do Byodo-In first easily or just head to Haleiwa. They have great bakeries (Ted's), and great restaurants (Haleiwa Joes, Grass Skirt Grill, etc) and shopping/original shaved iced stands. You could easily head there and spend the whole day enjoying the little town and then drive towards Ke Iki bungalows (where we stayed and explore the little side beaches all along the main road. The North Shore is about an hour from Honolulu depending on how you get there (longer if you go up the east coast and around to see things on the coast compared to driving up the middle of the island).

*If you plan on doing something on your own and want to stay in Honolulu then there are great options. We ate at Duke's (in Outrigger Waikiki on the beach) and also Rumfire (Sheraton). Rumfire had great food and drinks and had great views of the beach. You can walk right off the restaurant to Waikiki beach as well. Many of the hotel restaurants line the beach so you can easily spend a day at the beach and then walk right up to somewhere to eat. There are tons of shopping places in Waikiki as well (mostly big city places). The international marketplace is right across from Outrigger Waikiki on the beach (whch is cheap arts and crafts and also an ABC store for cheap food/drinks to go and souvenirs.

Hope this helps someone!

 

[PixieMom712]

Great report so far! Your wedding pictures mad me tear up.

It makes me want to go to Hawaii so badly! We eventually would like to take a cruise there. Since you've done both, cruises and Hawaii, do you think a cruise would be a good way to experience the islands, or in your opinion would it be better to fly and stay like you guys did?

Looking forward to future entries!

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

Great report so far! Your wedding pictures mad me tear up.

It makes me want to go to Hawaii so badly! We eventually would like to take a cruise there. Since you've done both, cruises and Hawaii, do you think a cruise would be a good way to experience the islands, or in your opinion would it be better to fly and stay like you guys did?

Looking forward to future entries!

Honestly I think that flying and staying is the way to go- as much as I love cruising! We are going back next year and didn't even entertain the possibilty of cruising (with DCL if they go again, or another cruise line). If you can go for awhile (we don't think we can get that much time off) you can catch a cheap inter-island flight and exlpore mutliple islands. That's what we are hoping to do next time if we can!

While a cruise is great, Hawaii is so much more than just a quick beach day so I think to fully experience it you should be there more than one day. Esp with considering how expensive it is to cruise. Our bungalow was only $200 a night for a 2 bedroom house on the beach (cheaper if you rented a garden bungalow or an apartment close to the beach) , so it's possible to not pay crazy Hawaii prices and make it a lower cost vacation (depending on airfare- for us it is the same cost to fly to HI as it is to Florida).

And as much as I like to be pampered on the cruise, there is something to be said for hanging around your house in your bathing suit all day, coming and going to the beach and then throwing on a cover up and walking into town to get dinner , having no real sense of time, then coming back and laying in your hammock for sunset. Perfection!

 

[Pixiegran]

Honestly I think that flying and staying is the way to go- as much as I love cruising! We are going back next year and didn't even entertain the possibilty of cruising (with DCL if they go again, or another cruise line). If you can go for awhile (we don't think we can get that much time off) you can catch a cheap inter-island flight and exlpore mutliple islands. That's what we are hoping to do next time if we can!

While a cruise is great, Hawaii is so much more than just a quick beach day so I think to fully experience it you should be there more than one day. Esp with considering how expensive it is to cruise. Our bungalow was only $200 a night for a 2 bedroom house on the beach (cheaper if you rented a garden bungalow or an apartment close to the beach) , so it's possible to not pay crazy Hawaii prices and make it a lower cost vacation (depending on airfare- for us it is the same cost to fly to HI as it is to Florida).

And as much as I like to be pampered on the cruise, there is something to be said for hanging around your house in your bathing suit all day, coming and going to the beach and then throwing on a cover up and walking into town to get dinner , having no real sense of time, then coming back and laying in your hammock for sunset. Perfection!

I know I got the link to here from our Hawaii cruise Dis Board but when I went back and tried to comment from there I can't find it. Did you delete it?
If it really is not there would you be sure to repost it, but make only positive statement so it stays. Your photos are incredible and I loved seeing them. We have paid to spend the day at Aulani so we will have all the privileges for the day. By the way we live in Redmond...This is our second cruise to Hawaii - because we can't fly it is our only way to go and love some of the food recommendations... we will be renting car for the day so may have to go to a bakery for a special treat before boarding time. Thanks again for sharing Hawaii and I hope you share Disneyland also since we will do it after cruise

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

I know I got the link to here from our Hawaii cruise Dis Board but when I went back and tried to comment from there I can't find it. Did you delete it?
If it really is not there would you be sure to repost it, but make only positive statement so it stays. Your photos are incredible and I loved seeing them. We have paid to spend the day at Aulani so we will have all the privileges for the day. By the way we live in Redmond...This is our second cruise to Hawaii - because we can't fly it is our only way to go and love some of the food recommendations... we will be renting car for the day so may have to go to a bakery for a special treat before boarding time. Thanks again for sharing Hawaii and I hope you share Disneyland also since we will do it after cruise

Hi! I did post on both Disboard meet groups for people to hopefully get some advice from. They are both there still I just checked.

Aulani is great- you guys will have so much fun. We also did eat at the pool side bar our 4th day in Hawaii (I mentioned it on my report but didn't mention what I ate). Matt had the fish tacos (good!) and I had the tofu lettuce wraps (surprisingly great!) along with another ginger lemonade (with vodka) cocktail (our favorite!).

Have a great time in Hawaii! I will post again tomorrow with our first Disneyland day

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

This morning was an EARLY day. I was up at 3:30 am, and we were out the door by 4:30. It wasn't too bad getting up that early though since I was used to getting up in the 4 o'clock hour the entire trip! Obviously we were totally packed and ready to roll so we didn’t need to do much other than take showers and get dressed. We started to pack the car in the dark and al ight misty rain started to fall. It made me a little sad- that the rain had held out on us until we were leaving (except the small amount on the mornign of our wedding day), that we were leaving somehow only to go somewhere totally chaotic (though we love Disney!), or just a little wistful that our wedding and real honeymoon were over. At the same time though I could not wait to see the kids!

The drive to Honolulu airport took about an hour (oddly there was even some traffic this early)- we had to drop our rental car off first and take their shuttle so we walked into the airport around 6am. We had checked in online so we went to one of the kiosks and printed our luggage tags and then sent it through agriculture check. No problems there so we were off to security. We were one of the first flights that morning leaving Honolulu so security was a breeze. It was around 6:30 when we got to our gate and we waited for about 15 minutes before Starbucks opened (it was supposed to open at 7 but it opened earlier thankfully). We got some oatmeal and lattes and then waited for boarding to start (around 7:15).

Our flight was pretty uneventful- I watched some tv on itunes that I had downloaded while Matt read Hunger Games (I talked him into it) and we landed a little early around 4. The minute we landed I touched base with Sarah who was en route to Seatac airport with the kiddos to meet us at Anaheim this evening. It turned out that the shuttle express driver was very late in picking them up, had no other passengers and didn’t check traffic in the way to the airport so she hadn’t even made it to the airport yet. Her flight was supposed to board in an hour and she wasn’t even half way there yet (and Seatac on a Friday after work hours can be bad). Not good

Matt and I stopped in LAX and got coffee before our luggage (and a new Starbucks city mug) while I was frantically texting Sarah to see what was going on. Luckily she made it through security right as I was getting our taxi to Anaheim (around 5) and she was at the gate with a little time to spare (yay!!). Her flight was uneventful and my kidos were great for her (they are good flyers).

Matt and I got to the Grand Californian right at 6:00 (not bad for rush hour traffic leaving LA), checked in and got our luggage and Vons grocery order delivered up to our room. We rented points from a DIS board member to stay in a 1 bedroom DVC villa which was such a great splurge! It cost about the same as it would if we needed 2 rooms for the 5 of us though so it made sense. Their is a main space with a pull out sofa (for the kids) and also a murphy bed (where Sarah slept). There was a full kitchen and dining nook, a full small bathroom for the space as well as a washer/drier (no pic of that though). The main bedroom had a king bed and a huge master bath with a jacuzzi tub and also a huge walk in rain shower. The balcony space had 2 entries- one from the living space and one from the bedroom. We had a great view from our living room and balcony!

We got settled pretty quick then decided to head into the parks. It was pretty busy- but it was also a Friday evening. We rode Buzz (Matt won, of course) and then walked main street shops for awhile. We got our mouse ears embroidered for our photo shoot tomorrow morning (with our wedding date on them) and then headed back to the hotel. We got cozy in the fireside lounge in the hotel with a glass of wine and decompressed for about a half an hour while the kids were on their way!


Around 9 or so we met the kids and Sarah in the lobby and Piper instantly began to cry (long day and her ears really hurt from the flight). I felt so bad for her! She turned it around pretty quick though and the kids got excited to be there. We got back to the room and got a little organized while the kids ran around checking out the villa. We gave everyone their gifts from Hawaii and then watched a bit of the World of Color show from our balcony. We got the kids tucked into bed (after Piper had a bath in our jacuzzi tub!) and then I went out to show Sarah around the hotel (and the private park entrances for the morning) and then we headed into Downtown Disney to get Piper a hoodie (I hadn’t packed one for her).

Then it was off to bed! Tomorrow morning is our photo shoot in the Parks with Sarina (Sarina Love Photography) and then parks with the kids & Sarah the rest of the day

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

So on this day Matt and I got up early to do a honeymoon photo shoot in Disneyland with Sarina (Sarina Love photography). She is great and we were so excited to be working with her! She actually was just on the Food Networks Worst Cook in America show, so it was like working with a mini celebrity. I booked her about a year ago when I saw a shoot she had done that was featured on the Disney Wedding & Honeymoon blog (before she was on the food network). We are facebook friends too so I was super comfortable with her right away. We also got some inside scoop on the workings of a reality show

We met her at 8am just outside Disneyland and headed in to start. I was a little worried about crowds since it was a Saturday morning during Spring Break season but we got lucky We shot on main street, New Orleans sq area, Frontierland, the teacups and carousel ride and some other scenic shots around the park. It only took us a little over an hour! I wish the weather had been nicer (it was sprinkling early but just overcast for our shoot) but oh well.

So the rest of our day in the parks will be in part 2 (too many images otherwise)- coming up!