Brown-Eyed Girl: Playing the Tourist

Honestly, I can't really say that we're "playing" tourists, since we're basically still tourists ourselves. But here are some of our favorite things we've gone to see and do while we've been staying in Waikiki.

The US Army Museum is located right here on Fort DeRussy, so the girls and I have stopped in a couple times while we're out on walks. It's not very big; it's housed in an old battery (Battery Randolph), but it's free and air conditioned, and the girls love pointing out different things in the exhibits. Here are some of London's favorite things:

London loooved the "red feather face"...it was a symbol of the Hawaiian War God.

Can't miss the helicopter on the roof!

Chillin'

We've also enjoyed visiting a few different beaches. One of our favorites has been Lanikai Beach, located on the windward side of the island. It's been rated as one of the top beaches in the world, and it did not disappoint. Unfortunately, London decided to be in one of the worst moods of her life on our trip down there, so despite the perfection of the beach, we weren't able to stay long. No biggie, we'll just go back another time. ;)

On our way over, we stopped at a lookout point.

We also went to Bellows Beach, which was nice, but the day we went was windy and the waves were CRRRRAAAAZZZZYYYY, so we couldn't really take our little girls in. But they still had fun playing in the sand.

One of my personal favorite things is stopping at Pali Lookout. The views are pretty fantastic. Fun story, when I took the girls up here one afternoon, there was another family that had brought their own conch shell and they were all taking turns blowing it. After everyone in the family had a turn, the father looked around proudly and proclaimed, "Now we are true Hawaiians." I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. The day we went was cloudy and there were some pretty forceful winds up there. The girls were not too enthusiastic about being buffeted by the winds at first, but after a few minutes they decided they loved it. I have to resist pulling off to the Pali Lookout every time we drive by it, so I'm sure we'll be back.

Another favorite was the Honolulu Zoo! It's not very big, and part of it was closed when we went, but it is super affordable (military discount, holla!). You do have to pay for parking; it's right across the street from Waikiki Beach, so that's not too surprising. The girls had a lot of fun running around and finding all their favorite animals. It was an awesome way to kill a few hours (and burn off some excess energy).

Do your children insist on taking a picture with every statue they see? Because mine do. ;)

We are in love with Banyan trees!

No tourist experience is complete without food! Since we don't currently have a kitchen, we have been eating out basically every meal (we do have cereal, snacks, and sandwich supplies.) We have sampled many of Waikiki's restaurants...but since we have two small children, it's mostly been fast food and take out. However, two of my favorite places we have tried are local. The Wailana Coffeehouse and Steak Shack. If you find yourself in the area, I cannot recommend them enough!

Macadamia Nut Pancakes with Coconut Syrup. I have literally dreamed about these since eating them.

We have this for lunch or dinner at least once a week. SO. GOOD.

Finally, our most recent adventure was to hike to the top of Diamond Head. Although I wasn't sure if we would finish it (I thought either the girls or I would poop out before we got too far), our whole family finished the round trip in just over two hours. We took lots of breaks for snacks and water, or just to catch our breath. Diamond Head isn't a very long hike, and one of the easier ones on the island. It begins in the crater and climbs up the interior slope until you reach the summit. It is very steep--mostly switchbacks, and the very end of the hike is a seemingly never-ending series stairs. I thought I might go into labor towards the end, but thankfully that didn't happen. Maybe I will try again closer to my due date! ;) London was honestly inspirational. She was so excited to reach the top, and except at the very beginning and the very end, she did the whole thing herself. She already wants to "climb another mountain." I'm so glad she enjoys the outdoors. Now we just have to get Juliet on board. She was not the biggest fan of this activity and rode Daddy's shoulders to the top...and all the way back down.