We did something that we never have done before...we booked a last minute trip...to Hawaii. Penny has been watching You Tube videos on Hawaii and one day in early December she asked hubs and I if she could go. I think she remembered our trip to Maui last year and some recent hotel stays and equated those to Hawaii. It really didn't take much to convince hubs and I. We looked at each other and said okay and started to look. Now December probably isn't the best time to go money wise but I ended up finding a deal that was perfect for us through Costco and booked it two days after Penny's request. We've never really gone out of state on winter break before and since both hubs and I had two weeks off from work it really was a perfect time! So we drove home from Sanger the evening of Christmas, packed and washed clothes on the 26th and headed to the airport early in the morning of the 27th and found ourselves in Hawaii at noon on the 27th! We got lei'd at the airport and we immediately noticed how amazing the weather was in December. 80 degrees and no humidity! We stayed at the Hyatt in Waikiki which ended up being a great location! We did a lot of walking but after the holidays it was probably good for us! Penny loved the beach and the pool and was in heaven. We didn't plan much as we wanted to relax. We did catch up with an old friend of mine, Kristen, from DreamWorks and she took us out for a night on the town. We ate yummy family style eats at The Side Street Inn, she took us to see the Christmas lights in downtown Honolulu and she took us to two bakeries (Leonards, of course and another favorite of hers where we got creme puffs). I definitely put on 5 pounds on this trip. We ended up eating lunch at Dukes and also, having New Year's Eve dinner there as well. Both times we were seated at an oceanfront table. The food was awesome both times but our favorite thing was the mint chocolate chip Hula Pie. They are know for their Hula Pie but the mint chocolate chip was a special in season for the holidays and boy, was that ever yummy! I ate way too much of that. Penny just devoured the thing. We also, ended up renting a Jeep one day and drove around the island. We stopped to get shaved ice at Matsumoto's in North Shore, stopped at this sanctuary place, went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, and collected shells at Shark Beach which I don't think was Shark Beach but oh well, it was a cool beach none the less. Kristen had given us so many good pointers for our trip. She said to go to Shark Beach but it didn't have a sign. We needed up at what we thought was Shark Beach but then we saw a sign as we were leaving which was called something else so, I don't think we ended up there. We ended up spending an entire day at the pool. I was surprised that Penny lounged so well. Basically, we were in the shade but when she got hot we would go take a dip in the pool and then we would get out and she would watch her iPad in the long chair. It was perfect! I love lounging by the pool! We even got some poolside lunch! We did a bit of shopping. one morning walked ended up with us walking 2-3 miles to the big shopping center where we found the Disney Store! Got a Hawaiian Hula Minnie, a t-shirt and a little Stitch Tsum Tsum. Don't ask what Tsum Tsums are. They are my latest addiction from Disney. We also walked around by our hotel in the evenings and we saw a free Hula Show and then we took pictures with Duke and gave him our old Leis. We discovered Acai Bowls which are amazing oh, so yummy fruit bowls. While YELPING I discovered a place that had some local food. The local food turned out to be Acai Bowls which were made famous in Brazil as Acai is a Brazilian fruit. Served blended and frozen the Acai is mixed with a variety of fruit and granola. Our version that we fell in love with featured: Granola, Acai, crushed macadamia nuts, fresh pineapple, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, drizzled honey and dark chocolate shavings. The bowls were so good we ate there 3 times! Penny loved their chocolate peanut butter smoothies. The trip ended by celebrating New Year's at Duke's and watching fireworks from our hotel room when the New Year rang in. On Jan 1st we returned home but managed to get in a breakfast a a good dip in the ocean before our shuttle came to take us to the airport at noon. It was a quick but amazing trip. We may have to do it again next year!
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