Hawaiian Baby Moon

Since we found out we were preggo, I knew exactly where I wanted us to go for out baby moon. I mean what other perfect excuse to go to Hawaii!

It took me such a long time to plan this out, I kept wishing the trip would just plan itself because I was so clueless as to what we were going to do and where to stay and how to get around. I'm glad that I finally sat down and made this happen because it was truly a great trip.

This was from our first night there, we rented an airbnb apartment a couple of blocks down from Waikiki beach. It turned out to be a great spot. That night we went to Sam's club, bought some snacks and drinks, settle down in our apartment, and finished off the night enjoying the sunset at Waikiki Beach.

The next day I had planned out a hike for us. I didn't know that the hike was ILLEGAL and we passed a bunch of "Private Property",  "No Hiking", "No trespassing". We even had to go around a locked fence. I was SO sad at first that I had totally missed that BIG detail on the reviews but a lot of the people said that as long as you don't disturb the neighborhood you were fine.

I was so scared to go up and totally didn't want to but at the same time I knew it was an amazing hike so we went for it! Such a daredevil thing to do.

I felt SO guilty when a couple of trucks came down the mountain as we were walking up the trail, I didn't even want to look up. At one point we met a group of hikers who were coming down and I felt a little better.

It was quite a steep hill but the views were unbelievable. I was determined to make it all the way to the top.

It was definitely worth it! We accidently hiked up past the hidden spot but thankfully found it on our way back down.

So worth that view! I believe that was Waimanalo Beach down there.

The water looked so amazing!

I could definitely tell why this was a restricted hike, that drop was pretty intense and there was no railing or anything. I guess there's a reason they called in Dead Man's Cat Walk.

That was the paved trail we were on, so pretty!

Here is another "No Trespassing" sign we passed, yikes!

When we were coming down there were a bunch of cars driving up the trail going to a little community center up at the top. It was so embarrassing! Ha! I just wanted to hurry and get in my car and leave.

Another thing I had planned was to drive on the south side of the island and take pictures at different view points.

We had another hike planned but I decided we had gone up so high already that it would probably be the same beach. So we went off and just drove around and took pictures.  

The next day we tried to go to Hanauma Bay but it turns out they were closed on Tuesdays, bummer. We found this little secluded beach and ended up having the beach all to our selves.

We took lunch and had sandwiches on the sand.

Michael said he was my donkey because he was carrying all of the bags. Funny thing is I didn't even tell him to :)

Another thing on my to-do list was Pearl Harbor.

We got there a bit late but thankfully had just enough time to see everything and do all of the tours.

I can't believe people having to live in these submarines, talk about claustrophobic!

So much respect for these guys!

Of course the video/boat tour was my favorite. I have so much respect for all of those men and women who so valiantly and courageously fought for our country. So sad to see what a mess this country has become, but yet we still are so blessed.

The oil that still remains from the sunken ships is crazy!

Such tight spaces, yikes!

After Pearl Harbor Mike and I drove downtown and decided to eat at a hole in the wall place to see what the natives ate. I wasn't too crazy about poi but I'm glad I was open and willing to try.

The next day we headed over to Manoa Falls.

I could not believe my eyes walking into this place.

Such a tropical amazingness.

The day before we had thought about doing a hike up some waterfalls but it was just so muddy and we had not prepared well at all. This time I had done my research and we made sure to take extra shoes and plastic bags for the mud. Turns out we didn't really need it, this hike was way better.

It was paved the whole way and it was really well taken care of.

The only sad thing was, no one knew how to take a picture! I wish we could've gotten more pictures of us.

Also I didn't really use my big camera because it was sprinkling a little bit and I didn't want to ruin it, but I didn't realize that the cover on my phone was getting foggy until looking at all of the pictures later on that day. I sure learned my lesson!

I was so glad to see that there was an actual water fall. I was worried that it had not rained enough for there to be water but lo and behold the great Manoa Falls!

Some more pictures with really bad lighting, oh well!

Mike was so sweet and never complained about my turtle speed walking up the trail. We made sure to stop for many water breaks since it was a bit muggy.

So beautiful!

At one point Mike made me laugh because he said

Mike: Can you stop saying that?

Me: Saying what?

Mike: That it's so beautiful. You already said it like one hundred times

Haha! I just couldn't help myself, it was really so beautiful! :D

Thank goodness for my little selfie stick, we were able to get some pictures of us

And more and more pictures

After the trail we were ready to hit the beach. This time we tried Hanauma Bay Preserve again and it was open.

This beach was amazing!

I had never been to a beach where you pay for parking AND entrance AND have to watch a video and sign your life away that you will not damage the wild life. Gees no wonder it was so pretty. Maybe they should do that to Cali beaches.

I just could not get enough of this beach, it was gorgeous!

After playing in the water for a while, I decided to lay out like a beached whale, it was the best.

Michael kept swimming and swimming and swimming. I didn't blame him, the water was so delicious.

I mean, really?! So pretty

We ended the night with delicious burgers and a view. 

Hawaii, you are just so beautiful!

The next day we headed out to explore the north side of the island.

Our first stop was the Laie Temple. It was such a beautiful session. The spirit was SO strong. We were even asked to be the witness couple which made it extra special.

After an amazing session we went to check out the visitor's center. My heart was going to burst with gratitude towards my Heavenly Father for this little miracle in my belly and for the honor of being able to be pregnant. I was feeling extra thankful that day.

After the temple we went over to the Cultural Center. There we met our tour guide. Apparently we were supposed to be there when it opened, woops! I guess we gave our tour guide a two whole free hours to chill by himself.

Our tour guide was a student from BYI-I and was so sweet. He showed us around and explained the different Polynesian cultures. 

All of the shows were by students from BYI-I and I was so impressed of how professional they all were and how much emotion they put into each performance. 

This was definitely one of my favorite shows. This guy was hilarious! 

The guys were all so funny, their laughs were so contagious

I couldn't believe how easily these guys climbed up a palm tree, their feet where so wide and strong

And of course, adding a little comedy to the suspense

Our tour guide showed us some games and traditions from different cultures. Mike and I were not very good at balancing flying balls, but hey we tried! 

This show was also pretty funny. It was nice to have a tour guide since we could just show up right before a show and had front row seats. Definitely was a game changer, we got used to that pretty quickly! 

Boat tour around the cultural center. 

After our bout tour it was time for our Luau! 

I was excited. I had read the food was delicious. 

Taking out the poor delicious little pig. 

The food did not disappoint! 

They also had shows throughout the Luau. Everyone was so talented.

They even had little ones performing, they were SO good! 

The whole thing felt so family friendly, like they were all related or something. I loved that! 

Another very talented little one

After our Luau, our tour guide gave us a tour behind the scenes of the Breath of Life show. 

Here are the students practicing before their performance. 

The many costumes

Saying goodbye to our tour guide. He was so sweet. He got us so many extra goodies and always made sure we had front row seats and were extra comfortable

Waiting for the show to start

After the show. These guys were all so good. It's like they loved what they did

It was definitely a great way to end our last full day in Hawaii. 

Hawaii was so good to us. It was relaxing, it was beautiful, it was everything I hoped it would be. It was sad to say good bye but I was so thankful that we got to experience this beautiful island.