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For a week in July, my family and I flew to Oahu to enjoy a summer vacation in the sun! Here are the places we went and all the things we did.

Polynesian Cultural Center Review

This year for my birthday, my dear husband took me and the kids to Oahu to celebrate! I was quite surprised to find the most famous place in Oahu to attend a luau for tourists is owned by the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I didn't find out until after I had attended the luau. While reflecting afterwards, I was intrigued and was wondering how much a talented luau or hula dancer makes there because I was so impressed. Turns out not as much as I thought and by accident, I found out it was owned by a "mormon" church. It's a nifty fact so thought I'd throw that out there first.

I really had an amazing time walking around each cultural area and all of the activities! I attended my very first luau here on my actual birthday! My husband booked the Aliʻi Lūʻau package for the 4 of us in the family. It costed a total of $804.22 (including taxes and fees). It was pricey and it may costs more over time from the day that I am posting this. There were many different types of experiences to pick from. The Aliʻi Lūʻau package included the following:

• Group guided tour through 6 authentic island villages
• Enjoy award winning Aliʻi Lūʻau buffet with live entertainment
• Gold level seating at "HĀ: Breath of Life" show

During the luau, they found out it was my birthday, so they brought out this special chocolate cupcake with white frosting for me. Since the luau buffet already had several dessert options and I had taken advantage of that at this point, I didn't finish all of my special cupcake but I thought it was still very kind of them to do that. Here is the cupcake they gave me in honor of my birthday.

I think the real highlight of it all for me was the "HĀ: Breath of Life" show. Sure, the luau made me very full and it had a great line up of food but what I think about when I reminisce about my birthday night at the Polynesian Cultural Center is the "HĀ: Breath of Life" show. It took place after the luau and was so memorable! We're not allowed to take any pictures during this show so I don't have any pictures of it to show you so, you will have to take my word for it.

Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort

For the week-long summer birthday trip, my husband booked us at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. It's a famous resort and many famous people have stayed here. We stayed at the Rainbow Tower on the 18th floor. There were several pools for guests and a lagoon. We had the opportunity to swim in all of them except, we decided to not go to the 18+ only pool because we have kids with us. We enjoyed all of the pools that we did go into, and they each had certain things that made each one of them a little unique. We went down slides, went in the hot tubs, and enjoyed the complimentary towel system.

There were several great restaurants and shops within the village of the resort in cool Asian architecture. We never had to walk very far to get water or something to eat. I was very impressed with all of the ABC Stores nearby. I could get a bowl of ramen for just seven bucks or a spam musubi for less than $3! To my surprise, if there is a food budget, it is very doable as long as there is a few ABC Stores nearby.

Chee Hoo Patisserie & Brews at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort

For one of the mornings there, my husband brought back a couple of pastries from Chee Hoo Patisserie & Brews that's located there at the resort and next to our Rainbow Tower. Their pastries were so amazingly special, especially the charcoal one. I devoured the fluffiness and great balance of its taste and weight. It was pricey, but worth it for a special treat.

View From my Balcony at Aloha Tower at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort

We stayed on the 18th floor at the Aloha Tower. Every day was a gift when I stood outside on my balcony and took in this amazing Waikiki view. We had a view of the lagoon, dock, and ocean!

Here's another look of our view from later on the day.

On Fridays, the resort lights fireworks. While we were there, this weekly fireworks brought hundreds of locals and tourists from other resorts to the beachfront to view the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort's fireworks. It's quite a spectacle!

USS Arizona

It was a sad and meaningful experience when we visited USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor National Memorial. Seeing the names of the servicemen who passed away on the wall really hit me. It's a very popular place to visit as a tourist and there is a great reason why. There were a lot of tourists coming here in waves and getting tickets for it is quite a process. You have to book for a particular time and if you were not able to secure tickets ahead of time, you can come and be on stand by.

They don't allow you to bring a bag in, unless it's a clear bag. Fortunately, I was carrying a clear bag the entire week! I do this because going through TSA for airport travel is much easier with a clear bag since I always have small liquids like hand sanitizer with me. If you don't have a clear bag, they will ask you to check it in the bag check area near the restrooms or another option is to put it in your car and return. Once you go through gate, you can only line up to get on the boat when it's within your time opening. If you're too early, they will ask you to get out of the line until it's time. The process is very strict, but it's well worth the visit to visit this historical grave.

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

It was such a hot summer week when we were in Oahu and snorkeling at Hanauma Bay was the most perfect adventure out there. Instead of renting snorkeling gear, we brought our own gear in our suitcases on the plane. They were bulky but we figured it would make us feel more comfortable using our own gear. It was a perfect call for our family of four.

What I particularly liked about Hanauma Bay is you could see fishes within 3 feet from the shore! They were amazing! So, if your kid is just getting used to snorkeling as a beginner, this is good perfect place to get your kids interested and feeling safe. There were also lifeguards out there on watch the entire time. A bonus is we saw a monk seal right when we got there! Of course, you or your kids should still be a good enough swimmer if you want to be snorkeling out there.

Hiking to Waimea Falls

I swam in Waimea Falls with my kids and they really enjoyed it! There were life jackets there to borrow for free. I recommend bringing your water shoes because it's a rocky walk down. I wore my water shoes the entire hike to prepare for jumping in the falls and felt confident climbing in and out of the water. I saw some adults and kids getting nervous in the water. Life jackets are a requirement to enter the falls so if you're already a confident swimmer, you should have no issue swimming in this one. The trickiest part is getting in the water through the rocky path, but that is still manageable without water shoes if you're careful.

The hike going towards Waimea Falls was easier than some of the hikes that my kids and I had went on in San Luis Obispo County so I would say it is pretty family-friendly. I saw some families brought their strollers with their babies.

Oahu Restaurant Reviews

While in Oahu, we ate Hawaiian Plate lunches, drank great craft coffee and explored interesting restaurants. See pictures of the food I enjoyed during our family vacation below.

• YYK Dim Sum

  

  YYK Dim Sum was located in Ala Moana Mall's Food Court on the second floor! They had dim sum, noodle soups and tea. I thought for express dim sum, it was pretty good! The only odd thing is if you ask for black pepper, they would say they didn't have it.

• Blue Water Shrimp Grill

  

  Blue Water Shrimp Grill was located within the Hilton Village in Waikiki so it was a very short walk to get food here. The line could get really long. Thankfully, they had an online ordering system so I ordered online from my phone and then, showed up 30 minutes later to pick it up on the mobile order line. Their seafood and Hawaiian plates were delicious!

• McDonald's in Waikiki

  

  McDonald's in Waikiki and in Hawaii are very different than the McDonald's in the other 49 states of USA. They serve rice, spam and Portuguese sausage here, in addition to the traditional menu that I'm used to! We ordered McDonald's for breakfast one morning and my sons enjoyed getting rice from McDonald's. It's like a novelty.

• Leonard's

  

  Leonard's was the place we chose to get malasadas! Malasadas are donuts that kind of remind me of very upgraded sugar round donuts that you'd typically find at a mega Chinese buffet. I only like the traditional kinds but my husband really enjoyed their jelly-filled ones too!

• HK Cafe

  

  HK Cafe was located in the basement of a building that was in the unique food court of a dozen other restaurants. It felt like I undiscovered a hidden secret. I ordered a wonton soup with noodles and it was so satisfying! They also had a kid's menu that was very well portioned. Their leaking milk dessert is worth a try if you're not lactose intolerant and have room for sweetness at the end.

• Starbuck's Coffee in Waikiki

  

  Starbuck's in Waikiki was in abundant! I like to do mobile order so that I don't have to wait around too long. I ordered for a location that was about a 10 minute walk from my hotel and that's usually how long it took for them to get it done during a busy morning, anyway. When I got there, I found my drink in the pick up spot and discovered that they drew a flower on my cup. It was a very sweet surprise. I walked back to my hotel along the Waikiki shore and had a fantastic walk, coffee in hand.

Aloha Stadium Swap Meet in Oahu

The swap meet at the Aloha Stadium only takes place on Sunday so we took advantage of it! We went there with the intention of just looking around, but I we needed up getting matching Aloha al fits, islander food: like lumpia, spam musubi and meat on a stick, a ukulele, 3D art, and souvenir t-shirts!

I even saved the spam musubi that I bought from the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet to the pool at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort.

I really felt like it was a fun swap meet shopping and eating experience there. It was really cheap for entry too. I think they only took cash for entry so make sure you have cash in your wallet before pulling up tot he gate. My kids were free entry because they were under a certain age.

Flying Hawaiian Airlines and United Airlines

Flying from San Luis Obispo (SBP), California to Honolulu, Oahu, we had a layover at in San Francisco (SFO). However, our first flight from San Luis Obispo to San Francisco was unexpectedly delayed! So, we we were going to miss our second flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. We were supposed to fly using United Airlines both times. However, we called United Airlines about our options for our connecting flight and they said they work with Hawaiian Airlines and there is later flight through them that we could hop on for no extra charge. We didn't hesitate and agreed. Well, it was probably the best surprise ever because Hawaiian Airlines still gave everyone a complimentary meal for long flights like this one that we did from San Francisco to Honoluly. I got a free sandwich and adult beverage too. Yes, all complimentary.

I thought my complimentary sandwich that I received on the Hawaiian Airlines plane tasted before than the sandwich I picked up at Bun Mee while at SFO Airport!