North Shore, Oahu 2015 Family Vacation

For our second week out on the West Coast, we flew out to the Hawaiian Island of Oahu~ the North Shore,  to visit my dear friends Beth and Charisse (and meet their husbands, almost 2 year old sons, and discovered while out there that they are BOTH pregnant with each of their second babies!).  Ironically, 2015 is the 10 year anniversary of Brad and I vacationing in Hawaii- North Shore…. how perfect that we could bring back our baby boys to show them this tropical paradise. 

 Family Tropical vacation numero 2, here we go:

Our beach loft home sweet home for the week: friends of Beth were kind enough to rent this hidden gem out to us for a great price…. the boys loved the upstairs loft bedroom.  Mama loved it even more as I got to sleep up there all by myself while the boys had a slumber party downstairs (Jax was in the pack n play).  Every day we spent on the beach, so every night we were exhausted from all the salt water and sun and fell asleep early listening to the ocean waves and waking with the sound of the ocean and roosters cock a doodling!!  The North Shore is like a slice of the country right smack on the ocean…. its a sleepy town with wild chickens roaming around.  The boys loved seeing baby chicks too!

the bike trailer we rented for the week, and how we got around from place to place (with the exception of borrowing our friends' car for groceries).  Bikes came with the vacation rental so that was a plus!  The boys got a kick riding around in their little mobile on wheels.  Brad got quite the workout too!  We will never forget the adorable chatter and giggles coming from this bike trailer as we rode along beautiful stretches of paradise…. this is how the bike trail we rode on every day looked:

on our first day, Sunday, we visited the tide pools while picking up our bike trailer.

then the beach of course….

One of the nights we headed out to the beautiful Turtle Bay Resort and had a fun evening and dinner with our friends Beth and Charisse and their families.  

I have known these girls for 12 years.  We met working together as Behavioral Therapists, providing therapy to children with Autism.  So many great memories and adventures we have shared, and I'm so glad we have stayed in touch and now our boys can grow up being friends too!

more beach play… the boys just couldn't get enough of the crystal clear warm water.

Video of boys catching waves

IMG 4912 from jana grover on Vimeo.

Turtle time at Turtle Beach

Waimea Bay

Taji's favorite place: Shark's Cove.  We went twice because the boys loved snorkeling and swimming with the different fish,  It was nice and shallow so they enjoyed the experience.

IMG 4982 from jana grover on Vimeo.

Back at Rocky Point…. many sunsets spent here.

Charisse and Beth just so happen to be neighbors with one of our favorite singer, Jack Johnson.  And we spotted him many times on the beach at sunset with his family.  The boys actually played in the water right next to him so I was a paparazzo and snapped this pic of Taj walking by him LOL

another great beach day, this time we headed north of us to Sunset beach 

where the boys played their little buns off in the ocean again!

IMG 5020 from jana grover on Vimeo.

Aloha photo of the 4 of us!

Jax and daddy wrestling match in the sand!

Waimea Valley waterfall… a little biking expedition adventure 

We not only hiked to the waterfall but we also SWAM to it!  What a thrilling experience this was for the boys…. Taji LOVED it.  Can you see little us in the corner next to the waterfall???

Needless to say, our waterfall adventure wore them out and they fell asleep on the ride home!

The beaches, the snorkeling, the jumping over waves, seeing giant turtles and lots of tropical fish, the fun bike rides, the yummy dinners at the food trucks, hiking and swimming around the waterfall, and spending wonderful time with friends while watching glorious sunsets with a cocktail in hand…..

THAT was our splendid North Shore, Oahu family vacation!