OHHH HAWAII

Hawaii is one of those places that I could stay for months at a time or even just pack up and live there.. My girls would wear hula skirts every day and their skin would be sunkissed all year round.. I would run a little homewares store in Waikiki and style local hotels.. Yeah….. and then I remember that my hair would be a frizzy mess on a daily basis and I would probably miss the winter… 😉 This year we were so very lucky to stay right in the main area of Waikiki at the gorgeous Outrigger Waikiki Beach hotel.. We were blown away by the view as soon as we entered our Ocean front suite.. BLOWN AWAY! It was a view like I had never seen before. To have all the curtains opened and have a 180 degree view of the ocean was incredible.

March 25th – Arrived in LA and transferred over to Santa Monica. We stayed at the Hilton Santa Monica . The hotel was in a great spot and was clean and spacious. From Santa Monica you can pretty much go anywhere in LA by car. It’s a great location to visit but personally I wouldn’t stay here again, unless we stayed somewhere right on the beach and were planning more of a beach holiday.

The room was so comfortable and spacious. Hubby and I had a separate bedroom with our own balcony and tv so once the kids were in bed we could still sit and enjoy the view.

We ordered breakfast to the room a few times (the pancakes OMG) I loved how by opening the curtains, it felt as if we were floating on the ocean and not to mention the sunset views from our balcony.. or ‘any time of the day’ view to be honest!

The Outrigger has two of our favourite restaurants right in the hotel.

Dukes , not only is the food and buffet delicious, breakfast lunch or dinner, but on a Sunday afternoon the atmosphere is incredible with amazing live music by the ocean.

Chuck’s Steak House has by far, my most favourite Steak and baked potato meal of all time. Definitely a must try.

Oh and I cannot forget Pai’s Deli If your spending your day by the pool you will not be disappointed with lunch from Pai’s. Literally 2 seconds walk from the pool, the freshest sandwiches and salads you have ever had and so cheap!

There is so much to do in Hawaii, but truth be told I was totally happy to just sit in the sun by the pool every day and relax. The girls didn’t complain, they absolutely love the water and my favourite part is how tired they would be after a full day swimming 😉

We did experience a Luau this time round. We chose to see the Starlight Luau at the Hilton and it didn’t disappoint. The performance and the music was incredible, the girls were mesmerised. (if you’re not a seafood eater, like myself, then there isn’t a huge choice for you to eat at the buffet, but they do have heaps of desserts 😉

Another favourite is the Ala Moana Mall

I know shopping on holidays isn’t something super new and exciting but I can’t help but love an outdoor mall! and the fact that it has a huge Disney Store has nothing to do with it 😉

Oh and you have to go to Waikiki Beach Walk on Lewers street. Such a cute little area. There is a clothing store called Mahina that I love and you have to eat at Yard House.

For coffee, you must to go to Island Vintage Coffee It is located on the second floor of the Royal Hawaiian Centre above the Royal Grove. (Caramel honey latte, OMG) and I am not exaggerating when I say they have the BEST açai bowls I have ever tried in my entire life… AMEN

We hired a car through the lovely people at the hotel and took a drive over to the North Shore. Driving along the coast of the island with the roof off was like something from the movies! The North Shore is gorgeous and so worth the drive.

Save some energy for the nights too. Waikiki at night has such an amazing atmosphere, it’s worth just walking up and down the Main Street to soak it all in.

If you followed our trip on my Instagram you would already know that I LOVED photographing Hawaii. You can NOT take a bad photo in such a magically beautiful place. Even the shots of my girls were so easy to capture. They were so filled with happiness that it made photographing them a breeze!