I’ve been home for almost two weeks and Hawaii still feels like the most surreal, beautiful tropical island dream. After this crazy Virginia winter, just feeling the sun on my skin was a heavenly experience!! Our very first day in Hawaii, we knew we wanted to do the beach. It was sunny and gorgeous and so we headed to the closest beach we could find, which was Ko’olina. These lagoons are manmade, but I literally could not have cared less. The water was so blue and the sand so white, and each lagoon had its own resort, so I felt like we were sneaking onto private property to get a luxury experience when we really weren’t! ;) We just pulled up, parked, walked down to the second lagoon and propped our chairs in the sand and had the best day EVER!
GAH… my favorite place on Oahu!!!
When the sun comes out, that’s when the water REALLY looks blue! Just a little observation! Haha!
When in Hawaii… you NEED a drink with a pineapple on it. YUM.
Little crabs!!!
Around the lagoons, there’s nothing but gorgeous green grass that’s so green it doesn’t look real. And palm trees. SO many palm trees.
The first of MANY wedding chapels… we saw at least a dozen weddings happen during our 10 day stay. Sometimes, three on the same 50 yard stretch of beach. Lol!
And then we walked down to Disney’s Aulani Resort! SO gorgeous!!
We were so happy to pretend like we were Disney vacationers that these photos were the result.
We even turned a Disney restaurant into our own personal photo shoot grounds. In our bathing suits… #lifeofaphotographer
The next day, we headed to the western side of the island to see the “Jurassic Park” side of Oahu. And it took our breaths away.
We stopped at the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens to scope it out for a shoot, and although neither of us ended up shooting there, it was fun to explore!
Haha, Meredith caught so many behind-the-scenes Instagram shots…
On our third day in Hawaii, we ventured along the eastern side of the island, visiting Makaha and Makua beach parks, and really not seeing much of anything. It was overcast and rainy, and it showed us an entirely new side of Hawaii. The IRISH side. I swear this has to be similar to what Ireland looks like!! SO pretty and green!
Ohhhh, our good ole 2001 Volvo. So many fond memories with this lil island beater car! Haha!
One last touristy photo to end this blog post! There’s still one more Hawaii installment to come… with more sunshine and gorgeous views and hikes! I LOVED this rainy day spent on the eastern side of the island! :)
Makaha, is not on the east side. Quite the opposite. Best side, Westside
Hi! Do you remember what time you went to Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens? It doesn’t look like there were a lot of people driving/walking by when you took your photos.. or was it pretty busy and you just timed your photos right? I’m trying to figure out when is best to get a cool shot in the middle of the road like that without anyone around. Thanks!
Hello, is Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens just before the Jurassic Park place? Thanks!
I believe it is near there!! Just double check on Google Maps, but I think it is pretty close by! :)