Spring Break 2025 Part Two: Oahu

After a quick flight from Kauai to Oahu, we headed to the Hale Koa--the same hotel that Derek & I stayed at during our honeymoon! So crazy to be back all these years later with our three kids in tow. When we were checking in, the front desk clerk greeted Derek as "Colonel," which just cracked me up because I so rarely see Derek in a setting like that. And that again reiterated just how much time had passed since our first visit to the Hale Koa when Derek was a second lieutenant. 

After checking out the hotel & pool area, we headed straight to Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner! We were so excited! 

On our way to dinner, we passed by a group of people and I overheard them saying "Hey, I think that's Dr. Smith!" And we also ran into one of Shelby's classmates who was staying at our hotel a couple of times during our stay at the Hale Koa. ;)  

{the whole property of the Hale Koa is just gorgeous}

{the most beautiful sunset sky as we were walking back from dinner at Chick-fil-a}

{we were in Honolulu for three nights, which meant one dinner at Chick-fil-a and two dinners at Cheesecake Factory...no regrets!!}

And the last night of our trip, we got to see the lunar eclipse from the balcony of our hotel room. Shelby & Derek had the best time together watching it. 

And the next morning, it was time to head to the airport! I would say we left bright & early, but we actually left our hotel long before the sun was up. ;)

Our kids are such troopers. We had a 7am flight from Honolulu to Seattle. It should have been a 6ish hour flight but ended up being over 7 hours due to a medical emergency on the tarmac that turned our plane back to the gate moments before take-off. Then we had a five hour layover in Seattle....before another hour delay & then our 3 hour flight to Anchorage. We were all in bed around 2:30am that night. These kids didn't complain once! 

{napping in the USO}

I'll never get over the privilege of being able to travel & make memories like these with my four favorite people. This was such a dream of a vacation, and we are so thankful that Derek was able to make it happen for us!