Today we went to a very kid friendly beach in Ko Olina where the Disney lagoons can be found. There are 4 lagoons with calm water and spectacular views... it was nice to not have to worry so much about strong waves and currents...
The weather wasn't super sunny so we got cold pretty quickly but we didn't want to stay very long anyway because we needed to get home to prepare for our Hawaiian Luau at Paradise Cove!
We decided to leave early for the Luau because of traffic plus we wanted to get Pineapple Whip (like soft serve ice cream) from the ABC Store in Ko Olina! But... turns out if you show up too early, they do not let you park for the Luau even though the lot is completely empty and just waiting for people to arrive... the traffic guards were not very nice so I had to find my way into the shopping center, which I was warned by my host family is not a good place to park a big truck... yikes! St. Anthony please help me find a spot for this giant truck...
Thankfully all went well and we were able to find this awesome space... I won't share with you how many tries it took to get the truck that straight or how close the truck is to the white line on the other side! In my defense, the parking lots are one way streets so there is not a lot of room to maneuver...
Now that we are safely parked we got our Pineapple Whip and headed for the beach to kill time and take pictures...
handstand pictures...
pretty posing pictures...
Selfie pictures after picking flowers...
And goofy pictures hanging from tree branches...
After spending a good two hours on the beach, we decided to check out this cute little ice cream shop at the shopping center.
It was finally time to head back to the Luau and this time the lot was filling up fast and I felt like we were late... arrrg... they need to rethink their parking policy because early should never be a bad thing. Once we were safely parked... again... we headed for the Deluxe booth to start our Luau experience at Paradise Cove...
Our Luau began with getting our "Cove Card"... little credit card with $24 on it to spend at the gift shop or on snacks and beverages... then a GOLD sticker because we were the Deluxe group (Deluxe was the best... front row seats and lots of fun extras) and finally a FRESH FLOWER LEI... so pretty...
As soon as we got onto the beach we were greeted with Hawaiian punch and got a picture with some of the Hawaiian dancers! We were then escorted to our seats where we quickly put our drinks and ran for the body art station! The girls had seen the brochures and knew that they wanted body art... I knew the line would get long so we were first to get there!!! We all got Hawaiian flowery designs... they just used make-up pencils so we had to be careful to not smudge the designs... so pretty...
There were a lot of other activities including bracelet making using flowers and palm leaves, dancers performing on the beach, fishermen demonstrating how to cast nets, hula dancers teaching us how to hula, and a guy shucking a coconut! The girls got to drink the coconut juice from the demo coconut... so fun...
The sun finally came out just as we were about to sit down to eat! We snagged a quick handstand picture on the beach and then headed to our table...
I'm so glad that we paid for the deluxe tickets because there were 600 people at the Luau and we were sitting at the front tables!!! The first course to arrive was salad... yay for greens...
then purple rolls with butter... they were sort of sweet...
then the main course with pulled pork from a Kalua pig... Kalua means to cook in an underground oven... which is how the pig was cooked... we were doing so many activities that we missed the unveiling of the pig where they actually take the coals off of the pig from a pit on the beach. I wish they had made a louder announcement about the pig or at least given us a schedule of events so that we didn't miss that part... I guess we will just have to do another Luau...
P.S. The pulled pork had incredible flavor!!!
And finally dessert... coconut cake, chocolate cake, and a white coconutty jello thing... the coconut cake was delicious but the slice of pineapple was my favorite part...
By the time dessert came, the singers and dancers had already begun! This was my favorite part of the Luau... specifically the FIRE DANCER! He was awesome!!!
There were a couple opportunities to go up on stage so the girls and I took advantage. The girls volunteered to learn a hula dance and I got volunteered for a Hawaiian shake... totally embarrassing but super fun!!!
Overall it was an awesome experience! I would highly recommend doing a Luau if you ever visit Hawaii... the entertainers were very energetic and really friendly! They put on a great show! And the Deluxe package is totally worth it... we had front row seats and walked away with tons of souvenirs including our picture from the beginning in an Hawaiian frame, a Hawaiian cooler/lunch box bag, wooden recorders, necklaces with our Hawaiian names, a trinket from the gift shop, body art, flower bracelets a gorgeous fresh flower lei and a really cool experience!!!
~Day 6 Hawaii Handstands
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