I do not know how to be around children. I was embarking on a 2 week vacation, a holiday travel to Oahu with my boyfriend and his ten year old daughter, Elli and I was nervous. I had never been on an island, a small island or a big island. Vacations are meant to be enjoyed and I was intent on this one, being a good one. And I had never spent 2 solid weeks with a ten year old girl to entertain.
So there are beaches. I remember myself at ten years old, and so I found a bit of relief knowing that Elli too, may just simply love going to the beach. But once we got there, I found so much more for us to do. We spent an entire afternoon at the Hawaii Children Discovery Center, and the best part was that there was no need to say, “Don’t touch”. This is an interactive museum, and not only did we touch, we climbed on the exhibits and played the day away.
The next day we found another hands-on museum, the Bishop, which again had a very relaxed vibe and provided the perfect environment not only for fun, but for learning about the rich cultural heritage of the islands and the residents, Hawaiian and Polynesian alike. We studied volcanoes in the science center and shared a latte in the cafe. I was beginning to the hang, of hanging out with a young girl.
We decided to rent a moped the next day and head down the Pali Highway for our own self guided tour. We weren’t sure where we would end up, but we were on an island after-all, and didn’t think we would get too far off track. So the next day we left Elli’s dad, still sleeping in our room and rode our moped along the cliffs at Makapuu.
We stopped at the Pali Lookout and took a lot of pictures and then stopped for lunch at Waimea Bay. It was a great day, and we brought back our cameras loaded with photos, and a seafood lunch for her dad. We also picked up a pamphlet for Maui vacation packages, already planning our next trip. Hawaii with kids, what a great adventure, what a very, very good vacation.
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