Last Look At My Hawaiian Bucket List

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I know we’ve been out of Hawaii for a little while now, but I wanted to take one last look at the bucket list I made for our time in Hawaii.

I have to admit, we didn’t get to do as much as I anticipated. Mostly out of laziness. As our time was winding down, we had multiple people ask if we were scrambling to try and do everything.

Honestly, we didn’t even bother. If it wasn’t accomplished during the three and a half years we were there, I wasn’t going to try and fit it into our last few weeks.

Except for Diamond Head. For whatever reason, John’s unit never ended up hiking it for PT, so we did it together on one of our last days.

Anyway… Here is a look back at all we did and didn’t do in Hawaii!

  1. Visit the WWII/Pearl Harbor Memorials: Pearl Harbor was one of the sites we always visited with guests. I lost count of how many times we went.
  2. Go to a luau (preferably at Paradise Cove): We ended up doing four Luaus. Paradise Cove, Hale Koa, Germaine’s, and Polynesian Cultural Center. We even had a luau party for Ju’s first birthday.
  3. Brew our own beer: YES! I ordered more ingredients, but never got around to making more batches. Things are looking promising for beer brewing in Kentucky!
  4. Snorkel at Hanauma Bay: Kinda. We went, but I was a pregnant grouch that day, so I didn’t actually get in the water.
  5. Spend a day at the Polynesian Culture Center: Yup! We visited with my parents then attended the luau in the evening.
  6. Rent a cabin at Bellows: We never ended up renting our own place, but we visisted plenty of  friends who were camping out there.
  7. Try stand-up paddle boarding: We tried! Thanks to a great sale at Sport’s Authority (RIP) we actually bought a board of our own.
  8. Get SCUBA certified: Nope.
  9. Ride horses and/or ATVs on the beach: Nope.
  10. Rent a boat: Looked into and we weren’t allowed to bring alcohol.
  11. Walk (or kayak) to Chinaman’s Hat: Nope
  12. Take the girls to Sea Life Park: No, but Veronica did go on a field trip there just before we left.
  13. Start a vertical garden in our yard: Instead of going vertical, I opted for a 4×4 box. Due to bugs, there hasn’t been much success.
  14. Go on a sunset dinner cruise: No, we did do the whale watching cruise.
  15. See Halona Blowhole: This is a favorite when we have visitors. We’ve been at least five times.
  16. Try the famous Dole Whip from the Dole Plantation: Tried it, not a fan.
  17. Be an extra in a movie or TV show: There was a casting for a Channing Tatum movie on the day we flew off the island..
  18. Have a picnic: We had quite a few back yard and beach picnics. One of my favorites was this one at sunset! hawaiian sunst
  19. Do a tour of movie/TV film locations: No, but I did do a 5k over around where Jurassic Park was filmed. One of the “hikes” we really liked was a filming location for several movies as well.
  20. Get some shaved ice from Matsumoto’s: Ohhh yea! We made this a spring/winter break tradition, as well as a treat for special occasions.
  21. Hang out in the Makapu’u tidepools: Nope
  22. Go to one of the Eat The Street food truck events in Honolulu: I just don’t do H1 traffic, or Honolulu.
  23. Have a nice family portrait (of the 5 of us and maybe Caesar) taken: We did and I love them!
  24. Get season passes to Wet’n’Wild: We only went like twice. It was fun, but the girls were too small for most slides and the water was FREEZING!
  25. Go on a whale watching cruise: Twice! There were no whales on the first time, so we were able to go back for a second time. Also, while we were ferrying from Lana’i to Maui, the whales put on quite a show!
  26. Visit Byodo-In Temple: No
  27. Photograph sea turtles on the beach: Yes yes yes! We found a beach where they just swim right up to you! On the Big Island, they were also plentiful at the black sand beach!
  28. Go to a Disney Character breakfast at Aulani: Did this one for Adri’s birthday. It was such a beautiful resort!
  29. Hike Koko Head: No. I had no interest.
  30. Find a favorite local restaurant: Not quite hole in the wall places, but I loved Monkey Pod for dinner and Kono’s for breakfast burritos.
  31. Make it up the Stairway to Heaven: My brother did it twice while visiting. His girlfriend was miserable the entire time. That’s enough for me not to want to do it.
  32. Do some island hoping(a cruise would be ideal): No cruise, due to the cost, but I made it to Big Island twice, Maui, and Lana’i.
  33. See a volcano: From a helicopter! It was by far my favorite experience in Hawaii!
  34. Lounge on the beach sipping tropical drinks with mini umbrellas: Never quite made it to the beach with anything other than beer, but there were plenty of poolside drinks!
  35. Go to the Pro Bowl: We never made it. John’s unit did provide security for an event though.
  36. Do a shark cage dive: Such a fun time for my friend’s birthday! Minus getting seasick.
  37. Watch a surfing competition: I don’t do crowds. They were all crazy with limited parking.
  38. Get another tattoo, or two: I got a pretty little pineapple with some of my closest friends!
  39. Have a kid, then never have another kid again: Had the kid! I think we’re safe on the not having another one.
  40. Get back into pre-baby shape: Not. Even. Close.
  41. Sell the baby gear that we wont be needing anymore (high chair, pack and play, Bumbo): I ended up being too lazy to deal with selling on Facebook, so most items were just donated.
  42. Finish a scrapbook: I don’t think I did any scrapbooking. After getting my new Cricut, I stuck mostly to vinyl crafts.
  43. Finish Hubster’s Welcome Home scrapbook from deployment 2011-13: No chance.