July 8

LAST FULL DAY IN HAWAII!!

It was beyond depressing knowing it was our last full day on the beautiful island of Oahu!

We all "kinda" did our own thing during the day. Jack and I went off in one direction for shopping, my parents went off shopping in the other direction, and Cindy & Jason were poolside again. Jack and I met up with my parents kinda in the middle of downtown Waikiki. But I must take a moment to rave about my new favorite store...sadly no locations are here where I live - sooo lame! Honolua Surf Co. is the store and it's just got the cutest clothes! Total surfer girl meets beach girl meets everything I want to dress in year-round but sadly can't! I did live it up though and added quite a bit to my wardrobe - no big deal (lol)!! Jack did well too - gotta love those surfer clothes..the material is just so soft and the look of it is niec but got that laid back-ness to it! Ah, I just love it!

Jack and I then were off on our own again and on to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. This was one of the places we looked into going for our honeymoon but at the time Disney was much more fitting for us...and we liked the price a lot better! This village is truly a VILLAGE, let me tell you!! You could seriously never leave the grounds the whole time and really do and see a lot of great things and never get bored. (My mom later told me the books & reviews say that is one of the downfalls of staying there...you don't leave the village and you miss seeing the island. I can totally see that!!!)
Well, I heard that they had penguins here. Yep, penguins just hanging out in Hawaii, being the VIP that they are!! This was another, pretty big, reason that I wanted to check it out. And guess what?! Just before I was about to get frustrated that I hadn't found them yet...THERE THEY WERE!!! AND there were turtles with them too!! (Again - previous post explains my love/obsession with turtles)





It was fun to explore the grounds of the H.H.V. and we decided that it'd be a great place to stay with kids (they have a club for the kids during the day!! lol...kidding, I wouldn't do that to my kiddos!....well, not every day!!)

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Now it was time to live up Duke's ONE LAST TIME!! We thought it would be fitting if we ended with happy hour where we started happy hour the day we arrived. It was the best choice!! The calamari - still the best (we got 2 orders this time!), the wings were still to die for, and the drinks...can't beat them!! That Ambassador drink I got there is probably one of my top favorite tropical drinks I got the whole trip!
It was bitter sweet to be there, soaking it all in and reminiscing about all our memories we made this trip!!







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For our last dinner my parents and Jack & I went to The Ocean House Restaurant, which was the fancy restaurant at our hotel. We did some "photo sessions" before hand to capture those great family pics!!



**Beach Photo Shoot**





Time to eat!!




The food was really terrific - but we were also all just kinda "food-ed out" by this point of our 10 days, so while we wanted to finish all on our plates, it was just too difficult! We also got another lovely and delicious free dessert for my parents celebrating their 40th anniversary. Actually, we got TWO free desserts!!
MMMmmmmm was it gooooood!!!!!



Cindy and Jason joined us at the end when they got back, as they had gone to a steak restaurant for dinner. Which led to another mini "photo session" in the lobby.





Jack and my dad shared one last cigar night on the beach, a tradition they started about 6 years ago when the 4 of us went to FL. They had a cigar night many of the nights in Hawaii, which was fun bonding time for them.

It always stinks how long you have to wait for a vacation...you're so excited and the energy is high and then you get there, have a fabulous time but before you know it time has flown by and it's time to go home. What the heck is that about?! I wish vacations felt like forever and time didn't run out so quick!!

Again, I thank my parents for such an AMAZING trip filled with such fabulous memories!! Their 40 years of marriage and their beyond generous hearts inspire me each day, and I will forever be grateful to them for letting us share in their celebration!! LOVE YOU MOM & DAD!!!!!! xoxoxoxoxo