Homeschooling in Hawaii
What an adventure! My father in law invited us to join him for his annual convention in Maui. We never pass up on travel!
Fortunately and unfortunately, my husband travels a lot. While we miss him while he is gone, it allows us to use “points” to take the boys to places they are learning about. My twins are visual learners. Being able to see something in person is far more valuable than reading about it. You can also see our Trips to New York, Washington DC, the Carribbean ,Chicago and most recently, Legoland on this site. Fingers crossed for a European visit!
We left on our 2 week adventure in March of 2014. Flying into Hawaii at 2:00 AM was more painful than we thought. Luckily our Marriott in Kona was ready for us. We spent the night there, had breakfast and headed to the Volcano House in Hawaii’s National Volcano Park. Along the way we stopped at the famous black beaches and saw several large majestic sea turtles. After arriving at the Volcano House, we went to the Visitor’s Center and picked up a packet for the boys to become Park Rangers. They had to record several facts throughout the park, do some drawings, and answer a slew of questions regarding Kileua. At the Visitor’s Center we watched an informative video and were off to become Jr. Rangers! We went to the lava tubes, the craters, and watched the Lava spew from the crater at night. What a sight! Luckily we went on an off season and were able to get a room at the Volcano house. You have to book early! We had dinner there and watched the lava from the restaurant. Every 20/30 minutes they would turn off the lights so you could see the volcano in all of its glory. The next morning we drove to several areas of the park. One of our favorites was the Chain of Craters drive to a spectacular view. Really glad we took the time. It was a 22 mile ascending drive with no gas stations and very few restroom opportunities. For more info visit the Hawaii Volcano National Parks.
We left late that afternoon to return to the Marriott in Kona. We had scheduled a 7:00AM Helicopter tour of Kona and the volcano. Unfortunately, it was cancelled due to weather. We were very disappointed (most of us anyway, one of us was relieved!), but were ready for our next adventure to Maui.
Maui was gorgeous From VRBO we rented an amazing condominium situated next to the Grand Wailea and Four Seasons Resort Wailea. We had 6 nights to enjoy Maui. We went on a whale watching boat ride leaving from Lahaina. Not only was the whale watching amazing, we were able to sit next to Clark Howard and his family. His son is the same age as the boys. and they had a good time hanging out. We also did the tourist submarine out for Lahaina on a different day. While it was pricey(got tickets at the Maui Costco, which was AWESOME btw cialis preise deutschland!) it was a very cool experience. The boys and my husband took Surf lessons at Maui Waveriders from a very kind island Native, KIHE. He was a surf instructor by day and a performer at night. He helped us get discounted seats to the Ulalena History of Hawaii show. It was a beautiful show done entirely in Hawaiian. During our 6 night stay in Maui, we were lucky to find the shops at Wailea right behind where we were staying. It had a Ukelele shop. The shop operator offered free lessons during our entire stay if we bought some Ukeleles. The boys were sold. They went every day to learn. They have now graduated to Electric Guitar and Bass.
After Maui, we flew to Oahu for a couple of nights. This time we opted out of a rental car and got a van through LivingSocial. We stayed at the Marriott on Waikiki Beach. The water was so beautiful. The boys thoroughly enjoyed playing in the surf. We took a long walk from the hotel to see Diamond Head and to grab some lunch at a local joint. The following day, we rented a van from the Avis on site and drove to Pearl Harbor. We spent the entire day touring the facility. Because the trip was so last minute, it was hard to get tickets. Thankfully each day at 7:00 am on-line ticket inventory is released for the next day. I woke up at 7:00 AM the morning we were leaving Maui… We got tickets no problem. We did the Pearl Harbor Passport tour. It included, USS Arizona Memorial Narrated Tour, and admission to the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, the Battleship Missouri Memorial, and the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor. We met a gentleman that was just a boy on the day of the the attack. We were all mesmerized by his story.
We had such a wonderful time! We hope to return one day to attend a luau and to enjoy some more surfing!
