I know it’s strange but I miss finding sand every where and in everything…. And the smell of sweet, salty, tropical humid air….(deep breath)
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We took a two week-ish trip to Hawaii and Hong Kong for my brother’s wedding. It was hard work taking the kids along but it was a fun adventure.
And Hawaii = total bliss.
We narrowed our pictures down to 700, so get comfy, it’s going to be awhile….
Just kidding. 😉 I’ll save that kind of fun for my family blog. Whoa…do I still have one of those? It’s been a while.
Let’s start with Hawaii. Kauai to be exact.
Basically…I want to move there and live there forever.
(The picture directly below is of the golf course overlooking the ocean next to where we stayed in Princeville. I couldn’t help but include it even though it’s not the most “Hawaiian” picture.)
Everything looks pretty, smells pretty, and even their hot weather – is not that hot or humid. It was so perfect, in rain or shine.
Kauai can do no wrong in my book.
Most of our stay included wedding plans, but we did make it out to the beach a couple of times.
Hanalei Bay was our favorite spot. We took advantage of the time change and got to the beach by 7 am before anyone else…except for a few surfers just finishing their morning workout. A couple of hours later more foot prints joined ours…
But it was mostly people walking along the beach and a few families.
Perfect.
I am pretty sure Reid is running away in fear of my white legs in the picture above. 😉 It was a shame we didn’t really get our Hawaiian tans before we got there.
Our second beach trip was to Anini Beach. This beach is a lot more populated in areas where there is better sand and swimming. We chose a secluded spot and we were really completely by ourselves a quarter of a mile to the left and more than a mile to the right. The trade off was that the swimming wasn’t good for the kids (but that didn’t stop my husband) and the sand was coarser.
But there were plenty of cool coral pieces to discover and collect.
Really…No body minded one bit. Except maybe Natalie. We discovered she hates beach sand on this trip. Grass she is fine with, sand…not so much. I didn’t even bother to suit her up for Anini beach since I knew she would stay close to the beach towel.
We also did some very brief sight seeing. The kids could only take so much and we wanted to save all our energy for the wedding…
Which was incredible.
We felt so lucky to be there. My brother and sister-in-law rented a huge ocean view estate to stay in, hold the ceremony and have the reception. It was STUNNING.
(My handsome stud of a husband ^^^.)
Reid was the ring bearer, so here he is hanging out with the flower girl (his new cousin! and they are only two days apart in age) waiting for the ceremony to start. He was uncharacteristically generous and let her play with his DS during almost the entire wait. Cute girls have that kind of affect on boys I think. 😉
Here he is excited, handsome, and ready for his bride.
Reid strutted down the aisle next and was such a stud! (You might be wondering if I made his tuxedo…I considered it but did not. I bought it for $25 from this shop instead! Totally worth the time and stress saved. :))
His sweet flower girl gently floated down the aisle after him. Isn’t she so precious? (I’ll tell you more about her dress later this week. It’s from Noori Dresses).
Then while all eyes were on the bride, mine were on my brother. This was his reaction…priceless.
The ceremony was beautiful..and the view…
My brother and his new wife were glowing with happiness. We were so thankful to be there with them to share in their happiness.
Next up… the reception!
My new sister-in- law is a fantastic hostess. She paid attention to all the details (see the kids table above!) and really put on a great party.
(and yes…Reid refused to stay in his tux! What a four year old.)
She even somehow got my brother, MY brother, to take dance lessons for their first dance which we watched against the backdrop of a beautiful Kauai sunset.
The food was amazeballs. My brother and his new bride are foodies so the menu was top notch.
I am sure we added such class to the head table with our juice boxes and allergy friendly toddler snacks. 😉
Then we took our little coral collection, said bye to all our lizard friends and the roosters that roamed the roads wild…
and…headed to Hong Kong.
Well almost. We had an unexpected detour in Oahu due to some flight complications. Above is our hotel room view of Waikiki. A completely different kind of Hawaii. Fun, energetic and exciting, but we prefer the slow moving, laid back Kauai.
Kauai is definitely how we prefer to remember “Hawaii.” 🙂
We said Aloha to the peaceful, breathtaking sunrises,
and sunsets… and headed off to a city bustling with 7 million people.
More about that tomorrow.
P.S. I took almost half of these pics with my phone and half with my dSLR. Can you tell which is which? I am impressed with my little HTC One S for capturing our memories when my camera was too bulky to take along!
Looks like it was a lovely time. I miss Hawaii…it's been too long.
oh fun! love the pics. Your brother's reaction is just perfect, great capture.
I LOVE Kauai!! So jealous of your pics! Hubby & I have been twice and each time I leave a bit of my heart behind :(. Hanalei bay was our fave too…..I could live there! I even got a t-shirt that says "I heart hanalei" from our trip. Your pics make me wanna go back…..now! Looks like a wonderful time & a beautiful wedding!
Thank you for sharing all these beautiful pictures!! What an awesome trip and beautiful wedding. I know where I want to go when we go to Hawaii someday…:)
Oh Delia, your blog was worth waiting for. The pictures you took were fantastic! I'm so glad you got to go! I'm going to share these photos with Grandpa the minute he gets home. You are amazing! Love you!♥♥
Kauai is our absolute favorite place on earth. We go every other year and it's not nearly enough. I love seeing other people enjoy it as much as we do!
Absolutely incredible Delia! Love that you caught your brother's reaction. I'll remember that one for when my brother gets married. Thank you for sharing your amazing trip and the beautiful wedding!
Your photos are so beautiful Delia & so you. I'm going to show them to my husband who's a keen photographer. I've seen lots of photographers who have skills in capturing a moment, an expression, the light, etc, but you have all that & then such an were for composition & mood. xx
Oooo…my family and I are going to Kauai in September. I cannot wait!! 🙂 Georgous pictures and loved how Natalie is nibbling on her feet. Too cute!
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing. I miss Hawaii. Hopefully we'll get there soon. Your brother and wife look so happy!… My daughter is opposite Natalie. She hates grass but LOVES the sand. So i can relate to what you had to go through haha
I have never been there, but we do have a native Hawaiian brother-in-law, and I think we need to!
Your photos (as always) are amazing. Your brother's wedding looked gorgeous.
Congratulations!
~Michelle
Gorgeous pictures. Nope, can't tell which weren't the DSLR 😉 Looks like you had so much fun!
Seeing your pictures takes me right back to my honeymoon in Hawaii.
Best of luck to the married couple and congratulations!
Really beautiful pictures.
I’m a little jealous! I love your swimsuit! Your brother and new wife are a beautiful couples, and I love the wedding decor. What a beautiful fun time! Your little boy is the cutest ring bearer!
What a lovely vacation! And the wedding is beautiful too.
How lovely!
Your suit is super cute – where did yo get it?
I loved your Kauai pictures… Must visit one day! 🙂
My husband and I spent a week on Kaui for our honeymoon and LOVED it. What an amazing place to get married.
We hiked the Napali Coast, just up from the lighthouse and fell in love with the island.
Gorgeous photos.
Yay! I finally had a minute to catch up on your trip!! I am so happy I did too. You got some amazing shots Delia! Some of them totally made me smile, like the sand on Natalie's feet and the lizard on Reid's stomach. I also love to see all the smiles on the faces of the people watching Reid as he walked down the aisle. So many great shots. Loved reading all about your trip here and
Beautiful photography and family, thank you for sharing.
I've been to Hawaii 3 times but never to Kawaii. You've convinced me. Next time! What a gorgeous setting and those beaches were amazing…you had them almost to yourselves. wow. What a contrast with the Hong Kong trip.
Good job traveling with your kids! I think I would have been over the edge but you look like you handled it all well and managed to have some fun too. Aloha!