Here we go! Monday morning. Bright and early. Will and I were up packing pretty late - well mostly me trying to figure out which shoes to bring (or not bring). I totally over packed and knew it going in. Must try to be better next time, although who knows when that will be!
Day1 Monday. Travelling to Oahu and Settling In at the Ilikai.
Woke up super early this morning, my alarm went off at 4:30am and I jumped right out of bed. No grogginess or anything! Our plan of going to bed early the night before wasn't too successful. Katelyn, for whatever unknown reason, just wouldn't go to bed the night before. I have a hard time believing that it was due to the excitement of our upcoming trip- she's only 2 for goodness sake. After a lot of cajoling and then threatening, she finally went to sleep. Amazingly (and very worrisome as well), just a little bit after I was up I heard her on the monitor. Awake, and telling us that she was awake. Uh oh- not a good sign when she doesn't sleep well. Especially with the long day of traveling we had before us. Will got up and then I woke up Tyler as well. By 530am we were ready to go and found that our car service was already parked in our driveway. (No mistake this time of a connecting flight from SNA.) Off we were to LAX!
Hit a little bit of traffic but got to the airport with tons of time to spare. First thing I noticed when we got to the airport and were unloading our luggage at the curbside- the singer/actress Brandy! She was walking through the terminal! How very exciting. We checked in our one large luggage and somehow managed with 2 rolling carry-ons, a car seat and booster, 2 kid backpacks, a huge camera bag and two bag/purses for me. Oh yes, and also our little umbrella stroller that Tyler happily used. Trying to save some $$ with check in luggage through Delta. Off to the security checkpoint! The kids were excited.
I got to go through the older metal detector with the kids while Will went through the one that does a body scan. As I waited with the kids on the other side I started wondering what was taking so long, and saw that apparently someone had cut in front of him. No big deal, until I saw that it was Mel Gibson and his bodyguard. Woah! Mel walked next to me to get his luggage (his bodyguard reached it first), then he turned and walked right by me, even making eye contact! How exciting! He looks much older in person. 2 celebrity sightings in one morning. Quota filled.
At our gate, we situated the kids to watching Lilo and Stitch on the DVD player while Will picked up a splitter from an airport store. Very fitting movie, don't you think? And it was their first time watching it as well.
About an hour and a half later, we were on the plane! On previous flight Will would go on first and get everything situated while I let the kids run around until the last minute, but this time we had too much stuff for him to manage on his own. The seats we had booked were 2 side seats and then 2 more of the 3 in the middle of each row. I started off next to Katelyn (in the window seat). The kids seemed pretty well behaved and excited. We made sure to put Tyler's ear planes on before we took off. By the time the plane started taxiing, we were pretty tired and Katelyn had already fallen asleep! It was 9am when she fell asleep and 9:10 before we even got into the air. Departure was supposed to be 840am. Good thing we weren't in too much of a rush to get to Hawaii.
Both kids slept that first hour and Will and I both got in some much needed rest. Like clockwork both woke up around 10am and the electronics came out. Tyler excitedly played the DS while Katelyn watched the beginnings of many different movies. Time couldn't pass fast enough before she started getting antsy. Uh-oh. We were able to distract her for a while, until she got tired of the DVDs. That's when we realized we forgot to bring my iphone4. Uh-oh. Had really been counting on that for extra distraction. I wasn't too thrilled that I had to give her my iPad to play. By the time the plane started to descend the kids were really antsy. We didn't put Tyler's ear planes in soon enough and he started having severe ear pressure pain. Poor thing. I was pretty upset that I hadn't read the part of the instructions on the box that said to put them in at least an hour before landing. Bad parents. We counted down the minutes until landing (thanks to the handy screens) and were so happy when we finally landed. Woohoo! By then I was sitting with Tyler in the middle and Will was in the side seats with Katelyn. There was a even stretch where Will and I were in the middle and the kids sat together watching a DVD. That was nice. Whew, I was most dreading the plane ride and we made it through relatively unscathed.
Hello Honolulu! Off to baggage claim and then a little wandering
around until we found the shuttle to take us to Alamo. We have used our Traveling Toddler accessory every time we've traveled, ever since Tyler was little. It's now a necessary thing - it lets us strap Katelyn's carseat to a rolling luggage. She sits strapped in it and no awkward-trying-to-hold-it. My
stomach was starting to hurt - hate when this happens during traveling! We had booked a standard car and quickly loaded all our things into a small Volkswagen Jetta. We were about to leave the lot when I noticed a cigarette butt in the passenger side door. What? Really? I don't think so! Will wasn't too thrilled about my on-the-spot decision to change cars. I let the Alamo employees know that I wanted to change our cars, yet I wasn't too impressed with the remaining standard sized cars. They were quick to act and let me choose between a Nissan Altima or Chevrolet Malibu. Both full sized cars. Score! We picked the Altima. It was very roomy compared to the Jetta and had much more trunk space (which we badly needed!).
First stop- something to eat! I had compiled a list of must-eat foods through online research/guide books / asking-friends. I was very determined to hit as many of the places as I could. We found a Zippy's nearby and had a quick meal of a Zip Pac and a beef teriyaki plate. Zippy's is Hawaii's version of McDonald's. Good easy introduction to local food. :)
Next stop: the Ilikai, our home for the next three days. When we planned this trip months and months ago, we decided to head to Oahu a few days earlier than the rest of the gang so that we could get a feel of Waikiki before we checked in at Aulani. Word is that you don't really leave the resort once you check in. Best decision ever! We rented a one-bedroom condo through Waikikioceanfrontrentals.com at a very reasonable rate for 3 days / 2 nights. I insisted that have an ocean view since we weren't going to have one at Aulani, luckily it wasn't too much more $$. The condo was very roomy with a full kitchen - which was hardly used since I had so many food places planned to hit!
Here are the kids in front of the Ilikai. It's part condos and part hotel. Valet only for $25/day (boo!). Nice big open lobby that leads to a large garden and patio terrace overlooking the marina.
The kids were very excited about their "new 'Hawaii' home".
Two beds. One for Will/I and one for Tyler. We put Katelyn on the couch.
Full unused kitchen!
Our nice roomy balcony with our wonderful marina view of the ocean. Loved that we had an ocean view. We unpacked most of our stuff, rested a little, and then headed off to our first food stop. :)
Supposedly the best Udon EVER - we headed to nearby Marukame Udon for dinner. It wasn't busy at all since it wasn't even 5pm yet. Very Japanese. The place is set up of kind of like a cafeteria. You order as you go and end with a tray of food that you take to your table. The kids were a little unruly with being cooped up all day. Had to get them in check! Ordered 2 udon dishes to share.
The kids really liked the udon (had to make sure there weren't any remnants of green onion in their bowls though).
Afterward we walked to the nearby Waikiki shopping plaza to Ailana Shaved Ice for dessert. It was crazy windy! This was the norm for the weather the whole week - very windy at times.
Shaved ice! Strawberry milk, lychee and coconut. Tyler was not a huge fan, surprisingly. I thought it was quite yummy, but overpriced. This place had a ton of great reviews on Yelp, you'd think they'd have nicer plates than Costco paper bowls!
The rest of the evening comprised of walking down the main street there that has tons of really high end stores.
Video of KK singing the Ala Moana shopping area:
The best thing about vacation is playing things by ear. There was this crazy strip of fancy stores that we decided to walk down. But we weren't prepared. Will had to head back to the car to add more quarters to the meter, and get jackets for the kids. I'm not a big shopper but it was impressive to see so many fancy stores. Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Chanel, etc.
I wandered into a Tory Burch store and the employees were very friendly! Amazing customer service. They even busted out multiple iPads for the kids to play with while I browsed.
Video of the loaner iPads for kids at Tory Burch:
Quick stop at an Apple Store for an iPad charger that Will forgot to pack. (Strike two Will!) Amazing that there are so many Apple stores in Oahu.
The kids were crazy that night about escalators. Really crazy. They had to ride every escalator we came across. Every One.
Even hit a huge Marc by Marc Jacobs store. Love it!
We finally headed back to the car and decided to make a trip to Safeway to pick up perishables for the next few days. Katelyn could not hang, and knocked out in the shopping cart. No amount of trying to keep her awake worked. Knocked out! We picked up breakfast foods, milk and snacks. And of course some Sweet Tea Vodka!
Finally on the way back to our condo. Katelyn never even woke up, and Tyler knocked out quick too. What a first day of vacation! Except that Katelyn woke up when we got back and threw a fit. As was to be expected. I vaguely remember her falling asleep really late after insisting time after time to turn on the lights. She's not used to having the freedom of getting up and walking around! We were not happy campers. At all.
Day 2 Tuesday: Food, Food, and More Food! Oh, and the Army Museum Too.
Good morning Waikiki! LOVE LOVE LOVE our view that we wake up to in the morning. I liked to tiptoe onto the balcony and hang out there while the kids were still sleeping.
Tyler was a great sport and did his Kumon on the balcony on the mornings.
And then we were off nice and early. We grabbed a quick coffee next door and headed off for breakfast at Eggs'n'Things (thanks Yelp!). Thank goodness we had our little umbrella stroller. We took a nice long-ish scenic walk.
We got there a little after opening and it was already packed! Had to wait about 30-45 minutes but it was well worth it. Star of the show: macadamia nut pancakes with pineapple and guava syrup. Ridiculous-ness.
Finally our turn to eat!
A little more ketchup, Tyler?
On the much needed walk home (boy we were stuffed!) we walked by the Hawaii Army Museum Society. I was not particularly interested in checking it out but Tyler was excited, and it was FREE, so why not? The museum featured the military history on the Hawaiian islands from the ancient times through the modern era.
The kids' favorite part - checking out the different artillerary outside the museum. Good thing there weren't any 'no climbing' signs!
Back at the condo, and ready to take a nap! Tyler went down quick while Katelyn ran around on a sugar high. Will and I both got into bed to nap too. We tried to get Katelyn down but eventually just gave up and let her run around. She did a lot of fussing and then we finally just decided to ignore her and nap ourselves.
We woke up from our nap to find this. She finally knocked out herself. Whew.
Balcony fun!
After naps, we headed to Rainbow Drive-in for lunch. Apparently this place was featured on Food Network's Diners & Drive-Ins. Very rich food, not too friendly service. We got the Loco Moco and their chili. YUM.
And then, as if that wasn't enough calories, we stopped at Leonard's on the way back. This place is crazy. They are known for their malasadas - freshly made donut-like things with warm flavored custards inside. Delicious. Ridiculous. We had a coconut, a banana and custard flavors. SO GOOD.
Back at the condo we did some relaxing and enjoyed the sunset from our balcony. Love that we get the sunset from our side of the Ilikai. So relaxing.
After doing some packing (leaving in the morning!) we headed to the nearby Ala Moana shopping center. This place is super fancy! The kids enjoyed the Koi pond, and even got to meet Santa!
We tried to have Will get some Santa shots but Santa's little helpers are pretty hawkeyed when it comes to outside photos. Boo. I didn't even really like how the photos came out. Oh well!
This place has a Japanese department store called Shirokiya. It has a food court on the second floor that makes you feel like you walked right into Asia. So many different food booths and authentic Japanese food. Even a beer garden! I was a little surprised with how full it was of people drinking big pitchers of beer on a Tuesday night.
Before we left, the kids had some yummy Dole pineapple whip. Yum! I stocked up on cookies from the Honolulu Cookie Company for our friends back home. We needed to head home quick though, the kids were getting tired and battling over the stroller. Katelyn has become quite the stroller Nazi, and it takes a lot of cajoling to get her to let Tyler rest and take a ride. Even when we hold her!
Our last night at the Ilikai!
Day 3 Wednesday: Goodbye Ilikai, Hello Aulani!
Wednesday morning. The kids slept wonderfully last night and we woke up with plenty of time to spare. Tyler did his Kumon in the morning too that morning. Whoohoo, so far it's been pretty smooth to get him to do his homework.
It must have rained a little earlier because we got to see a nice double rainbow from our balcony. The kids were excited to see it too. Well, either that or because they had their Gogurt snacks.
Goodbye Ilikai! It's been nice!
We left the condo by 10am (love not rushing) and were surprised to be met by rain as we waited for the valet. Uh-oh. The bellman assured us that it was only projected to continue raining in the morning though. Hopefully. We tried to find our umbrella hidden deep in a luggage stuffed in the trunk of our car. Fail. Everytime Will went to look for it, the rain would start coming down really hard! Doh. Off we were to our next stop. Helena's Hawaiian Food. OMG probably our favorite meal of the entire trip. Delicious delicious delicious. Katelyn loved the kahlua pork/short ribs and I loved their short ribs. Will liked everything we ordered! We liked it so much that we ordered seconds, and then more to take with us on the road! We stopped at CVS real quick to grab a cooler with ice to keep the ribs (and left over milk) edible for later.
And then we were off to Aulani! Both kids napped and we even stopped by a Target close by for some last minute items. So strange, felt just like a normal Target! The closing of the trunk woke the kids up. Boo. Had to deal with a very fussy Katelyn. Super Boo. We somehow calmed her down by letting her play with her window. Crisis somewhat diverted. Look in the distance, Aulani! We're here! The drive was actually pretty quick. We had to stop at a guard gate from afar and told them our last name before we drove up the hill to the resort. This must have been to let the hotel know we were coming since there were cast members waiting outside for our arrival!
I was greeted with a pretty tuberose lei! Will got a nut-shell lei, and the kids both got menehune necklaces. They offered us cold water and gave us a little tour of the lobby. The best part, our rooms were ready for us! Everything I had read on line had led me to assume that our rooms would not be ready until the check in time of 3pm, but it was only noon and they told us that our rooms were ready already! Our host was very nice and the tour showed us how beautiful the resort was.
Quick family photo! It's very interesting in that the lobby is on the 3rd floor of the resort, so you can actually walk right in and look out over the pool/waterpark area.
The bellhop took us to our room on the 16th floor. Room 1679 in the Ewa tower. Apparently that's their top floor! It was near the end of the hallway. Even on the drive there, Will and I were talking about our regret of not paying the extra $$ for an ocean view while we were in Aulani. The 2 nights at the Ilikai with the ocean view had totally spoiled us, and now we had 6 nights with an "Island" view. From what I read on line, I was expecting us to be looking either directly into a parking lot or a conference center. Waah. The cost of an actual ocean view was much much more expensive though. Boo. Anyway, our room was lovely. The kids were excited about their new new home now. Haha!
The room was definitely much smaller than our Ilikai condo, but that was too be expected. The couch was a pull-out but we decided not to pull it out. Tyler was fine sleeping on it and we put Katelyn in a pack'n'play next to it. It saved us a lot of room too!
Video of the kids dancing in the room:
The big surprise... OUR VIEW!! First thing I did when we got to our room was check out the view on the balcony. Boy, was I surprised to see the Ocean to the right. Sure, it's not directly facing our balcony, but I only had to turn to the right to see the beautiful view. Amazing! Seriously, we totally scored. It was just the cherry on top to our excitement of starting the next 5 days at Aulani. Especially because we were expecting nothing. The cleared ground is where they will be building the next phase of the resort I think.
Every day the resort prints a Daily Iwa, which is a list of all the activities going on that day. There are so many different things to do for adults and kids. You really could spend a week there and not run out of things to do. We headed downstairs to see the divers feed the fish in their snorkeling area Rainbow Reef (1:30pm). On the way, we bumped into Goofy! (Totally by surprise since he wasn't even listed on the schedule for being available for meets today.)
Will went to move the car (currently held in Valet while we checked in) to the parking lot. Usually parking costs $35 a day, but since we were there as Disney Vacation Club guests, parking was free for the length of our stay (whoohoo!). I walked around with the kids and came across Mickey and Minnie! What a nice welcome! Since it was the middle of the week, the resort was pretty uncrowded and we barely waited in a line to meet them.
Video of the kids meeting Mickey and Minnie:
After Will got back, we walked around a bit more to get an idea where everything was. We even got some shaved iced at Papalua Shave Ice. Very affordable and started our habit of having one every day. The kids loved the pineapple flavor and I really enjoyed the lychee flavor. They'll even put ice cream on the bottom for an extra fee (and condensed milk on top too, but that would just be too sweet!). We also picked up two refillable plastic mugs (steep at $17.99 a piece) but they were good for free refills the entire length of our stay. That meant unlimited coffee, soda and juice for the whole week! The amount of half lemonade/half water the kids drank on this trip was ridiculous. The milk we had bought earlier stayed in our fridge virtually untouched.
Next up, 'Ohana Hula (The Hawaiian art form of hula tells the stories of Hawai'i through graceful interpretive dance. This hula is just for you and your entire family). We met at the Pau Hana Room at 2pm. It was adorable watching Katelyn! The Pau Hana Room is their Community room, where they hold various types of activities, have DVDs to rent, and boardgames and Wii/XBox/PS3 games to play. Tyler, needless to say, was distracted from the hula lessons. Katelyn was TOTALLY into it. I was dying with cuteness overload. Must put her in ballet lessons when we get back!
Videos of Katelyn practicing the hula:
After the Hula lesson, we headed back to our room and changed into our swim gear. I hadn't planned for us to get into the water on our first day there, but the kids were begging and I had no good reason not too! Off we went! First we went to get our wrist bands (you get a different colored one every day you are a guest there), a (complimentary) life jacket for Katelyn, and towels. Next to the booth was the Menehune Bridge. The Menehune, in Hawaiian mythology, are said to be a dwarfs sized people who live in the deep forests and hidden valleys of the Hawaiian islands. There are (supposedly) hundreds of menehune hidden all around the resort and the kids were obsessed with finding them. More on that later. Anyway, the Menehune bridge was this huge water play area for kids only. Tons of bridges and slides and pouring water everywhere. Only thing though, it was super windy and it was causing the water to spray all over us. It was very cold. Too cold for us to stay in the area.
Off to the Lazy River then! They call it the Waikolohe Stream. Very slow paced compared to the river I remember at Atlantis. At first we tried to get all four of us onto a double tube, but we didn't really seem to move. Haha! We did get a picture though! Floating around in the river was much warmer, especially since the river is set lower so the wind doesn't hit us. The kids had a great time.
Video of the family lazy river ride:
Look! Under one of the bridges, a hidden Menehune!
There are two water slides at the resort. one is the Volcanic Vertical (an enclosed, extreme body slide that plunges you into Waikolohe Pool) and Tubestone Curl (an open-air twisting and turning tube adventure with single and double tubes that eventually launches you into Waikolohe Stream). I wasn't feeling the dark enclosed slide simply because I didn't want to get dunked underwater, so we all went on the Tubestone Curl. Will went first with Katelyn (who was very excited by the way).
I was up next with Tyler. He was a little nervous but I assured him it would be fun and not scary. And it was FUN! He was giggling the whole way down. And then we got to the bottom. Will was waiting at the bottom and cheering us on and Tyler was so amped up and excited that he jumped off the tube as soon as we hit the pool. Without a life jacket. The pool is only 4 feet deep so I wasn't worried at first. I was still on the tube and the current kept me going but when I looked back, Tyler was panic-ed in the water. I jumped off and rushed over to get him as fast as I could, but he was crying and scared. Not so fun.
After a while it started getting dark so we headed back to our room, got changed (holding off on showering until before bed) and just relaxed a bit. It was great that we had downtime throughout the busy day. Katelyn hung out in her pack'n'play. After seeing all the menehune around, she was excited to see the menehune crib sheet.
Tyler lounged a bit on his bed too.
We headed back down just in time to join in the 6:15pm "Mo'olelo Fire Pit Storytelling" at the Circle of 'Alae 'Ula. It's this big fire pit overlooking the ocean. We had a little extra time so we visited the main gift shop first. I bet I have a picture of Will and I with these exact same bridal Mickey ears a decade ago.
Next to the gift shop were these phone booths, and Tyler found a Menenhune underneath one of them. Yay! He's also holding one of our refillable mugs. Looks are deceiving though, they don't hold as much as they look like they do! Will made many trips downstairs for refills throughout the trip.
The 6:15pm time was perfect for the storytelling. Dusk-ish I guess? The kids started out really interested in the stories, but then their attention waned.
Video of the starlit storytelling:
We grabbed a quick bite to eat afterward at One Paddle, Two Paddle. Surprisingly their chicken strips were delicious! I had been keeping in touch with my friend Jen who had landed earlier that day. They got lost getting to the hotel, so we weren't able to meet up with them until later in the day. Their room was down the hall from another family that was there as well. We headed up to meet up with the other three families. Look what Tyler found in the corner of the elevator!
We hung out for a bit in their room (a nice one bedroom condo overlooking the pool) and then all headed down to check out the 7:45pm Firepit storytelling. The kids were excited to see their friends, so we didn't have much of a choice but to join the group down there. They weren't any better this time around with paying attention!
Whew, what a day! We headed back to the room afterward, washed up, and then BED! AAAAHHHHH.
Will took a stroll around the property afterward to get some nice photos. This place really is amazing.
This menehune was one of those that would look like it was turning toward you as you walked around in front of it.
Day 4 Thursday: Checking out Auntie's, Water Fun, Ukelele Lessons and Starlit Hui!
Thursday. Good morning! I've always had a hard time sleeping in, especially on vacation. There's so much to do, how can we sleep in? Will does not have this problem at all, ever. Katelyn though, was quite an early riser and was up by 630am-ish. The rest of us kept on lounging in bed or sleeping. We enjoyed the early morning on the balcony and Katelyn helped herself to a Gogurt from the mini fridge in our room.
Waking up to this every morning? Yes, please! The nice part of our balcony is that it is angled in such a way that you can't see your neighbors at all.
Before 8am we were suited up in our swim gear, sunblocked, and eating a bagel and ham breakfast in the room. Tyler even got a little Kumon done on the balcony as well. (A little precarious though, with the wind!).
We had plans to head to check out Auntie's Beach House. It's their onsite babysitting facility, which doesn't even feel like babysitting for the kids. They have an Open House every morning from 8-10am where the parents are allowed with the kids in. After that, only kids are allowed in! We figured it would be a good idea to introduce them to the place first before we even thought about dropping them off. Tyler had been talking excitedly all night and morning about finding menehunes (since he spotted so many of them first) and was excited to wear his menehune necklace.
Stitch! Since the kids had just watched Lilo and Stitch for the first time on the plane ride over, the movie was very fresh in their minds. So when we passed a carving/statue of Stitch, Katelyn was SO excited! This guy was right next to Auntie's Beach House, so we would be walking by him a lot the next week, and Katelyn would insist on taking a photo with him each and EVERY time.
Auntie's Beach House! Good sign: they have everyone who enters wash their hands at a large sink. We went in with the kids but if you are dropping off the kids they have quite a detailed security process. Each kid actually gets a wristband with a tracking device on it! Tyler was excited to see what all the fuss was about.
First stop, some arts and crafts! We made little rainbows with different color stampers. Very cute and we got to bring it home with us as a souvenir! This place has so many rooms of fun. Play areas, tons of princess and Disney dress up clothes, a room just for watching movies, a room just for video games, a large backyard play area, and more!
There was an activity "Play Date at Aunty's Beach House" going on and the kids were all dancing around with Stitch! Tyler got right into it, but Katelyn was quite shy and preferred to watch.
Princess Ariel-Katelyn!
She walked around for quite a while in this costume - much more authentic than her Halloween costume! Tyler and I did some hula hoping too! Haha!
Videos at Auntie's Beach House:
Back inside, we played Match on these large video game tables. Kids liked it a lot.
They even had a stamping station that Katelyn liked. Lots of princesses.
It started raining as we left Aunty's Beach House. Uh-oh. Thank goodness it let up quick though. A quick text from the Garners let us know that they were at the pool so we headed over to join them. Of course we passed Stitch again so Katelyn insisted on another photo.
Thank goodness the Garners came on this trip with us! With all the drama that has happened earlier this year, it's good to know that something good has come out of it - our friendship with the Garners seems stronger than before. (Notwithstanding some craziness from a crazy person.) The kids loved the hot tub too! The one that we went to the most overlooked the lagoon and was a double decker (if that makes any sense).
After the hot tub, we headed over to the Menehune Bridge again. Still quite windy and chilly though. Tyler and Kaden ran off immediately and didn't even mind the cold. Will went to put his camera back into the room so Stacy took Katelyn up to play. They played for a while until a person working there told Stacy and Jen that no adults were allowed in the play area! Only kids!
They loved the little mini slides.
Tyler was such a good big brother and took Katelyn up with him and Kaden.
And look, he held her in his arms and they slid down the slide together. TOO cute!
Video of Tyler and Katelyn sliding together:
Then we headed to the lazy river and rode the big slides again on the tubes. Tyler was not interested in going on it again, and I didn't push it this time either (figured he needed some time to recover from his experience yesterday)! Katelyn had no fear though, she went once with Will and then went again with me!
Video of KK and Daddy riding the tube slide:
This picture cracks me up when I compare Kylee and Katelyn's thighs. Haha!
After all that water fun, we grabbed a quick lunch of chicken strips and hot dogs next to the pool. After lunch we met up with the Mutucs/Saitos (they had their character breakfast that morning) for a little bit near the Menehune bridge. I told them I had called and reserved 4 spots for "Uncle's Kahakai Canoe Racing" at the Pau Hana Room at 2pm and also "Eruption Disruption! A Volcanic Science" at Aunty's Beach House at 3pm. I had also reserved 4 spaces for the 3pm Ukelele lessons. Space is limited in these activities.
We headed upstairs for naps around 12:30pm. Tyler went out quick but Katelyn took her time. I don't think she finally fell asleep until 1:15pm!
Will and I hid out in the bathroom and ate our leftovers from Helena's Hawaiian Food. Still delicious! I accidentally flipped some Alea salt into my eye. Ouch.
2pm Canoe making! We woke up Tyler at 1:50pm (he was fine) and he headed down with Will first. I wish I knew how anti-climatic the activity was going to be, or I wouldn't have tried to wake up Katelyn to get there. Big mistake. She totally flipped out and we were both quite upset dealing with each other. Hah! I hate waking her up! I was finally able to calm her down with playing her a video of herself earlier in the morning at Aunty's House. Thank goodness for iPhones. The canoes were these little wooden canoes that the kids got to decorate with markers, and the original plan was that they would be raced in the ocean. But with the onset of rain, the racing part was canceled. Darn. We were joined by the Saitos and Mutucs.
By the time we joined them, Katelyn was still in a funky mood. Quite disagreeable, but still able to take a photo!
After the canoe making ended, we rushed over to Aunty's Beach House to drop off the kids for the Volanic Eruption activity. It was weird not being able to go in with them this time and see what was going on. Of course, we had the obligatory photo with Stitch.
Bye Katelyn! I made sure that Tyler knew he had to keep an eye out on Katelyn, who we had told had to say she was 3 years old for Hawaii (minimum age for dropping off kids at Aunty's Beach House). Luckily she is huge and no one even questioned her age.
All the kids headed to this activity and the adults (except the Garners) hung out for a bit before our Ukelele lesson. We all had a drink at the bar (had a ridiculously strong drink) and then headed over. I was really excited! I've seriously always wanted to learn to play, and I had JUST picked up one at Target earlier in the week.
Maybe I enjoyed myself too much. But it was so fun! At the end we were playing Jason Mraz's I'm Yours! LOVE IT!
Video of Kathy playing the Ukelele:
We picked up the kids afterward and they were busy playing. I tried to ask Tyler and Katelyn how the activity was, but I got nothing. Apparently they make volcanos that erupt!
Next up - shaved ice again! We had plans to meet up with the rest of the group for a 6pm Keiki (kid) Hula lesson at Aunty's Beach House. We didn't feel like eating at the resort so we rushed up to get the kids changed and then headed back down downstairs to meet up with the Garners to try a local Mexican restaurant.
Then Apple Maps failed me. Totally failed me. We were in a crazy rush and it sent me all the way around to the other side of the area. Lame! Never using Apple Maps again! We decided to give up on the rushing and just enjoyed our dinner. Good thing since the rest of the families weren't able to make it either. No worries then! Love that the kids are having such a great time with their friends. :)
After dinner we headed back to the room for some downtime and then put on all the layers of clothing we had. 730pm was the pre show for their not-to-be-missed Starlit Hui. I know I've been raving about our view of the ocean, but we also were directly above the field where they have their big Luau show! The Starlit Hui was scheduled for Thursday and then Monday of this week. Perfect, we planned to watch it down there tonight and then watch it from our balcony the night before we left.
Boy, it was COLD and windy! I wish we had more layers. At least each kid had a relatively warm jacket. We got there a little late for the pre-show, which was basically different craft activities. Too difficult for the kids anyway. We all got mats and set up around our friends.
Whoohoo, a passing Hula dancer came by and took photos with the boys.
This A-shape is the symbol for Aulani and they had it set up as an entrance for the Hula dancers. Perfect photo opportunity. I was quite irritated by the action of one of the dads in our group though - he pulled Katelyn quite forcibly off the side of one of these. Not happy about that.
Before the show started, they invited kids up to the front to learn and perform some hula dancing. Katelyn was TOTALLY into it, ever since her first day's Hula lessons. She would grab Kylee and up they would run hand in hand to the front at every opportunity. It was SO cute.
Look at the concentration!
Video of KK doing a little hula:
Show's starting!
Great fun! After the kids were in bed I did a few loads of laundry (free tokens!). I bumped into Stacy and he kept me company downstairs. Surprise - the Mutucs saw us hanging out and came by to say Hi too! A few texts later and Stacy and I joined them in their nice one-bedroom suite to hang out a bit. Hopefully it'll help our relations with them.
Day 5 Friday: Character Breakfast, Beach Fun, and Parents' Date Night!
Friday morning. Kids woke up energetic and ready to go at 6am! Will and I slept in for a little bit longer until the kids were really really ready to get going. Tyler has been great about doing his Kumon in the mornings without fussing. Love our morning quiet time on the balcony.
And we're off to our Character Breakfast at 8:30am. The kids were really excited, especially with their autograph books and pens that we had gotten at the gift shop earlier.
After checking in, we waited in a line for a photo opportunity with Mickey. Their way of taking photos and selling them to you later! Check out Katelyn's shaka!
Video of autographs with Mickey:
Family picture!
Photo with the Garners! They had a hard morning with the kids (we've all been there!) but we all still had a good time.
Seated, and ready to eat! The buffet was quite pricey (unsurprisingly) but I expected them to be tastier.
Very cute though, a little kid-sized breakfast station for the kids to get food themselves!
Goofy came to visit too!
I like this photo of Tyler looking at Goofy.
Excited Katelyn!
Katelyn's favorite: Minnie!
This was a favorite moment- Minnie almost seemed to be telling Katelyn how adorable she was. Haha!
Aunty walks around and gets the kids up and excited in a music parade.
Of course anywhere there is a chance to perform, Katelyn and Kylee are right up there!
Video of the character breakfast parade performance:
We stayed so long the girls even got to perform at the next performance set! Haha!
Side note: Katelyn was so excited that she had approved access to a pen that she drew all over her legs!
After our 2 hour heavy breakfast, we were finally done. We came right out watched the koi outside the restaurant for a while. Strange coincidence, the Saitos were right there looking at something too. Interesting. Chatted very briefly. The garners headed back upstairs to their room and we decided to do the Menehune Adventure Trail. It totally didn't turn out to be what we expected. I thought it would be us going around the resort finding Menehune but instead it was finding hidden bluetooth controlled areas with an iPod app. It would have been much more interesting if there wasn't so much talking in the game and no fast forwarding. But the kids did enjoy the handful of things that we found. Each quest would start out with Aunty needing a favor and telling us to go a certain place at the resort. When we got there we would press a button that would enable the Bluetooth signal to activate some sort of activity. Here we are next to a Lava rock that would have different things come out and move. Menehune magic!
This one was at a rock we had walked by numerous times and always wondered why there was a hole in it. With the adventure, we saw there was an owl inside! Everything had a long story associated with it and was really cute. I really wish we could have done more but the kids lost interest in the time it took to listen to all the talking and find the next spot. Plus it was super windy!
Look who we walked by again...
Afterward we headed back upstairs to change to swim suits but ended up all taking a nap. Love our lazy days. There was a 2pm Shake-a-Shaka Pool Party that I rushed us down to attend but the kids were totally not into it. Waste of a time rushing! Bumped randomly into Stacy and Kaden (Jen and Kylee were upstairs napping). Hung out with them in the hot tub and then headed to the beach. The lagoon was so nice, the kids loved it! I got a little bit of real relaxing too. :)
View of the resort from the ocean.
Tyler enjoyed burying himself in the sand. Sand everywhere. They'd bury each other and then run into the ocean to rinse off and then do it all over again.
Videos of some beach fun:
Next up, back to the hot tub!
They boys had been begging to play on the Menehune bridge again so we finally relented. While we were hanging out there, we decided to do a last minute Date night at the resort's fancy restaurant Ama Ama. Called and got last minute reservations and scurried to change the kids and ourselves. Dropped the kids off by 5:30pm at Aunty's Beach House where for an additional $8 fee they fed the kids dinner! We had a really nice dinner with the Garners, very relaxing and perfect timing for the sunset.
We picked up the kids afterward and Katelyn met us with this adorable little reindeer hat she had made. She warms my heart and cracks me up at the same time. Haha! She wore that hat nonstop!
Met up with the Mutucs afterward in the hot tub. The kids didn't have swim suits on but let them get in a bit. Garners went in in their underwear! I wish I had their confidence, haha! Unfortunately Will was not too thrilled that I let Katelyn into the water. BLAH. Then Katelyn had a huge meltdown when it was time to get out of the hot tub and she didnt want to go. Imagine a screaming crying child running down the resort in just an underwear. GREAT. Probably the low point of the trip. Sheesh!
Day 6 Saturday: More Water Fun and Group Dinner at Top of Waikiki
Sad that it's the weekend already. With the weekend upon us, the resort was starting to get busy. You could tell just by the line we saw in the morning for the character breakfast. A lot of Japanese tourists. It was a nice morning. Tyler did his Kumon on the balcony and the kids had bagels and ham before we got ready and headed downstairs. We met up with the Garners and the Mutucs at the pool. It's nice not having the other family here to try to avoid. We played in the pool and hot tub before having chicken strips and hot dogs for lunch poolside.
Katelyn enjoyed the view from the hot tub too.
Very precarious looking, but she's just looking over the top level of the hot tub. It was hot and very chlorinated!
Afterward we grabbed a shaved ice on the way upstairs around 1-2pm-ish. It was time to get all of us dressed somewhat decently and head over to Waikiki for a big group dinner in celebration of our friends' 10th wedding anniversary. We tried to head out a little earlier so that we could stop by to get some to-go for later at our favorite Helena's Hawaiian Food. But a quick internet lookup revealed that they are only open Tue-Fri. What?!! How could this be?? We were (barely exaggerating here) crestfallen. Never fear, I had some back up plans. We went to "Da Kitchen" which Yelpers raved of their fried spam musubi. Yes. FRIED. (Side note here: I love spam musubi and I get it every once in a while from Da Luau here in Irvine. Katelyn loves it too. Being in Hawaii, I had to indulge! Constantly. Every day. Mmmmmm.) The kids fell asleep on the drive out to Waikiki and I hopped out to grab some to-go food (Korean beef and musubi) from Da Kitchen. Will and I ate some in the car before the dinner at 5pm since we knew it was a fancy $$$ place and we didn't want to be starving! Yum. Doesn't my fried spam musubi look delicious??
Both kids had nice long naps, Katelyn even slept longer in the parking lot of the restaurant since we were early. Everyone cleaned up nicely for the event. Tyler was happy to see his friends too. It's nice to see that no matter what drama goes on with the adults, the kids still remain friends.
There was a little booth at the waiting area of the restaurant that allowed you to take photos and either post them to facebook / twitter or email them to yourself! The kids had a lot of fun with it!
We made sure to be prepared with all sorts of electronics since we knew it was going to be a long night. Already short my iPhone4 that Will forgot at home, we had the iPad, the DVD player, and my old DS. I can sense that some parents are not fans of us letting the kids look that these things while we're out and about, and it totally annoys me that I can sense it. Please, worry about your own kids.
The restaurant we're at: Top of Waikiki. Top floor of a tall building where the restaurant has a revolving floor so you have a 360degree view of Waikiki.
We were there early enough to enjoy the sunset. Katelyn didn't like it facing her so we put up a menu to block her.
We had a party of 20! 4 families plus 4 of the anniversary couple's friends. Seating was a little awkward but we made it work. Basically it was two large tables with a small gap in the middle. Our side (at the end) was 2 friends, then our kids one one side and the Garner kids facing them, and then Jen and I facing Will/Stacy. The other table had the Anniversary couple right on the end next to Jen, with their son and another boy across from them, and then I don't know the rest over there. It was very comfortable sitting with our friends and chatting with the anniversary couple. I got a delicious seafood risotto (hold most of the seafood except shrimp and scallops!) and Will got the set prix menu. The kids had macaroni and grilled pineapple. Very yummy looking!
Ready for some macaroni! She really liked the grilled ham too..
The kids, from what I remember, were actually pretty well behaved. Right at the beginning of dinner we noticed that the DVD player was super low on battery. ACK! Not a good sign. We made it through though, and even Facetimed with Will's parents when they happened to call. Thank goodness for electronic devices and m&m's!
Whew, what a full dinner! Took a photo with the Xmas tree in the waiting area.
And then a big group shot! Ugh! When I looked at the photos when we got back home I noticed that Katelyn was doing her 'silly faces' in all the photos. By this I mean she was pulling the sides of her eyes and smushing them into her cheeks. GRRR.
After dinner we walked down the street to the International Marketplace. Lots of random trinkets and souvenirs for sale. Probably all made from China. Was accosted constantly by vendors telling me their products were 80% off. Ugh bargaining! We picked out a bracelet for Tyler's kindergarten teacher. The lady wanted $15 for it and I told her I only wanted to pay $7. She kept going lower, all the way to $10 but wouldn't budge so I started to leave. Of course that was enough, and she sold it for $7.
The kids were watching a street performer - one of those guys who cover themselves in spray paint and do dance moves. I think Katelyn was trying to copy some of his moves!
Whew, what a day. The kids totally knocked out in the car.
Day 7 Sunday: Disney Jr. Aloha and All Day Water Play!
Our last day with our friends at Aulani. The other two families were leaving the next day while we were leaving Tuesday early morning. Katelyn woke up early and insisted on watching TV. She insisted but we held our ground. She has gotten into the habit of immediately crying/fussing when she doesn't get what she wants. Will have to stop this behavior ASAP. We got the kids ready and headed downstairs for Disney Jr. Aloha at 8:30am at Auntie's Beach House. I really take the daily IWA seriously and plan out the night before everything we are interested in and can attend!
Katelyn dressed up at Cindrella today. They had a Captain Jack costume I couldn't convince Tyler to put on!
In the movie room, Tyler was entranced by whatever movie they were playing. Love their mini chairs.
Tinkerbell wings!
Our kids both watch a lot of Disney Jr (can you really watch too much of it though? it's so educational and kid friendly) so they knew all the songs that were sung and danced to. I swear we heard some Fresh Beat Band music too...
At the end, surprise guest Stitch! Katelyn didn't want to get near him, even though she is obsessed with taking photos with his statue outside.
I finally got her up there by going with her.
A quick whisper to a cast mate got us a private autograph signing with Stitch after the Dance party. Yay! Katelyn didn't want to go in for a hug but just stood close to Stitch. Afterward she told me that he was soft. Only characters we didn't see the whole trip was Chip and Dale! :(
See, look! Right after we left she insisted on another photo! I guess this Stitch is less intimidating.
It still felt a bit early to be heading into the water, so we headed to the Pau Hana room for some boardgames. We returned some DVDs that we had borrowed (free for DVC guests!) and played a heated couple games of Connect 4 too.
We were outside trying to decide which pool of water to go in when we bumped into the Mutucs who were heading to the beach. Thought it would be nice for the kids to play together and they were fine with us joining them. It was nice and fun. Texted the Garners to let them know we were there and they joined us after a while as well. It was actually a lot of fun that afternoon, probably one of the highlights of the whole trip. The kids were playing with the boogie board and playing in the sand. The adults were taking turns on the kayak and the paddleboard. It was just a really nice and relaxing afternoon.
Video of kayaking with the kids:
Look, I'm standing!
We ordered lunch beachside and they brought it out for us.
After the beach we all headed upstairs for naps. Love our laziness. We were all up and getting ready to head back down to the pool when Jen texted that they were heading to the pool and if we want to join them for dinner. The Mutucs were going to Ama Ama that night for a family dinner. It was SO cold. We hit the hot tub while the boys went across the street to get Hawaiian food. We ate poolside but we were freezing with the wind blowing at us. Ack! Then we all got into the main pool and hoped to get warm. Definitely warmer in there, even though the water barely feels heated. Will and Stacy went down the water slide a few times and it was hilarious seeing how different their splash entrances to the pool from the slide was. Then we all headed to a different hot tub (one more secluded and smaller) to hang out.
Look how freezing I am.
Hot tub fun!
Glad we all got to spend this last night together. I brought down my Sweet Tea that I had mixed and we all finished the jug. Sweet! It was an all around good day. Night ended by 9pm or so, the others needed to pack and the kids were getting tired.
Day 8 Monday: Last Day at Aulani- Disney Family Fun Animation and Costco Waikiki!
Our last day of vacation! I had already started to pack things up and did another load of laundry in the evening. I didn't really feel like we had missed out on anything and was glad that we had packed our trip with so many activities that this last day was just going to be taking it easy. We stopped by the gift shop first and the kids got little Mickey and Minnie souvenirs. We also got a really overpriced Christmas ornament and some magnets.
Then it was finally time to venture off the resort. We started with the Costco only 10 minutes away and loaded up on yummy Hawaiian snacks to bring back for our friends. My favorite find - Hurricane popcorn! Bought a large bag of popped, and many many boxes of microwaveable. Yummy. Another yummy find - pineapple and coconut mochi! Baked fresh that morning! Smelled and tasted delicious (thanks to the samples). Then we went to the ABC store across from the resort - it was a supersized one called Hawaiian Market or something (where I had been satisfying my musubi fix). Picked up some T-shirts and towels for the kids for souvenirs.
Lunch was microwavable macaroni. We needed to finish all the random food we had sitting in the studio! Kids loved it.
Some deep thinking with checkers...
And then Disney Family Fun Animation activity at 3:30pm. I was really excited about this one. Space was limited and we were taken to one of the conference rooms at their convention center on site. We started out with drawing Stitch! Katelyn had a hard time keeping entertained and darnit I hadn't brought the iPad for her to play with.
This Special Events Director (not sure of his name) was everywhere! He was the one that taught Katelyn the Hula on the first day and also the Ukelele the next day!
We tried to keep Katelyn preoccupied by letting her take photos with Will's camera.
Tyler wasn't too pleased with how his Stitch came out. He decided he was going to claim my drawing as his own.
See? Doesn't the picture kind of look like Stitch?
And... special surprise guest was .... GOOFY? Totally expected that it was going to be Stitch. Wouldn't you have thought so?
Next up was cell painting! I was very happy with the way my Minnie came out. Super cute, don't you think? We got to bring all our artwork home in nice big envelopes.
Afterward we dropped off the kids at Auntie's Beach House for their 6pm Keiki Hula that we had missed earlier in the week. It was really cute watching Tyler help and guide Katelyn. We had to watch through the window in the lobby since adults weren't allowed inside. It was cute though, the kids learned a song/dance and then turned toward the windows to perform for the parents watching outside. Afterward Will/I went to have dinner at their buffet dinner - totally not worth the price. Probably the most disappointing part of the whole trip.
Video of the Hula performance:
We got the kids all washed up and to bed as early as we could and then finished up the packing. There was a lot of stuffing and we decided to check in another piece of luggage.
Day 9 Tuesday: Homeward Bound.
Super early alarm. Our flight was at 8am and we wanted to be at the airport by 630am at the latest. Definitely didn't want to miss our flight! We paid off the charges to our room and had the bellhop help bring our ton of luggage to the front of the resort. The kids fell asleep on the drive to the rental car place and Katelyn was super grumpy when she woke up. Blah! Her mood improved after I showed her some videos of herself doing the Hula. (Thank goodness, again, for electronic devices!). We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and just relaxed. We even got early boarding (even though Katelyn is too old to qualify I think). They probably saw our carseat for her and thought it would be a good idea. (Saw the Saitos at the gate, they made a comment that we must have gotten up really early to get there since we had to drop off the rental car. I said that I didn't mind since it ensured that my kids would nap on the plane.)
Kids ready to go home!
Both heavily napping. It was nice that they napped next to each other so Will and I got to sit together for a while. We watched Bourne Ultimatum on the plane.
We made sure that Tyler kept his EarPlanes in his ears the entire flight. He was very good at making sure they didn't fall out. And they worked great - no pain whatsoever. Whew. We had a service pick us up and sat through horrible LAX traffic on the way back home. Was SO happy to be home and in our own beds. We rarely take vacations so we really have to make it count!
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