Traveling home.  Boo.  This trip was such a good time and no one really wanted to leave.  But alas, we had school, work, and an amazing dog to get home to.  So with heavy hearts we (I) packed our bags and we headed to the airport.

Since we had turned in our rental car, we took a cab from Aulani to the resort.  It took about 30 minutes, and they had a line of them outside the resort.  We just called down and told bell services we needed a cab and help with the bags. A kind bellman came up, grabbed our bags, and loaded them into the waiting taxi.  

At the airport, Rob took the jump seat on the first available flight and I stayed with the kids and took the next flight.  We used some hotel points and stayed the night in LA.  The next morning we were at the airport super early in the morning, like maybe 5am?  Its all a blur now, but I remember we had trouble getting home to Cincinnati and ended up taking flights home through Denver of all places.  By the time we made it back to CVG we were all exhausted.

The goal of this trip was to relax, show the kids the best of Hawaii, and celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  We exceeded those goals for sure!  Some things I think we did spot on, and some things we could have done better.

Getting to Hawaii is always an odyssey if you are coming from the east coast.  We opted to press on and do it all in 1 day.  Was this the best decision? I'm not sure.  Would we do it that way again? Maybe.  We were really tired, but we would have been really tired if we had stayed in LA and broken the trip up into 2 days.

The Outrigger was definitely the right choice for a Waikiki Beach hotel.  I would stay there again in a heartbeat!  Our only misstep during the Waikiki Beach portion of the trip was not leaving early enough the first day we tried to climb Diamond Head.  The Dole Plantation was a one time thing, but it was a great activity for kids who had a lot of energy.  I do wish we had worn warmer clothes though.

When it comes to Aulani, if you have kids and can swing the cost, do it!  I wish I hadn't wasted so much time worrying about the size of the room, it was fine!  The villa with the kitchen would have been nice, but we were fine without it.  

The only thing I would really do differently about this trip is the time of year we went.  We love to escape the cold of Kentucky during winter, but it wasn't really warm enough for us to swim in January in Hawaii.  For the amount of money you spend to travel to Hawaii, I think April is probably the best time to go.  

​And that's it!  The end of our trip to Hawaii.

Read about the previous day.

By the last day, I was tired of breakfast in the room, so we made a quick reservation at 'Ama 'Ama for breakfast.  This is now a must do for me when we go back.  The breakfast was so good and the view was just as amazing at breakfast.  Plus, the kids were with us!

​​Bellies full, we headed to the beach for another morning of sand and sun, and to achieve one of Rob's goals, stand up paddle boarding.  You can rent a SUP right at the Aulani beach.  The swimming lagoon is a great place for first time SUPers because the water is calm and it would be pretty hard to be washed out to sea.

If you've been reading along, I'll bet you know what comes next!  Lunch at the quick service place.  Then it was time to hit up the splash park.  Can you believe we saved this til the last day?  There is too much good stuff at this resort.  

Actually, there are two splash parks at Aulani.  There is one with gentle bubblers for the youngest guests.  Then there is Menehune Bridge for kids less than 48 inches tall.

When we were exhausted from swimming, I made everyone get all dressed up for a beach photoshoot.  I mean, how often are you in Hawaii with your family?  I wanted good pictures where we weren't wearing swimsuits.

After the torture of taking photos, we grabbed pizza for dinner, then indulged in a little night swimming.

When they kicked us out of the pool, it was time for bed.  Our last full day in Hawaii was done.  It was time to go home.  

Read about Day Six here.

After spending most of the last two days at the pool, we declared this day a beach day!  The beach at Aulani is exactly what you image a Hawaiian Disney beach would be like.  Plenty of chairs, beautiful water, free sand toys, free boogie boards, and tropical drinks brought to you by happy cast members.  

We ate lunch beach side and then noticed Ryan's lips were turning blue.  Reluctantly we left the beach and took a dip in the family hot tub.  Then we heard a commotion in the big pool.  It was time for the Shake a Shaka Pool Party with Mickey and Friends!  Normally I stay far away from such "forced fun."  My kids didn't inherit that gene and they headed straight for the party.  There was singing and dancing with the characters followed by a few pool races. 

Even though I'm not a fan of these types of events, I got a little teary watching Anne and Ryan.  They looooved it and participated whole heartedly, even in the cross pool kick board relay.  Something about that made me realize how big they actually are.  Oh man, is someone cutting an onion in here?  What's wrong with my eyes?

Our original plan for this evening was to walk down the road a little and attend the Paradise Cove Luau.  There is a Luau at Aulani (featuring Disney characters and authentic Hawaiian dances) but for the 4 of us to attend, it would be over $400! The one at Paradise Cove was less expensive to begin with  and offered a military discount.  As the day went on, it was getting colder and windier and the kids were not acting like they could last until 7pm when it started.  Since we were planning to buy tickets at the Luau, it was an easy decision to skip it.  One thing to do next time we come to Hawaii!

Instead, the kids and I decided to go on the Menehune Trail.  To play this game, you borrow an iPad from the community hall and follow clues to activate special things around the resort.  Those pesky Menehune sure make for a fun scavenger hunt.  This activity is free for guests and worth every penny!

After playing the Menehune Trail for about an hour, we were hungry and decided to eat at Off the Hook, which is a quick service place poolside.  This was a bad idea because it was windy and FREEZING.  Seriously, I thought Hawaii was supposed to be warm.

After dinner it was time for bed!  All that swimming, sun, and shivering had worn us out.

Read about Day Five here.

Rainbows in Hawaii, does life get any better?

We started off our day with early morning coffee and breakfast in the room.  Since food in Hawaii is so expensive, we saved money by having some breakfast items in the room.  It worked well, especially since I never buy PopTarts at home.  When we have them on vacation they are a real luxury.  

After we ate, I took the kids down to Aunty's Beach House.  Rob and I had an anniversary dinner planned at 'Ama 'Ama, and I wanted to register the kids for dinner in the Kids Club.  Unlike on the cruise ships, the meals at Aunty's aren't included.  I think it was about $12 per kid.  There are also a limited number of spots available, so getting there right at opening is important.  

After registering the kids for dinner, there was Family Time in the club.  That meant you couldn't drop them off, but families were welcome to play in the club together.  I loved it!  The kids showed me all the things they had been doing.

During the family time, there was a hula class, which were really excited about.  I knew there would be a special guest, but it was a total surprise to the kids.

After the Family Time, the kids wanted to stay at Aunty's, so I let them.  Rob and I had more pool time until lunch, when I dragged the kids kicking from the club and forced them to hang out with us.  I'm not exaggerating to say that they would be happy to stay in the club the whole time.  

One attraction we were all excited to try was snorkeling at Rainbow Reef.  The kids love to snorkel, and I thought doing it at the resort would be nice because we didn't have to go anywhere and there was very little risk of being stung by sea urchins, which was my fear after going to Hanaumu Bay the last time Rob and I were in Hawaii.  

I believe we paid $19.95 each to snorkel at Rainbow Reef, and it was a... mixed experience.  The kids did fine and enjoyed seeing the fish, but the tank is FREEZING.  We were in the water for about 10 minutes.  Also, I had purchased a waterproof case for my phone so I could use it in the water on this trip.  The case worked great at keeping the water out, but I didn't realize I wasn't pushing the button hard enough while underwater (change in pressure, ya know) so none of my photos took.  Boo! 

$80 poorer, we left Rainbow Reef and went swimming in the pool.  Well, Anne swam and Ryan pouted in a chair.  The poor kid only has 3% body fat and it was just too cold for him to swim.  

Before we dropped the kids off for their evening at Aunty's, we stopped by the Community Hall to make leis.  The Community Hall was a neat room, they do lots of classes there, some free, some for a charge.  Lei making was complimentary.  They also have DVDs to borrow, as well as board games.  And the cast members who work here are so friendly and welcoming.  

Leis made, we dropped the kids off and headed for our dinner at 'Ama 'Ama.  If you are ever lucky enough to go to Aulani, you must eat here! When you make your reservation, find out when the sun sets that day, and try to make your reservation so you can see it.  It is breathtaking. 

I started to feel guilty about the kids being in the club and not with us (why do I always feel like that? they for sure were not missing me!).  So we sprung them and went to the beach to finish watching the sun go down.  That's a full day!

Keep reading here!