Hawaii – Day 1 & 2: Honua Kai

Blogging my other trips this year (Hawaii, Sunriver, Hong Kong… yes, it's been quite the year) were really easy because I’d done all the journaling before I even got home.   I didn’t type a thing this time around until right this second.  I suppose the easiest way to go about putting words to pictures would be to just go in order.  Bare with me, there will be days where all we did was sit at the pool all day – while that sounds heavenly, it doesn’t make for a very interesting blog post, but here we go… for posterity…

If you recall, when Justin and I traveled to Maui in January we had several problems and delays getting there, especially with our flight.  As an apology, Hawaiian Airlines gave each of us a $300 voucher to use on a flight booked in the next 12 months. Mid-September we saw prices dip to an acceptable level and booked a trip for our family leaving only six weeks later.   With our vouchers we got an amazing deal, but it’s funny to think we spent thousands of dollars on a trip because we were able to save $600.  We love Hawaii though and who knows, maybe we would have gone even without the vouchers.

Flying with our kids is cake.  We didn’t even sit right next to them (Katie yes, but not the big kids).  I always take car seats on the plane for my babies and toddlers if I can.  Strapping them in makes getting up to move around not even an option in their mind; making travel pretty sweet.  It is a six hour flight and the kids took care of their own needs and entertained themselves beautifully.  Because Katie was strapped in her car seat for six hours drinking juice, she completely wet through her diaper and pants by the time we landed – lesson learned.  Potty breaks are necessary for all children, and packing a change of pants wouldn’t hurt either.  On the flight home she kept herself dry and used the potty on the airplane a few times.  On both flights I watched old episodes of My So-Called Life on my iPad.  Good times (tell me I’m not the only one who loved that series).

When we arrived in Maui Justin started making phone calls about renting a van.  A few weeks beforehand he had compared the prices of a few rentals, but didn’t make any reservations.  The night before we left prices were double or even triple what we were expecting – costing even more than all of our airline tickets combined!  We hoped that when we were actually there, saying we were ready to take the van right that second, we would be able to find something cheaper.  By some miracle we did – hallelujah and lesson learned!  Always make a reservation ahead of time – it doesn’t cost a thing unless until you actually pick it up.

After picking up a few groceries we headed to the Honua Kai Resort in Kaanapali – our Hawaiian home for the first five nights.  The Honua Kai is only a few years old and is located right on the beach and has sweet pools.  Our unit had one bedroom, a doorless den with a sleeper sofa for the girls, and another sleeper sofa in the family room for Jason.  Plenty of room.  They also had a portacrib that we set up in the den closet for Katie.  Love that that girl will sleep anywhere!  We also had a full kitchen so we were able to cook most of our meals.  By the time we got settled it was already dark, but the kids (and Justin) couldn’t resist heading down the to pools.  We didn’t stay long, just enough to get the kids excited for all the fun that awaited them in the morning.

Day 2

It was absolutely necessary to spend our first (and fifth) morning enjoying breakfast at the Gazebo Restaurant.  On both mornings we got there before it opened so we could avoid the long line of people that are always waiting for an open table and be one of the first customers of the day.  I’ve been longing for their white chocolate macadamia nut pancakes ever since partaking of them in January.  I was not disappointed and the rest of the family loved their breakfast as well.  A must eat in Maui!

Katie is proudly showing off her the Winky Sticks (waxy twisty sticks) that they give to kids to play with

The rest of the day was spent playing in the pools at the resort.  

We spent most of the time at this pool, the waterslide is on the left, the girls are frolicking by the waterfalls.

The kids loved the waterslide.  Katie was excited to go down the waterslide just like her older siblings.  She went down multiple times and then called it quits for the rest of the trip.  

Hanging out poolside with Mom

Jason must have gone down the slide hundreds of times while we were there.  He was quite the dare devil and flipped and slid down every imaginable way possible.

The slide wasn’t just for the kids to enjoy – even Justin and I took a few turns.

We brought floaties for Katie and she happily wore them anytime we were near water.  Within a few days she was able to swim around on her own really well.

We ventured over to another pool at the resort just as they were preparing to introduce kids to SNUBA.  The kids loved trying it out.

After cooking dinner at the condo we introduced the kids to Ululani’s shaved ice.  Apparently I didn’t take any pictures, but no worries we returned multiple times throughout the trip.