Hawaii

Shops, eats and places to take kids in Hawaii.

Road to Hana with two active boys (Maui with kids)

February 27, 2013

For some reason the Road to Hana is like some holy Grail in Maui. Can you drive it with kids? Should you drive the road if you’re in Maui with kids? What are the best Road to Hana stops? Is it going to be a day of fun, or a day full of whining, screaming, […]

Most Romantic Resort with kids in Maui (Napili Kai Beach Resort, Maui)

February 22, 2013

Last summer I went to a Maui tourism event and I was intrigued by a resort called Napili Kai. They were really proud of the fact that they didn’t nickel and dime their guests with hidden costs like resort or parking fees. When you stayed with them, you were supposed to feel like family. Fast […]

If you decide to ride the Sugarcane Train (Maui with kids)

February 20, 2013

*Apparently this Sugarcane train is now closed. Thank you Rick for letting me know and if anyone hears otherwise, please message me too! We weren’t sure if we were going to do this one. I couldn’t find a lot of information on it, and I wasn’t sure if it was a full length ride or […]

Kihei (Maui with kids)

February 15, 2013

I tend to book places when I get a good feeling about the place. Kihei had a pretty name, it was close to the airport (our flight arrived at 11pm) and I managed to find a condo on the beach for a reasonable rate. We like small hotels especially in Hawaii: the type that […]

Did somebody pinch me? (Maui with kids)

February 12, 2013

How is that we’re already back? Weren’t we just at the top of a crater minutes ago? Or exploring caves? Paddle-boarding in an ocean teeming with whales. And driving gorgeous but treacherous roads along an incredible coastline. We even got chased by a cow. (All the while chugging Dayquil on the beach and trying to […]

Maui Revisited

February 2, 2013

See these tired, shiny, almost-brand new parents? Our guys were 9 months old and we headed off to Maui for our first vacation as a family. A bunch of trips later and we’re heading back to the island pretty soon and I can’t wait. All I can remember from the last visit was a lovely […]

On finding Melona

July 17, 2012

On a trip to Hawaii a few years ago, we discovered a treat with a very odd name. Yes, it’s made of melons, but it just seems like an unfortunate sounding title for such a delicious ice pop (a friend recently told me it sounds like a skin disease.) But it must be popular in […]

The whole beach to ourselves

April 13, 2012

The last time this happened, we all camped out under an umbrella at our resort in Turtle Bay determined to have a nice day at the beach despite the torrential rain that kept pouring down. I don’t think you’d ever find such a beautiful beach in Hawaii so empty so we savored it. (But still, […]

Honolulufest Parade and Something we made

April 6, 2012

Whenever we travel I like to check out what goes on in the city when we’re there. The last time we went to Oahu it coincided with the Honolulu Festival called “Honolulufest” and I was so excited to watch the parade. This float was spectacular-like a giant glowing lantern. And the boys remembered it when […]

Hukilau Cafe (Kaneohe, Oahu)

March 16, 2012

I totally wish this was a real cafe, but it’s just a set on a really gorgeous piece of property in Kaneohe, Oahu. Apparently it was used in 50 First Dates as the Hukilau Cafe (I love that movie!) but it’s also been used in a couple other movies/shows as well. (Sorry, the names all […]

Manoa DNA

March 13, 2012

My guys are in love with this Hawaiian band called Manoa DNA. They are a band made up of a dad and two sons and we saw them play last year at our hotel the Outrigger Reef in Waikiki, Oahu. The guys (especially Leelee) adore their ‘fast songs’ and the train songs that are on […]

You win some, you lose some. (Weather in Oahua in March)

March 11, 2012

Maybe we jinxed ourselves when we disregarded the weather forecast and left our rain-gear at home for the first time on a trip with our kids. We thought it doesn’t rain in Hawaii like it does in Seattle but then suddenly the headline below is what we ended up with-and it is not fun to […]

Best Souvenir Ever (Polynesian Cultural Center,Oahu, HI)

September 2, 2011

On our last trip to Hawaii, we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center for the first time because Leelee loves luaus. We had a blast exploring all the “islands” with our three year olds and while we waited for dinner we spotted a booth that for 5 dollars you could make a beaded bracelet. Little did […]

Hawaii 2011-where do we begin?

June 27, 2011

Travel is getting easier with the duo. At nearly four years old, they can almost navigate themselves and they are a lot more self-sufficient. We went to Oahu a couple weeks ago and had a blast at the Outrigger Reef on the beach. It was a low-key trip where we planned just to sit on […]

Wiki Wiki Bus and our Sweet Rides.

June 13, 2011

We just got back from a much-needed trip to Oahu, and all the boys can talk about is the bus we took from our car to the airport and back. Alaska Air has a fantastic seat-sale out of Bellingham and since it was a direct and overnight flight we thought it would be the best […]

Maui Ocean Center (Wailuku, HI)

May 16, 2011

The cloudy days around this years’ Mother’s Day made me reminisce for the first plane trip we took with the kids when they were 9 months old. We thought that Maui would be a good idea, and that they would love splashing their feet on the beach. They did not really love the ocean or […]

Pana ‘ewa Zoo (Hilo, HI)

May 13, 2011

When we went to the Big Island with our family and the grandparents last August, I needed an excuse to drive an hour or so to Hilo to get this mochi I read about and couldn’t leave Hawaii without trying: . It is from a place called The Two Ladies Kitchen and they are famous […]

Greenwell Farms (Big Island, Hawaii)

February 25, 2011

Over a decade ago I won a contest on the “World Wide Web” that led me to the Big Island for the first time. It started a love of this beautiful island that brought me back six years ago with my husband, and now this past summer with my boys. The one must-see place on […]

How to Babyproof a hotel room (Kaanapali, Maui)

February 11, 2011

I could also have called this post “Slice of Heaven at the Mahana”, as it was this hotel that proved to us that we could travel with babies when we went there in 2009(beachfront, suite-style hotel rooms, in room laundry, and kitchen with dishwasher), but when we got there this trip was definitely more a […]

eating out in hawaii big island with kids at coffee shack

The Coffee Shack-Breakfast with Geckos (Big Island, HI)

December 8, 2010

It’s drippy here in December in Seattle, but in South Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, I imagine it’s gloriously tropical. And a breakfast at the Coffee Shack, a restaurant on the Big Island would make any day perfect rain or shine. When we decided to take our two-year-old boys to the Big Island […]