Hawaii
Shops, eats and places to take kids in Hawaii.
Most Romantic Resort with kids in Maui (Napili Kai Beach Resort, Maui)
February 22, 2013Last 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 […]
Read MoreIf 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 […]
Read MoreKihei (Maui with kids)
February 15, 2013I 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 […]
Read MoreDid somebody pinch me? (Maui with kids)
February 12, 2013How 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 […]
Read MoreMaui Revisited
February 2, 2013See 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 […]
Read MoreOn finding Melona
July 17, 2012On 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 […]
Read MoreThe whole beach to ourselves
April 13, 2012The 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, […]
Read MoreHonolulufest Parade and Something we made
April 6, 2012Whenever 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 […]
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Hukilau Cafe (Kaneohe, Oahu)
March 16, 2012I 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 […]
Read MoreManoa DNA
March 13, 2012My 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 […]
Read MoreYou win some, you lose some. (Weather in Oahua in March)
March 11, 2012Maybe 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 […]
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Best Souvenir Ever (Polynesian Cultural Center,Oahu, HI)
September 2, 2011On 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 […]
Read MoreHawaii 2011-where do we begin?
June 27, 2011Travel 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 […]
Read MoreWiki Wiki Bus and our Sweet Rides.
June 13, 2011We 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 […]
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Maui Ocean Center (Wailuku, HI)
May 16, 2011The 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 […]
Read MorePana ‘ewa Zoo (Hilo, HI)
May 13, 2011When 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 […]
Read MoreGreenwell Farms (Big Island, Hawaii)
February 25, 2011Over 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 […]
Read MoreHow to Babyproof a hotel room (Kaanapali, Maui)
February 11, 2011I 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 […]
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The Coffee Shack-Breakfast with Geckos (Big Island, HI)
December 8, 2010It’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 […]
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