Where have we been? A Family Vacation to Hawaii

My Hubby and I have talked about a trip to Hawaii ever since we first got married. That was 15 years ago. Through the years of children being born, Hawaii dreams got pushed to the back burner. Two years ago we finally made it a reality; we tucked some money away and waited.

Instead of just a trip for the two of us to be gone for a week only to worry if the kids were OK, we decided to take them with us and make it a family vacation. I will share with you our adventures in Hawaii with plenty of pictures too.

Day 1:

We left LAX early in the morning. Yes, I did say early. Our goal was to leave our home no later than 5am to make it to the airport in time. LAX is a very busy airport and traffic in and out of it is terrible.

The kids were excited. Excited that we were heading to Maui but even more excited to be on a plane for the first time.

The ride was smooth and worry free. The kids did great and they took turns looking out the one window seat that we did have. The loved the fact that there was a flight attendant to offer them drinks and who would come at just a click of a button and being able to watch a movie was an added bonus.

Once we arrived in Maui. right away we noticed the change in weather. It was windy and humid. Something very different from our dry climate state. All of us couldn't wait to get our bags, our rental car and begin exploring. On the plane everyone placed guesses to see what color car we would be getting. Guess what.....I won! The car was colored maroon/red.

Next, we ate lunch at....Costco. Yes, our first meal in Maui was not a Hawaiian style meal but a cheap hot dog, drink combo. We were famished and let me tell you anything would have tasted good to us by this time. After our quick bite we searched the isles within Costco to stock up on food for our condo. Prices were about the same for most items. The biggest difference we noticed was the bread and milk costs and a few other items.

Once our car was filled with groceries we made our way to the condo. The condo was located in Kaanapali, called the Honua Kai Resort & Spa. For a family that is so used to camping in a tent and most of the hotels our kids have seen are a Holiday Inn Express or a Best Western, this was like staying in a royal palace. We later told our kids to enjoy it while it lasts that this will not begin to be a habit with our family. We would be back to tent camping and cheap hotels again next year.

:(

Words just can not begin to describe how gorgeous everything was. It was just breathtaking. I think I needed someone at this point to help me pick my chin up off the ground so it wouldn't be constantly dragging. (Just beyond the pool in the picture below is the ocean, a beautiful beach too. It was less than a five minute walk from our room.)

Our condo was not an expensive ocean view, but a view above the valet parking. Inside it was a spacious two bedroom/two bath and it had everything we needed. The kids loved the fact that there was three HD TVs, since we only have one really old TV at home. Our two youngest shared a room and one TV, our oldest had the pull out sofa in the living room and hubby and I had the master bedroom.

After unloading our bags we headed down to the pool. The pool looked like something out of a magazine and the water was invitingly warm. The kids were excited that our resort not only had five different pools but a water slide to boot. They felt like they had just died and gone to heaven.

Aloha for now....