My mat leave is coming to an end. Kenna is 6 months and Mike and I have been married for six years this month. All great reasons to spend a week in Hawaii if you ask me!
I heard on a podcast that traveling with a baby is like throwing a party; there is a ton of prep and a ton of clean up but it’s worth it. I adopted this as my guiding light leading up to our first trip with babygirl Kenna. Packing was encompassing (unpacking still isn’t complete). We weren’t sure how she would do on the plane for five hours and since there’s really nothing you can do once you’re in the air, we were a bit fretful. Amazingly, she – and Cam – crushed both flights. Kenna napped 3 times on the way there and Cam watched movies basically the whole time.
That feeling of looking down at the bright blue ocean mixed with streaks of teal and wakes from boaters as you descend onto any Hawaiian island is hard to match. We stayed at the Aulani, the Disney resort, on O’ahu for the second time. Happily when we arrived our room was ready. Yay! It was time for a quick change into our suits and a dip in the pool.
The time change is 3 hours behind California which meant at 3pm Kenna was ready for bed. Yikes. I took her on a walk to the store across the street to stock up on some basics and to strategically have her fall asleep with a surefire way to wake up – when the stroller stopped moving. This worked pretty well as she made it to 4:30pm local time before going to bed for the night, after her walking catnap. Cam followed a bit later while Mike and I treated ourselves to welcome cocktails and dinner on the patio.
Kenna woke up at 3:30am the next morning! This wouldn’t have been so bad (6:30am for us) if coffee was available at that time but, for good reason, nothing was open until 6am. Finally when the cafes started to open we got coffee and pastries from the Four Seasons next door, a morning tradition that would continue for the next 5 days.
We went to the beach after and it still remains the best beach I’ve visited for kids. It is absolutely stunning, the water is warm, and the waves are manageable. Kenna lasted ~30 minutes before Mike took her back for a nap. Our room was luckily on the ground floor, which made nap time accessibility much easier.
Cam and I stayed at the beach and I mentally challenged myself to play a game of โyes to everything.” Meaning whatever he wanted to do I would say yes to. There we sat making “beach soup” with water I had scooped from the sea. Next we dug a river in the sand to the ocean. Open-ended play like that isn’t my strength so I actually found it a lot easier to let Cam lead 100%. We had a great morning on the beach together and it wasn’t even 9am. Ha.
Mike did a fitness class next while I took the kids to a small splash pad, something that seemed within reason for me to do with both of them solo around water. There we snacked on aรงaรญ bowls and danced around in the shallow water before Mike met back up with us.
Our meal schedule was skewed given the early wake up calls. That night we had a very early dinner across the street at Monkey Pod. Just like everyone else who visits Hawaii, the Mai Tais there are our favorite – which made it very disappointing when both of ours tasted different than we remembered from previous trips.
Cam and I ended the day with a spin in the lazy river before both kids were asleep and Mike and I enjoyed dessert on the patio.
After our fancy Four Season’s coffee the next day (and another early wakeup call!), it was my turn for a fitness class. I did a Seaside Stretch on the beach and it wasn’t my favorite class but it was free and under the palm trees so I really can’t complain. Before I left for my class I suggested a nap for Cam when Kenna slept since he seemed to be having a hard morning. Mike got both kids to sleep and we were able to enjoy some 10am Mai Tais after my class!
We spent the afternoon alternating between pools and nap coverage back at the room. For our after-hours entertainment that night, we took shifts visiting the hot tub. What a way to end the night! Of course, we were in bed by 8pm; still not having had adjusted to the time difference.
The next morning Mike did standup paddle board yoga while me and the kids played on a blanket on the sand. It’s crazy to think Cam didn’t visit a beach until he was over a year old because of the pandemic and Kenna has had an entire beach vacation. She did pretty good but it is hard to entertain a baby at the beach. When Mike wrapped his class I flirted with the idea of going for a swim in the ocean. The water was still a bit chilly and I wasnโt particularly in the mood however there isnโt a ton of predictability when traveling with littles so I knew this could be my only chance. Who knew what tomorrow or even the rest of the day looked like?
After my swim I played โcrocodileโ with Cam and it was another moment for me of just tapping into fun with him. So often I wonโt get in all the way in the water because it is too cold or I wonโt get my hair wet because I just showered… this trip felt different. I likely won’t be this person all of the time (I really don’t like cold water!) but love the idea of some wild abandonment every once in a while; fully swimming, really playing, hair wet, sand everywhere. Let’s just have fun.
Later that day we rented a car to travel to the Dole pineapple plantation. Looking back, the cost was a bit extreme for one outing but it would have been more difficult to take a ride share with carseats, etc. The few hours we spent there was a lot of fun. We wandered through a giant maze while it drizzled on and off (Kenna’s first experience feeling rain so it was cute and funny to see her little body respond to the drops, arms and legs flailing). Then we took the Pineapple Express train to explore the plantation / let Kenna nap in Mike’s arms. We stubbled upon some pineapple bushes before heading back to the resort, which was a fun way to end our excursion.
That night we had our least exciting dinner; rushed take out on the patio since we were all ravenous when we got back. Cam wasn’t tired when we tired to put him to sleep so we had an extra little patio guest with us too. ๐
We kicked off our last full day on the beach for another swim out to sea, this time with Cam joining me! We played a round of crocodile again and then Mike and I alternated taking Cam to the pool while Kenna napped. Somehow I convinced him to spend like 30 minutes in the hot tub with me during my time, which never happens. Ah, what a treat.
Midday we needed a pick me up so we ordered a round of rums and cokes for us and OJ for Cam (milk for Kenna girl!). I rarely drink soda but it was the best call; refreshing with a hint of caffeine. We tried to go back to the hot tub after but Camโs affection had drifted. Instead we went to the pool as large gray rain clouds rolled in. Uh-oh. Mike took Kenna back for a nap when the rain started but me and Cam stayed and swam in the rainstorm. Swimming in the rain has to be one of my favorite activities. I don’t know why but it is so fun.
Despite the Mai Tais not being what we remembered, Monkey Pod still has some of the best food. It was a treat that the day/nap schedule unfolded in a way that we could make it there for happy hour!
It was sad to know our vacation was coming to an end. Mike and I have been counting down the days for almost a year (in the thick of winter and newborns days, we would often look at each other and ask, “is it time for Hawaii yet?”). Before the trip I made a vow to not spend so much time fussing about tidying or meal prep. I wanted to be there and be present with Mike and the kids. I am proud of myself for letting our hotel room be in a perpetual state of chaos. We did the dishes and threw our dirty clothes in the same general direction, but aside from that, sunscreen and hats, toys and shoes were everywhere all of the time. This is very unlike me and how I like to exist in my environment but committing to this challenge allowed for space to get out of the hotel on time, enjoy more of my family’s company, and really tap into vacation mode.
On our last day, we had the morning to spend doing our favorite things one more time. We got coffee and pastries at the Four Seasons. I was supposed to do another Seaside Stretch but got the time wrong and almost accidentally did a bootcamp (when I saw the medicine balls instead yoga mats I quickly inquired and then got out of there before anyone asked me to do a squat or a burpee). We pushed Kenna’s “wake window” to the limits and spun around the lazy river multiple times. Cam and I walked to get French toast, bacon, and aรงaรญ bowls to bring back and enjoy on the patio. I did a patio yoga sesh with beach towels stacked as a makeshift mat to makeup for my missed class. Mike was able to take Cam to the water play structure that was closed our whole visit until that morning and Cam went down the waterslide over and over again.
Then it was time to shower the last sand off of us and pack our things. The trip was an absolute dream (although, to be candid, it wasn’t all sunshine and pineapples on the way home – Kenna had a blowout before our flight and we left her milk on the plane).
We can’t wait to visit again; to swim and play and soak each other in. A little lovely family of four.
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