# Just the 19 of Us – Oahu North Shore & Aulani – Jan. 2016 ~ Updated 6/4: Complete & DL TR Link!



## Dugette

*Hi, friends! 

As some of you may know, I am just finishing up a Trip Report on our Nov. 2014 trip to Aulani, so why not jump right into this one?  You can find the other report here, if you are interested:

Happy in Hawaii - Aulani & Oahu with a Toddler 

For those that don’t yet know us, here we are:





I am “Dugette” and I’ve been married to “Dug” for nearly 11 years now:





Our daughter Izzy will be turning 4 in a couple months, but was just a few months past her third birthday at the time of this trip (just old enough to utilize Aunty’s Beach House – the Aulani kids club! ):





Clearly, she loves Minnie!  

If you can’t tell from my signature, we are big Disney lovers and have made a number of trips to WDW (and a recent trip to Disneyland). We also love to travel and see new places, in general. So, between both of those things, Hawaii and Aulani were on our bucket list. However, if you’d have asked me 3 years ago, I NEVER would have guessed we’d have gone TWICE in that time  (it was more of a “someday” kind of thing). But, long story short, our first visit came about due to exceptionally lucky timing of checking airfare during a major Delta price glitch and getting $70 flights (yes, you read that right – AND….they were 1st Class ). 

The second trip came about because people kept asking me how we knew about the glitch and if we’d gotten fare alerts. Well, no, I had just lucked out, but all the asking made me think…maybe I should sign up for some fare alerts?  So, I did. Fast forward a bit and I get an alert for $350-ish fares (coach/economy) to Honolulu (from Minneapolis) on United. Checked into it and tons of dates available.  It turned out to be a legitimate fare (part of a fare war on the airline hubs). We made some calls and, before we knew it, a lot of people we knew were planning trips to Hawaii. So, this trip ended up being not only our little family, but Dug’s parents, his sister and her husband, and a ton of her husband’s extended family - all together, there were 19 of us. Also, our daycare provider booked a trip, but she didn’t go until after we returned. So, this was a very different trip than our previous one – and a lot of fun! 

We spent 9 nights total on Oahu, arriving January 8th and returning home on the 18th. The first 5 nights, our entire group rented condos in the Turtle Bay resort area on the North Shore. For the last 4 nights, nearly the entire group moved down to stay at Aulani on rented DVC points. Everyone enjoyed both parts of the stay, but I am still hearing people talk about how much they loved Aulani (my father-in-law in particular – he was opposed to Aulani as we planned (didn’t want too much Disney, I guess ), but he just told me AGAIN the other day that he’d love to go back there ). I’ll cover the full trip here, so you’ll have to stick with me a bit before we get to the Disney magic, but Oahu in general is pretty darn magical too! 

I can’t wait to share all of our adventures with you! 

Chapter links:

Day 1 - Friday, January 8th
Will I Get to Hawaii?
We're Not in Hawaii Yet

Day 2 - Saturday, January 9th
Waimea Valley
A Morning Stroll
Ted's Bakery & Ocean Sunset

Day 3 - Sunday, January 10th
Slow-Paced Sunday

Day 4 - Monday, January 11th
Polynesian Cultural Center - Part 1
Polynesian Cultural Center - Part 2
Polynesian Cultural Center - Part 3
Polynesian Cultural Center - Part 4

Day 5 - Tuesday, January 12th
Byodo-In Temple
Okay, Settle Down, Settle Down!

Day 6 - Wednesday, January 13th
The Delicious Journey
Aulani Arrival
The Sun Sets on our First Day at Aulani

Day 7 - Thursday, January 14th
Everybody Into the Pool!
A Whale of a Time - Part 1
A Whale of a Time - Part 2
Dinner and a Show

Day 8 - Friday, January 15th
Shake Your Tail Feathers!
Character Fun + Space Goo*
*The Waikolohe Stream*
*In the Lagoon*
*Browsing the Shelves*

*Day 9 - Saturday, January 16th
A Beautiful Breakfast*
*Following the Trail*
*Water & Music
Sunset on the Beach
The Last Sunset*

*Day 10 - Sunday, January 17th (-18th)
One Last Pool Morning
Duffy Day!
Up All Night!*

* 





*


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## TheMaxRebo

Joining in - and good/interesting to hear the reviews and that clearly it isn't just that it is on Hawaii that makes Aulani great


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## alohamom

Following along. What a nice picture of you and Dug together on the beach, you both look so naturally happy-I guess being at Aulani helped bring those smiles out!


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## cindianne320

Can't wait to hear more! We loved Oahu, and can't wait to hear more about Aulani!


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## I_Luv_Stitch

Following along, I've followed all your TR's for the last couple of years, can't wait to read this one too! Izzy is such a cutie!


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## Nora03

Wanted to join in and tell you that I'm following and enjoying your trip reports. Your daughter is adorable. You are a very good writer and a patient toddler Mom. Love Hawaii and Disney too. Our two favourite vacation spots.


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## schmass

Joining in!  Can't wait to read about your return trip!


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## Princess Leia

Joining in! I've been enjoying reading your trip report. Hopefully Hawaii is a bit more relaxing than WDW. We're just back from a 2 week trip and I always forget how exhausting it is! Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures.


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## Miss Whimsy

Yay!

I am reading your other TR too ("I'm not a princess! etc") and this may sound odd but one of the things I enjoy about your TRs is that you guys do such DIFFERENT Disney things than I do! I'm not really a cruise person at all but I am loving that part of your TR. And I will probably never be able to get to Aulani (it is sooooo farrrrrr) but I'm so excited to read about your adventures!


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## AussieMumma

I'm joining in


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## Imagineer5

Sorry it took me so long to join in! I'm here!



Dugette said:


>



This is precious!



Dugette said:


> Everyone enjoyed both parts of the stay, but I am still hearing people talk about how much they loved Aulani (my father-in-law in particular – he was opposed to Aulani as we planned



Woohoo, that's awesome!!


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## khertz

Joining in at the beginning of this one, though I may have to check out your previous one as well. We have been pining over a trip to Hawaii recently and toying with the idea of doing a split stay between our Wyndham timeshare on the days we do most of our island exploring and a few days at Aulani just to enjoy the resort. We were thinking of doing a trip just DH and I, but I recently listened to one of the DIS podcasts and thought the kids might have a lot of fun at the kids clubs and DH and I could still do some stuff on our own. It probably won't be for awhile until DD is old enough for the kids clubs and until I think I can handle an 8 hour flight with both of them!! lol


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## Disney Khaleesi

Joining in! 

I usually lurk, but I love your TRs. It's so weird reading your 2014 one and then coming over to this one and seeing how big Izzy has gotten!


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## 2xcited2sleep

Can't wait to follow along with your adventures!  Aulani is definitely on my bucket list so will be gathering tips from your last report & this one.


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## Dugette

TheMaxRebo said:


> Joining in - and good/interesting to hear the reviews and that clearly it isn't just that it is on Hawaii that makes Aulani great


Yeah, being on Hawaii sure doesn't hurt, but Aulani is a great resort within itself too. I remember commenting at one point that I wish Aulani was in Orlando because then we'd probably buy into DVC just to stay there for reasonable airfare.  However, not being on a beautiful island and feeling the pull of the theme parks would make it lose its luster a bit. But, yeah, I was really impressed at the turn-around in attitude of my FIL in particular - he went from adamantly fighting against Aulani to giving in when everyone else was going there, to constantly talking about how he wants to go back and wishes we'd just stayed there the whole time instead of the North Shore portion. 



alohamom said:


> Following along. What a nice picture of you and Dug together on the beach, you both look so naturally happy-I guess being at Aulani helped bring those smiles out!


Aw, thank you! It's hard not to be happy on Aulani's beach at sunset with your family! 



cindianne320 said:


> Can't wait to hear more! We loved Oahu, and can't wait to hear more about Aulani!


Agreed - the whole island is beautiful and I think people who ONLY go to Aulani and don't venture out are missing a ton. But the resort itself is really special and a great place to relax.



I_Luv_Stitch said:


> Following along, I've followed all your TR's for the last couple of years, can't wait to read this one too! Izzy is such a cutie!


Thank you!  Glad to have you along for the ride again!



Nora03 said:


> Wanted to join in and tell you that I'm following and enjoying your trip reports. Your daughter is adorable. You are a very good writer and a patient toddler Mom. Love Hawaii and Disney too. Our two favourite vacation spots.


Thank you!  I try to be patient, at least, but not always easy.  Great choice in vacation spots! 



schmass said:


> Joining in!  Can't wait to read about your return trip!


Thanks, can't wait to share the journey!



Princess Leia said:


> Joining in! I've been enjoying reading your trip report. Hopefully Hawaii is a bit more relaxing than WDW. We're just back from a 2 week trip and I always forget how exhausting it is! Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures.


Yes, I would say it very much is, so long as you don't go too crazy (like we did when Dug was there on our first Hawaii trip). Our last WDW trip (May 2015, land and sea) was exhausting and I'm hoping our next one (December) will be a bit more relaxed. But that's much easier to achieve at Aulani that WDW.



Miss Whimsy said:


> Yay!
> 
> I am reading your other TR too ("I'm not a princess! etc") and this may sound odd but one of the things I enjoy about your TRs is that you guys do such DIFFERENT Disney things than I do! I'm not really a cruise person at all but I am loving that part of your TR. And I will probably never be able to get to Aulani (it is sooooo farrrrrr) but I'm so excited to read about your adventures!


Thanks, I'm glad you are enjoying the report. That's one thing I love about TRs - being able to live out some trips/experiences that you may not get to do firsthand. I really enjoy some of the ones that are "different" for me. And, hey, you never know about Aulani - we sure didn't plan to go there, but you never know when a crazy deal on airfare will pop up and change your plans. 



AussieMumma said:


> I'm joining in


Glad to have you here!



Imagineer5 said:


> Sorry it took me so long to join in! I'm here!
> 
> 
> 
> This is precious!
> 
> 
> 
> Woohoo, that's awesome!!


Thanks, I love that Minnie picture. Dug actually took her to that meet himself and I was so surprised when I checked the pictures and saw such precious shots!



khertz said:


> Joining in at the beginning of this one, though I may have to check out your previous one as well. We have been pining over a trip to Hawaii recently and toying with the idea of doing a split stay between our Wyndham timeshare on the days we do most of our island exploring and a few days at Aulani just to enjoy the resort. We were thinking of doing a trip just DH and I, but I recently listened to one of the DIS podcasts and thought the kids might have a lot of fun at the kids clubs and DH and I could still do some stuff on our own. It probably won't be for awhile until DD is old enough for the kids clubs and until I think I can handle an 8 hour flight with both of them!! lol


You should go!!!! (No peer pressure here ). Based on this trip, I like the split stay plan - we did most of our outings during the non-Aulani part and were able to pretty much just hang out at Aulani once we moved over there (except for our whale watching excursion, which was 1000% worth missing an afternoon at Aulani for!) I'm sure your kids would love Aunty's - Izzy really enjoyed her time there and it was SOOOOO nice to have it there as needed - even just one night we used it for a short time to meet family for drinks w/o Izzy having to sit there and be bored - win for everyone!  The flights really aren't too bad either - at least, for us, there are two connecting flights - so not as long of a stretch in the air.



Disney Khaleesi said:


> Joining in!
> 
> I usually lurk, but I love your TRs. It's so weird reading your 2014 one and then coming over to this one and seeing how big Izzy has gotten!


Thanks for coming out of lurkdom to say hi!  It was so weird for me to finish up that 2014 one and see how TINY she was!  It's amazing how fast kids grow and change! (Heck, this trip was now about 7 months ago, so she's even bigger!)



2xcited2sleep said:


> Can't wait to follow along with your adventures!  Aulani is definitely on my bucket list so will be gathering tips from your last report & this one.


Great place to have on the bucket list! It was on ours (way down there) until we caught the crazy airfare and now it's on our list of "places we want to be regulars at".  In fact, Izzy's always talking about, "Next time we go to Hawaii..."  Let me know if you have any planning questions!


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## Dugette

*Will I Get to Hawaii?*
*
I have to start off by apologizing for the lack of pictures to start this.  Don’t worry, there will be way too many once we are in flight , but none prior to boarding – and we had some adventures in that time. 

Our morning started off early. Our departure from MSP was scheduled for 7:25am and we live about 35 minutes away, so our goal was to get on the road around 4am.  We were up very early and got the last things tossed into the car. A bit behind plan, but we felt pretty good about hitting the road at 4:15am. 

Our plan was to drop Dug, Izzy, and our luggage (or at least most of it) off at the airport, then I would drive over to Dug’s sister’s house, near the airport. For purposes of referring to her in this TR and maintaining privacy, I’ll call her “Kay” and her husband “Jay”, as that’s the first letter of their names, but sounds like a full name to me.  So, Kay and Jay were already in Hawaii, as they had left a couple days earlier, but they had offered us parking in their driveway. I would also be meeting Jay’s brother in that driveway, as he was going to drop his wife and daughter off at the airport, then park there, and we’d share a cab back.  (For those astute readers that are also following the May 2015 Land & Sea report, you may remember that Kay and Jay had sold their house unexpectedly and had to find a new one – well, they had a new one built pretty nearby and that is where I would be parking this trip. It’s a great new house and they really wanted to stay in that same area, in part because they wanted to be able to help friends and family with airport rides and parking. Pretty nice! )

It was snowing fairly heavily out this morning (January in Minnesota, after all ), but it didn’t slow us down too much and we pulled into the airport at 4:55am. 

Just as we did so, Dug gasped and started sobbing, “No!!! No, no, no!!”   Turns out that he just then realized he’d left his backpack at home. That contained all his electronics, our waterproof camera, and various other somewhat important things. Not things that can easily be purchased once in Hawaii. Ugh.  Dug was upset and hopeless and feeling like his trip was ruined.  We were doing reasonably okay on time. So, I made the snap decision to get him and Izzy and our stuff dropped off (since we were pulling up to the airport) and then I’d bolt home and get his backpack.  He agreed to call Jay’s brother and let him know that he’d have to take a cab on his own (which he was totally cool with, thankfully). And Dug was assigned the task of arranging for a cab to be ready to pick me up when I made it back to Kay and Jay’s house.

And then I was OFF!  I was focused on getting home and back as safely as possible, given the snow falling, but I also had to be sensitive to the time. As I drove back to our house, I definitely had the thought that there would only be 18 of us in Hawaii and I’d be sitting at home by myself.  But I couldn’t focus on that, I just needed to keep moving. I was very thankful I’d opted to put snow tires on my car this winter, as that extra traction allowed me to move along at a pretty normal pace during less than ideal driving conditions.  When I made it home, I went straight to the kitchen and, sure enough, there was Dug’s backpack right on the counter where he’d said he left it. I grabbed it, locked up the house, and took off for Kay and Jay’s place. 

I felt a bit better on this part of the drive, as I’d made good time back to our house and things looked pretty do-able now. I pulled into their driveway at 6:05am and the cab was waiting, just as I’d hoped. I grabbed what I needed, hopped in there, and was soon at the airport. I got through security just fine and headed to the nearby restroom. As I walked in, I suddenly realized that security still had my Fitbit!  I have a Fitbit One, which is the old-fashioned type that clips on a pocket, etc. They made me take it off and put it in the little tray when I went through the metal detector and I totally forgot to ask for it back (I don’t usually need to put anything in the tray, as I don’t usually go through the full body scanners because I usually have Izzy with me). 

After I came out of the restroom, I zipped right back to security and, thankfully, they were able to track it down in about 5 minutes.  Then I headed to the gate to meet up with Dug and Izzy. Jay’s brother and family (pregnant wife and 5 year old daughter) were there too. Turned out that we’d be in row 11 and they had row 12! 

We got the gate check tag for the stroller and Dug obtained some breakfast for us from French Meadow Bakery. I think maybe breakfast burritos? All I know is that it was a huge serving and we didn’t have much time until boarding, so I was just scarfing it down. I felt bad that I had to toss some, though, as I got full and my stomach was still a little fluttery from all the excitement - just hard to enjoy a nice meal under those conditions.

We were flying United, so it was a bit different than our usual Delta experience. One different thing was that we were in Boarding Group 3. Izzy said this was because she was 3. Seems reasonable to me. 

So, the other thing that I thought might be different than Delta was bringing the car seat onboard for Izzy to sit in. In all of our Delta flights, they never once asked to look at it and confirm that the FAA approval sticker was on there. But, in May 2015, we flew Sun Country and they insisted on finding and examining the sticker. So, I was ready for that to happen again while boarding the United flight this morning. But they didn’t ask and let us right on with it.  Okay, cool, guess it was just a Sun Country thing. 

So, we found our seats and got situated. I installed Izzy’s carseat by the window, buckled her in, and took the aisle seat next to her. Dug was across the aisle from me, as it was a 2 x 2 configuration for this flight (to San Francisco). We were all set for take-off. The plane was full and it was almost time to go! 

And then the flight attendant came over. She said she needed to see the FAA approval sticker on the car seat. What?!  AFTER I’d completely installed it and had a happy 3-year-old buckled into it just prior to take off?!  I asked her if she really wanted me to take my kid out and completely uninstall the car seat on a fully boarded plane (the sticker is on the very bottom and I assured her it was there). She said yes.  So, that’s what we did. And it was super annoying and stressful, but she approved it and I had to reinstall and get Izzy back in and settled, as quickly as possible in that small little space, trying not to cause any trouble for anyone around us. Clearly, I’m STILL upset about this. 

But, yay, time to go on vacation:





I got Izzy set up with Frozen on the iPad, milk in her Thermos, and Minnie by her side:





Thanks to a perk of my Flexperks credit card, I was able to activate free WiFi for the flight on my phone, so that was cool (I’m sure Dug had it on his too). 

Because of the weather conditions, our 7:25am flight was still on the ground at 7:50am. They were working on de-icing:





We took off shortly after that, around 8am. I think this picture is to remind me that there was nobody seated directly in front of Izzy, which meant I (for once!) didn’t have to worry about them reclining and making it too tight for her feet and for me to get to her things below the seat:





Yay! 

After some Frozen, Izzy told me she wanted to nap. I put away the iPad and got her blanket and pillow out. However, she got mad because she wanted to nap in a regular seat, NOT in her carseat.  I tried to explain that we had no place to put her car seat and it had to stay buckled into her seat. I reminded her that the carseat is much more comfortable for sleeping. But she was crying/tantrum-ing for longer than I liked.  I think she was tired from our super early morning and just not handling it very well at that moment.

Eventually, when it was clear she wouldn't be napping, we settled on coloring for an activity. But she insisted that I be the one actually doing the coloring and she would tell me which colors to use and what to do. She is a tiny director and loves to be in charge. 

Since she had consumed quite a bit of milk while watching Frozen, she needed to use the potty. I took her to the teeny tiny airplane bathroom. Despite the tiny size (with both of us crammed in there), it was a successful visit and we were soon headed back to our seats. Once there, I asked Dug to watch her while she enjoyed my seat, so that I could run to the restroom myself. A small line had formed in the meantime and I had a nice chat with the friendly lady in front of me. 

Once I returned to my seat, I let Izzy sit on my lap for a bit and we did more coloring:





In case you’re wondering, she’s just supplementing the coloring she demanded I do earlier.  You can see all the interesting color choices she made for me:





Blue hair? Sure, why not?! 

Then it became time to take Izzy selfies, I guess:









And Mommy joined in:









By the way, these awesome crayons she was using were a Fish Extender gift we received on our May 2015 Disney Cruise:





The whole packet just rolled right up and was very handy for travel. 

After that, she ate some of her leftover breakfast muffin and got crumbs all over. She did some “sleeping” on me that involved sliding off and climbing back on. Eventually I talked her into getting back into her seat and watching more Frozen. When she tired of that, we played some games on the iPad (dots, paper toss, etc.). In case you are wondering, our iPad is really old (the original iPad model!), so all it really can hold is Frozen and a few old games, haha. Works for us! 

After that, she decided to start watching Frozen again, as she’d only made it through the first 23 minutes the previous time. When the drink service came around, Izzy was thirsty and asked for something. She’d finished all her milk and they didn’t have any, so she had a bit of orange juice (we are not normally juice drinkers and she doesn't really like juice, but it was acceptable enough to her in that moment). 

Eventually, that flight landed. Izzy and I got off with the car seat and Dug waited to retrieve our gate-checked stroller. Izzy found the trash can we waited next to far too interesting :





After Dug came out, we piled things onto the stroller and headed for the restrooms. I ended up dragging a couple roller bags with me and taking Izzy in, while he kept the stroller with him, I think. When I came out, I couldn’t tell if he was still in there or had come out already and started moving along (he had headed into the restroom so quickly that we didn’t discuss first). I remember being really frustrated for a few minutes because we had gotten in late on a short connection and I wasn’t sure if I was wasting time.  Eventually, I found Dug, though I no longer remember where. 

We moved along towards our gate, stopping to grab some lunch to bring onboard with us. Then we took the moving walkway the rest of the way to our nearby gate. We were getting close to boarding time, so got the stroller bagged and tagged, then looked for boarding group 3. We got in the long line that appeared to be coming from the 3 marker. As I found out when it moved up, though, the lines snaked around a bit and we were actually in the line for boarding group 2. Oops.  They let us board anyway. They also didn’t really check the car seat, even though we were basically waving it in their faces to make sure they knew it was FAA approved. 

Once onboard, I got the carseat installed and we got settled in. Izzy was by the window and I was next to her in the aisle. Dug was supposed to be across the aisle from us, in the middle section, but the seats were oddly staggered, so he actually was a bit ahead of us, despite being in the same row number. 

Izzy didn’t waste any time starting in on iPad games (paper toss or, as she appropriately calls it, “the trash game”):









I ate my sort of Greek lunch. I don’t really remember exactly what this was. I know there were olives and balls of mozzarella and bread. I think it was some sort of chickpea salad and a lettuce salad:





It was fine. Just right since I wasn’t very hungry and just wanted something more snack-y. And, speaking of snack-y, Izzy munched on cheese balls we’d brought and milk we’d just bought.

Here you can see how Dug was seated ahead of us, yet in the “same” row:





Also, I think there was some issue with that overhead bin (we didn’t have anything up there - I think ours was above me). I feel like someone tried to cram something in that didn’t fit and it was a big pain and involved multiple flight attendants. Clearly, my memory of the details after 7 months is failing. 

I apparently took pictures while Izzy ate cheese balls (and we were still waiting to take off):









After I cleaned up messy cheese ball girl, it was back to iPad games (Dots, this time):





Then it was back to Frozen yet again :





I noted that I had broken two fingernails already that day. It is pretty much a rule that I break more than one nail on air travel days, when I never have a nail clipper handy. It’s obnoxious. It’s not like they are particularly long or break often either. Oh, well. 

Anyway, after all that activity, it was finally time to take off. And guess who had already nodded off:

















I guess I must have had this view during take-off:





I noted early on that the couple in front of us seemed to be honeymooners :





I could just tell. And, sure enough, a flight attendant later asked them and they confirmed it. Nothing wrong with a Hawaiian honeymoon! 

I was a bit worried that the iPad was going to slide right off Izzy’s lap:





I ended up sliding it away from her carefully and setting it on the ground. I left it running, though, since I didn’t want the sound in her headphones to stop and startle her awake. I was happy to have freedom to do whatever I wanted on the flight :





Not to say I remember what I did – probably read on my phone or rested. And I’m sure it was delightful. What I do remember, however, was this form:





Despite all the over-packing I tend to do for air travel, I hadn’t packed a pen. And they did not pass any out with the required forms. So everyone was borrowing and passing around pens. I saw the girl across the aisle from me (behind Dug) had a nice pen, but people kept asking her to borrow it before I could get her attention. Eventually, I got it and filled out the stinkin’ form and turned it in. 

Izzy was still asleep:





And Minnie was resting too. 

The honeymooners were still canoodling:





So, I decided to treat myself to a very luxurious snack:





I had picked up the brownie with lunch and I always ask for a full can of pop on flights (gotta get my money’s worth, haha). I hadn’t gotten very far when a little chocolate lover woke up to share with me:





I don’t have a lot more notes, but the ones I have indicate that Dug saw a cigarette in the restroom trash (he told a flight attendant and she was not a bit concerned ) and that we had a bumpy landing, though I don’t really remember why – wind, maybe?

We passed the remaining time before that landing with the iPad, of course:





It’s funny, we literally only use that thing while traveling. I guess it’s a special treat to watch endless Frozen on a personal device when you never do it at home. 

Up next: Landing in Paradise!*


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## Dugette

*We’re Not in Hawaii Yet*
*
The honeymooners continued to snuggle:





We continued to pass the time with selfies:









We were approaching Oahu:













Izzy and Minnie spent some time bonding:





Soon enough, we had landed, disembarked, and headed for a restroom. Then we actually had to walk outside to get our checked bag and stroller:





It was strange – they just brought everything to the curb in the truck and dumped them off.  We just barely made it in time to grab our things before they got collected and taken away. We took a few minutes to get our stroller unfolded and bags/carseat tossed on it, then headed for the Alamo shuttle to get our rental vehicle.

When the shuttle arrived, it was fairly full and we had to stand with our luggage (which also didn’t have room on the luggage rack, so just was in the aisle with us). After a moment, though, a nice gentleman insisted that Izzy and I take his seat. We did, but noticed that our big bag kept rolling around in the aisle because we were no longer standing next to it (and Dug was on the other side of the car seat in between them). Izzy had a good time riding, though – she was shouting “wheeee” the whole way.  Who needs fancy roller coasters when you can have a shuttle bus?

Once at Alamo, we tried to use the automated check-in machine, but it wouldn’t read our card for some reason.  We ended up going to the desk to complete our check in. I had rented through Costco, just as we did on our previous Hawaii trip. As I had done before, I kept checking back on the rates as the trip drew closer, since they seem to drop shortly beforehand. At one point, I caught a minivan listed for just slightly more than the full size car we had planned on. I snagged it, just in case. Well, after talking it over with Dug, we decided to go with that because it could be helpful with all of his family there (even though they had their own rental). This turned out to be a very good decision. We ended up with a Town and Country. It was a little scuffed and scratched up, but was a good vehicle for our frequent party of 7. 

I hopped in the drivers seat and we made our way up towards the North Shore, with plans to make a quick stop at Target on the way. The drive was beautiful:









The photographer:





The driver:





And Izzy was back there somewhere too. 

And the funny thing was that she kept saying, “We’re not in Hawaii yet.” After much back and forth, we finally figured out that, in her mind, Hawaii=Aulani. Poor kid was so confused and disappointed when we explained what was going on. 

More lovely scenery:









Love how green everything is! 

We also went through a tunnel:





Oh, and there’s the ocean:





Another tunnel:





We made our Target stop to grab a few things we needed (don’t recall what anymore). We had hoped to hit up the great BBQ place we’d visited last time for dinner, but it was already closed for the night.  It was getting dark by the time we arrived on the North Shore.

We had rented a condo through AirBnB for our first 5 nights. It was in the Turtle Bay resort area in a gated neighborhood. Dug’s parents and Kay and Jay both had rented condos in the same neighborhood through VRBO. We were nearby, but all a bit spread out as well. At any rate, it was a little tricky to get into ours. The instructions told us that one person would need to get out by the gate and walk to the condo to use the provided code on the door lock to get inside and get the key for the gate. It ended up being tricky for two reasons:

1.)  The road you have to stop and wait on has no shoulder. So, we were just sitting in one of two lanes of potential traffic.  It wasn’t terribly busy, but made me nervous. Especially because:

2.)  Dug was trying to locate our specific condo unit at night. It’s hard not to feel creepy going around and checking numbers at the doors, but there was no other way to identify it. So, it took him a while.

In the meantime, I ended up driving laps around the Turtle Bay Resort because I didn’t feel safe parked in a lane for that long. Eventually, he made it back out and we were able to open the gate and park in our assigned spot:





Our condo was ground level and to the right of the mailboxes:





Then under these stairs:





There were two doors there, next to each other. Ours was on the right. Once inside, we really enjoyed the nice condo:









Down below that window is the air conditioner, by the way.

Lots of extra bedding available:









Big ol’ TV:





Three person dining table was perfect:





Dug got comfy in the living room:





Nice kitchen (all the instructions for the unit on the counter):





Entryway:





Washer and dryer was very nice and useful:





And nice bathroom as well:





We discovered that the previous occupants had left a few unopened things for us in the kitchen. One of which was frozen burritos. So, that’s what we had for dinner:





And, yes, that is some POG (pineapple orange guava) juice I couldn’t resist buying. Though we are not normally big juice people, this is an exception.  (It's like the juice at Kona and Boma, in case you are wondering).

We ate our dinner and made some calls to Dug’s family (they had arrived a couple of days earlier and settled into their condos). Dug made plans to meet up with them at Waimea Valley (a botanical garden) in the morning (with Izzy). I had gone there last time and, while I enjoyed it, I opted for some alone time in the morning while they went. 

To wrap up the night in true 3-year-old fashion, Izzy found some plastic measuring cups in the kitchen and decided they were maracas. She then proceeded to make up a song about her favorite subject…and it was called, “Shake Your Poopies.”  (She still sings it to this day!  Yes, she's gross. )

On that delightful and silly note, we hit the hay. That King bed was very nice after a long travel day. Oh, and we set up Izzy’s tent (Kidco Peapod, which she loves) on the floor of the bedroom and that worked great for her (as I didn’t want her on the sofa bed in the living room with that giant un-tethered TV there). Anyway, I think we all slept well.

Up next: Waimea Valley and exploring Turtle Bay.*


----------



## cindianne320

What an eventful travel day you had! I can't believe they made you find the sticker after she was already strapped in! Glad you found the condo ok- did not sound very fun in the dark!

Can't wait to hear more- and I'm so glad you found some time for alone time!


----------



## alohamom

Oh WOW-I would have been freaking out if we forgot a backpack! What a stressful way to start the vacation. 
I guess it was a good thing that Izzy didnt sleep on the first flight so she had a good solid sleep on the second leg and how nice for you to get a little time to yourself while she napped.


----------



## schmass

Yikes, that is a stressful start to the trip! I'm glad you made it back to the airport in time and that the flight was uneventful!

Rory does the same thing with coloring.  He'll say something like, "let's draw a car!" and that really means that I will draw a car and he'll watch me.  Too funny.

The place you rented looks really nice.  It's nice to have that extra space, and the in-room laundry is always useful.


----------



## Imagineer5

I know I commented on the first part but don't see it? Anyway crazy flight out day but glad you made it okay!



Dugette said:


> And the funny thing was that she kept saying, “We’re not in Hawaii yet.” After much back and forth, we finally figured out that, in her mind, Hawaii=Aulani. Poor kid was so confused and disappointed when we explained what was going on.



Aria was the same way with Disney, referring to the parks.  When we spend the arrival day at the resort, Aria doesn't seem too thrilled (although, she has gotten it down now).  She is really excited that we have 11 days to Disneyland and told me this morning she's excited to walk through the airport.  Airports are one of my favorite places since it means we are going somewhere, so I guess she is feeling that way too!



Dugette said:


> We had rented a condo through AirBnB for our first 5 nights. It was in the Turtle Bay resort area in a gated neighborhood. Dug’s parents and Kay and Jay both had rented condos in the same neighborhood through VRBO. We were nearby, but all a bit spread out as well. At any rate, it was a little tricky to get into ours. The instructions told us that one person would need to get out by the gate and walk to the condo to use the provided code on the door lock to get inside and get the key for the gate. It ended up being tricky for two reasons:
> 
> 1.) The road you have to stop and wait on has no shoulder. So, we were just sitting in one of two lanes of potential traffic.  It wasn’t terribly busy, but made me nervous. Especially because:
> 
> 2.) Dug was trying to locate our specific condo unit at night. It’s hard not to feel creepy going around and checking numbers at the doors, but there was no other way to identify it. So, it took him a while.



Well, my photobucket ban means I can't see your pictures, boo.  Sounds like a really great plan though to have everyone rent condos in the same area, but you have that family separation too.  Crazy figuring out where the condo is, in the dark, ugh!



Dugette said:


> We discovered that the previous occupants had left a few unopened things for us in the kitchen. One of which was frozen burritos. So, that’s what we had for dinner:



Awesome!



Dugette said:


> And, yes, that is some POG (pineapple orange guava) juice I couldn’t resist buying. Though we are not normally big juice people, this is an exception.  (It's like the juice at Kona and Boma, in case you are wondering).



MMM Hawaii has the best juice!



Dugette said:


> On that delightful and silly note, we hit the hay. That King bed was very nice after a long travel day. Oh, and we set up Izzy’s tent (Kidco Peapod, which she loves) on the floor of the bedroom and that worked great for her (as I didn’t want her on the sofa bed in the living room with that giant un-tethered TV there). Anyway, I think we all slept well.



That works well! Glad you all slept well.


----------



## Leshaface

Dugette said:


> Just as we did so, Dug gasped and started sobbing, “No!!! No, no, no!!”  Turns out that he just then realized he’d left his backpack at home. That contained all his electronics, our waterproof camera, and various other somewhat important things. Not things that can easily be purchased once in Hawaii. Ugh.  Dug was upset and hopeless and feeling like his trip was ruined.  We were doing reasonably okay on time. So, I made the snap decision to get him and Izzy and our stuff dropped off (since we were pulling up to the airport) and then I’d bolt home and get his backpack.



OH man I would have totally freaked out too!  Poor guy.



Dugette said:


> felt a bit better on this part of the drive, as I’d made good time back to our house and things looked pretty do-able now. I pulled into their driveway at 6:05am and the cab was waiting, just as I’d hoped. I grabbed what I needed, hopped in there, and was soon at the airport.



Thank goodness there was no hiccups along the way for you!



Dugette said:


> And then the flight attendant came over. She said she needed to see the FAA approval sticker on the car seat. What?!  AFTER I’d completely installed it and had a happy 3-year-old buckled into it just prior to take off?!



Ha you should have asked her to re-install it for you!  I was not a fan of putting the car seat in that itty bitty space.



Dugette said:


> I got Izzy set up with Frozen on the iPad



Still a fan of Frozen?!  



Dugette said:


>



Very, very cool and convenient!  The only thing DS really enjoys doing is taking the wrappers off the crayons.  Not actual coloring 



Dugette said:


> In case you are wondering, our iPad is really old (the original iPad model!), so all it really can hold is Frozen and a few old games, haha. Works for us!




i'm sure you already saw by now, I asked this question on your other thread!  Great thanks for including this!  



Dugette said:


> They also didn’t really check the car seat, even though we were basically waving it in their faces to make sure they knew it was FAA approved.



I would have been too!  



Dugette said:


>



Don't you love this sight on the plane?! 



Dugette said:


>



Did not know you had to fill this out  Now i'll definitely pack a pen in my purse 



Dugette said:


> The honeymooners were still canoodling:



Meh, they'll get over that in a few years 



Dugette said:


> I don’t have a lot more notes, but the ones I have indicate that Dug saw a cigarette in the restroom trash (he told a flight attendant and she was not a bit concerned )



Seriously!? It truly amazes me that people can't go without smoking for 5 1/2 hours



Dugette said:


> As I had done before, I kept checking back on the rates as the trip drew closer, since they seem to drop shortly beforehand.



I'm hoping this is the case still!  I'm going through Costco also per your advice but noticed this week that prices have gone up?  I don't officially have a reservation, have just been watching the prices and they went up about $80 or so.  Well for what we want - SUV.



Dugette said:


> Hawaii=Aulani



That's how I look at it!



Dugette said:


>



Beautiful!



Dugette said:


> And, yes, that is some POG (pineapple orange guava) juice I couldn’t resist buying



Totally buying this!  Either at Costco or Target but glad to know that Target has it!



Dugette said:


> “Shake Your Poopies.”  (She still sings it to this day!  Yes, she's gross. )



I literally LOL'ed!


----------



## TinkLoverSam

@Leshaface Try www.carrentals.com I found my Hawaii rental cheaper there than on Costco


----------



## Leshaface

TinkLoverSam said:


> @Leshaface Try www.carrentals.com I found my Hawaii rental cheaper there than on Costco



Used to use this one all the time, totally forgot about it! Thanks for reminding me, i'll check it out


----------



## chunkymonkey

I've just caught up!! I'm excited because I'm headed to Oahu in November! This time I'm bringing a bunch of friends with me. We will be staying in Waikiki for a week. They are not Disney people (I know right? I have non-Disney friends?!?!) so we aren't going to Aulani. I hope to go there some other time with DH's family who live on the west coast. It'll be easier for them to get there. 

We stayed at Turtle Bay before, at the resort, but the condos look great! I'm definitely going to consider this on our next trip. 
Can't wait to read more!!


----------



## Dugette

Sorry for taking so long on this, folks!  I promise I haven't abandoned this - I'm just a slowpoke. 



cindianne320 said:


> What an eventful travel day you had! I can't believe they made you find the sticker after she was already strapped in! Glad you found the condo ok- did not sound very fun in the dark!


To this day, I am SO irritated when I think about the sticker thing. I mean, they had so many chances to check it, but waited until the point that it was just obnoxious! Ugh. And, really, are there even many carseats NOT FAA approved?  Just seems silly. And, yes, finding the condo in the dark was rough, just creeping around peering at doors. 



cindianne320 said:


> Can't wait to hear more- and I'm so glad you found some time for alone time!


Update finally coming up! And I loved the alone time that next morning!



alohamom said:


> Oh WOW-I would have been freaking out if we forgot a backpack! What a stressful way to start the vacation.


It was super stressful!  I knew that Dug would be a grump without it, so took a fairly big risk by going back to get it, but thankfully it worked out fine!



alohamom said:


> I guess it was a good thing that Izzy didnt sleep on the first flight so she had a good solid sleep on the second leg and how nice for you to get a little time to yourself while she napped.


Kids sleeping on airplanes = one of my favorite things. 



schmass said:


> Yikes, that is a stressful start to the trip! I'm glad you made it back to the airport in time and that the flight was uneventful!


Me too - it was a very stressful start to the day, for sure, but made the flight that much more enjoyable (you know, just to actually be on it ).



schmass said:


> Rory does the same thing with coloring. He'll say something like, "let's draw a car!" and that really means that I will draw a car and he'll watch me. Too funny.


Haha, love the teamwork.  I feel like being a parent of a toddler is like being a personal attendant.



schmass said:


> The place you rented looks really nice. It's nice to have that extra space, and the in-room laundry is always useful.


I really like going the AirBnB route for that extra space. We just came back from visiting my cousins in Portland and did an AirBnB home rental there too, which was really nice!


----------



## Dugette

Imagineer5 said:


> I know I commented on the first part but don't see it? Anyway crazy flight out day but glad you made it okay!


Beats me, maybe the DIS ate it. 



Imagineer5 said:


> Aria was the same way with Disney, referring to the parks. When we spend the arrival day at the resort, Aria doesn't seem too thrilled (although, she has gotten it down now). She is really excited that we have 11 days to Disneyland and told me this morning she's excited to walk through the airport. Airports are one of my favorite places since it means we are going somewhere, so I guess she is feeling that way too!


I have mixed feelings on airports. Agree about it being great because you are going somewhere. But they almost always put me through a stressful experience that leaves me wishing I could just drive everywhere. I mean, this trip we just took to Portland for example: we brought Izzy's carseat through security and, for totally indiscernible reasons, it triggered their alarm thing (went through fine on the way there, but triggered on the way back - nothing had changed in that time, except maybe some extra crumbs in the seat ). Because I was the one who handed them the carseat, they had to search all of "my" stuff (so, basically all of mine and Izzy's stuff) AND do the totally uncomfortable pat-down on me.  Obviously, we were fine and they let us go, but it cost us a lot of time and embarrassment. Over nothing. Ugh, I really do hate airports - but they are a necessary evil.



Imagineer5 said:


> Well, my photobucket ban means I can't see your pictures, boo. Sounds like a really great plan though to have everyone rent condos in the same area, but you have that family separation too. Crazy figuring out where the condo is, in the dark, ugh!


I wish your work hadn't blocked Photobucket!  And I have all sorts of pretty Hawaii pictures coming up!  The condos worked out pretty well, I thought. However, the in-laws thought we were a little too far apart (I was fine walking, but they felt they needed to drive to the other condos).



Imagineer5 said:


> Awesome!


Free food is always good! 



Imagineer5 said:


> MMM Hawaii has the best juice!


 



Imagineer5 said:


> That works well! Glad you all slept well.


It was a comfy place to sleep!



Leshaface said:


> OH man I would have totally freaked out too! Poor guy.


Yeah, he was really upset. 



Leshaface said:


> Thank goodness there was no hiccups along the way for you!


So glad the risk paid off.



Leshaface said:


> Ha you should have asked her to re-install it for you! I was not a fan of putting the car seat in that itty bitty space.


No, not fun at all, especially since we seldom get to board beforehand it seems, so all three of us are crammed into the row (to keep the aisle clear) while I'm squished in there trying to install a seat.  Interestingly, on our flight back from Portland last week, a male flight attendant insisted (in a nice way) on installing our carseat - he was in the row behind us and did it from there! 



Leshaface said:


> Still a fan of Frozen?!


To Izzy - Airplane = iPad = Frozen  (though our Portland flights on Southwest actually allowed us to get Disney Junior on the iPad, which blew her mind! )



Leshaface said:


> Very, very cool and convenient! The only thing DS really enjoys doing is taking the wrappers off the crayons. Not actual coloring


Izzy is finally starting to get the hang of coloring, but it's taken a while. I love the little travel crayon packet, though! 



Leshaface said:


> i'm sure you already saw by now, I asked this question on your other thread! Great thanks for including this!


Someday we'll upgrade that old iPad! 



Leshaface said:


> I would have been too!






Leshaface said:


> Don't you love this sight on the plane?!


So much! My favorite!!



Leshaface said:


> Did not know you had to fill this out  Now i'll definitely pack a pen in my purse


Yes, pack a pen!



Leshaface said:


> Meh, they'll get over that in a few years


Exactly! 



Leshaface said:


> Seriously!? It truly amazes me that people can't go without smoking for 5 1/2 hours


Agreed! 



Leshaface said:


> I'm hoping this is the case still! I'm going through Costco also per your advice but noticed this week that prices have gone up? I don't officially have a reservation, have just been watching the prices and they went up about $80 or so. Well for what we want - SUV.


I think you leave in a couple days, so I would check again NOW! I've found Costco sometimes has a dip right before your dates.



Leshaface said:


> That's how I look at it!


Fair point (but there are other beautiful sights).



Leshaface said:


> Beautiful!


You're going to love just driving around!



Leshaface said:


> Totally buying this! Either at Costco or Target but glad to know that Target has it!


Yes, gotta make sure you feel like you're on a tropical vacation!



Leshaface said:


> I literally LOL'ed!


Glad someone appreciates her sense of humor!  She still talks about, "Remember when I made up that song in Hawaii?"



TinkLoverSam said:


> @Leshaface Try www.carrentals.com I found my Hawaii rental cheaper there than on Costco


Before I used Costco on our first Hawaii trip, the cheapest rates I found were on discounthawaiicarrental.com - but then Costco got cheaper right at the end.



Leshaface said:


> Used to use this one all the time, totally forgot about it! Thanks for reminding me, i'll check it out


Since you're about to leave, did you find something good?



chunkymonkey said:


> I've just caught up!! I'm excited because I'm headed to Oahu in November! This time I'm bringing a bunch of friends with me. We will be staying in Waikiki for a week. They are not Disney people (I know right? I have non-Disney friends?!?!) so we aren't going to Aulani. I hope to go there some other time with DH's family who live on the west coast. It'll be easier for them to get there.


And since I've slacked off on this TR, it's next month now that you go!  For what it's worth, my in-laws were very against Aulani BECAUSE it was Disney - well, they loved it and want to go back (very much so)! It's just a great resort and Disney happens to own it.



chunkymonkey said:


> We stayed at Turtle Bay before, at the resort, but the condos look great! I'm definitely going to consider this on our next trip.
> Can't wait to read more!!


The condos were nice. Ours were back in the neighborhood, but BIL's family rented one right on the beach, which was awesome (and more expensive).


----------



## Dugette

*Waimea Valley*
*
Our first morning in Hawaii! 

Dug and Izzy were joining his extended family this morning at the Waimea Valley botanical gardens and waterfall. I had taken Izzy there on our previous trip, so decided to skip the outing and enjoy a relaxing solo morning instead. I’ll get to that in the next update. This one is about Dug and Izzy’s explorations.

Since I wasn’t there, I don’t have a lot of details, but did just get a few from Dug that I’ll throw in.

Arrival:





Various pretty sights:

























Izzy was enjoying the bridge, I guess:





More pretty scenery:









Obviously, they arrived down at the waterfall. Dug took a selfie:





So, he didn’t realize that everyone he was with brought their swimsuits and had plans to swim under the waterfall. Despite the signage everywhere about Leptospirosis, a dangerous bacteria that could potentially be in the water.  Dug and Izzy just stood by and watched and took photos while everyone else donned the required lifejackets and made their way in:





They took in the beautiful view:





And Dug got some video, if you’d like to imagine you’re relaxing near a waterfall:



(click to watch)

Then it looks like they were just goofing around:













And apparently they saw a chicken:





Looks like they started heading back:





Dug and his dad utilized the golf cart rides available to get across the expanse of the park:





He said that the driver on the way back was great about explaining what they were seeing. They also talked about other plans and Dug mentioned maybe going up to a historical site in the area and she said that it’s kind-of like visiting a gravesite and a rather odd thing to do, so they skipped that. 

Anyway, more views:

























There are so many amazing things to look at there! 

When they made it back the gift shop area, Dug got a coffee and an ice cream cookie sandwich, as he’d heard they were good:





I guess this was in the area:





Dug said that his parents (Nana and Papa) took Izzy into the gift shop, wanting to buy her a stuffed animal or something. She ended up selecting a cute little wooden stamping set instead, which she proudly showed off to me later on. 

Everyone had a good time and was glad to have visited a pretty, peaceful place to start their day (oh, and nobody got Leptospirosis, thankfully!). Also, the minivan we rented worked out well, as Dug, Izzy, Nana, Papa, Kay, and Jay were all able to ride together to and from the place. 

Up next: My morning walk.*


----------



## Dugette

*A Morning Stroll*
*
I had a very pleasant morning.  I slept in for a bit, since Dug was taking Izzy and I had nobody’s needs to attend to. 

When I got up, I snapped a picture of Izzy's sleeping arrangements so you can see where we put the tent:





I took a nice, long shower to start the day. I also unpacked and checked the condo out a bit more. I sat in this comfy chair and made up a grocery list:





I realized, when I unpacked, that I forgot to pack socks (except the pair I was wearing), so that was on my list. I know it’s Hawaii, but I still wear shoes and socks (see past Hawaii trip report for weird toe birth defect ). So, that would be fun to see if grocery stores in Hawaii carry socks. 

Then was the worst part of my morning.  I opened up the cabinet where some leftover (closed) foods had been left by the previous guests. There was a large crawling occupant of the cabinet.  I slammed the door back shut and ran away. Then I got brave (and grabbed my phone) and crept up to it again, cautiously opening the door:





Eeek!  Yeah, we didn’t use anything from that cabinet. I told Dug when he was back, and he checked, but never saw our buddy again. Ew. 

So, on a more pleasant note, it was time for my walk to explore the grounds of Turtle Bay. Heading out of our condo area:





And by 11:38am, I was sitting on this bench and making some trip notes on my phone:





The view from the bench:









In video form:



(click to watch)

Since I enjoyed that bench so much, I took a picture of the remembrance plaque:





I walked around some more after that. Went along the ocean on the trail, past much of the resort and over to an event area:









Lots of benches, haha:





I have another ocean video for you. The North Shore of Oahu, especially during the winter months, is known for its big waves. Definitely not a calm beach like at Aulani.  You can get some idea of that here:



(click to watch)

I was near the wedding pavilion by this point and it was all set up for an outdoor ceremony:













Pretty place! 

I also walked by the spa area, which contained private massage cabanas:





You can see part of the bar here too:





Here’s the pool:





Our condos had a pool also, but we never used it.

The Turtle Bay Resort:





Hot tub:





Turtle Bay also has these oceanfront cottages and I walked by as they were cleaning, so I caught a glimpse of the view through to the ocean:





Sure would be a nice place to stay!

They even had a hammock:





Then I made my way over towards the stables:





There was some sort of event going on in the open/parking area there (little booths set up). I took some video:



(click to watch)

I love the Hawaiian music in the air! 

Found the stables:





Hi, horsies:





A look back at where I’d been:





Obligatory ocean selfie:





A friendly horse:





I tried to take a selfie with him after this and he walked away quickly. 

Around that point, I got a call from Dug that they were getting close and could pick me up. I told him to meet me by those cottages I’d walked past, as there was some parking/places to stop. I headed back through the event again:





So pretty:





Also, there are feral cats in Hawaii:





As I was waiting for them to arrive, I saw this point of interest nearby:









It was the site of radar’s first wartime use (Pearl Harbor). Interesting to read about.

But then I got a call that they were pulling in to pick me up, so I had to take off to meet the family and hop in.

Up next: Ted’s Bakery. So yummy!*


----------



## Imagineer5

Dugette said:


> Dug and Izzy were joining his extended family this morning at the Waimea Valley botanical gardens and waterfall. I had taken Izzy there on our previous trip, so decided to skip the outing and enjoy a relaxing solo morning instead.



That sounds nice, but what a beautiful place the botanical gardens were!



Dugette said:


> So, he didn’t realize that everyone he was with brought their swimsuits and had plans to swim under the waterfall. Despite the signage everywhere about Leptospirosis, a dangerous bacteria that could potentially be in the water.



Ew?! How was Izzy skipping the water?



Dugette said:


> Dug got a coffee and an ice cream cookie sandwich, as he’d heard they were good:



That looks good!



Dugette said:


> She ended up selecting a cute little wooden stamping set instead, which she proudly showed off to me later on.



That was a good choice!



Dugette said:


> I also unpacked and checked the condo out a bit more. I sat in this comfy chair and made up a grocery list:



LOL had to laugh at the random chair pic.



Dugette said:


> The view from the bench:



Beautiful spot, looks like a great resort



Dugette said:


> A friendly horse:



Cool they have horses, too!


----------



## Gracefulskinny

Dugette said:


> Despite the signage everywhere about Leptospirosis, a dangerous bacteria that could potentially be in the water.


 Ewwww! 



Dugette said:


> (oh, and nobody got Leptospirosis, thankfully!)






Dugette said:


> Then was the worst part of my morning.  I opened up the cabinet where some leftover (closed) foods had been left by the previous guests. There was a large crawling occupant of the cabinet.  I slammed the door back shut and ran away. Then I got brave (and grabbed my phone) and crept up to it again, cautiously opening the door:


 Eww eww eww ewww EEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW


----------



## Dugette

Imagineer5 said:


> That sounds nice, but what a beautiful place the botanical gardens were!


They are really beautiful. If I hadn't been there 14 months earlier, I would have gone. But a little extra sleep and some alone time sounded ideal that day.



Imagineer5 said:


> Ew?! How was Izzy skipping the water?


I don't know. Dug probably told her it wasn't safe for her or something. 



Imagineer5 said:


> That looks good!


I agree!



Imagineer5 said:


> That was a good choice!


She loved it! (though I have no idea where it is now)



Imagineer5 said:


> LOL had to laugh at the random chair pic.


Part of me thinks that I took that picture for a reason and there's more to it, but I sure don't remember. 



Imagineer5 said:


> Beautiful spot, looks like a great resort


It is a really nice resort. I could have sat on that bench for a LONG time.



Imagineer5 said:


> Cool they have horses, too!


Indeed! We didn't ride, but they offer it.



Gracefulskinny said:


> Ewwww!
> 
> 
> 
> Eww eww eww ewww EEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW


I know, this was pretty much just a disgusting update, right?


----------



## khertz

Such beautiful scenery!! And nice that you got a little quiet morning to yourself. I'm sure that doesn't happen often, especially in such a pretty and peaceful environment.


----------



## pepperandchips

I'm here! Looks like you are off to a great start on your trip. Love those solitary walks to enjoy the quiet and your own exploration!!


----------



## schmass

Sleeping in and a morning to yourself - nice!!  Looks like you had a nice and peaceful morning.

Dug and Izzy's morning didn't look too bad, either!  I'm glad they stayed out of that water though - yuck!


----------



## Dugette

khertz said:


> Such beautiful scenery!! And nice that you got a little quiet morning to yourself. I'm sure that doesn't happen often, especially in such a pretty and peaceful environment.


Yes, it was a rare treat to sleep in and then not to have to worry about anyone but myself.



pepperandchips said:


> I'm here! Looks like you are off to a great start on your trip. Love those solitary walks to enjoy the quiet and your own exploration!!


 It was a really nice way to start the trip. I love taking walks by myself and the scenery was beautiful! 



schmass said:


> Sleeping in and a morning to yourself - nice!!  Looks like you had a nice and peaceful morning.
> 
> Dug and Izzy's morning didn't look too bad, either!  I'm glad they stayed out of that water though - yuck!


It was a great morning for all of us. And I was so happy when he told me that he and Izzy didn't go in the water. Smart boy!


----------



## Dugette

*Ted’s Bakery & Ocean Sunset*
*
I’d just hopped into the minivan with the family after they returned from Waimea Valley. Izzy told me she had a good time. We swung over to Nana and Papa’s condo first, as they wanted to be dropped off to freshen up before lunch. We took Kay and Jay back to our condo so that they could see it (they liked it!).

Before we headed back out, Kay and Jay apparently felt the need to do some stretches  :





We swung by Nana and Papa’s condo, they hopped in (this minivan really turned out to be a good decision), and we soon arrived here for lunch:





We were excited to finally try the pie here, as we’d heard about it previously, but hadn’t made it in here on our previous trip.

We all decided what we wanted and put in our orders:
*



*
Dug got this shrimp combo meal thing:





And we got some BBQ chicken and rice to share:





In addition to some chicken and rice, you can see that Izzy got some Goldfish too. 

All the birds under our outdoor table really appreciated the Goldfish crumbs  :





And, of course, we got a slice of their famous Chocolate Haupia (Coconut) Cream Pie to share:





In the background of that picture (top) is the carton of mini chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies we got, at Izzy’s insistence. She’s never met a cookie she didn’t like.  Well, those cookies turned out to be a surprise hit! We ended up going back and buying another carton later in the trip. I kind-of wish I had a supply of them here at home – very addictive and yummy!  Speaking of yummy, the rest of our meal was as well. And the pie didn’t disappoint. 

Once Izzy was done eating, she amused herself with the free newspaper/magazine dispensers behind us:





She would pull out a pile, then proudly pass one out to each of us.  (We put them all back.) 

On our way back to Turtle Bay, we stopped at a roadside fruit stand to grab a few tasty treats:









Kay and Jay had already stopped here and told us about some of their favorites, like the fresh coconut (you can see that near the bottom right of the picture above). Dug and his mom hopped out and made some purchases. 

We dropped everyone off at their condos (well, Kay and Jay probably got out at Nana and Papa’s and walked back, knowing them), then stopped back at ours. 

When we parked, I saw a GIANT grasshopper on the mirror of the neighboring vehicle  :





Dug and Izzy went in for naptime (for both of them), while I turned around and headed back to Haleiwa. I was on my way to Foodtown to do our shopping for the week. We planned to do a lot of dining in, so we needed some things. I parked in the lot at Foodtown and noticed they had some loiterers:





I knew food was more expensive in Hawaii, so braced myself for the prices. It was more than I’d like, but not terrible. For a fairly full cart, it ended up being $150. They even applied some sort of discount too (for joining their club, maybe?) Also, I asked an employee if they sold socks (you may recall, I forgot to pack them  ) and they said they did not, but had actually gotten that question a lot lately. I guess I am not the only person to search for socks in Hawaii. 

I headed back and stopped over at Nana and Papa’s, as she’d texted to ask me to buy some laundry stain remover stuff for them. I dropped that with Nana and headed back to our condo. Got the groceries put away while Izzy continued to nap in her tent:





Nice, she’s even wearing her Hawaii (hula girl) jammies! 

We all were planning to meet up at the pool bar to watch the sunset over the ocean, so we had to wake Izzy up and get going. I dropped Dug and Izzy off at the hotel entrance, so they wouldn’t have to walk as far to the beach, as I knew I’d likely have to park pretty far back in the lot. As I was going to park, I spotted Nana and Papa walking towards the resort. I knew Papa didn’t have the best mobility (heart condition; gets tired very quickly), so I drove over and offered them a ride the rest of the way, which they appreciated.  After dropping them off too, I finally went to go park (and got a pretty good spot!) and walked back to the pool bar. I spotted Jay’s extended family and headed that way. Kay, Jay, Nana, Papa, Dug, Izzy, and I grabbed a table together. 

One of Jay’s relatives (his aunt, I believe) stopped by on her way to the pool bar to see if we wanted her to get us a drink. We requested Mai Tais and she insisted on buying them for us to thank us for the heads-up on the great airfare and DVC point rental rates (for Aulani) that made this trip possible! Very nice! I didn’t realize how grateful Jay’s extended family was to us for making this trip a reality for them. 

The mai tais were good:





And the view was even better:





Acceptable  :





Selfie:





Looks like Izzy was enjoying a container of cereal as I took sunset photos:





It was pretty cool watching the sun just sink into the ocean:









Our waitress came by at some point and basically said (in a not terribly friendly way) that we either had to order food or leave. I guess enjoying drinks at a table in the bar area was not enough.  Dug’s family was pretty upset about this and probably thinking about leaving, but Dug and I were actually a little hungry (it was about dinnertime), so we said not to worry about it and we’d order some things that could be shared. Looks like we got some sort of nachos and chips/salsa:





I also ordered a hot dog and fries to share with Izzy:





I’m pretty sure I ended up eating most of it and it was very good!

My notes also say “monkey drink”, which I don’t entirely remember, but I feel like it was some sort of chocolate/banana drink that Dug and I shared. We don’t seem to have a picture. I think we really enjoyed it, though.

There was a musician playing and we all enjoyed that:





At one point, Dug’s dad and sister went up to talk to the musician:





When they got back, Kay explained that she requested Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time and the musician wouldn’t do it.  Apparently it actually sounds pretty cool on a ukulele, according to Kay. Who knew? 

We had a nice time just hanging out and chatting with family. We like Kay and Jay a lot normally, but they somehow seem even more fun after a couple drinks.  We were having a great time together, even after Dug’s parents decided to head back to their condo. Kay and Jay stayed and we talked and they played with Izzy. Kay even volunteered to take Izzy to the bathroom when she said she needed to go potty.

Also, interesting thing was the animals we saw. A couple people brought their small dogs to the bar. Kay and Jay have two Yorkies they were missing, so they were really admiring the little doggies. Izzy loved them too. And there were also feral cats roaming. In fact, one came right over to the lady at the table next to us and let her pet it! She was shocked and couldn’t believe that actually even happened.  Friendly kitties there, I guess. 

We had a really fun night just hanging out. We probably could have done so longer, but we did have a three-year-old in our party, so had to call it a night. Looks like Dug took a picture in the Turtle Bay Resort lobby on the way out:





We headed back to our condo and got a good night’s sleep. It was a great first day in Hawaii – very relaxed and enjoyable. Much different pace than a WDW vacation.

Up next: Football and a walk along the beach.*


----------



## Imagineer5

Dugette said:


> And, of course, we got a slice of their famous Chocolate Haupia (Coconut) Cream Pie to share:



This looks fab!



Dugette said:


> In the background of that picture (top) is the carton of mini chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies we got, at Izzy’s insistence.



I think that's my favorite type of cookie! yum!



Dugette said:


> On our way back to Turtle Bay, we stopped at a roadside fruit stand to grab a few tasty treats:



What a neat fruit stand!



Dugette said:


> Got the groceries put away while Izzy continued to nap in her tent:



Cute, glad she got a good nap in!



Dugette said:


> One of Jay’s relatives (his aunt, I believe) stopped by on her way to the pool bar to see if we wanted her to get us a drink.



That was really nice! So glad that the family appreciated your tips.



Dugette said:


> And the view was even better:



Beautiful sunset!



Dugette said:


> that we either had to order food or leave.



That's really rude, I'm sure the drinks weren't cheap! Glad you "took one for the team" though lol!



Dugette said:


> When they got back, Kay explained that she requested Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time and the musician wouldn’t do it.  Apparently it actually sounds pretty cool on a ukulele, according to Kay. Who knew?



Hmm very interesting! hahahaha



Dugette said:


> In fact, one came right over to the lady at the table next to us and let her pet it!



Cute, I love finding random animals on vacation when I'm missing mine!



Dugette said:


> We had a really fun night just hanging out. We probably could have done so longer, but we did have a three-year-old in our party, so had to call it a night. Looks like Dug took a picture in the Turtle Bay Resort lobby on the way out:



Sounds like a really awesome night! Definitely more relaxing than Disney, but still really fun.


----------



## SpaceEngTM

Really enjoying your trip report, can't wait to read more! We also spent a couple of nights on the North Shore during our summer trip this year and loved it. We found a fun little beach cottage not far from Ted's. It was a great part of our trip and we will definitely do it again.

I have to tell you that the waves were not as large this summer, we went in June, but I wouldn't say they were that kid friendly. We are used to Galveston and Florida gulf coast waves so even the "small" waves on the North Shore were a little more than my girls were comfortable with swimming in for very long!


----------



## schmass

All the photos in this last update are making me hungry - everything looks so good!

Those are some great views you had! I'm glad you guys were hungry enough to order some food so you could stay and enjoy the atmosphere for a bit longer.


----------



## Dugette

Imagineer5 said:


> This looks fab!


It was quite good!



Imagineer5 said:


> I think that's my favorite type of cookie! yum!


They were so delicious! Could not stop eating them...



Imagineer5 said:


> What a neat fruit stand!


It was - and you'll see some of the fruit we got in the next update.



Imagineer5 said:


> Cute, glad she got a good nap in!


Me too!



Imagineer5 said:


> That was really nice! So glad that the family appreciated your tips.


I was really surprised at how grateful they were to us for passing along our tips. I wasn't expecting all the buying for us and such.



Imagineer5 said:


> Beautiful sunset!


Such a nice view.



Imagineer5 said:


> That's really rude, I'm sure the drinks weren't cheap! Glad you "took one for the team" though lol!


Exactly, the waitress was super rude about it. At least we were somewhat hungry.



Imagineer5 said:


> Hmm very interesting! hahahaha


She was so insistent on this being a good thing and that other performers have done it for them. 



Imagineer5 said:


> Cute, I love finding random animals on vacation when I'm missing mine!


It was fun to see them. I couldn't believe how friendly the cats were!



Imagineer5 said:


> Sounds like a really awesome night! Definitely more relaxing than Disney, but still really fun.


Agreed, much more relaxed than we are used to vacationing (and wait till you see the next day!), but very much enjoyed.



SpaceEngTM said:


> Really enjoying your trip report, can't wait to read more!


Thank you!



SpaceEngTM said:


> We also spent a couple of nights on the North Shore during our summer trip this year and loved it. We found a fun little beach cottage not far from Ted's. It was a great part of our trip and we will definitely do it again.


Oh, that would be fun to have a little cottage! Glad you enjoyed your time on the North Shore!



SpaceEngTM said:


> I have to tell you that the waves were not as large this summer, we went in June, but I wouldn't say they were that kid friendly. We are used to Galveston and Florida gulf coast waves so even the "small" waves on the North Shore were a little more than my girls were comfortable with swimming in for very long!


Good to know. We were there during the high season for waves, so we were expecting it, but I would have guessed the summer was fairly calm.



schmass said:


> All the photos in this last update are making me hungry - everything looks so good!


I wish I could easily get over to Ted's from here...yummy stuff!



schmass said:


> Those are some great views you had! I'm glad you guys were hungry enough to order some food so you could stay and enjoy the atmosphere for a bit longer.


It was such a nice view and good company. Glad it worked out to just eat some dinner there too - we ended up being there a long time, so glad we did.


----------



## Dugette

*Slow-Paced Sunday*
*
One of the many things that came with our condo was quite a supply of beach supplies, which Izzy discovered this morning:





I enjoyed some yogurt along with fruit from the roadside stand for breakfast (the funny-looking thing is a rambutan and very good; the banana is an "apple banana", I think - very sweet):





Also, we used the tiny bottle of sparkling wine I got at Foodtown along with the POG juice to make some breakfast mimosas:





Apparently Izzy wanted dinosaur chicken nuggets along with her muffin and yogurt breakfast  :





I guess we acquired this as well:





After we ate and got ready, I headed over to check out Nana and Papa’s condo, as I had plans to join some of the others for a hike. I think Dug and Izzy hung out in our condo for a while, I’m not sure exactly what they did. Anyway, Nana and Papa’s condo had lots of windows:





Golf course views with a bit of ocean in the background:





The Vikings were playing this morning, so we hung out and watched the rest of the game, since there wasn't too much left:





Unfortunately, they lost that one. 

After the game, Nana, Kay, Jay, and I took off for a walk on the beach. Papa stayed back to relax in the condo. Kay and Jay had walked along this same stretch the day before and saw a turtle, so I had high hopes, but we didn’t end up seeing one.  We saw a lot of beautiful ocean, though:









As we walked through the sand, sometimes the waves hit particularly hard and we had to run further back to get out of the way.  At one point, Nana almost fell in the water, but we kept her up. Jay was working on taking some really nice pictures of the ocean, so he hung back on the beach while we moved on to the non-beach part of the trail:









Pretty scenery with those trees – you could walk in and through some of them. At one point, Nana and I couldn’t find Kay, so we walked around and looked for her. Turns out, she was squatting behind a tree for a potty break.  Oops, and we just thought it was a game of hide and seek. 

A bit later, we were walking along a very sandy trail and Nana tripped on a tree root and fell right on her face.  She was totally fine, but very sandy. Kay and I helped her up and wiped off all the sand. Poor Nana! Luckily, she (and her camera) was okay.

We ended up back on the beach and met up with Jay again, I think:





In the meantime, Dug and Izzy had gone to the beach at Turtle Bay.   No pictures, but here’s how he recounts it: Took like an hour to get Izzy ready and pack all the things they needed into the minivan. Beach toys, towels, a beach chair from the condo, etc. They got down there, Dug had to lug everything over from the parking lot while watching Izzy. He got them set up in the corner that Jay’s relatives had made their home (their condos were right next to the beach). And Izzy played in the sand…for about two minutes. Then she decided she was scared of the waves and wanted out of there.  So, Jay’s family let them into the pool for their condo complex and they spent maybe 20 minutes or so there before Izzy had to go potty and wanted to go back to our place. So, he got everything packed up from their very brief outing and that happened to be when I got in touch, telling him we were done hiking. So, they swung by and picked us up on their way back:





This is apparently what I had for lunch:





I knew there was a restaurant chain in Hawaii called Zippy’s that was supposed to be good, so when I saw their frozen soups in Foodtown, I grabbed a couple. I think it was good, not that I can remember much anymore. Looks like Izzy made Dug join her in “shaking their maracas” (measuring cups) while they ate:





After lunch, I think we had some semblance of naptime.

I also did some laundry, since we had the washer/dryer in our unit. And I have a note that says it took an hour to change Izzy's shirt - I'm guessing that was a toddler tantrum of some sort. I think we hooked up the Apple TV (that we brought) so that Izzy could watch some Disney Junior later.

That evening, Dug went out solo for sushi. When he finishes a big work project, he likes to go out for sushi to commemorate it, but I had no interest (not a sushi person). Izzy and I stayed back and played games on the iPad. Or maybe watched Disney Junior? I don't remember.

Here’s Dug’s sushi photos from Banzai Sushi:

















































I know he really enjoyed his meal and was glad he went out.

I have no idea what Izzy and I had for dinner. Whatever food we had in the condo, I guess.  (Oooh, I just found that my notes said "leftovers". )

And that’s about it for that day! Probably the least busy day we’ve ever had on a vacation. 

Up next: The Polynesian Cultural Center & Luau!*


----------



## cindianne320

Sounds so relaxing!!! Glad you each got to do what you wanted. But poor MIL.


----------



## schmass

Sounds like a nice, relaxing day!  Your hike looks like nice - so much beautiful scenery there. 

I had to laugh at Dug's description of going to the beach with Izzy.  Sounds about right for an outing with a toddler!

Dug's sushi looks so good, and the banana dessert sounds pretty amazing, too!


----------



## Imagineer5

Dugette said:


> One of the many things that came with our condo was quite a supply of beach supplies, which Izzy discovered this morning:



How nice! That is a good assortment!



Dugette said:


> I enjoyed some yogurt along with fruit from the roadside stand for breakfast (the funny-looking thing is a rambutan and very good; the banana is an "apple banana", I think - very sweet):



HUh I have seen one of those before but didn't know how to eat it



Dugette said:


> Also, we used the tiny bottle of sparkling wine I got at Foodtown along with the POG juice to make some breakfast mimosas:



Now that's a good way to start the day!



Dugette said:


> Nana and I couldn’t find Kay, so we walked around and looked for her. Turns out, she was squatting behind a tree for a potty break.  Oops, and we just thought it was a game of hide and seek.



I think a little forewarning would have been nice lol!



Dugette said:


> had to lug everything over from the parking lot while watching Izzy.



Bahahaha. I find this pretty funny as I spent a weekend in Beverly, MA with Maya & Aria by myself while Andrew attended a conference.  Oh I had the dogs, too.  I attempted a beach day but it lasted about 20 minutes - it was tough watching the two of them, keeping Maya out of too much sun and from eating sand, making sure Aria was safe etc.  It was a pain! It's definitely not that fun doing it alone.



Dugette said:


> I know he really enjoyed his meal and was glad he went out.



That is nice he had some time to himself!



Dugette said:


> I have no idea what Izzy and I had for dinner. Whatever food we had in the condo, I guess.  (Oooh, I just found that my notes said "leftovers". )



Maybe some more of those chicken nuggets lol


----------



## Dugette

cindianne320 said:


> Sounds so relaxing!!! Glad you each got to do what you wanted. But poor MIL.


Yeah, I felt really bad for her when she took that tumble. She was SO covered in sand, but at least it was a soft landing, I guess.



schmass said:


> Sounds like a nice, relaxing day! Your hike looks like nice - so much beautiful scenery there.


It was really nice. I could have just hiked around all day. And, yes, it was insanely relaxed.



schmass said:


> I had to laugh at Dug's description of going to the beach with Izzy. Sounds about right for an outing with a toddler!


I know, right?  I was glad I'd chosen to hike and he was the one who got stuck with that - I've been through similar situations often enough.



schmass said:


> Dug's sushi looks so good, and the banana dessert sounds pretty amazing, too!


I'm not a sushi person, but I would totally go for that dessert! 



Imagineer5 said:


> How nice! That is a good assortment!


It was! Beyond the toys, there were a couple beach chairs, a cooler, snorkeling equipment, etc. Very well-stocked!



Imagineer5 said:


> HUh I have seen one of those before but didn't know how to eat it


I had to ask SIL what to do - you kind of had to pop it out of the skin.



Imagineer5 said:


> Now that's a good way to start the day!


I agree! I should do that more often! 



Imagineer5 said:


> I think a little forewarning would have been nice lol!


Exactly! I mean, why just disappear and make us look for you?  Luckily, we didn't really see anything, as she was buttoning back up when we found her. 



Imagineer5 said:


> Bahahaha. I find this pretty funny as I spent a weekend in Beverly, MA with Maya & Aria by myself while Andrew attended a conference. Oh I had the dogs, too. I attempted a beach day but it lasted about 20 minutes - it was tough watching the two of them, keeping Maya out of too much sun and from eating sand, making sure Aria was safe etc. It was a pain! It's definitely not that fun doing it alone.


Oh my gosh - two kids and the dogs too?!  I don't think I would have even made it 20 minutes. 



Imagineer5 said:


> That is nice he had some time to himself!


He really likes that time to reflect on the project he finished, so it was nice he got it, even in Hawaii.



Imagineer5 said:


> Maybe some more of those chicken nuggets lol


Quite possible!


----------



## Dugette

*Polynesian Cultural Center – Part 1*
*
We enjoyed some more exotic fruit for breakfast this morning, along with yogurt, mini bagels, and POG juice:





Izzy also enjoyed some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse during breakfast:





I think Izzy was anxious to go somewhere at that point, but the rest of our group wasn’t yet ready to head to the Polynesian Cultural Center. So, to appease Izzy (and myself, really), I put her in the stroller and we went for a walk:





Here’s one of the entrances to the condo complex and you can see the gate where you scan your key fob to get in:





I saw a yellow fire truck, which was different:





And we ended up by Turtle Bay, overlooking the beach that Izzy had enjoyed for two minutes the previous day  :





I’m pretty sure I took this picture for a reason, but I no longer recall what I wanted to say about that group of guys  :





Yes, this is some high-quality trip reporting here! 

Have another picture of the beach instead:





We turned around at that point and headed back to the condo to meet up with everyone. Once again, the minivan came in handy, as all 7 of us were able to ride together (I drove and Dug, Izzy, Nana, Papa, Kay, and Jay were along). Dug insisted one making a quick stop at Romy’s shrimp truck on the way there. His mom was not excited about that and giving him a hard time about wanting to stop at a food truck  (this was well-known for being a must-try kind of thing, FYI). But I was driving and made the call to stop quickly for him while his mom sat in the minivan irritated. 

He took these pictures while waiting in line:









Soon after taking those, though, he was told it was going to be about a 45 minute wait (!!! Not sure why?), so he cut his losses and came back to the minivan, feeling defeated while Nana was probably doing a bit of I-told-you-so.  I got us back on the road and we were soon pulling in here:









The Polynesian Cultural Center is a large property that reminds me a bit of World Showcase in Epcot. There are different “villages” to represent the various Polynesian islands. Each has education, entertainment, structures, etc. to reflect each culture. We’d be spending the majority of our day here. Kay had gotten us a group deal on tickets (along with Jay’s extended family) and that included the Luau dinner and evening shows.  On our previous trip (November 2014), we had come to the PCC (just Dug, Izzy, and I) for a few hours, but we felt Izzy was old enough now to handle a full day including the shows, so it was worth coming back.

Upon parking and entering, Dug was interested in the food trucks they had there, as he’d been saving room for Romy’s and didn’t get any:









I think he got the curry dish:





He caught up with us after that and you can see the rest of our family on the left there:





Kay is pushing Papa in a wheelchair. He generally does not use one, but for a day with a lot of walking, it was a good call. He has heart problems and tires quickly if he’s walking a lot. 

Here’s some signage near the entrance:









There were statues around the property:





And lots of waterfalls:









Pretty scenery throughout the place! 

Fairly soon after entering, we came across a show that was about to start, so we grabbed some benches. A pre-show we-sie:





I don’t really remember what this show was all about, but here are some pictures:









Izzy spent some time on Papa’s lap and they were having fun together, it appears:









And there was fire-twirling:





And then one of the guys climbed this palm tree:









After the show, we walked around some more and saw these things:









Looks like we saw another show, this one with dancing  :





I have a video clip too:



(click to watch)

We came across a demo thing we could participate in. It involved tossing little sticks back and forth with a partner. Well, Izzy was my partner, so we didn’t do much other than try not to lose a stick or injure anyone. Kay and Jay had a good time learning the skill, though.

Looks like Nana helped Izzy to stop and smell the flowers:





Here’s one of the authentic styles of structures they have throughout the property:





Continued in next post…*


----------



## Dugette

*Polynesian Cultural Center – Part 2*
*
Continued from previous post…

We came across a hula lesson about to start, so a few members of our party joined in:





First, Dug and Kay got up there:





Then Nana jumped in as well:

















Papa and Izzy watched from the sidelines in their chairs:





I also have some video of the lessons:



(click to watch)

A bit later, Dug, Izzy, and I ran across a javelin lesson:









Dug got in on the next lesson:





And after a few tries, he hit the target  :





He was pretty excited  :





I also have a video of him succeeding:



(click to watch)

The reason we had gone over that way is to use the restrooms, I think. My notes say “bathroom/timing crabbiness”, so I guess Izzy wasn’t happy.  But there was also a concession stand and Izzy wanted a snack:





You can see some of the more exotic menu items listed:





What did Izzy get? Doritos. 

Then it was time for the river parade. This was something we did previously, but really enjoyed and were willing to see again. We got seats with a good view and enjoyed the colorful floats:





I guess Izzy was impressed (and enjoying her Doritos):









Back to the show:





Just as with our previous visit, one of the dancers went overboard (so, I guess that probably IS part of the show  ):





More floats:

















There was a duck food vending machine nearby and another little girl was nice enough to share some of her duck food with Izzy  :









Back to the parade:

























Looks like Izzy volunteered to push Papa’s wheelchair after the show:





Continued in next post…*


----------



## Dugette

*Polynesian Cultural Center – Part 3*
*
Soon, it was time for another show:





I have no idea why someone is doing push-ups. 

Izzy was eating freeze-dried raspberries and managed to spill the whole bag, of course  :





Lots of drumming took place and I think it was rather comical with the audience participation:





I guess we saw this at some point:





And then there was a re-enactment of a wedding ceremony:





























Looks lovely and all , but I remember being irritated during that show, as Izzy wasn’t in a patient mood (who can blame her after all the shows?) and I was stuck managing her.  I don’t remember much about the actual show, but I know Dug and his parents enjoyed it. I also was irritated because Papa needed help getting his wheelchair out of the grass after the show and nobody else was around to help him, so I had to push his wheelchair and Izzy’s stroller by myself. He was grateful for the help, but why wasn’t anyone else there?  I guess they just wandered off at the end?

I soon got over that, as Kay and Jay said they were going to paddle a canoe and Izzy and I could join them. That sounded great to us, so we headed over to get in line for these:





Izzy tried to help with the oar:





It was fun to paddle around the river for a bit.

I don’t remember what we were doing here, but this is cute:





I know we rode these bigger boats last trip, but can’t remember if we did this time:





Never mind the family in the forefront, as I was trying to take a picture of the back row  :





Continued in next post…*


----------



## Dugette

*Polynesian Cultural Center – Part 4*
*
Continued from previous post…

By that point, it was time for our Luau. We lined up here:





We got our fresh flower leis :





We were led to our table and everyone was given a cup of this punch on the way in (non-alcoholic, as the PCC doesn't serve alcohol at all):





I think I only had one for me, since Izzy had her thermos of milk. Naturally, Izzy wanted to try my punch and spilled it and got very upset, so I had to go get another glass or two for us. 

A view of the stage:





Oh, this must be before she spilled it (and I think I was trying to figure out where to get a second glass since she stole mine):





The food was buffet style and all very good:





That purple bread was a Taro Roll and delicious…Izzy and I had a few. There was more food available than that, but I guess we didn't take many pictures.

There were tasty desserts as well:





There’s Izzy’s plate:





And some chocolate cake:





After we were all eating, the show began:









It was a big place with a large crowd, as you can see here:





I remember having to take Izzy on multiple bathroom trips across that expanse. 

We enjoyed the luau, though I was getting tired of toddler-management by that time of the day. Luckily, I was then offered the chance to be cut loose for a bit to see the movie that Dug and Nana had seen earlier.  I quickly took them up on that offer and headed out to this area:





I sat down in the theater and heard the couple behind me saying this was “like Soarin’ Over California”. Sounds good to me!  And it was similar in some ways. The seats didn’t move and it was about Hawaii, but it had a similar feel and was very enjoyable. And, frankly, having that time to just be by myself was wonderful too. 

Izzy and Dug met me outside and she was so happy to see me again! 

As we walked to our next destination, we passed a ukulele player that serenaded Izzy:





He really was playing for her, but she wasn’t watching, of course.

While waiting for our final show of the evening, Kay danced around on a little platform with Izzy and her other niece that was there. It was really cute. Jay’s brother (niece’s dad) came over and gave the girls glow necklaces too. Izzy had a good time just cutting loose for a bit. 

Our final show was the one the PCC was pretty famous for:





Pretty lighting as we got ready to head in:





Here is the view of the auditorium from our seats:





While waiting for the show, there were some folks from Canada that Papa was chatting with, as his parents were from Canada. They were very nice. I think I’d shown Izzy how to link two of those glow bracelets together and she was showing it off to everyone that would look. Soon, the show began. No photos allowed, I believe. Izzy had to sit in my lap, as she was young enough to not require a ticket (I believe under 5). She got a little restless and switched laps with our entire party throughout the show, but not bad for a toddler being kept up late after a long day. The show itself was really good. I can’t really explain it well, but it’s a story of a boy growing up and falling in love and involves music, dancing, fire, you name it. Very well done. Izzy was a little scared at some parts, but not too bad, all things considered.

After that, we all headed out and went back to the condos for a good night’s sleep.

Up next: We get out and explore other parts of the island!*


----------



## Imagineer5

Photobucket is oddly working at work again so I'm taking advantage and quickly commenting before they go away lol!



Dugette said:


> But I was driving and made the call to stop quickly for him while his mom sat in the minivan irritated.



I was waiting for his chance to share these delicious treats, but that was really too bad htat the wait was so long, WOW!



Dugette said:


> And lots of waterfalls:



The place is beautiful!



Dugette said:


>



Love the hula lesson!



Dugette said:


> What did Izzy get? Doritos.



Gah! Aria would be a PITA too like that lol. If I want her to get something specific i'll just tell her they're out of that and she has X y and Z to choose from :-D



Dugette said:


> I have no idea why someone is doing push-ups.



Yeah that's awkward



Dugette said:


> I soon got over that, as Kay and Jay said they were going to paddle a canoe and Izzy and I could join them. That sounded great to us, so we headed over to get in line for these:



Very cool! Surprised they didn't have life jackets or something?



Dugette said:


> We got our fresh flower leis :



MMM I just love these. I wish the Poly used real ones.



Dugette said:


> We enjoyed the luau, though I was getting tired of toddler-management by that time of the day.



Yeah I would be annoyed too esp with so much family around.



Dugette said:


> I sat down in the theater and heard the couple behind me saying this was “like Soarin’ Over California”. Sounds good to me!  And it was similar in some ways. The seats didn’t move and it was about Hawaii, but it had a similar feel and was very enjoyable. And, frankly, having that time to just be by myself was wonderful too.



Very nice! Sounds like a good way to relax esp not having to worry about Izzy getting bored or talking or whatever


----------



## schmass

Wow, that was a full day!  I remember the PCC from your last TR and thinking that it looked really cool, and it looks even better this time!  I'm glad that Izzy enjoyed it more this time, even if it was a long day.


----------



## FantasiaMagic

Hi Dugette! I'm a little late to the party but I'm here! I am really enjoying the TR so far. I think it is really nice that you were able to go on another trip to Hawaii with some extended family.




Dugette said:


> The view from the bench:


Gosh that water looks so pretty - crystal clear!



Dugette said:


> And the view was even better:


SO beautiful!



Dugette said:


>


When I saw this picture at first, I did a double take and thought the building in the back looked like the Contemporary for a second! 

The PCC sounded like a lot of fun as well. I remembered you talking about it in your previous TR. That's great you were able to do/see more this time around!

Looking forward to reading more!


----------



## khertz

The PCC was the one thing from our Hawaii trip that both DH and I wished we had spent more time doing. We did the luau and the nighttime show but had only gotten there early enough to see demonstrations at a couple of the islands. I think we learned a dance in Fiji and watched some kind of show in Tonga. Whenever we get back to Hawaii, with or without the kids (though I'm thinking we will probably just wait until they are older and make it a family trip), we will absolutely have to plan a full day there to experience more. We loved the little bit we got to do! I remember really enjoying the food at the luau too, which I had been a little hesitant about. This update brought back so many wonderful memories! We already have our next 3 years of vacations mapped out, but I'm sure I'll be pining for Hawaii soon after that. lol


----------



## mrp4352

Hope all is well! I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trip!


----------



## Dugette

*Hi, folks!  Remember me?  Sorry, I don't seem to be doing a stellar job of keeping up 3 reports at once!  I haven't had a ton of DIS time and when I have, I've been trying to knock out updates on my May 2015 land & sea report, so I've neglected this poor TR!  But I will keep it going! (soon, I hope)*



Imagineer5 said:


> Photobucket is oddly working at work again so I'm taking advantage and quickly commenting before they go away lol!


Haha, now that it's been two months - it's still working, right? 



Imagineer5 said:


> I was waiting for his chance to share these delicious treats, but that was really too bad htat the wait was so long, WOW!


He was really bummed it didn't work out. 



Imagineer5 said:


> The place is beautiful!






Imagineer5 said:


> Love the hula lesson!


I think Izzy would have loved to join in at this age, but back then she just watched. It was cool they all did that, though.



Imagineer5 said:


> Gah! Aria would be a PITA too like that lol. If I want her to get something specific i'll just tell her they're out of that and she has X y and Z to choose from :-D


Good strategy!



Imagineer5 said:


> Yeah that's awkward






Imagineer5 said:


> Very cool! Surprised they didn't have life jackets or something?


Good point, but no, nothing. 



Imagineer5 said:


> MMM I just love these. I wish the Poly used real ones.


That would be great if they had them at the Poly! Gotta go to Aulani for that, though. 



Imagineer5 said:


> Yeah I would be annoyed too esp with so much family around.


Yeah, though I will give them credit for putting up with her during the late show - she was up and down the aisle, trying out all the family member laps. 



Imagineer5 said:


> Very nice! Sounds like a good way to relax esp not having to worry about Izzy getting bored or talking or whatever


Exactly! A good respite. 



schmass said:


> Wow, that was a full day!  I remember the PCC from your last TR and thinking that it looked really cool, and it looks even better this time!  I'm glad that Izzy enjoyed it more this time, even if it was a long day.


It was a long day, but pretty fun for everyone, so I'm glad we did it. 



FantasiaMagic said:


> Hi Dugette! I'm a little late to the party but I'm here! I am really enjoying the TR so far. I think it is really nice that you were able to go on another trip to Hawaii with some extended family.


Eh, I'm kinda late to this party myself.  I'm super glad it worked out to be there with Dug's family. Great memories!



FantasiaMagic said:


> Gosh that water looks so pretty - crystal clear!


It's gorgeous!



FantasiaMagic said:


> SO beautiful!






FantasiaMagic said:


> When I saw this picture at first, I did a double take and thought the building in the back looked like the Contemporary for a second!


Turtle Bay does bear some resemblance to the Contemporary, I agree.



FantasiaMagic said:


> The PCC sounded like a lot of fun as well. I remembered you talking about it in your previous TR. That's great you were able to do/see more this time around!
> 
> Looking forward to reading more!


It was a really fun day. Thanks, I look forward to getting more written soon!



khertz said:


> The PCC was the one thing from our Hawaii trip that both DH and I wished we had spent more time doing. We did the luau and the nighttime show but had only gotten there early enough to see demonstrations at a couple of the islands. I think we learned a dance in Fiji and watched some kind of show in Tonga. Whenever we get back to Hawaii, with or without the kids (though I'm thinking we will probably just wait until they are older and make it a family trip), we will absolutely have to plan a full day there to experience more. We loved the little bit we got to do! I remember really enjoying the food at the luau too, which I had been a little hesitant about. This update brought back so many wonderful memories! We already have our next 3 years of vacations mapped out, but I'm sure I'll be pining for Hawaii soon after that. lol


Hope you can get back there with the kids in a few years! Maybe I'll even have this report done by then.  They really do have a lot of activities/exhibits/shows there and it's easy to spend a day.



mrp4352 said:


> Hope all is well! I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trip!


Thank you for commenting and luring me back here - I kind-of forgot how long it's been since I updated over here. As I said above, I hope to get things moving here, but I've been working on my other TR. But all is well, thanks for asking!


----------



## BariTravis

Following Along! Look's like a good trip so far! 

Can't wait to try the coconut/chocolate pie when I go in May!


----------



## Disney9.9.10

Hi! I caught your report pretty close to the beginning this time. How amazing that you got to go to Aulani again! It started off a little rough but feels much more relaxed once you actually arrived. I can't believe how big Izzy is getting already! Looking forward to reading more


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Man! Reading your trip report so far is like a trip down memory lane from our honeymoon. We stayed at Turtle Bay Resort, so, so far we did the same things you guys have done! 



Dugette said:


> But, long story short, our first visit came about due to exceptionally lucky timing of checking airfare during a major Delta price glitch and getting $70 flights (yes, you read that right – AND….they were 1st Class ).


Man! I need to get lucky and get that kind of deal!!!! 



Dugette said:


> Despite the signage everywhere about Leptospirosis, a dangerous bacteria that could potentially be in the water.  Dug and Izzy just stood by and watched and took photos while everyone else donned the required lifejackets and made their way in:


Ha! We went there and decided against swimming there, as well. I want to say we may not of known there would be a swimming hole and didn't have suits as well. But still the sign was good enough for us to not go in. But did you watch Lost back in the day? The filmed a lot in that area and I know the scene where Kate finds the briefcase is from that waterfall area. 




Dugette said:


> And we got some BBQ chicken and rice to share:


Plate Lunch! I was obsessed with Plate Lunches when we were there!!! I don't know why... 

Can't wait to hear more about the trip. It makes me want to go back to Hawaii!!!!


----------



## soniam

Glad I found your report. I am looking forward to hearing about Aulani. We are thinking of going for the first next in Summer 2018. We have been to Oahu before though. We love POG too It's really good mixed with vodka That radar plaque was cool. DH and I are electrical engineers. I used to be a member of IEEE. DH still is; DS and I steal his magazine We haven't been up to the Turtle Bay area, but it's really beautiful. Love the condo.

We did the PCC too and really liked it. We did the VIP thing, because I wanted good seats for the Ha show. It wasn't too expensive at the time, and you have a guide, that you shared with less than 10 people, that took you around to the various demonstrations and the boats and got you seats up front or let you cut in line. It was kind of like a cheaper not as cool version of a Disney VIP tour Luau was really good too. I just wish I could have gotten a tasty adult beverage I think we will try and go again, but I might skip the VIP thing and the Ha show. I won't skip the Luau though.

We skipped swimming in multiple places in Hawaii due to various scary sounding diseases. I figure I don't need to tempt fate that much and get sick on vacation. When we visited my in-laws in Chile, DH decided to eat some pate the night before we flew home. I was really worried he would vomit on the plane. I don't do well with vomit. Luckily, he held it together, and mostly got rid of everything at his parents before we flew out


----------



## Dugette

BariTravis said:


> Following Along! Look's like a good trip so far!


Thanks - it's hard to not have a good trip to Hawaii, I think.



BariTravis said:


> Can't wait to try the coconut/chocolate pie when I go in May!


Very good - I wish I had some right now (I've been having cravings for coconut lately - maybe from thinking about this trip!) I hope you have a great time on your trip! 



Disney9.9.10 said:


> Hi! I caught your report pretty close to the beginning this time.


Yay - you haven't missed much, since I've had a couple of big gaps in updates here. Hoping to get this thing moving more quickly, though.



Disney9.9.10 said:


> How amazing that you got to go to Aulani again!


I didn't think I'd have gone to Hawaii even once at this point in my life, so having gone twice is pretty amazing!



Disney9.9.10 said:


> It started off a little rough but feels much more relaxed once you actually arrived.


Yeah, it was a stressful travel morning, but once you get there, the island peacefulness takes over. 



Disney9.9.10 said:


> I can't believe how big Izzy is getting already! Looking forward to reading more


They grow so fast!  Can't wait to share more!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Man! Reading your trip report so far is like a trip down memory lane from our honeymoon. We stayed at Turtle Bay Resort, so, so far we did the same things you guys have done!


Oh, wow, what a coincidence! See if it keeps up. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Man! I need to get lucky and get that kind of deal!!!!


I still can't quite believe that happened. So surreal.



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Ha! We went there and decided against swimming there, as well. I want to say we may not of known there would be a swimming hole and didn't have suits as well. But still the sign was good enough for us to not go in. But did you watch Lost back in the day? The filmed a lot in that area and I know the scene where Kate finds the briefcase is from that waterfall area.


We did watch Lost, but I can't remember much detail. When we visited Kualoa Ranch (first trip), I remember that Lost was filmed there too.



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Plate Lunch! I was obsessed with Plate Lunches when we were there!!! I don't know why...


It's definitely a "thing" there. Good stuff!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Can't wait to hear more about the trip. It makes me want to go back to Hawaii!!!!


You and me both!  (I can't tell you how much I wish I were on a peaceful island right now.)



soniam said:


> Glad I found your report. I am looking forward to hearing about Aulani. We are thinking of going for the first next in Summer 2018. We have been to Oahu before though. We love POG too It's really good mixed with vodka That radar plaque was cool. DH and I are electrical engineers. I used to be a member of IEEE. DH still is; DS and I steal his magazine We haven't been up to the Turtle Bay area, but it's really beautiful. Love the condo.


Oooh, I hope you go to Aulani and enjoy! It is really a magnificent resort. Disney did a fantastic job. Heck, they even converted the non-Disney family members and now they want to go back.  Mmmmm, POG....and I bet the vodka would be good too. Turtle Bay is a pretty nice area to explore - has a very different vibe than Aulani.



soniam said:


> We did the PCC too and really liked it. We did the VIP thing, because I wanted good seats for the Ha show. It wasn't too expensive at the time, and you have a guide, that you shared with less than 10 people, that took you around to the various demonstrations and the boats and got you seats up front or let you cut in line. It was kind of like a cheaper not as cool version of a Disney VIP tour Luau was really good too. I just wish I could have gotten a tasty adult beverage I think we will try and go again, but I might skip the VIP thing and the Ha show. I won't skip the Luau though.


Oh, I didn't even remember they had a VIP thing. Sounds cool, though. It's a nice place to wander around and explore for a day.



soniam said:


> We skipped swimming in multiple places in Hawaii due to various scary sounding diseases. I figure I don't need to tempt fate that much and get sick on vacation. When we visited my in-laws in Chile, DH decided to eat some pate the night before we flew home. I was really worried he would vomit on the plane. I don't do well with vomit. Luckily, he held it together, and mostly got rid of everything at his parents before we flew out


 Ha, there are a lot of things I'd like to bring home from Hawaii, but those bacteria are definitely not on the list. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Hey, all! I think some people probably came over here because I wrapped up my May 2015 land & sea report and said I'd start updating over here now. And then I vanished for like a week.  Sorry. For those who caught the off-topic update in my other TR and know about my mom's brain injury: she's been back in the hospital again since last weekend. If she agrees to it (and I'm not sure she will, even though it's best for her), she's scheduled for surgery tomorrow to drain the subdural hematoma. So, anyway, I haven't had much DIS time lately. BUT, I do have an update for you, coming right up!*


----------



## Dugette

*Byodo-In Temple*
*
My only plan this day was to do the Makapu’u Lighthouse Hike. On our previous trip, I’d wanted to do this, but ran out of time, so it was my must-do on this trip. Turns out that everyone in Dug’s family decided to join us on our excursion, so yay for having a minivan.  On the way to our destination, we decided to stop at something Dug had wanted to do on our last trip that we didn’t get to: Byodo-In Temple. This was a good call, as everyone ended up being really happy we stopped there.*

*We treated everyone, as the admission fee was small and the rest of the family wasn’t really convinced they wanted to stop here (like I said, everyone ended up loving it, though – it’s so peaceful and pretty and photogenic! ).  Take a look:









Dug checked out the signage once we walked in:









And Izzy and I went right for that bell :









Then Dug got a turn too:





And some video:
*




*
We all enjoyed wandering around the beautiful and tranquil grounds:





Dug did some meditating, I think:





























Looking up at that ceiling:





More pictures:





































Papa bought a handful of fish food for Izzy and she loved feeding them:





I have some video of that too:
*




*
There were also some of these guys roaming around:





And more lovely views:*

*























Up next: I finally get to do my long-awaited hike. Will we see any whales?*


----------



## schmass

I hope your mom is okay!

Wow, that place looks really beautiful! (I feel like I say that about every update in your Hawaii TRs!)


----------



## soniam

That temple looks beautiful. We will have to try to stop there.


----------



## Dugette

schmass said:


> I hope your mom is okay!


Thanks, I hope so too. Today was REALLY hard. She refused the surgery and is not herself at all (confused/delusional) - unsure if it's from the hematoma or being off her meds to prep for surgery or something else. They plan to discharge her back to transitional care tomorrow. i don't know how that's going to go, but hoping she's at least a bit improved tomorrow. Neurosurgeon wants to follow up in a month and talk more about surgery then. 



schmass said:


> Wow, that place looks really beautiful! (I feel like I say that about every update in your Hawaii TRs!)


It really is gorgeous. Just wait, more views coming! 



soniam said:


> That temple looks beautiful. We will have to try to stop there.


Definitely a nice and peaceful stop.


----------



## Dugette

*Okay, Settle Down, Settle Down!*
*
We headed over to the Makapu’u Point area, as the plan was to do the Lighthouse Hike. I had wanted to do this the previous visit, as it’s entirely paved (so, good for strollers) and has nice views and the chance of seeing migrating whales.  We ran out of time on our previous trip, though, so I considered it a must-do now. And, even though I’d originally planned it with just me and Izzy, we had a few other hikers with us. Nana, Kay, and Jay joined us while Dug and Papa went to Kona Brewing (on Papa’s must-do list). 

We hopped out of the minivan and started up the trail:





Despite having the stroller, Izzy was determined to “hike” on her own and was so very proud of her efforts:





I was kind-of okay with that, as the trail gets steep with drop-offs and I was having horrifying images flash through my mind of runaway strollers.  (No, never saw anything like that happen, thank goodness.)

The trail goes right along the ocean:





I tried to take a pic of Nana up there and instead got a pic of this guy kicking his kid :





Just goofing around together, don’t worry.

Izzy enjoyed checking out the signage:





And, then – we started spotting some whales down below!  Every so often, a tail would pop up somewhere. So awesome! I wish I could say I have good pictures, but this is the best one I have:





It was really cool, though. Izzy saw them too and was a bit surprised at how active they were. She started repeating, “Okay, settle down, settle down” to the whales. I guess she thought they should have been taking their naps. 

We made it to the top and there was an overlook where you could see Manana, otherwise known as “Rabbit Island”:





You can probably see it, but it resembles a rabbit with its ears down. But that’s not actually how it got the nickname - it used to be a rabbit farm at one point.

Looking around some more:













Apparently the best “we-sie” (w/rabbit) that I could manage:





Really lovely to just stand up there and take in the views. And I can’t get enough of that beautiful, blue water:





I guess someone was ready for a shaded stroller break:





I did manage to keep her in the stroller for the most part on the way down, which allowed me to move along much faster. 

On the way down, I stopped to take a picture of the lighthouse:





Kay and Jay had actually hiked over to it, but I don’t think it was stroller accessible.

Down we go:





We like maps:









When we got back to the bottom, we had to wait for Dug and Papa to come pick us up, as they had the minivan. It was blazing hot by this time, so Izzy kept cool in the empty golf cart that was sitting there:





I’m really glad we did the hike. Everyone enjoyed it. 

I only have a few pictures of Dug and Papa’s time at Kona Brewing, but here’s one from their way there, I guess – you can see Diamond Head back there (I hiked it on our previous trip):





And here’s their lunch:

















They had a nice time, I think.

Once we were all back together in the minivan, there were various requests for restrooms and drinking water. I was driving and keeping an eye out for a gas station or something, but the first thing I saw with restrooms and water was a McDonald’s.  This normally would not be the place I’d go for anything, but it fit the needs AND I remembered reading in @Captain_Oblivious ’s TR that they have deep-fried apple pies, so I could even buy something rather than just use their restrooms and get waters.  In we went. I thought I’d previously read they had coconut pie too, but I only saw apple on the menu, so got that and enjoyed. It had been a LONG time since I’d had one of those.

Back on the road again after that. We had to get back to the condo, since everyone (like the whole group of 19...almost) was planning to go on a private catamaran ride. This was a point of contention in the planning.  On our previous trip, Izzy and I had done a catamaran sail with a company near Aulani (West side of Oahu – Hawaii Nautical) and were VERY pleased with them. My other must-do this time was to go on that company’s whale-watching sail, as it was whale season. They are known for being very good, as far as whale-watching goes. I’d told this to Jay’s extended family prior to the trip. They apparently disregarded it and went ahead and booked a private catamaran with a different company up on the North Shore (during a season with choppy waters up there). That’s fine, I don’t care what anyone else does. BUT, they did the rental with the intent of everyone paying equal shares.  Which meant that we would have had to pay for 3/19ths of a catamaran rental we didn’t budget for, as I was not going to cancel my pre-paid one with Hawaii Nautical (for which Izzy was free, by the way, as they don’t charge until you turn 4). So, this whole situation was uncomfortable.  Jay’s family said that it was okay if we didn’t participate, but that didn’t stop the pressure from Dug’s parents for us to go anyway. They went so far as offering to pay our 3/19ths, which was also uncomfortable, especially since they had also decided to do the Hawaii Nautical catamaran with us and hadn’t planned to do another one either.  But nobody wants to be the family that drives everyone else’s share of the cost up, so they were going to both. 

But, on that ride back to Turtle Bay, Izzy provided our out. She was a MESS. She was crying and totally exhausted and miserable.  When we got back to the condo, she demanded her jammies and then crawled right into her tent for a nap.  Apparently hiking wears her out. She had also seemed on the verge of illness that morning, with some coughing and breathing trouble, so she may have been fighting that off too. 

Since everyone in the vehicle had seen how miserable she was, they understood when we said we couldn’t go and had to deal with her and let her rest. Whew! 

As a follow-up, they all thought the catamaran ride they did was…okay. They didn’t get great whale sightings and the water was really rough. Nana and Papa had a lot more fun and saw whales much better with us (spoiler, haha). So, yay? 

While Izzy was napping, I must have had a glass of fancy POG juice :





And then took some time to give myself a crash course on the trip we had coming up a month later:









(On a side note – Izzy mentioned today that she really wants to go back to Disneyland – me too, kiddo! )

She slept for 3-4 hours, then got up and dressed and had some dinner. She was in much better spirits. She watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and played some iPad games and we just enjoyed a quiet evening in. Later on, Kay and Jay stopped by to borrow some contact solution. And that was about all of our excitement for the night.  We got some good sleep in preparation for our journey to Aulani the next day! 

Speaking of good sleep, I found a couple screenshots I’d taken the previous day. My Fitbit does sleep tracking and I find it hilarious how you can see the difference between my normal lack of sleep and my Hawaiian vacation sleep:





Also, I had this screenshot of the amazing weather forecast:





Ahhhhhhh…… 

Up next: Our super tasty journey across the island to our Aulani paradise.
*


----------



## FantasiaMagic

That hike you went on looked beautiful! How cool you were able to see a whale! It's so nice you were able to have some nice relaxing time while in Hawaii! Looking forward to reading more!


----------



## Dugette

FantasiaMagic said:


> That hike you went on looked beautiful! How cool you were able to see a whale! It's so nice you were able to have some nice relaxing time while in Hawaii! Looking forward to reading more!


It was a nice hike (though hot) and we loved seeing the whales! I'm so glad we did too, so that the others who joined us felt it was worthwhile. And, just wait, there will be more whale sightings in a future update!


----------



## Dugette

*The Delicious Journey*
*
My notes say that we (Dug and I) were up at 8:41am (maybe earlier?), but Izzy was still asleep, coughing a bit. We actually could hear a rooster, but that didn’t wake Izzy up. We let her keep sleeping and hung out in the living room…very nice having the spacious condo!  Speaking of the condo, it looks like Dug took some final pictures of the place and the decorations: 





















(Random note – I see a to-go coffee cup on the counter – I am not a coffee drinker, but Dug is. I had read a tip somewhere about buying these to-go cups at the store and then being able to head out with coffee from your condo/hotel room. Worked out great!)













It’s lower level on the right back there. I don’t know that we got a picture of the view from the sliding doors in the back, but it backed up to a golf course. We didn’t spend much time out there, though.

I apparently started the day browsing my phone again. Here’s the updated weather forecast:





Looks good except for that rain on Friday.  Which is, of course, the day we have a cabana reserved at Aulani, as you can see here (I was reviewing the schedule):





Note that the movie on the beach was just so I knew it was going on, we weren’t necessarily set on going (and didn’t). I think the rest is all accurate, though. 

When Izzy eventually got up, she had the most nutritious breakfast ever , containing all the food groups: dinosaurs, goldfish, and snowballs (and milk). 





This is how you know it’s our last day in the condo – just eating whatever’s left, haha. She enjoyed it.

Oh, one odd coincidence this morning. As background, I’d utilized a prepaid legal plan through work for us to make our wills and such. Well, we’d had communication issues with the attorney that was working with us and, long story short, the legal plan had another attorney contact us to just start over again. She called me that morning to set up an appointment. I told her we were on vacation. She asked where. When I said the North Shore of Oahu, she got so excited …back in the 90’s, she had lived near Turtle Bay and surfed, etc. She said she’s been dreaming of going back for 23 years.  So funny that we happened to be in the area she’s been longing to return to. It was a fun chat.

Anyway, we had everything packed into the car and ready to go around 11am:





We got on the road with big plans to hit several places on our journey over to the Aulani area. Our first stop was returning to Ted’s Bakery. We decided to sample another kind of pie:









I think we enjoyed this quite a bit too, but not as much as the chocolate haupia (coconut) one. 

We also had to get another one of these “for Izzy” (me!):





I had developed quite an addiction to those. I miss them. 

Our next stop was not actually food related. Another of my must-do’s was to return to Laniakea Beach, which is where we saw the turtle on our previous trip. Beautiful:





Unfortunately, the person working there said that it had been 5 days since a turtle sighting, so that was sad!  They used to be there every day! They did give Izzy a coloring book, though:





We hung out there for a bit, just in case the 5 day streak would be broken. Izzy used her coloring book as a megaphone to call for the turtles:





She actually made up a bunch of turtle names and started calling for them over and over. I got video of that too:
*




*
No turtles emerged, though :





But this little guy came along and is apparently pretty close pals with the naturalist person:





We gave up on turtles (bummer!) and got back on the road again. Looks like Dug got a couple scenery pics from the passenger seat:









Our next stop was in the town of Haleiwa, which is a popular place on the North Shore. Dug kept getting the name totally wrong and I think I was giving him a hard time. (It’s pronounced like: HAH lei ee vah, but he was saying something entirely different). Anyway, we were going to Matsumoto’s Shave Ice. If you followed our previous Hawaii TR, you might remember this place is quite well known and had a LONG line and we decided we weren’t in the mood and skipped it. Time to make up for that! It was still quite popular, as finding a parking spot in the lot was a major task (like taking laps forever ), but we made it happen. Dug was just going to run in while I stayed in the car with Izzy. But then she announced she had to go potty, so he ended up taking her with him. I stayed in the minivan because all of our luggage was in it and Hawaii is known for car break-ins, so I didn’t feel comfortable leaving it. Me waiting:





Dug had a better view:

















It took them a while, but they eventually made it back with our treats:





I no longer remember what our flavor was (though I think Lilikoi was involved), but clearly colorful and fruity, and he added some Mochi Balls too. Yum! It was really tasty. You can see in the background that he got Izzy a little dish of vanilla ice cream, since we didn’t know what she’d think of ours. She enjoyed her personal dish of ice cream while we shared our concoction. Here’s what it looked like partially eaten (I think we had the kind with ice cream on the bottom?):





We were just sitting in the car, eating in the parking lot. And making Izzy be very careful not to get melting ice cream all over her car seat or the rental.  When we were done, I think I ran off to toss the trash and use the restroom. Then we had the task of backing that big ol’ minivan out of our very tight spot in a packed parking lot.  Soon, we were back on the road again. 

Our last stop along the way was at Leonard’s Malasadamobile, since we just hadn’t had enough sweets yet  (I swear, this is NOT how we normally eat…but it’s vacation…and this was our lunch, after all ):





I don’t remember what these flavors were, but I know we enjoyed snacking on them over the next few days:





We touched base with Dug’s parents and Kay and Jay. They were taking their own rental car over and made stops looking for turtles (I don't think they had any luck either), checking out a banyan tree, and getting Dole Whips at the Dole Plantation (which we skipped this time, since we did previously and I didn’t want to leave our luggage unattended in the minivan).

Up next: Finally, we arrive at the paradise that is Aulani! *


----------



## soniam

We never made it to Matsumoto's or Leonard's last time. We will have to try harder next time Can't wait to see Aulani.


----------



## FantasiaMagic

Too bad about not seeing turtles! Those shaved ices looked so good I hope that made up for it!

yay for going to Aulani! I loved reading about it in your previous TR, so I'm excited to read more lol!


----------



## alohamom

*"Malasadamobile"   *
*
Hahaha-thats great Dugette, I have never heard any one else call it that!  

Izzy is too cute calling for the turtles, so smart...


I hope things with your mom smooth out, I know how hard this kind of thing can be. *


----------



## schmass

This was the wrong update to read as I'm already hungry - good thing it's almost lunchtime for me!  The shaved ice and malasadas look incredibly yummy.  

That hike you did looks great.  I definitely want to do that next year when we go.  Followed by lunch at the Kona brewing company if Michael has anything to say about it!

Sorry about the awkward catamaran situation but glad Izzy gave you an out!  

Can't wait to read about Aulani (again!)!


----------



## Imagineer5

Somehow I missed all your updates, sorry! First of all, I hope your mom is doing better.

Glad you were able to get that hike in, and Dug was able to knock something else off of his to do list as well.  That sounds like a weird situation with the catamaran, who would book it without everyone's consent? And a choppy ride without great views - doesn't sound like you missed much!

What a nice morning heading over to Aulani, it's always nice to mix in family time with whole group time, so it's good that you got that little bit of just you guys!


----------



## amazingact21

I don't think I've commented on this report much, but I have been reading along and enjoying all your Hawaiian adventures. It makes me want to visit the place even more, and I'm sure I'll be returning to take notes on all your eatery spots when that day does arrive.


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


> Byodo-In Temple. This was a good call, as everyone ended up being really happy we stopped there.


I didn't even knew this existing. It is so beautiful with the mountains in the background. 



Dugette said:


>


So, beautiful.



Dugette said:


> Also, I had this screenshot of the amazing weather forecast:


I remember when we were there, I joked, that I wanted to move to Hawaii and be a weather person. Today is sunny, tomorrow is sunny. sunny, sunny, sunny!



Dugette said:


> It took them a while, but they eventually made it back with our treats:


Yummy!!!! It's funny how it just isn't the same here on the "main land".


----------



## Dugette

soniam said:


> We never made it to Matsumoto's or Leonard's last time. We will have to try harder next time Can't wait to see Aulani.


Haha, just like us with Matsumoto's our first time - we went to Hawaii and never tried shave ice! Yes, try harder.  Aulani arrival coming up!



FantasiaMagic said:


> Too bad about not seeing turtles! Those shaved ices looked so good I hope that made up for it!
> 
> yay for going to Aulani! I loved reading about it in your previous TR, so I'm excited to read more lol!


We were really sad about not seeing turtles. Seeing the one turtle on our previous trip was such a highlight - Izzy actually still remembered it and really wanted to see another one. But shave ice is good too, haha. Aulani arrival coming right up!



alohamom said:


> *"Malasadamobile"
> 
> Hahaha-thats great Dugette, I have never heard any one else call it that!
> 
> Izzy is too cute calling for the turtles, so smart...
> 
> 
> I hope things with your mom smooth out, I know how hard this kind of thing can be. *


That is actually what they call it on their website: https://www.leonardshawaii.com/malasadamobile/ I'm not as clever as you think. 

She really expected those turtles to come when she called too. 

Thanks, it's been a rocky road with my mom. She had a fall during therapy today and they had to send her back to the hospital (ER) to make sure it didn't cause any additional bleeding. Luckily, the CT was fine and she's feeling okay, so she's back in the transitional care unit again.



schmass said:


> This was the wrong update to read as I'm already hungry - good thing it's almost lunchtime for me!  The shaved ice and malasadas look incredibly yummy.
> 
> That hike you did looks great.  I definitely want to do that next year when we go.  Followed by lunch at the Kona brewing company if Michael has anything to say about it!
> 
> Sorry about the awkward catamaran situation but glad Izzy gave you an out!
> 
> Can't wait to read about Aulani (again!)!


Haha, glad you could have lunch soon! I have that hunger problem often when reading updates on the DIS. 

Sounds like a good plan on the hike and then Kona. Since our time was limited, we had to split up, but I would have liked to do both. And the hike is a good one when you have little kids, since it's very stroller-friendly and still has great views.

I know, it wasn't ideal to have a grumpy child, but it was a great way to get out of something we didn't really want to do. 

Aulani coming right up!



Imagineer5 said:


> Somehow I missed all your updates, sorry! First of all, I hope your mom is doing better.
> 
> Glad you were able to get that hike in, and Dug was able to knock something else off of his to do list as well.  That sounds like a weird situation with the catamaran, who would book it without everyone's consent? And a choppy ride without great views - doesn't sound like you missed much!
> 
> What a nice morning heading over to Aulani, it's always nice to mix in family time with whole group time, so it's good that you got that little bit of just you guys!


No worries on the updates. You may have seen in my reply above that she was doing okay, but got sent into the ER today for yet another fall. CT scan didn't show anything new, though, so they sent her back to transitional care and she sounds okay. I think she's doing significantly better than last week as far as attitude and not being confused, but I know that can change quickly. So, we'll see. She's keeping me on my toes, I guess.

The hike and Kona were both things high on our lists (and Papa really wanted to go to Kona too), so that worked out well.

As much as I love boat rides, I'm totally fine on missing out on that one to do the one we did (one of my best memories of the trip!) It was really strange and awkward that they booked it and split up the price like that. I think it would have cost us more to go on that than the one we did too. 

It was definitely nice to have some time w/o the in-laws to just enjoy what we wanted to do (without any MIL criticism of such choices ).



amazingact21 said:


> I don't think I've commented on this report much, but I have been reading along and enjoying all your Hawaiian adventures. It makes me want to visit the place even more, and I'm sure I'll be returning to take notes on all your eatery spots when that day does arrive.


I hope you all get to visit sometime - it's an amazing destination! 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I didn't even knew this existing. It is so beautiful with the mountains in the background.
> 
> 
> So, beautiful.
> 
> 
> I remember when we were there, I joked, that I wanted to move to Hawaii and be a weather person. Today is sunny, tomorrow is sunny. sunny, sunny, sunny!
> 
> 
> Yummy!!!! It's funny how it just isn't the same here on the "main land".


It really is a beautiful and serene setting for the Temple.

 That would be a great job!

Yeah, I don't care at all about snowcones or the equivalent, but this shaved ice was a really nice treat!


----------



## Dugette

*Aulani Arrival*
*
We pulled up to Aulani around 2:30pm, coincidentally right behind Dug’s family. Perfect timing!  The Cast Members presented us each with a lei (women got fresh flowers, men got Kukui nut, and Izzy got another Menehune necklace). We all had done online check-in and they informed us that our rooms were ready. Our group got 3 Studio units, so that we could all have some space of our own (Nana & Papa in one, Kay & Jay in one, and us 3 in one). We all rented points through my DVC member contact (same person I rented from for the previous Aulani trip and for our May 2015 WDW trip too) – I think we pretty much cleaned her out of points.  We got room 565, which happened to be the room directly two floors below our last room, which was 765 (and very nice). Kay and Jay got room 555, which was actually down a totally different hallway than ours – kind-of on the other side of the V shape, where we could see each other. Nana & Papa got 566, but somehow we all thought they got 556, so Kay and Jay ended up knocking on the wrong door after we all got in (nobody answered). Jay’s extended family rented a 2-bedroom unit through David’s DVC Rentals and they were across from us in 560 (I think they had 8 people in there and the other 4 stayed on the North Shore). They LOVED that unit and said they got a fantastic deal on it. 

We all got settled into our rooms. We had a nice Disney-fied towel on the bed:





That flower was a hair clip, by the way.  Kay and I were both wearing them in our hair when we ran into each other later.

I like the Mickey w/ukulele lamp:





Looking straight down from our balcony to the water feature:





And looking out from the balcony:





Not as good of an island view as we had two stories up, but considering both rooms are standard views, I’d say perfectly acceptable.  Looking over and down a bit, you can see the lawn where they have some events and the building to the right is the convention center (and Kay and Jay were straight across on the left side there):





Our room:





Once we got our stuff inside, I went and got the minivan parked in the ramp. Once again, free parking because we stayed in a DVC unit (otherwise, it’s like $35/day! )

After that, I brought Izzy down to get set up for Aunty’s Beach House (the kids club):









Even though it was rather last-minute, they still had dinner openings for that night, so I got Izzy registered to eat dinner in the club – perfect, since we all had our fancy Ama Ama meal that night and I wasn’t sure she’d be up for that. She ended up having mac and cheese and got plenty of play time, so that was good. In fact, after registration and getting her special magic band, she chose to stay down there and play until dinner. I looked around a bit and they had a movie room, video game room, crafts, various activities, and a snack “garage”. One note, kids must be completely potty trained and at least 3 years old for Aunty’s. Izzy was just a few months past 3 and had been potty trained for a while, but she was used to having some assistance with pulling pants up, etc. And they don’t allow that – understandably, Cast Members cannot touch the kids in the bathroom, even to help them. And she was refusing to go while I was there.  But I guess it went okay and she must have figured it out well enough. One other thing – as part of registration, you have to set up a code word to use upon check out (same as with a Disney Cruise kids club). Because of what I mentioned before regarding this city and Dug saying it wrong, I chose “Haleiwa” just to give Dug a hard time. 

After dropping Izzy off, I wandered around the pool area briefly, trying to refresh my memory on where everything was. While I was out there, I ran into Kay and Jay, who had just enjoyed some strong mai tais from the pool bar and were particularly chatty and fun.  We had a nice time talking and I remember they told me that they love Izzy’s personality, which was sweet.  We also took a Photopass when a photographer came by. And then I went back to the room.

Looks like we took a bunch more room photos then:

































Ahhh, so happy to be "home" again. 

Up next: Family dinner at Ama Ama.*


----------



## amazingact21

I can never see enough Aulani room pictures. 
For a standard room, that view wasn't terrible. Better than a parking lot, I suppose.

Glad Izzy liked the kid's club. I laughed when I saw your code word. Poor Dug.
Man, that potty training rule is a Catch-22. On one hand, I'd like to know nobody can be around my kid while they are doing their business. On the other hand, at 3, Landon would have ended up with his pants and underwear rolled up into messy, tangled ball around his waist.


----------



## Dugette

amazingact21 said:


> I can never see enough Aulani room pictures.
> For a standard room, that view wasn't terrible. Better than a parking lot, I suppose.


No, not too bad at all. But we were spoiled being two floors up previously - that was really nice for "standard". 


amazingact21 said:


> Glad Izzy liked the kid's club. I laughed when I saw your code word. Poor Dug.
> Man, that potty training rule is a Catch-22. On one hand, I'd like to know nobody can be around my kid while they are doing their business. On the other hand, at 3, Landon would have ended up with his pants and underwear rolled up into messy, tangled ball around his waist.


Exactly! She was not super skilled at pulling anything up at that point and I had no idea how she'd do on her own. She always had pants on reasonably when I picked her up, though, so I guess she figured it out well enough. But I hadn't thought to prepare her for that - she was kind-of a little potty princess at that time, expecting toilet paper to be handed to her, pants to be pulled up for her, water to be turned on for her, etc. If we went back now, she'd be fine, but that was pretty early on.


----------



## Dugette

*The Sun Sets on our First Day at Aulani*
*
Dug and I got changed into nicer clothes for dinner. I soon realized that I hadn’t brought any shoes that would look appropriate with my dress.  I ended up borrowing Dug’s Mickey flip-flops, as those were actually the least objectionable  (at least at a Disney beach property), but they weren’t very comfortable since they were so big on me. However, I then ran into Kay and Jay in the hallway and asked Kay if she had any shoes to spare – she sure did, so I borrowed a much more suitable pair from her – whew! 

I then headed over to Nana and Papa’s room and knocked on their door to see if they were ready to go down to dinner. And they were thoroughly confused.  Apparently, they’d completely forgotten that I had booked us dinner that night.  However, they quickly got changed and Dug went down to Ama Ama to get us checked in on time and ask for a sunset-view table for our group of 6 (I'd made the reservation for 7, but they were fine with Izzy skipping out).

While Nana & Papa got ready, I checked out the view from their room, which was considered an Island View category, but it actually had a nice peek of ocean out there :





Looking down, they had a decent view of the lawn where the Starlit Hui would be performed later in our stay:





And then looking to the left and right from their balcony:









Not bad. I think they were happy they splurged on an island view and ended up with a peek at the ocean too. 

While they were getting ready, I got a phone call from Aunty’s Beach House. They said that Izzy was ready to go. When I mentioned we were on our way to dinner at Ama Ama (and could stop and get her), they immediately said they would try to redirect her and we should enjoy our dinner. Ok, then. And I didn’t hear from them again. Nice that they try to help out that way. 

We all headed down to Ama Ama and found that Dug had gotten us a nice table with a view:





I spotted a wedding taking place outside on the terrace:





Looks like a dog watching the sunset over there:





I think it was a stuffed animal, though? 

Dug got up from the table and got some better pictures than I did:

















We had a really lovely dinner here. Obviously, the sunset was beautiful, but the food and service and the company and conversation were great too. I was glad that Izzy had stayed at Aunty’s, as this gave us some nice “off-duty” time to just relax and hang out with other adults. This happened at other times during our stay too – having Aunty’s available for Izzy was really a nice perk. 

I remembered having had a yummy grilled cheese and tomato soup appetizer previously, so I got that again:





The menu said this was Roasted Kamuela Tomato Soup with a Mini Truffled Brie Cheese and Portuguese Sweet Bread “Sandwich”. Very tasty!

I don’t remember what drinks Dug and I got, but these look good:









Our group got a lovely cheese platter to share:





It appears that I got the Orecchiette ala Checca – Local Currant Tomatoes, Fresh Basil, Arugula, Garlic, Olive Oil, Mozzarella Bocconcini:





I think Dug had a steak with fries:





After dinner, Dug went with Kay and Jay to have a drink at the Olelo Room. I picked up Izzy from Aunty’s and it looks like she and Papa raced back towards our rooms:





Looks like Izzy wasn’t wiped out just yet! 

Shortly after we got back to the room, I realized that I’d intended to run a couple errands this evening. I wanted to stop for gas at Costco and grab a few things we’d need (food, etc.) at Target. I let Dug know and he came up to watch Izzy after finishing his drink. Then I headed for the minivan and took off for Costco, which was basically the next exit over.

This trip was sometime after Costco announced they would take credit cards besides American Express. So, I only brought my Visa. Got to the pump and found out that they still only took AmEx, as there was a lag between the announcement and the implementation. Ugh, bummer!  I can’t remember if I got gas elsewhere or if we had enough to wait awhile? 

At any rate, I headed over to Target, got whatever we needed, and returned to Aulani:





Parked the minivan in a nice open area (the spots are rather small and hard to get a minivan in and out of ):





I think Dug texted me saying that Izzy was sad that she left her beloved “purple Minnie” in the van, so I brought her inside too:





I remember I was in a great mood while walking inside. The view of Aulani lit up at night was gorgeous and there was just a peaceful feeling knowing we were in Hawaii and had a few more days to enjoy paradise. 

Up next: Pool time! *


----------



## SimplyGoofy

I'm so jealous that you had another trip to Hawaii (and another stay at Aulani!) - what a dream!  It should encourage me to sign up for fare alerts - although out of my smaller airport, I'm doubtful I'd get such awesome results!  I bet it was great to have a full Hawaiian vacation with your whole family (as well as extended family!).

I'm glad the rental worked so well - the unit looked really nice!  I did laugh about Izzy getting you out of your "extra" boat ride - it's too bad she was having a tough moment, but that worked out really well for you guys!  I look forward to hearing about your great boat ride coming up...

I can't believe how BIG Izzy is getting!  I can't wait to see what she thought of Aulani now that she's bigger.  How nice that she was excited about the Kids Club and that you enjoyed a wonderful adults-only evening! 

Your meal at Ama Ama looks really tasty - especially the cheese plate and those cocktails!  Yum!


----------



## amazingact21

Your dinner pictures were beautiful. That sunset was something else. And I think it's great that you were able to enjoy it kid-free. Always a plus when you get to stop and appreciate your surroundings without having to keep an eye on a kid.


----------



## FantasiaMagic

Your Aulani DVC room looks very nice, just like a studio from WDW!

That;s great Izzy really enjoyed the kid's club.

The pictures of the sunset are absolutely beautiful and your meals sounded delicious!


----------



## krrrristen

That sunset view is to die for! And what a great place to get married... that couple's got the right idea


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


> I chose “Haleiwa” just to give Dug a hard time.


Ha! Love it!

Sounds like a great start!


----------



## schmass

Good to know about the kids club and that the kids can't get any help in the bathroom.  Lola will have just turned 3 a few weeks before we go, but I think she'll have been fully potty trained for about a year by then (fingers crossed!).  

That is great that once you told them your dinner plans they said they would keep Izzy there.  A kid-free meal is always welcome!  And those views looked amazing.

Bummer about Costco!

I was in your neck of the woods over the weekend.  We "practiced" for Disney by going to the Mall of America and going on a couple of rides.  The kids had a lot of fun there!


----------



## Dugette

SimplyGoofy said:


> I'm so jealous that you had another trip to Hawaii (and another stay at Aulani!) - what a dream! It should encourage me to sign up for fare alerts - although out of my smaller airport, I'm doubtful I'd get such awesome results! I bet it was great to have a full Hawaiian vacation with your whole family (as well as extended family!).


I still can't believe we've been to Hawaii twice for an average airfare of around $230/person.  So glad we got to do the family trip, though - Dug's parents and sister/BIL all had a fabulous time too.  (Um, if you are driving to MN to get your hair cut, you could probably set up some fare alerts here and find it worth your time to also drive up for a great fare...)



SimplyGoofy said:


> I'm glad the rental worked so well - the unit looked really nice! I did laugh about Izzy getting you out of your "extra" boat ride - it's too bad she was having a tough moment, but that worked out really well for you guys! I look forward to hearing about your great boat ride coming up...


Cannot wait to cover our boat ride - one of my favorite memories!  Oh, and yes, we were very happy with the condo we rented. 



SimplyGoofy said:


> I can't believe how BIG Izzy is getting! I can't wait to see what she thought of Aulani now that she's bigger. How nice that she was excited about the Kids Club and that you enjoyed a wonderful adults-only evening!


And to think that this TR is now from over a year ago!  She's even bigger now, but doesn't look terribly different. Kids Club worked out great on this trip! 



SimplyGoofy said:


> Your meal at Ama Ama looks really tasty - especially the cheese plate and those cocktails! Yum!


I'd say those were the highlights. 



amazingact21 said:


> Your dinner pictures were beautiful. That sunset was something else. And I think it's great that you were able to enjoy it kid-free. Always a plus when you get to stop and appreciate your surroundings without having to keep an eye on a kid.


Exactly! In fact, just tonight, Dug's parents wanted to take Izzy for an overnight (so, she's with them) and then my dad/step-mom called wanting to take us out to dinner, so we met up with them and ate without Izzy. It was so weird to be fully involved with the conversation going on and to find the meal relaxing vs. a lot of work. 



FantasiaMagic said:


> Your Aulani DVC room looks very nice, just like a studio from WDW!


Yes, definitely felt familiar and had a lot in common with WDW Studio units. Very nice, though. 



FantasiaMagic said:


> That;s great Izzy really enjoyed the kid's club.


It was so nice that she loved the club. Win/win for us all.



FantasiaMagic said:


> The pictures of the sunset are absolutely beautiful and your meals sounded delicious!


Nothing like a beautiful sunset over the ocean.  Meal was great too. We were all in pretty great moods as well.



krrrristen said:


> That sunset view is to die for! And what a great place to get married... that couple's got the right idea


I know, how beautiful of a setting for a wedding! 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Ha! Love it!
> 
> Sounds like a great start!


 Thanks, I'm easily amused.



schmass said:


> Good to know about the kids club and that the kids can't get any help in the bathroom. Lola will have just turned 3 a few weeks before we go, but I think she'll have been fully potty trained for about a year by then (fingers crossed!).


Good luck! Izzy had been potty trained for quite a while before this trip, but I'd just never thought to make her pull everything back up without any assistance, since one of us is always right there. So, just make sure she's comfortable doing that. And not a little diva who wants pieces of toilet paper handed to her.  (Yep, Izzy was used to that too. )



schmass said:


> That is great that once you told them your dinner plans they said they would keep Izzy there. A kid-free meal is always welcome! And those views looked amazing.


I had heard they were good about that kind of thing, but it still caught me off guard that they insisted we enjoy our dinner and not worry.



schmass said:


> Bummer about Costco!


That's what I get for not dragging all my stuff along, I guess. 



schmass said:


> I was in your neck of the woods over the weekend. We "practiced" for Disney by going to the Mall of America and going on a couple of rides. The kids had a lot of fun there!


Awesome! If you are ever around and want to meet up there (or wherever), let me know. Izzy loves the rides there too (especially the log chute!)


----------



## Dugette

*Everybody Into the Pool!*
*
We slept in a bit this morning:





Here's a screen shot from this day. You can see that this vacation was agreeing with my sleep preferences:





WDW trips are NOT like that.  (Nor is most of the rest of my life – being a night person with a morning person’s schedule isn’t awesome ).

I apparently admired or used one of the Aulani robes available in the room:





Then we probably ate something in the room for breakfast and got ready to hit the amazing pool area. Yep, a blur of activity, as usual:





We went to the towel booth and also got our matching wristbands for the day (have to show a room key, then you get these – different color each day):





We started at the kids water play structure, the Menehune Bridge:





Just like last time (14 months prior), Izzy was scared of the Menehune Bridge again.  You can’t see real well, but there is a water wall of sorts here and she is hesitating to pass through it:





But she did brave it this time and made it up to the bridges :









She was still pretty hesitant, though. However, she soon discovered the waterslides built into the structure:













She LOVED those and said she wanted to go on them “all day long!” More sliding fun:













At some point, Dug took over supervising her and I wandered off to check out the cabanas, as we had one rented the next day, so I wanted to scope them out:





These are Cabanas 3, 4, & 5, which face the infinity pool and have a glimpse of the ocean behind it:





We requested to be in that area, as it seemed like it would entail the least walking to a pool for Papa, who has limited mobility/stamina, due to heart problems. It also was a good option for the view. People with slightly older kids tend to like the cabanas next to the Menehune Bridge, but Izzy was a bit on the young side to be running around that all day while we hung out in a nearby (but not full visibility) cabana, so we chose this area instead of that.

A look at the inside of a cabana:





Pretty sweet!  You have your own mini-fridge, TV, loungers, snack service, etc. Not bad at all! This was our Christmas gift for Nana, Papa, Kay, Jay, and ourselves (we gave them a little postcard with info about it for their gift a couple weeks prior). Not to spoil anything, but this ended up being a perfect gift for Dug’s family. 

I chatted with the Cast Members at Rainbow Reef (the snorkeling area) briefly too. Not to snorkel, but because they handle check-in for the cabanas. We had wanted Cabana #5 (closest to the pools), but we were assigned Cabana #3 (by the wall) instead. However, if there is a no-show after a certain time (10 or 11am? Can’t remember), they allow you to switch cabanas. I was just checking with the CMs to make sure I knew how to do that, as we definitely wanted to try, if we had the opportunity (and, as you can see, this particular day nobody was at a cabana by that time, so I figured it might be the same the next day).

Izzy was still loving those slides when I came back:





We did finally manage to convince Izzy to check out some other parts of the pool area, starting with the splash pad that she had loved last time (Keiki Cove):













Then we got in the infinity pool for a bit. This is the one that has a cave with openings that peek out at the ocean:





And the view from the edge of the pool, looking over the beach:





Looking back towards Aulani and the zero-entry family pool:





Izzy and I watched the end of the waterslide (body slide) for a few minutes, as she enjoyed seeing people plummet in and make a splash. Then we decided to go try out the tube slide, since they had double tubes we could go on together:





You have to carry the tubes up, which is a bit of a workout with a double tube and a toddler on stairs.  But we got up to the top and the line wasn’t very long, so that was good. Here you can see someone loading their double tube into the slide:





And soon it was our turn! We got all loaded up:





You may be able to see there that they had me put my legs out front and then have her sit on/in between them. And then we were off:









Izzy loved it! She is definitely my little thrill-ride buddy! (I loved it too). 

The end of the slide spits you out into the lazy river:





We went on the slide twice before we had to get out and start heading back to the room to get cleaned up for our afternoon plans. I guess we ran into Nana on the way back in – maybe she and Papa were enjoying the pools that morning too? I can’t remember. *

*Anyway, I think this is a photo from back in the room (maybe? Not sure):





Kay and Jay weren’t joining us for our whale watching catamaran ride, so they were off enjoying the pool area this afternoon and taking Photopass pictures (our entire group shared one $99 Photopass CD!) We showered and changed and made sandwiches and packed a bag for our outing. Then I went to get the minivan from the parking ramp while the rest of the group (Dug, Izzy, Nana, and Papa) waited at the main entrance for me to pick them up. Hawaii Nautical does offer a free shuttle from Aulani to port, but we chose to drive because I wanted to make sure that Izzy was safely in a car seat (and I’d driven this before and knew it wasn’t too bad of a drive). We left the room a bit later than planned, but still okay…or so we thought. 

Up next: Will we miss the boat? *


----------



## Dugette

*A Whale of a Time*
*
So, I went to the parking garage to retrieve our minivan and pick everyone up, a little bit later than we intended to leave. Naturally, that means this is the one time I have a bizarre parking garage delay.  I got to the exit and there was a long line of vehicles and nobody was going anywhere.  I don’t know what exactly was going on, but the vehicle at the exit was apparently having issues getting out of the ramp. They tried and tried and tried and then tried some more. And we were all trapped in line behind them.  Eventually, after who knows how much time went by, we all backed up and let the vehicle move back from the gate while we all finally got out. 

While I was trying to get to everyone, they were pretty bored in the lobby. Looks like Dug took some Aulani pictures, though:









Then I pulled around to pick up everyone and they were all frustrated at waiting so long too.  Thankfully, I knew the way, but we were really going to be pushing it to arrive on time.  In fact, Dug plugged it into his phone and the ETA was 1:34pm…for a 1:30pm departure. So, he gave them a call as we made our way there (as we were hitting every red light, of course ). They said it wasn’t a problem if we were there a little later than the shuttle, but we should make sure to arrive by 1:20pm. Hahaha, what?!  I think that was like a few minutes from then and would have been physically impossible. As it was, I may have driven through some 35 mph zones at 65, hoping Nana and Papa (or the authorities) wouldn’t notice  (they were stretches that seemed like interstate driving, not residential areas or anything). I probably shouldn’t admit to that, but I was definitely pulling out my old sports car driving skills with the minivan that afternoon. 

We pulled into a parking spot at the dock at 1:29pm, thanks to my driving skills.  We were all pretty nervous and hoping for the best…and then saw that the shuttle bus had literally JUST dropped off passengers and they were walking down to the boat. We were golden!  Jumped out of the minivan and joined them (we’d prepaid) and nobody blinked an eye. Whew!!! (We had no other available time to do this cruise on this trip, so it wouldn’t have worked to re-schedule it – we had to get to this one...so glad we did).

Hello, lovely boat:





We all removed our shoes (barefoot cruise) and boarded:





As you can see, they had some snacks out. I think our tickets included two drinks each, but they told us, “Shhhh, we’re just going to do an open bar on this one.” I can’t remember why (maybe low crowds?), but cool with me.  They mentioned some special drink they had, so I ordered one of those and they had already run out of champagne and couldn’t make it.  I got a Pina Colada (and later a Diet Coke) instead. I really didn’t take advantage of the open bar, as I was running around with Izzy and watching whales (and had to drive us all back). 

We all headed up on deck and Dug took some video. Unless you just want to watch the ocean go by, you might want to forward it up to about 1:10 to see roughly a minute and a half of whale appearances in the distance:
*




*
We actually ended up following this pair of whales for most of the ride. It was pretty amazing and we saw lots of whale tails, but also some impressive jumps. So cool! We didn’t get the world’s best photos, but I’ll share what we have. First, you can see a splash up there:





Izzy and I sat on the net in front for quite a bit of the journey:





Whale over there:









I guess she was checking if there were any whales under the boat :





Oooh, cool:









A look at our fellow whale chasers and a crew member:





Enjoying the ocean:





That crew member came over and let Izzy borrow a toy whale they had:





She loved that! Izzy named the whale “Sabatna” and made up a story that she was looking for her baby whale. Cute! 

Another whale sighting over there:





I love that blue water!!! 

Izzy trying to be a big kid at the rail:





Izzy and I made a lap or two around the boat and ran into Nana and Papa towards the back. They were having a good time and Nana was taking tons of photos (I don’t have hers, but I bet she has some good ones.) They enjoyed this catamaran ride much more than the previous one…it was nice and smooth and great sightings.

Another one of the beautiful blue water:





And then the captain decided to let Izzy get in his chair:









We made our way back to the net in front and I guess it was naptime:









Izzy really got a kick out of the whales at first, but I think after a while it got boring for her. Not me, though, I was keeping a pretty good eye out:





She was amusing herself:













Then we looped back for another visit with Nana and Papa. They seemed very relaxed and happy. I think Izzy gave Papa a good tickle. 

We even spotted Dug taking a break inside:





Towards the end, when we had to leave our whale friends and return, I think we all gathered inside and had some of the snacks before docking.

BUT, don’t worry, I have more pictures from the catamaran ride!  Since I was using the water camera and Dug was using his phone, they didn’t all mix together right on the computer, so I still have Dug’s pictures to post and, frankly, they are better than my one-handed-with-kid-on-me shots.  I’ll put them in the next post.

Continued in next post…*


----------



## Dugette

*Continued from previous post…

I think this is looking back towards the parking lot as we sailed out to sea:





Me in the drink line :





On the deck:





Whale time:









Me and Izzy:





Whale sighting:





Dug zoomed in on his best picture :





I can’t tell you how cool it was to see those breaches in person! They were much closer than phone pictures appear. Very, very cool and memorable! 

More pics:













Me and Izzy still down there:





More whale:













Dug’s mom taking pictures:





You can see a little blowhole spray:









Back inside at the end:





Goodbye, boat, we had a lovely time :





This was a really great experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat. 

Up next: It’s happy hour at Monkeypod!*


----------



## FantasiaMagic

Wow that whale cruise looks amazing! Glad you all enjoyed it, and of course made it there in time!


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


> We all removed our shoes (barefoot cruise) and boarded:


Really? Everyone is barefoot on the cruise?



Dugette said:


> I guess she was checking if there were any whales under the boat :


This area makes me nervous! Not sure I could stomach sitting there! Yikes. 

Looks like an amazing boat ride? How long were you out on the water?


----------



## amazingact21

Loved the pool update. Everything you and Izzy did sounded like so much fun. You can really spend a whole day at the pool area at Aulani, can't you? 

Whew, glad you made it to the whale watching cruise in time! That netting looked like a pretty fun place to sit. I've been on my fair share of boats in my life (gotta love growing up a Floridian) but I don't think I've ever seen that before. I think that would be a little more fun than a glass bottom boat, and since you weren't allowed to wear shoes on the boat...no risk of a toddler sticking a foot through the hole and losing a shoe.


----------



## Fokus17

Do you know if they have life vest available for the little ones on the boat?


----------



## TinkLoverSam

I'm so jealous of your whale watching! I wanted to go while we were in Kauai but Kauai does not have any tours that allow kids under 3 and Arthur was only 20 months old!


----------



## SimplyGoofy

Your boat ride looked amazing!!!  What great pictures! 

I'm glad you made it in time  (don't all of us speed a little when we're running behind?!  ).  I'm glad the boat ride went so well and that everyone enjoyed it!


----------



## schmass

The pool area looks like so much fun!  I didn't think I liked water slides, but just got back from staying at the Beach Club and Rory and I went down the pirate ship slide about 100 times - we had a blast.  Glad Izzy had a fun time at the pool!

Your whale watching cruise looks great.  Did you mention the name of the company you used (I may have missed it!)?  Nice driving skills to get you there on time!


----------



## Imagineer5

What a great first 24 hours at Aulani. The rooms look great although I'm sure that 2 bedroom was pretty awesome! I'm surprised Izzy would still sleep in the PnP! How fun she could use the kids club and wanted to have dinner there (although I'm sure that phone call made you a little worried for a bit - not that she would have been bad at dinner though).  DInner looks amazing! That mozzarella looks fresh.

The pool morning and catamaran afternoon just sound perfect!! Definitely need to plan Aulani once Emma is 3 :-D glad Izzy enjoyed the kid's areas at the pool and slides and all that this time, and the raft slide looks like fun too.  It is a lot of work carrying a 2 person slide up and dealing with a toddler! I remember that well from May 2015 at Blizzard Beach.  Phew!

Odd they'd feature drinks on the catamaran ride then not have the ingredients at the beginning! LOL! Glad it was awesome though and you made it in time.


----------



## cindianne320

The pool area at Aulani looks amazing! Glad you were all able to enjoy it!
Glad you made your whale watching boat! We did a similar tour in Alaska and loved it!


----------



## Dugette

FantasiaMagic said:


> Wow that whale cruise looks amazing! Glad you all enjoyed it, and of course made it there in time!


It really was awesome - better in person than can be conveyed in pictures. I could have stayed onboard all day!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Really? Everyone is barefoot on the cruise?


Yes, I don't love that part (I hate my toes), but they do barefoot cruises. They did tell FIL that he could keep shoes on, though, for medical reasons, but he decided to take them off anyway.



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> This area makes me nervous! Not sure I could stomach sitting there! Yikes.


It's quite sturdy, so didn't bother me (and Izzy was feeling brave), but I know a lot of people feel like you do, so more room for us to spread out. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Looks like an amazing boat ride? How long were you out on the water?


I think it was about 2 hours. Really awesome and I'm so glad we did it! 



amazingact21 said:


> Loved the pool update. Everything you and Izzy did sounded like so much fun. You can really spend a whole day at the pool area at Aulani, can't you?


You sure can and you will see more of that in coming updates. 



amazingact21 said:


> Whew, glad you made it to the whale watching cruise in time! That netting looked like a pretty fun place to sit. I've been on my fair share of boats in my life (gotta love growing up a Floridian) but I don't think I've ever seen that before. I think that would be a little more fun than a glass bottom boat, and since you weren't allowed to wear shoes on the boat...no risk of a toddler sticking a foot through the hole and losing a shoe.


Haha, so true on the toddler shoes!  I've seen it before, I think, and I knew about it from our previous cruise with them. We didn't sit on it that time, just ran across once, but plenty of people did, so I felt pretty safe having seen that. It was nice.



Fokus17 said:


> Do you know if they have life vest available for the little ones on the boat?


I'm sure they do, but not required to wear them on this type of vessel, I think. I know I saw life jackets stored around the boat and they regularly take children, so I'm sure they have an ample supply. They probably said something about it in the safety briefing too, but I can't remember now.



TinkLoverSam said:


> I'm so jealous of your whale watching! I wanted to go while we were in Kauai but Kauai does not have any tours that allow kids under 3 and Arthur was only 20 months old!


Aw, that's a bummer! It was really fun. I can't remember if this one had an age limit, but I know I took Izzy in 2014 when she was only 2 (and free, as she still was this time! )



SimplyGoofy said:


> Your boat ride looked amazing!!! What great pictures!


Thanks, it was wonderful.



SimplyGoofy said:


> I'm glad you made it in time  (don't all of us speed a little when we're running behind?!  ). I'm glad the boat ride went so well and that everyone enjoyed it!


I was just praying that MIL didn't happen to see a speed limit sign.  She never said a thing, though, so I'm guessing not. I find I tend to rarely exceed speed limits by more than a few miles/hour these days (in my old age ), but in my 20's, I knew how to do a bit of sports car driving, so had to call on those skills with the minvan. 



schmass said:


> The pool area looks like so much fun! I didn't think I liked water slides, but just got back from staying at the Beach Club and Rory and I went down the pirate ship slide about 100 times - we had a blast. Glad Izzy had a fun time at the pool!


Glad you both enjoyed it so much! Funny how you don't know that you like something until your kid likes it. 



schmass said:


> Your whale watching cruise looks great. Did you mention the name of the company you used (I may have missed it!)? Nice driving skills to get you there on time!


It was Hawaii Nautical and we sailed out of their West Oahu dock (they also have Honolulu). Good reviews and we've been happy with them.



Imagineer5 said:


> What a great first 24 hours at Aulani. The rooms look great although I'm sure that 2 bedroom was pretty awesome! I'm surprised Izzy would still sleep in the PnP! How fun she could use the kids club and wanted to have dinner there (although I'm sure that phone call made you a little worried for a bit - not that she would have been bad at dinner though). DInner looks amazing! That mozzarella looks fresh.


I'm sure the 2 bedroom was amazing! They told us we could come take a look, but we never ran into them at a great time to do that and didn't want to just go banging on their door late at night. They loved it, though. Yeah, I'm thinking this was probably one of the last times Izzy used the PnP. She was probably close to the weight limit for it (or over?), but was small enough to be comfortable in it. Now she just crowds me out of bed on vacations.  Yeah, kids club was great and I'm glad they kept her for dinner, but I'm sure she would have been fine at Ama Ama too (and I originally had her on the ressie, before I knew Aunty's had an opening). Dinner was really good!



Imagineer5 said:


> The pool morning and catamaran afternoon just sound perfect!! Definitely need to plan Aulani once Emma is 3 :-D glad Izzy enjoyed the kid's areas at the pool and slides and all that this time, and the raft slide looks like fun too. It is a lot of work carrying a 2 person slide up and dealing with a toddler! I remember that well from May 2015 at Blizzard Beach. Phew!


They really do have an amazing pool area. You'll see a lot more of it coming up, as we prioritized time there on this trip. And having the free kids club is so nice - she enjoyed it and we got little breaks/solo time. Yeah, they really need a conveyor belt for those giant tubes. What a pain trying to carry them up and not knock a kid down the stairs. 



Imagineer5 said:


> Odd they'd feature drinks on the catamaran ride then not have the ingredients at the beginning! LOL! Glad it was awesome though and you made it in time.


I know! I'm not sure if they just ran out quick or didn't check their champagne supply first. It was fine, though, they had plenty of other stuff.



cindianne320 said:


> The pool area at Aulani looks amazing! Glad you were all able to enjoy it!


Thanks, it was awesome and we all had a fun time.



cindianne320 said:


> Glad you made your whale watching boat! We did a similar tour in Alaska and loved it!


Oh, cool, I'd love to do something like that again in Alaska, if we manage to make that trip in 2018.


----------



## Dugette

*Dinner and a Show*
*
After our fun with whales, we headed back towards Aulani. However, we weren’t going back to our rooms just yet – first, we stopped across the street for Monkeypod’s happy hour. I had walked over there from Aulani last trip, but with Papa riding with me, I wanted to drop everyone off, then I think I had to search for parking and walk back from a somewhat distant spot. Kay and Jay met up with us there for an early dinner too.

Look like Izzy was happy to be back here:





We perused the menu:





Looks like Dug got some Lobster Deviled Eggs for an appetizer:





I’m sure I got the Pumpkin Patch Ravioli appetizer, as it’s delicious, but I don’t seem to have a picture – maybe I ate it too fast, haha. 

And we got some fries for the table to share, I think:





And you can’t go to Monkeypod without getting a Mai Tai:









Izzy got the cheese quesadillas from the kids menu:





Kay and Jay thought they looked good, so I think they ordered some for themselves too. 

Since pizzas were half price for happy hour, I think we got a couple for the table to share. Probably a cheese one there (and some garlic fries):





I believe this pizza is the Proletariat – pepperoni, all natural sausage, onions, green peppers, olives, fresh mozzarella:





We all had a nice time at Monkeypod. Kay actually had a co-worker in Hawaii (that I think she’d told about the flight deal), so they would be meeting up at Monkeypod a bit later too. After we ate, I brought Papa, Dug, and Izzy back to Aulani and Nana stayed with me for a shopping trip.

We headed to Costco first, since I had Dug’s American Express in hand now and wanted to fill the minivan’s gas tank. After that, we went over to Target and we each got some things we needed (the only thing of which I still remember is a Hawaii themed straw cup I used for water at home for a long time after the trip – until I got my tsum tsum Tervis cup prior to our cruise a few months ago ). 

When we got back to Aulani, it was about time for the Starlit Hui (Aulani’s luau-type show, that was free at the time, but I hear it is not anymore or has been replaced  ). First, we checked the view from Nana and Papa’s balcony and that was decent, so they decided to just watch from there. Dug, Izzy, and I went down to the show area, though. We wanted to make sure Dug got a chair in the small section where they were available, since that would be much better for his bad back than sitting on the ground. We were told we could all sit in the chairs, but I didn’t feel a need to take two more from people who may need them, so I got a mat for Izzy and I to sit on the ground next to Dug’s chair, which was on the end of the row:













No idea why, but the lady seated next to Dug’s chair seemed strangely irritated at us. But she wasn’t saving the chair or anything. Maybe she just thinks young people should all sit on the ground?  No idea, but no reason to put Dug into pain when they provide the chairs for those who need them, including him. It was just uncomfortable and strange, but we ignored her looks and grumbles and enjoyed the night.

There was some pre-show entertainment as people found their seats:





Izzy had a visit from one of the performers as we awaited the start of the show:









They chatted about Minnie Mouse. Cute. 

I guess there was some sort of kids activity pre-show too, though I can’t remember much, but I see Izzy up there:





And then the performers started entering:









Various pictures during the show:









Izzy’s highlight was seeing the characters enter towards the end:





















She was fascinated, seeing them onstage:









At some point, a CM gave Izzy a bird made out of green reeds or similar, so she enjoyed playing with that during the show.

They changed the dance party at the end of the show since our last visit. If you read our 2014 TR, you may remember that Izzy tried to rush the stage to dance with Minnie and it didn’t end well (lots of tears ). This time, they didn’t let any kids come up and dance near the stage until the characters had made their exits. So, we hung around after that and enjoyed the festivities (along with some of Jay’s extended family that we ran into there). At the end, the CMs were bidding people farewell as they made their way down the exit aisle:





Izzy and I made our way out:









We stopped up to Nana & Papa’s room to see how they enjoyed the show. It turns out that a palm tree was blocking a good chunk of the performance, but they still enjoyed the music and the parts they could see from their balcony.

Meanwhile, Kay and Jay had returned from the dinner with her co-worker at Monkeypod and were planning to head down to the Olelo Room for a while. I was the lucky one that got to go join them while Dug took Izzy back to the room to get ready for bed.  I was excited for some off-mom-duty time:





(I also took a ridiculous number of pictures in the elevators on this trip. )

The Olelo Room is a Hawaiian-themed bar at Aulani and very nice:





Jay’s family was still eternally grateful for our tips on deals that made this trip happen for them (both the cheap flights and how to rent points at Aulani), so I indulged in some more free treats from them - some chips and a mango mojito:





There was also live music (sorry for terrible quality picture):





I had a nice time chatting with everyone and relaxing. This trip was really different than our last Aulani trip where I was tied to Izzy 24/7, mostly without Dug even around (work trip during our trip). It was really nice to have that parental time off and ability to chat with adults without a preschooler constantly vying for my attention. 

On my way back to the room, I ran into Jay’s mom and her sister and we chatted for a bit about dogs and random things. They were super nice and, again, so glad to be there.

I got back to the room around midnight and found a sleeping angel:





Good job, Dug! 

I went to bed right away, as I had to rest up for our long-anticipated cabana day! 

Up next: Fun in the sun! *


----------



## Dugette

*Shake Your Tail Feathers!*
*
For a relaxing cabana day, this morning started off fairly rough.  Izzy somehow managed to pinch her fingers in the fridge in the room and was crying.  So, I went to grab something icy out of the freezer to put on her fingers and discovered that our fridge somehow got turned off and everything was melting and ruined.  To top it off, milk was leaking all over and a shelf was broken/falling apart.  We managed to deal with all of that and still go down and have a lovely day at the pool (though I think I sent Dug down early to get checked in to our cabana while I got everything sorted out in the room).

In fact, we were very lucky the rest of the day. We checked in for Cabana #3, as it had been assigned to us, despite Cabana #5 being our first choice. As luck would have it, Cabana #5 no-showed and they were able to re-assign it to our group! 

Looks like Dug started his day with a Photopass shot:





I see that Kay and Jay must have been doing that too. Probably while Izzy and I were wrangling up all of our spoiled food. 

Just as background, we rented this cabana as a Christmas gift for Dug’s parents, sister/BIL, and ourselves. Turned out to be a great gift that everyone really appreciated! Gave us a nice home base for the day to hang out and relax and visit. 

Early on, I took Izzy to meet Donald Duck, who was out in the pool area for a scheduled meet and greet:









So cute! 

The best part, though, was that Izzy asked him to shake his tail feathers with her :









The adorableness of this video still gets me:
*




*
I think Donald loved it too  :









Then it was time for some swimming:









This is the infinity pool, which was right near our cabana:





And this is the big family pool, also very nearby:





Since Izzy is my little thrill ride buddy, we made a lot of runs down this waterslide:





It empties right into the lazy river, which is nice:





The lazy river also has some areas that try to get you soaked, by the way:





I did pretty good at avoiding those with Izzy (neither of us really enjoys water dumping on our heads).

The line for the slide wasn’t very fun:





Could be worse, though.

Here’s the view from inside our cabana:





And back to the lazy river:













Looks like Izzy took some time to check out the fish in the snorkeling lagoon:





And we enjoyed some of the fruit plate that had been brought to our cabana (included with the rental):









Beautiful day:





Looking up within the cabana:





Nice shade. Also notice the rounded curtain thing on the left – you could pull it closed for a private changing area (or a “secret room”, as Izzy called it ).

Looking out again at the beautiful day:





We were even provided with some free snacks (there is a cabana attendant that comes by with these things and also takes lunch orders, etc..):





We also had some waters stocked in the fridge:





I just have to say that these were basically the best snack in the world:





I think we all agreed and that packet did not last long at all. I believe the attendant brought us a bonus one, though.  They also informed us that Costco (in Hawaii) sells them, which we made a mental note about. SOOOO yummy (if you like coconut and dark chocolate, like me).

While I relaxed for a bit, Dug offered to take Izzy to some character meets. They started with Goofy:





Then they got in the massive line for Minnie:





I have to admit that I was enjoying some “time off”, but it felt REALLY strange to be missing character meets with Izzy.  But it’s good to give them some daddy/daughter moments, as she’s a pretty strong mommy’s girl (well, lately, she says that she and I are best friends and she and Dug are “best Star Wars friends” ).

Up next: Super cute pictures with Minnie! *


----------



## Dugette

*Character Fun + Space Goo*
*
After waiting in that long line for Minnie, I’m glad that the pictures ended up so adorable :









Haha, apparently this is how you get those cute photos (Izzy’s falling all over Minnie):



(click to watch video)

Dug jumped in for a couple too:









Up next was our old Hawaiian buddy Stitch :









Looks like they were having fun:





I’ve got video of this one too. In case you hear it in some videos (like this one), Izzy insists that you can’t say cheese, but instead need to yell “chicken feet” when taking pictures :
*




*
Meanwhile, I was apparently being spied on by a bird in the cabana:





But who cares when this is your view for the day:





Then Dug and Izzy moved onto Mickey:




















*




*
I’m glad Dug took her to these meets, as it looks like they both had a great time. 

The server must have come around for lunch orders while they were gone. I apparently got a hot dog:





I ordered Izzy a macaroni and cheese and some milk. And I got a coconut mojito, based on Kay’s strong endorsement (really good!):









Some of Jay’s relatives decided to snorkel in Rainbow Reef and Photopass was there:









After lunch, I took Izzy into the “secret room” to get changed into clothes, since she had Stitch’s Space Goo at Aunty’s coming up (we had pre-registered for this free activity). Off to make some goo and see Stitch:





We apparently got distracted by a good hiding spot on the way:





Photopass was very active during the Stitch’s Space Goo class, so we have some evidence of what Izzy (and some random other kids) did:

















Gotta love the little lab coat and goggles! 

Then it was apparently time for Goo:













(She’s in that back corner, behind the stretchy goo.)

And then Stitch showed up:





I think she had a good time. Probably stayed and played at Aunty’s for a while after the class too. Fun that they do these things with the kids.

Up next: A tour of the lazy river, thanks to Dug.*


----------



## schmass

Oh wow, so many updates!

That is too bad that the Starlit Hui is no longer free, it looked like such a nice way to spend an evening.

I'm glad you got some adult time - it must have been nice to travel with such a big group this time!

The cabana looks amazing, and how nice that you got #5 like you wanted!  Those chocolate coconut things sound delicious!

Such cute pictures with the characters, and nice that you got more alone time!

I love that they have photopass in the kids club and the snorkeling area.  It looks like they have thought of everything there!


----------



## Dugette

schmass said:


> Oh wow, so many updates!


Ha, yeah, I'm really trying to get this thing done and move on to the other pending TRs! Get ready for a few more updates. 



schmass said:


> That is too bad that the Starlit Hui is no longer free, it looked like such a nice way to spend an evening.


It was a cool show and a bummer that they changed things. 



schmass said:


> I'm glad you got some adult time - it must have been nice to travel with such a big group this time!


It was really nice! I liked being able to hang out with other adults and bring Izzy to the kids club at times. Very different than our previous trip.



schmass said:


> The cabana looks amazing, and how nice that you got #5 like you wanted! Those chocolate coconut things sound delicious!


It was so great to have that cabana for the day! And those chocolate coconut chips were SOOOO good!



schmass said:


> Such cute pictures with the characters, and nice that you got more alone time!


Dug and Izzy really got some adorable character meet pictures. I was a bit bummed I missed that, but time off is always good too.



schmass said:


> I love that they have photopass in the kids club and the snorkeling area. It looks like they have thought of everything there!


They do a pretty good job. Though, unless it's changed, they still have the old-fashioned Photopass cards and you have to ask for special things (kids club/pool GoPro pics) to be added to it. It would be nice if they had Magic Bands and just scanned them in on the spot. But it worked.


----------



## Dugette

*The Waikolohe Stream*
*
While I was getting Izzy to Aunty’s and then relaxing on my own, Dug and his family hit the lazy river and he apparently had the water camera with him. First, a picture that must have been on the way there:





As you will notice, Dug is much better at capturing the details surrounding him than I tend to be.  But these are a bit random. Enjoy the tour of Aulani’s lazy river, the Waikolohe Stream. First, here’s what the exit to the tube slide looks like:





The didn’t do the slide, but got in at the stairs near that area. Looking up:





I never noticed this in all the spins I took on that lazy river:





Another cool detail I never noticed:





Dug’s dad relaxing:





Hmmm, these ones look like some pictures I took while walking Izzy over to Aunty’s:





Mickey was at the pool:





This is looking over Rainbow Reef (snorkeling) towards the Menehune Bridge (play area), I believe:





But back to the views while lazing on the river :













You can really see the Aulani canoe-style design here:





Getting wet in the caverns:





Meanwhile, I see that Photopass was in the water with a Go Pro over at the family pool and got some cute pics of Jay’s niece in the water with her grandparents (I won’t post, since I have no idea if they’d be okay with it, but very cool that Photopass did random family pics in the pool like that ).

Here, enjoy a shot of Dug’s mom getting wet :





Another cool detail here – these were not real flames, by the way:





There are a ton of little Menehune (small mythical Hawaiian creatures) hidden around the resort. I seldom noticed them, but Dug had a good eye:









Here’s both Kay and Jay getting nailed by the waterfall :





And Dug’s mom about to get water on her head again :





She was laughing about it afterwards, don’t worry. 

After I dropped Izzy off, I wandered around a bit on my way back to the cabana. I took a picture from behind the Menehune Bridge area cabanas, in case anyone is trying to scope out their location and view:





I think if we were to go back NOW (with Izzy approaching 5 years old), this would be a nice area because she’d be okay playing there with us nearby, probably. But our location was perfect for that time and the guests we had with us.

Oh, looks like Dug decided to do the body slide after the lazy river:













I like the fish in the rock :





Made it to the top:





This is where the slide exits:





When we went in November 2014, Izzy LOVED hanging out where you see that family on the left and just watching random strangers come flying out of that tube. She thought it was hilarious to see them splash into the pool. 

I guess it was time for Dug to do the tube slide after that:





And, of course, that ends up back in the lazy river:





I apparently strolled by the fire pit where Uncle tells stories in the evening:





And I checked out what the Executive Lanai area is like:





This is another option for rental, instead of a cabana. Seemed really nice for a big group. You get that whole area. It was a little bit away from the pools, but had a nice ocean view. I think it was right in front of Ama Ama, if you remember the views from our dinner there.

Up next: Ocean time!*


----------



## Dugette

*In the Lagoon*
*
I decided to use the time I had solo to go into the ocean, as Izzy wasn’t really interested in leaving the pools:









Guess I was in a good mood (though hard to take a selfie with a water camera that doesn’t have selfie mode and has a strap around your neck ):





This next one is one of my favorite pictures.  A couple was tossing their baby in the air and I caught a great mid-air shot:





There was also a couple over in front of the wedding chapel :





After floating around in the lagoon for a little bit, I headed back in to enjoy some hot tub time while I had the chance. On the way in, I took a picture of some of the Casabellas by the lagoon:





On our previous trip, we were given free use of one of these for a day (though hardly had time to use it). Nice if you intend to lounge on the beach. These are available for rental as well.

My next stop was the hot tub at the infinity pool:





And then I must have stopped back at the cabana to find the complementary dessert selection had arrived:





I think they were decent. 

Dug and his family headed for the lagoon at that point:









They tossed around a football and everyone had a great time:





It must have been time to pick up Izzy by then, so I headed off to do that. I enjoyed the little waterfall along the way, I guess:





And if you want to listen to it:



(click to hear the soothing sounds of water )

I also saw Jay’s family floating around the lazy river together and waved to them. 

I picked up Izzy and she wanted to pose with the Stitch statue on the way out :





You can see she has a baggie of "space goo" with her. 

We apparently stopped up to the room briefly and Izzy sang her way down the hall:
*




*
On the way back down, Izzy said she thought the elevator should go down further than floor 1. We decided together that Aulani has a secret creepy basement and Stitch lives in it. 

Dug and family were still in the lagoon. His mom seems happy:





And I guess he spotted the wedding couple too :





Beautiful resort:





Looks like it was getting late in the day over the infinity pool:





And Dug enjoyed a pool drink:





And it appears he took a couple parting shots:









Then it looks like we have a gap in the pictures. I believe that Izzy and I spent the rest of our cabana time enjoying the tube slide and lazy river, then ran out of time for the splash pad, as it closed earlier than the other things and I couldn’t get her out of the lazy river. I think she and I got back to the cabana just at the check-out time and helped Dug to gather up our things. He took them back to the room while Izzy and I enjoyed a bit more pool time, then we headed back to the room as well. 

Everyone got showered up and changed. We ate dinner in the room. Nana had made up some teriyaki chicken a different night and forced everyone to take some  , so we had some of that and leftovers from Monkeypod, I believe.

After that, I think Izzy and I headed down to Aunty’s for a bit more play time for her. It was dark and pretty:









Oh, looks like Dug took some pictures as he headed downstairs too:









After dropping Izzy off, I must have stopped into the store, which had so many cute things that I resisted purchasing:

















I think I was checking for the photos from Stitch’s Space Goo at the Photopass desk in there and they said to come back later on? 

Then it looks like we hung out with family in the Olelo Room for a bit again:













I think it was getting close to closing time at Aunty’s then (and bedtime), so I went to pick up Izzy, who had apparently obtained a glow necklace:





Up next: A bit of shopping to cap off the night.
*


----------



## Dugette

*Browsing the Shelves*
*
Dug took a few food and drink pics while hanging out in the Olelo Room with his parents and some of Jay's family:













Izzy and I stopped back into the store, I think to add those Stitch’s Space Goo photos to our Photopass account. And then we browsed around:









Hey, here’s the one thing I got:





Hard to tell from the picture, but this is a HUGE beach bag. It was fairly cheaply made (and only like $12 or something), so a handle ripped partly off after a few uses , but it’s still cute and sometimes useful.

We saw a lot of cute wedding things:





Izzy tried on the bride and groom mouse ears:













She liked wedding Mickey & Minnie:









That store has everything, yum:





The store/lobby level is above the pool level, so we had to take the elevator back down to say goodnight to everyone:





Nana and Papa were thrilled to get a group hug with Izzy before she went to bed :





And then Izzy and I headed up to the room, with yet another elevator picture :





Dug came up a bit later and that’s it for the night.

Up next: Breakfast at Ama Ama with the family.*


----------



## schmass

What a fun, relaxing day!  That resort is so beautiful!  I never realized that there was a canoe design to the buildings - so cool!


----------



## amazingact21

That sounds like a really fun day! You made use of the resort amenities, which I think it great. I mean, you're at Aulani, might as well take full advantage of the awesome lazy river and tube slides, etc. Plus, beach time without a kid sounds wonderful. 

I have made Alex promise me he will take me to Aulani for our 10th Anniversary, and so I have been paying very close attention to all your excursions in the report for future reference.


----------



## cindianne320

What an awesome, relaxing way to spend a day! Someday I need to go back to Hawaii and preferably stay at Aulani!


----------



## alrushton

I enjoyed all the new updates!!!


----------



## Dugette

schmass said:


> What a fun, relaxing day!  That resort is so beautiful!  I never realized that there was a canoe design to the buildings - so cool!


As with many Disney things, it's a very thoughtfully designed and themed resort. Instead of theming involving Disney stuff, it's themed around Hawaiian culture and very well done.



amazingact21 said:


> That sounds like a really fun day! You made use of the resort amenities, which I think it great. I mean, you're at Aulani, might as well take full advantage of the awesome lazy river and tube slides, etc. Plus, beach time without a kid sounds wonderful.


I am really glad we decided to make that Cabana happen for a family gift. Everyone really appreciated having a nice home base for a pool/beach day together. I'd do it again with a small group like that. If it weren't $400+ (I think?, can't remember exactly), I'd do it just for our family too. There will be even more pool time to come in this trip. 



amazingact21 said:


> I have made Alex promise me he will take me to Aulani for our 10th Anniversary, and so I have been paying very close attention to all your excursions in the report for future reference.


Oooh, great, perfect anniversary destination!  Let me know if you need any tips. 



cindianne320 said:


> What an awesome, relaxing way to spend a day! Someday I need to go back to Hawaii and preferably stay at Aulani!


Definitely put it on the list!  Very relaxing day for sure.



alrushton said:


> I enjoyed all the new updates!!!


Thanks so much!


----------



## Dugette

*A Beautiful Breakfast*
*
Okay, so a bit of forewarning – due to the time zone difference, all of our devices decided to sync differently on this trip and my photos are all out of order/mixed up.  I am too lazy to go back and reorganize the photos from this day, like I did the others (I just want to get this report done! ), so I’ll do my best, but if you see a photo that doesn’t seem quite right…well, it probably isn’t. 

When I woke up, I went to check the weather on my phone. First thing I saw was that it was ONE degree at home.  Luckily, this is the next thing I saw:





I believe we started off the morning by stopping by the Open House at Aunty’s Beach House so that Izzy could play and Dug could see the place. I think these are all from that time:













































We looked around and chatted with the CMs there. One of them mentioned to us that Makahiki’s breakfast (the buffet) had changed for the better recently (remember, this was over a year ago now). Good to know, but we stuck with our Ama Ama reservation this morning. You may remember that on our previous trip, we were rather disappointed with a character breakfast at Makahiki, so we were hesitant to repeat that again.

At any rate, we managed to drag Izzy out of the kids club, against her will, to go eat breakfast. It was pretty much right next door:





















We were once again dining with Nana, Papa, Kay, and Jay and had a similar view to what we’d had at dinner there:





It was nice, but I’d had fond memories of having breakfast out on their patio while on our previous trip, so this wasn’t quite that lovely (still great, though).

Izzy got a kids menu and crayons, so she was happy:





As you can see, she made her favorite letter (“L”) out of crayons. 

Dug got a press pot of coffee:





Izzy got the Kids Mickey Waffles:





I think we ordered one of the Hawaiian pastry baskets for the table to share:





And I got a nice breakfast drink:









I think it was maybe a pineapple mimosa? I can’t remember.

And then I got this Belgian waffle with all of the available toppings:





I think there was a banana-caramel, vanilla-macadamia nut, nutella cream, and I think the other one was just syrup (which I don’t care for):





Appears that Dug tried the Loco Moco (traditional Hawaiian breakfast):





Looks like Izzy got bored after eating and started sticking crayons in the chair? 





And some random ceiling décor:





We all enjoyed our breakfast and then headed out for the day:





Up next: Following the Menehune Trail*


----------



## Dugette

*Following the Trail*
*
After breakfast, I think I went up to the room to get our swimming stuff together and Dug took Izzy to the Pau Hana Room (DVC Community Hall) to get us signed up for some activities later that day and check out a Menehune Trail device. He got both of us signed up for the ukulele lesson that afternoon (I’d regretted missing this on our prior stay) and he signed himself up for an animation class. Then they got a Menehune Trail device, which is like a tablet-based scavenger hunt around the resort.

First, a couple lobby pictures:









You can see how excited Izzy was about this :





Time to start:





Their first activity involved getting this little guy in the lobby to give them souvenirs:









They also activated a special hidden feature in this overhead light:




*




*
Izzy apparently managed to find her way back to the kids TV area:





I know that big picture on the left comes to life as part of this game:





Dug found a bunch of menehune, I guess:













Floor decoration that periodically comes alive with lights (those circles) and magic :





At some point during this, I think I came and grabbed Izzy for pool time while Dug continued the scavenger hunt (Izzy and I had done some of it last visit, but Dug hadn’t). 

On our way to go get ready to swim, Izzy and I stopped for a visit with our friends Chip and Dale:

















Dug was outside taking pictures too, first this :





And then he spotted us from afar :





I can also see some Photopass shots indicating a couple of Jay’s (non-child) relatives visited with Chip and Dale a bit after us. Glad they took advantage of the character meets too. 

Looks like Dug took a few more pictures of his adventures before heading up for a nap. This is the outdoor seating at the Makahiki buffet:

















Then I must have gotten Izzy changed (or maybe she had her swimsuit on under clothes, I don’t know ) and we did her favorite thing:





We didn’t have a lot of time before she was due at Aunty’s for a free event (the Aunty’s Aloha Party), so we only did that slide and about 1.25 loops around the lazy river. But it was nice. We even got serenaded:









Ahhh, such a great place to be :





And then I even got the attention of a Photopass photographer:









In case you are wondering, she was actually sitting on my feet there - boy was that a workout!  But she enjoyed being the "engine" of our vessel and trying to move us by kicking around.

And I guess this is how happy Izzy was to get out :





Then I brought her over to the Ama Ama restrooms to change back into clothes for her activity at Aunty’s. Dropped her off and then stopped for a Stitch Photopass myself :





She made me be scary :





(And I can actually see those same relatives of Jay’s that met Chip & Dale did these same photos too – complete with scary poses. )

And then, as we were wrapping up and I was chatting with the photographer (about DVC and the fact that she used to work at Saratoga Springs Resort at WDW), her good buddy showed up:





So, I got a totally unscheduled Izzy-would-be-so-jealous Photopass shot with Mickey:





And then he headed off on his way. So fun!

Up next: Solo time!*


----------



## Dugette

*Water & Music*
*
I used my solo time to hit the lagoon again for a bit:





I actually ran into Jay’s whole family on the beach and chatted with them for a bit. They were having a great time. 

And then I enjoyed the adults-only two-level infinity hot tub:

















This looks like the infinity pool, I think:





I must have done the body slide as well:





I can’t remember if I mentioned this earlier in the report, but one of the lifeguards told us that Izzy would be totally fine going on that slide. And she wanted to. In the end, I didn’t let her, as 1.) It dumps you into the water at the end and she hates getting her face wet and 2.) It’s very dark and enclosed and I didn’t want her panicking, falling on her face, etc. where I couldn’t see or help her. It worked out fine, though, as she loved the tube slide so much anyway and was okay missing the body slide once she realized how much she loved the other slide.

I also took this time to do the lazy river without a toddler sharing my tube. Much lazier this way. 

It looks like I spotted Goofy over at the zero-entry area:





And a lot of babies were out in their little floats:





I also found a nice chair to sit and relax in for a bit (though that is hard for me, as I am inclined to go DO things….but I made “lounging” an activity in my rotation). 

I enjoyed my solo time, but soon had to go pick up Izzy from Aunty’s. I think she enjoyed her activity, but I’m much foggier on what they did in this one, since there was no Photopass at it. I think there were some crafts involved, though, as we got souvenirs that you'll see later.

At any rate, we headed back to the Ama Ama restrooms to get her changed back into her swimsuit. While we were in there, a line had formed and Izzy came out of the stall exclaiming, “There’s so many people here!”  I think the whole line was gushing about how adorable she was. Guess that they weren’t expecting a toddler to pop out of there and comment on them.

As we walked, Izzy and I ran into a Photopass photographer and stopped for some quick photos:





But don’t worry – to get that decent photo we had to keep shooting through things like this :





That Photopass photographer told us about the upcoming pool party, which is where we were already headed. On our way there, though, look who crossed our path:













So glad Izzy got a random Mickey encounter too and not just me.

Once we waded into the zero entry pool, we watched Goofy playing some games:





We also ran into Jay’s mom and her granddaughter, about a year older than Izzy, I think. The girls played together, having little swimming show-off sessions, which was cute. Having fun in the pool:





I’m not sure if there was a big pool party with characters dancing like last time (where Izzy left in tears from not being able to rush at and hug Minnie ). Maybe we wisely distracted her this time, I don’t know. Because the next thing I see is Dug swimming over to us:





Izzy decided it was her mission to swim all the way across this rather large pool. Okay, cool idea, kid. Well, she was no match for the water and was barely moving, despite her best efforts at self-propelling.  So, out of true daddy dedication, Dug created a current for her :





She was so proud of her progress and had no idea! 

Eventually we made it and she apparently got out and checked in on the snorkelers in Rainbow Reef:





We had to get her changed to go back to Aunty’s again, as we had our ukulele lesson coming up (we all went up to the room for quick showers too). However, Izzy changed her mind and told us she wanted to do the ukulele class too (kids were allowed), so we brought her along:





And then, just before class started, she changed her mind and wanted to go to Aunty’s instead.  So, I ran her down there and made it back just in time for the class:





















This is what happens to my fingers after all that effort :





But, don’t worry, we did learn how to play “80% of all songs” on the ukulele. Here’s an example of one of MANY songs that can be played with basically the same notes:
*




*
I know there were a whole bunch of others, but the only one I can remember is “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. It was a lot of fun to learn something new and we both enjoyed it. I wish more family attended this lesson – several were going to, but backed out for various reasons. They would have really enjoyed it, I think. Oh, well.

Then Dug had his animation class:













In addition to drawing, they painted a cell, which is pretty neat:









I have no idea what I was doing during this time.  My notes say that we also signed Izzy up for the 5pm kids club dinner this day, so she was at Aunty’s this whole time.

Up next: Life’s a beach.*


----------



## Dugette

*Sunset on the Beach*
*
After Dug’s class, we still had time to kill before picking Izzy up from Aunty’s, so we just hung out together. Ran into a Photopass person:





Did some more Menehune Trail:





























And then stopped for a Dole Whip:









This one allowed you to operate the machine on your own, so I used my college freshman food-service-working skills and made a tall one:





Yep, every time my rotation was working the ice cream counter that semester, LOTS of college kids would flock to me because I apparently gave them the most ice cream, by a lot. 

I guess I liked the floor here with all the sparkly blue stones in it:





Oh, the Menehune Trail game also made the splash pad come alive:





Look for a menehune appearing on the back wall, in lights:





You can see it appear about halfway through this:
*




*
Looks like we also made this torch light up:





Then we popped back into the Pau Hana room to return our tablet. They had a lei-making session going on:





We stopped back at Aunty’s then, since we were nearby, but they said to wait another 10 minutes until dinner was over, so we wandered again. Ran into Kay and Jay and they had just come from taking pictures on the beach and said they could see whales. We headed down there and got a Photopass (but didn't see whales):





Then back to Aunty’s again. I like how it does just look like the entryway of a house when you go inside:





As we were walking across the grounds with Izzy, we passed Uncle and Izzy took one look at what he was holding and was like, “That’s a ukulele!” Uncle seemed impressed that she knew. 

Our mission this evening was to get some family photos during the sunset over the beach. I had talked to a Photopass person working the kiosk the day prior (named Tia) and she told me that it would be her taking photos down on the beach this evening, so we should find her and she’d be happy to get the shots we want. Well, we got down there and couldn’t find her right away, but did find the Photopass person who I saw earlier this day (the one who’d worked at Saratoga Springs), so she took some pics for us to start:









She got some of Kay and Jay as well.

Soon, we spotted Nana and Papa AND we found Tia. She tried to get some pictures of Izzy, who was not in a particularly cooperative mood:





















And then we attempted a family sunset shot:









That was about the best we could get of just us 3. 

She actually did manage to get some really nice pictures of the whole extended family (including us), so glad that we found her. I know Dug’s parents like having that photo of us all together in paradise.

After those, we wandered around taking our own photos and just enjoying the beauty of our last night in Hawaii:









Or, um, walking around with an attitude for those who were not yet old enough to appreciate such special moments in life :





Nana was in camera-lover heaven:





The wedding chapel looked gorgeous:





Looks like Izzy even stopped running around to check out the view for a moment:









Up next: Our last night*


----------



## Dugette

*The Last Sunset*
*
Next, Izzy had to point out the moon:













And back to running:





While the others were enjoying their artsy photo sessions, I was doing this:



(click to watch)

I did get one photo, though:





Here’s some from Dug:

































Random shot of the other side of our new beach bag:





And you can never have enough elevator shots :





Oh, I actually know what that was about – Izzy managed to fall in a puddle and get her shorts wet, which she DID NOT LIKE, so I had to bring her up to the room for a wardrobe change. While we were there, she made up a new game that was played by holding my mouth shut and then listening to me try to talk.  She thought that was HILARIOUS. And it was, so long as it wasn’t painful from her fingernails. 

Then we came back down to meet Nana & Papa for a casual dinner at the pool bar.

The pool area looks so different after dark:





Here’s the bar and we sat off to the side (where the picture is taken from):





And now I can’t remember what this drink was, but it’s the one that everyone always says you should get here (helpful, I know ):
*



*
I do remember it was quite good. Ooooh, I just searched the internet and I think it was the Lava Flow. I'm not sure that it's actually on the official menu, though.

I got some sort of sandwich that looks awful in this light, but I think it was good:





Ah, just looked it up – I’m sure it was the Tuna Salad Sandwich on Taro Bun – that’s why the bun looks so dark and weird. But probably yummy.

Dug must have gotten a pizza:









Not sure what Dug’s drink is:





Early on in this meal, Izzy said she wanted to go back to Aunty’s, so we brought her over. The no-charge pre-registration activities this evening were already full when we’d checked earlier in the day, but she could still go in for free play. It was so nice to have Aunty’s available this trip, partly for the parenting-time-off, but also because she really enjoyed going there when hanging with adults got too boring.

After dinner, we joined Kay and Jay over in the Olelo Room to try some of their yummy desserts:





Somehow, I don’t have a picture of the yummy desserts. 

After a bit, I had to get to the Photopass booth before they closed. I had everyone’s Photpass cards and needed to combine them all and get the CD(s) made:





Worked out great and we even did well enough in the Photopass scavenger hunt (shots from various locations) that we got a free 8x10 print of the family photo, which we gave to Nana & Papa. Oh, I guess I actually just combined photos this night, but purchased the CD the next day to get any last day photos included.

I also stopped at the Concierge and had them print our bill and charged everything to a Disney Gift Card.

Then I picked up Izzy and stopped back to the Olelo Room with her to visit just a bit longer, as the rest of our party would be leaving before we saw them again. I think they all flew out super early in the morning, but we chose to take a late afternoon flight and maximize our time at Aulani instead. 

Izzy was in a much better mood now:













You could tell it was late, as she was particularly cuddly. 

We headed back to the room soon, as I still wanted to get most of our packing done before bed tonight. While I was getting things ready for Izzy’s bedtime, she got clever with the stairs that were in the bathroom:





Much easier than climbing in and out of the Pack ‘n’ Play. 

I guess she demanded we take a selfie with Minnie while we both were wearing our “Aloha” shirts:





And here’s what she made during that Aunty’s Aloha Party earlier in the day:





I took my pool bracelet off and added it to the pile:





Pretty colors!

I put Izzy to bed, but she stayed awake for a LONG time while I was packing. I think Dug may have stayed down in the Olelo Room for a short bit, then come up to sleep. Izzy finally fell asleep close to midnight and I eventually felt good about our level of packed-ness and went to sleep too.

Up next: Our last day at the pool.*


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## Dugette

*One Last Pool Morning*
*
As usual, I started my morning by calling the phone recording that lists all character meet information for the day. Here was my note (I think "PP" is pool party? Can’t remember for sure on that one. ):





You might be able to see that our priority this day was to meet Duffy! 

Dug must have started the day by enjoying our balcony one last time:
*




*
He also called and got our check-out time extended to Noon, which was great for our morning pool plans – we could change in our room instead of the Luana Lounge (for guests after check-out). Yay! 

Izzy slept in till about 8am, not too surprising given how late she had stayed awake the night before. She also wasn’t particularly willing to get up and get going, so we let her watch a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we finished getting our stuff packed up (well, as much as we could at that point). 

I don’t know what we did for breakfast, but probably just munched on the collection of food/leftovers in the room. 

Soon, we headed down to the pool area and got our lovely purple bands before hitting the splash pad:









I think Dug had already done the tube waterslide by then. Izzy and I went a couple times after that before the lines got too bad:





Looks like one of the zero-entry areas:





And we floated around the lazy river a couple times:









Once again, we managed to catch a Photopass person with a GoPro:









I also spotted Dug across the river :





Izzy was starting to get braver with the water sprayers at this point, so I didn’t try so hard to avoid them for her on this go round :









We survived:





And I guess we found Dug:





I think Izzy was done getting her head wet now, so Dug took on the job of steering our tube:





It worked:





And then he went off and got drenched :





Looks like Izzy spent a little more time on the Menehune Bridge:





















And we checked out the fish feeding:





Here’s a front view of the cabanas by the Menehune Bridge:





Then into the infinity pool:

















And the family pool:













More baby boats:





We had to get out after that and head back to the room for showers and packing up the remaining things for check-out. 

Up next: Duffy!*


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## cindianne320

What great updates! Sad that your trip is coming to an end! (But excited to hear about your other travels!)


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## Dugette

cindianne320 said:


> What great updates! Sad that your trip is coming to an end! (But excited to hear about your other travels!)


Thanks! It is hard to wrap this up, not knowing when we'll get back to Hawaii. But, I am SUPER antsy/excited to get to writing about our Disneyland trip, so I'm using all the time I have to scoot this thing along to the finish line.


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## Dugette

*Duffy Day!*
*
This appears to be a parting shot from the balcony of our room:





After we finished showering and packing away the swim gear, we had Bell Services come up to store our things for a bit. This ended up taking until a little after our Noon check-out extension, but didn’t cause any problems. We remembered learning on our previous stay that the housekeeping staff enjoys the leftover food/drinks that guests don’t finish/open, so we confirmed that was still the case with the Bell Services person and he said they would love it. So, leave your stuff in the fridge instead of the trash at Aulani, I guess! 

After we got that squared away, Izzy and I headed down to the Halawai Lawn to meet Duffy while Dug went out to finish the Menehune Trail game. We were a bit early, so the lawn was empty and we weren’t sure where Duffy would do the meet:





So, we hung around the area near the building and waited to spot him:





Bear sighting!!! 

He walked right past us:





We followed him over to the meeting spot and had to trail his fangirls that had chased after him :





They were positively giddy about meeting and hugging their favorite bear :




*
*Duffy really does have a devoted fan base, even if they've taken him out of the US theme parks. *
*
Then it was our turn. Izzy had brought her Minnie out so that Duffy could be reunited with his creator  (as the backstory is that Minnie made Duffy for Mickey to take with on his travels):









Izzy really wanted to make sure Duffy saw Minnie:





Then they snuggled:





And a high five for good measure:









They had me jump in too:





And the video:
*




*
After the meet, Izzy and I had some errands to run. First up was returning her special Aulani/Aunty’s Magic Band:





I think it’s like on the Disney Cruise ships where you can keep it, but they charge your account about $15 or so. We have no need for even MORE Magic Bands in this household  (even if there is a cute Stitch on it). When we turned it into Aunty’s, all the CMs were like, “Goodbye, Izzy!!” So sweet, they really get to know the kids. 

Next, we headed back to the Photopass desk, as we had to add our photos from this day and actually purchase our CD (ended up being two CDs, since we had a group of 15 taking all the PP pics they saw ). Tia, who had taken our sunset photos the night before, was actually working the desk there again. She said it would be like 15 minutes while they got the CDs ready, so I headed over to the Concierge in the meantime.

I don’t know what’s going on here, but cute:





Checking for goodies? 

Anyway, then we sat down here to review our account one more time before check-out:





I was confused because we didn’t have any taxes added to our account. Last stay, it was just as I’d expected from the info online – we’d had a small Transient Accommodations Tax added to our account each night. This time, nothing.  And they assured me nothing else was coming. It was very strange. I wanted to make sure we paid and not the DVC member we rented from, but they said that wasn’t going to happen - nothing would be charged to her either. So, I don’t know why no tax, but we never did get charged anything.  And they gave Izzy some stickers:









While Izzy and I were having all this fun (and stopping back to pick up our finished CDs), Dug was completing the other adventures on the Menehune Trail. He got some special effect videos (if you don’t want spoilers of the special effects in the game, feel free to skip):



(click to watch)



(click to watch)
*














*
And some photos from his explorations:































 





Aw, looks like Izzy was hugging Aulani goodbye :





Dug was sad too:





Up next: We leave!*


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## StarWarsMomofGirls!

I just have to say the whole trip just looks amazing! One day we will get there. 



Dugette said:


> And then he spotted us from afar :


Love the stalker like photo! 



Dugette said:


>


Very Cute!



Dugette said:


> I also found a nice chair to sit and relax in for a bit (though that is hard for me, as I am inclined to go DO things….but I made “lounging” an activity in my rotation).





Dugette said:


> In addition to drawing, they painted a cell, which is pretty neat:


Amazing! My DH and oldest DD would Love this!!!



Dugette said:


> Izzy finally fell asleep close to midnight


Man, your daughter is touch. My DD's barely can make it to midnight on new years eve!


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## soniam

I didn't realize how much there was to do at Aulani. Makes me excited to go next summer. Sadly, DS will be too old to enjoy Aunty's. It looks really cool. Looks like a wonderful extended family trip.


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## Dugette

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I just have to say the whole trip just looks amazing! One day we will get there.


Hawaii is truly amazing and we all are wishing we had plans to go back soon. Hope you make it there too! 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Love the stalker like photo!


Ha, sure surprised me to see that one on there. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Very Cute!


Thanks!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Amazing! My DH and oldest DD would Love this!!!


Dug loved it too. Fun, if you are artistically inclined. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Man, your daughter is touch. My DD's barely can make it to midnight on new years eve!


Yeah, too much so. It's nearing 9pm and she is currently upstairs throwing a giant fit because Dug is trying to get her to bed (and she wants to stay up). 



soniam said:


> I didn't realize how much there was to do at Aulani. Makes me excited to go next summer. Sadly, DS will be too old to enjoy Aunty's. It looks really cool. Looks like a wonderful extended family trip.


There is a ton to do! They have the little daily newsletters (similar to a Disney cruise), so you can see what activities are going on each day. I can't remember exactly how old your DS is, but they do take kids up to 12 at Aunty's, I believe - I just don't know exactly what kind of activities they offer for them, though. Hope you have a great time next summer!


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## soniam

Dugette said:


> There is a ton to do! They have the little daily newsletters (similar to a Disney cruise), so you can see what activities are going on each day. I can't remember exactly how old your DS is, but they do take kids up to 12 at Aunty's, I believe - I just don't know exactly what kind of activities they offer for them, though. Hope you have a great time next summer!



He will be 12 when we go. So, even if they do allow him, I don't know if he would like it or not. We would give a go though.


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## Dugette

soniam said:


> He will be 12 when we go. So, even if they do allow him, I don't know if he would like it or not. We would give a go though.


Yeah, I didn't look into the older kid activities, since she was so young. I'd stop by during an open house and ask what they have for the older kids and see if he has any interest. My guess is, if he were to go there, it would be for short stretches, but probably not keep him occupied for a long time.


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## Dugette

*Up All Night*
*
We wrapped up what we had to do at Aulani so we could head out to catch our flight back to Minnesota in January.   I stopped back at the Photopass desk to pick up our CDs. Then Dug ran to the restroom. While he was there, a DVC guy was in the lobby and tried to pitch me on DVC.  He was pushier than most and we were scrambling to leave, so I really didn’t appreciate it. I told him it wasn’t for us, but he kept trying.  (I mean, really, we’ve stayed at Aulani twice now for under $200/night on average…it’s hard to talk me into spending tens of thousands on it, given that. )

Izzy and I ditched the DVC guy and went to retrieve the minivan. I had momentary amnesia and forgot which level of the parking ramp I’d left it on last, but managed to figure it out after wandering around one floor and coming up empty-handed.  Pulled it around to get Dug and all our bags that bell services had retrieved, then took off. 

We had looked up directions to the Costco nearest the airport to stop for topping off the gas in the rental:





Izzy had fallen asleep on the drive, so Dug stayed in the car with her while I went inside to get a little something we couldn’t leave Hawaii without:





Priorities.  I don’t know how we crammed that big thing into our bags, but we did.  Then we divvied it up with Dug’s parents and Kay and Jay when we got home. Yum!

We also decided to grab a quick lunch here, since it was cheap and easy:





Dug asked for the Brisket sandwich and I got the Hot Dog Meal – only $1.50 and included a 20 oz. drink – sweet!  I skipped getting Izzy anything, since she was asleep and we had plenty of snacks packed for the flight. But, of course, I had trouble carrying all of the food back to the car and the hot dog landed on the pavement, ketchup side down.  I very briefly considered picking it up, scraping the ketchup off, and trying to salvage it.  Then I remembered it was only $1.50 and included a drink. Even cheap little me could justify that splurge.  So, I had to wait in line again (fairly quick, at least) and got another and gave Dug that drink – perfect! Then we ate in the car while we were waiting in the short line at the gas pumps. Back to driving:





(That picture may have been before Costco, I don't know.) Arrived at the airport uneventfully. Actually, we arrived at Alamo, as we’d decided to stay together for the rental drop-off and shuttle ride over:





Don’t worry, Minnie was riding along too :





Looks like we were able to use Skycap to check in:





Much more pleasant here than in the cold MN winter! 

So, for some reason, only Dug got selected for TSA pre-check (this was before we got Global Entry). Izzy and I would have to go through the regular (fairly long) security line.  So, I did the only reasonable thing and made Dug schlep all the kid-accessories through with him, so that I would have less to juggle.  However, shortly before I saw him nearing the front of his short pre-check line, I realized we’d forgotten to dump Izzy’s milk out of her thermoses.  And, since she was with me, that might look suspicious.  I started texting and calling him, but he was already there and they sent someone to come get me and Izzy so they could deal with us all together. Turns out that a kid can go through with a parent, even if the kid and the other parent don’t have a pre-check designation, so we could have sent her with him. Everything worked out fine, though, and they let us through without issue. It was just a bit awkward being walked up there and all.

I love the outdoor walkways to your terminal here:









We stopped at a restroom and traded off going in/watching our stuff. 

Our chariot awaits:





We got Boarding Group 4, so had to wait until 3 was done before boarding (no early entry for us car seat users  ). The flight attendant did help carry the car seat down the aisle, though, which was nice. I was happy to see we had individual screens for this long flight:





Seated and ready:









Soon enough, we were on our way:





As per usual, the people in front of us all reclined their seats into us :





Yes, Dug’s tray being down made for a unpleasantly tight space for him.  The person in front of Izzy was actually kind enough to look back and ask before reclining, though, which was a first (and I said okay, since they were actually being thoughtful). 

Looks like we ordered some snack boxes to share:









Izzy and Minnie watched some Toy Story:









She also played some games on the old iPad:





Then she watched some Up:





I think she changed her mind partway into that and went back to Toy Story. I also tried to settle her in to sleep with her blankie, but she got upset and started crying and saying she just wanted to get home and see Kitty, not nap.  Thankfully, a lollipop got the crying to stop. After that, she wanted to sit in my lap and do a Jake & the Neverland Pirates puzzle I'd brought (dark photo, sorry):





Of course, at the end of that, the seatbelt sign came back on, so I made her get back in her own seat and she was all upset again.  Luckily, I had a little Star Wars color/sticker book that calmed her down. (Whew, just reading this is exhausting me  – it’s SO MUCH EASIER to travel with her now at 4.5 – she just uses the iPad, watches movies, eats snacks, and I don’t have to have 70 different toys anymore, haha). Then my notes say that Dug took her for a restroom break and we were about 4.5 hours into the flight, 9:34pm Hawaii time, and had another 2:44 left (changing planes in Chicago – we picked this flight because it gave us the longest stretch to sleep – wasn’t working out so well  ). 

After that, Izzy still refused to sleep (and got all loud and upset if we tried), so we played some games on the airplane screen, some iPad games, and she spent some time on my lap while the seatbelt sign was off. 

Eventually, she expressed interest in "going to bed on the airplane". So, we read some stories, tucked her into the car seat, and then she tried to sleep, but was quickly a mess of, “It’s hard to sleep on the airplane!!!”  Eventually, she ended up back watching Toy Story again, all the way to the finish this time. 

Still awake, so we checked our progress:





How I wish the plane could have just veered north a bit and dropped us off at MSP. But at least we were under an hour from Chicago. This overnight flight sure would have been more pleasant if any of us got some sleep. 

The saving grace for the last 40 minutes was when I discovered two episodes of “Minnie” (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) available on the screen:





And we finally touched down at our layover spot:









I let her watch Minnie until the screens shut off and we disembarked.

I think we might have actually arrived earlier than planned, as we found ourselves with over 2 hours to kill until our next boarding time. Ugh. We basically hung out here:





Had some breakfast in what felt like the middle of the night (and without any significant sleep) and of course Izzy fell asleep in the stroller:





In case you’re wondering about her attire, it’s cold on the walkway to exit the plane in Chicago in January in the middle of the night. 

I think I mostly tried to chair-nap while we were here and I had the chance, since Izzy was passed out. It wasn’t a very comfortable or effective way to get a night’s sleep, but better than nothing. Eventually, it was time to board our very short flight home (like 90 minutes). If I remember right (since my notes stop here), we had to take Izzy out of the stroller in preparation to board, so she was NOT happy about being roused out of her sound sleep. I’m pretty sure I was in line holding and shushing a disoriented and crying Izzy and repeating things like, “I know, you were sound asleep and you can go right back to sleep when we get on the plane” over and over so the concerned-looking passengers in line with us wouldn’t worry so much about a crying kid ruining their flight.  I could see those looks on their faces. And, thank goodness, I was right:









Whew! I think we actually did all get to nap on that short flight. But, of course, even on a 1.5 hour flight, you have to recline into the kid’s feet (and, as you saw above, she had barely any room to begin with - though I do think her car seat was a bit wider than normal because I believe I put it in recline vs. straight up, since I wanted her to sleep) :





Thankfully, it didn’t rouse her :





We made it home around 9am Central, as planned. This was the temperature update  :





Thankfully, by the time we got a ride back to my car it only showed -3 degrees! 

We drove home and this one slept all the way:





I think I had in mind that I might be able to do some work from home that day, since we got home early morning, but I can’t recall if I did. I’m guessing not, as I was pretty sleep deprived and had put in a request for the whole day off, just in case. I think Izzy greeted Kitty, as she'd been waiting for, then napped a lot of the day. So, a lackluster finale, but we did have a wonderful trip and can’t wait to go back someday! We love Oahu and Aulani, but also really hope to explore the other Hawaiian islands someday as well. It’s not WDW, but it’s a pretty magical place!  

Hope you’ve enjoyed following along. I’ve enjoyed reliving it. And, next, I plan to relive our amazing Feb. 2016 trip to Disneyland (just the month after this Hawaii trip, so definitely made coming home a bit easier, knowing that was around the corner). I will pop back in here with a link when I get that report started. Until then, aloha! *


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## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Great trip report! Man it must be super hard to go from that wonderful weather in Hawaii to that! Yikes! 

Looking forward to reading about Disneyland!


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## cindianne320

Just seeing that temp makes me COLD, and I live here!

Sorry the long flight didn't go as planned, but glad you were able to get some rest on the shorter flight. I can't wait until my youngest is able to entertain himself better on flights. I'm hoping 3.5 is easier than 2 was!


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## Dugette

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Great trip report! Man it must be super hard to go from that wonderful weather in Hawaii to that! Yikes!
> 
> Looking forward to reading about Disneyland!


It really is an adjustment, but definitely worth doing! Minnesotans all love those warm-weather escapes come January-February. Disneyland just got started - I'll post a link next! Thanks for following along!



cindianne320 said:


> Just seeing that temp makes me COLD, and I live here!
> 
> Sorry the long flight didn't go as planned, but glad you were able to get some rest on the shorter flight. I can't wait until my youngest is able to entertain himself better on flights. I'm hoping 3.5 is easier than 2 was!


Haha, I know! It was like 87 here today, such a big difference! It was a rough flight home for sure. Interestingly, the flight to Disneyland, which was only the next month, was significantly better. It can change quick and I hope it does for you too. Thanks for always following along!


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## Dugette

*I did it! Finally started my February 2016 Disneyland TR! 

Please come join me over on the Disneyland TR board:

"I Think I Might Be a Disneyland Person!" - Feb. 2016

Thanks for following and hope to see you there! *


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## schmass

What a great trip!  That long flight home is so rough, though.  I'm glad that Izzy finally did manage to get some sleep!


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## Dugette

schmass said:


> What a great trip!  That long flight home is so rough, though.  I'm glad that Izzy finally did manage to get some sleep!


Thanks! Yeah, it was a rough journey back, but worth it to have gone on that wonderful trip!


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## foxyroxy40

I just finished reading your trip report what a wonderful time you had I really enjoy reading about your trip's Izzy is such a lil dolly can't wait read about your other trips


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## deerh

Great trip report! So glad you had a great time with your family!
Amazing detail on everything you did!! I am so impressed!!!!

Aulani is amazing, as we went in May of 2015!! Reading your report, we are ready to go back! We also went to Waimea Falls and
enjoyed it! We also went to Pearl Harbor as well!

Our "kids" were 22 and 25, so our plans were different than yours.

DeerH


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## FantasiaMagic

I was finally able to finish this TR! It had been so long since I had last read it but I loved the ending.Those sunset pictures from your last day were just fantastic!


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