Aloha!

Our first trip since we had Mason and we decided to head to Hawaii! It was another impromptu trip as Charlotte had a 1 week break from school and it was coincidentally my birthday! It was a 5 hours flight from LA and I was nervous about it even though it was not my first time traveling with an infant. Charlotte traveled to Moscow at about 2 months old and she was an angel on the flight. Mason on the other hand, was not very good on flights. He did made his presence known on the flight and was especially uncooperative whenever I had to put him in the carrier to cross customs. Besides, flying with only 1 check in luggage for the entire family meant that we had to pack carefully. Unlike a road trip where we throw everything in the back of the car. That said, it was a good trip and worth the effort.

The no. of things we got to bring when we have 2 kids is crazy. 2 car seats, 3 hand carries, 1 check in luggage and a stroller. Poor der was doing most of the carrying. We almost left Charlotte's car seat in the airport too. Fortunately der spotted someone with the exact seat onboard the shuttle bus to the car rental service and we quickly got off the bus and dashed back into the airport to grab the car seat. It was a crazy start.

Charlotte looking so matured here onboard the shuttle bus haha.

For this trip , we chose Aulani the Disney Hotel as we wanted something that is kids friendly and entertaining so that we do not have to plan too much. Upon arrival, we made a last min booking for dinner there called Luau. A Luau is a traditional Hawaiian feast with performances. It was a really expensive dinner but we got to try a lot of Hawaiian food accompanied with performances and activities for kids.
Dressed up for dinner.

Some of the spread.

Charlotte even met her classmate, Natalie and she got super excited. They became the best of friends since then haha.

We had to be the sucker tourist and buy this professionally taken photo for $35! Well it's not easy to take a photo with everyone looking at the camera and looking quite good too.

Kids had their own special buffet corner at the Luau and Charlotte was excited about it.

Also due to 3 hours time difference, the kids were totally exhausted by the time dinner was over. We managed to finish watching the performances but I could tell that Charlotte was very tired. She could barely keep her eyes open haha. She held up well though and did not throw a tantrum.

 Day 2 - The kids had a good night sleep and woke up bright and early the next day.

We spent the morning exploring the resort.

The beach

We joined a kids activity held at the beach while Mason chilled under the shade.

He was happily chilling under the shade when I to dragged him into the lagoon haha.

He didn't really enjoyed being in the water. He was terrified! He was hanging on to me for dear life.

The pool was also beautiful. There were various ones from infinity to shallow children pools. We took a quick pic by the infinity pool while Mason was taking his nap.

The beautiful hotel lobby.

There was also the children's club called Aunty's Beach House. Sadly, we did not have enough time to drop Charlotte off. She was looking forward to play there with her friend.

Stitch made an appearance while we were there.

Since we only have 4 days in Hawaii, we wanted to take a look outside the resort as well and to try some popular spots in Oahu. We narrowed down to 2 things 1. Shrimps at Giovanni's Shrimp truck and 2. Shave ice at Matsumoto. Giovanni's shrimps were heavenly! That explains the crowd and long queue. Definitely worth the drive there.

After the shrimps, we headed to Matsumoto Shave Ice which is another place where we had to queue again.

It was only a 3 mins drive from Giovanni. The queue didn't take too long and I would say it's worth waiting in line too. The ice was delicious and especially refreshing when the weather was so hot that day. We had the rainbow shave ice.

We also chose to have it with ice cream and azuki beans inside. The beans were soooo good. It was the taste of real japanese beans we have on matcha ice cream.

Enjoying our ice by the grass patch outside the shop.

Day 3 - Charlotte complained that she does not have enough time by the pool which was basically the main idea of staying in a resort. Since we paid so much for a nice resort, it only made sense that we make use of the facilities. Thus we decided to spend the day chilling by the pool.

As mentioned, there were various pools and even a long water slide which Charlotte kept going again and again. It was a really long slide and very dark inside. I'm surprised she was not afraid. Charlotte also managed to meet her friend at the pool and they had so much fun together!

Having a musubi by the pool before crashing hah.

Chilling with Daddy.

Our makeshift shelter for Mason.

Day 4 was our last day. Before we checked out, we did a last walk to the beach and bumped into Mickey.

We bided farewell to the beach one last time.

Before heading to the airport, we made 2 quick stops. 1. Pearl Harbour

2. Modo, Mochi donuts. Yes, more food again. I love mochi donuts because of the chewy texture. They had a pop up store here in LA recently and the queue was crazy! So of course we had to make a stop at the original stall to see what the hype was all about. There was nobody buying at all when we were there.

Since we were in Mitsuwa, we cannot miss getting some sushi and more musubi for the flight.

We had a wonderful time in Hawaii even though I didn't particularly enjoyed taking the flight with Mason. We would love to return to Hawaii again but we always end up checking out new places whenever we have the chance to travel. So we shall see...