Hawaii with two preschool aged kids (Part 1- Oahu)

Ok... so I am going to try to blog once a week. However I actually told myself this 3 weeks ago so you can see that I am already off to a bad start. I have a few blog post brewing in my head so hopefully that is incentive to keep up with this blog for a while (maybe give it some direction... or maybe not :) ).

This past October my husband had a project in Hawaii and since I wasn't going to be left home alone with the kids, we all joined him. My husband and I like to travel... however planning a vacation with kids was very different. No long hikes through volcano craters, no day long bus tours, etc. etc. Also since he was working half the time I needed activities and a schedule which I could manage alone with the kids. Here are some of the things that worked for us and what didn't work for us. These are specifically geared at what worked with a 3 and 5 year old.

1. Two Islands- With 10 days in Hawaii we choose to split the time equally between Oahu and the Big Island. Oahu was a no brainer, there were so many attractions that were kid friendly as well as kid interesting, more on those later.

The second island (i.e. Big Island) we choose in part because neither my husband or I had been there and thought it would be nice to visit an active volcano. (we'd been to Hawaii before kids so we thought it would be nice to kind of expand our own experience... that didn't quite work out). In hindsite it was interesting seeing the dormant volcanoes and the barren volcanic rock desserts (for a lack of a better term) but aside from that everything else could have been experienced on a different island. We had 5 days on big island which was mixed in with my husbands work so we never made it to the Hilo side of the island. The volcano national park which is where Kileaua, the active volcano is, is on the Hilo side of the island. Unlike Oahu where you can drive from Honolulu to the North Shore in under an hour on the Big Island it would take 2.5 to 3 hours to traverse Big Island from the Kona side to the Hilo side. If it were just the two of us, we may have been able to do it but with the kids it was just too much.

The fact that the resort area was literally built over the barren lava rock desert is quite dramatic. Here is a view from our Hotel room on Big Island... take note of how you can quite literally see where the resort ends and where the lava rock begins.

Ok, so let me start with what worked on Oahu I think Big Island may have to be a separate post

2.Embassy Suites on Oahu- We chose this hotel specifically b/c of the kids. This hotel really worked out great for us. This hotel is located on the west end of Waikiki Beach (it is walking distance from the Hilton Resort). It is not a beach front hotel but that was fine. The beach was only one block away. There was more than one occasion where one of us was carrying a sleeping three year old from the beach to the hotel(and at least once I did it by myself while also carrying all our the beach stuff). It is nice that it is near a park (Fort DeRussy Beach Park), so there is abit of a open feel compared to the middle of Waiikiki beach where hotels are practically on top of each other. We didn't go in the pool... in the morning there is a lot of shade over the pool and in October with the breeze, the pool just did not seem appealing to the kids. One night a week the Hilton Resort has fireworks (can't remember the day maybe friday) and it was a very easy walk from our hotel to the Hilton and it was a lot of fun watching fireworks while sitting on the beach. Their breakfast buffet worked out really well for us. The kids liked the breakfast buffet so much that recently while home they asked if we could go back to "that restaurant in Hawaii where we had breakfast". Having the extra living room worked out for the the kids and we really made the best of the small kitchenette with microwave and fridge. There is also a lot of great shopping and restaurants near by. I have to add that the staff at this hotel was incredibly friendly AND helpful. And I know its silly but when we were checking in they brought each of us a passion fruit cocktail (no alcohol). After a long flight it was just really a nice touch.

3. Sea Life Park,Oahu- My kids are really into dolphin shows so and so this worked out really well. We did not do any of the interactive exhibits like petting manta rays, or meeting dolphins (IMO a waste on a preschooler). We went to each and every show which for a 3 and 5 YO were perfect. They have two different types of dolphin pools/tanks so the two dolphin shows had a different perspective and were great for the kids. You can buy turtle food from the gift store and feed the turtles which is a lot of fun. Also in between shows they have a playground, perfect way to buy time. We lucked out in that they had a special promotion. If you brought in coke cans the admission was half off. However we were pretty unlucky in the transportation department. Sea Life part is the one thing we did which was on the other side of the island (I didn't do polynesian cultural center for this reason as well). My husband was working so I didn't have the car. We took a cab there (the fare was more than the cost of our half off tickets) and the public bus back (a real PIA with two children who BOTH fell asleep). So plan accordingly (I should have really coordinated the rental car with my husband).

4. Waikiki Beach- As I mentioned the beach access from our hotel was great. Nice park, benches in the shade, beach rentals and there is a free military museum. The beach is nice... the water not so much... very rocky... bring water shoes. My kids didn't go in to far so this wasn't a problem. Traveling to Hawaii in October was great. Mid day on the beach it was quite hot and the kids used the opportunity to ask for shaved ice from the local food truck on the beach. Otherwise though there was a nice breeze and it was actually quite comfortable. A great time to visit Hawaii.

5. Hawaii Children's Discovery Center - So I will preface this by saying that we've been to some really great Children's museums on the mainland including the Philadelphia Please Touch and the Strong Museum in Rochester, NY. Hawaii's discovery center is quite small in comparison. I will say though that it is interesting to me how these placed have different interpretations of the exhibits, such as for example a car... each museum had a different car exhibit and this museum actually had a really great one... my son could actually slide underneath the car. They also had a nice exhibit where they had a wheel chair and the kids had to get around a pretend house and make a meal in a wheel chair. All in all a great way to spend the day with a 3 and 5 year old. Also was a very short drive (this time I had the car) from Waikiki Beach.

6. Hanauma Bay- This was my first time visiting Hanauma bay. Honestly this place really is great and it really lives up to ALL the hype. Since it was October we were able to leisurely drive in at about 9-10AM and had no problem with parking. The water was a bit rough and cold. Snorkeling was really great. However what didn't work here... the kids did not snorkel.... one of my kids was good with the snorkel mask but was afraid of going in the ocean, the other was the complete opposite (didn't like the snorkel mask blocking her nose but didn't mind going in the water). However the beach here is really nice though so the kids still had a great time while me and my husband took turns snorkeling. We brought along a dicapak for our camera and it worked out really well, we even got some great videos of the fish.

Ok...since this is turning into a novel I should end this here. I will post Part 2- Big Island later (hopefully not to much later)