Ahhhh Kauai, The Garden Island. The tropical beauty, the chickens, the pineapples, OH MY!
What a wonderful escape from the congested roads of California and city lights. With ocean in sight wherever you go and lush tropcial plants blanketing your surroundings, it's the perfect place to bring your kids to connect with nature and soak up the Aloha spirit.
Here are the highlights of our 5 day trip:
The Views!
Chocolate Farm Tour and Tasting at Lydgate Chocolate Farm
The Beaches
Feeding Koi! If you stay at the Marriott Beach Club, you can feed the Koi fish on weekdays at 9am. They actually suck the food right out of your hand!! Crazy cool experience.
Farmer's Market- We we went to a farmer's market one day and purchased the most delicious pineapple as well as some yummy baked goods, and pineapple ice cream. YUMMMM! No pictures :(
Eating- Of course we had some delicious breakfast. Tried the Loco Moco. We ate sushi one night which was delish. And then stopped by a small shop and enjoyed pineapple smoothies and fresh Dole pineapples. The Safeway had some different local items as well that were exclusive to Hawaii that we bought just for the experience. hehe. We missed the Shave Ice!!!!! I know right?!?! How could we! But it just never worked out. Of course I can't forget the Luau......BEST FOOD OF THE VACAY, BTW. Yummy shredded pork roast, teriyaki chicken, sweet potato pie, coconut cake. YUM YUM YUM. Go to a luau if that's the only thing you do in Hawaii!!
Luau and show-
We went to the Smith Family Luau. We were able to walk around their garden, eat dinner while they played live music, and then a show to follow. It was BEAUTIFUL
Tip:
Snacks are the happy makers in a travel scenario. Keep your bag stocked with your kid's favorites and bring one out at a time to calm down a meltdown or help bust boredom. You'll be surprised how some gummy bears can give your sanity back for 10 minutes.
Pretty sure they book all the flight tickets that have children with them and seat us all together because every flight we had, we were in the baby and tot zone with crying babies, tantrumy two year olds, and hacking sick kids, So don't stress about traveling with your kids because you aren't alone. The flight makes sure we're in the WAAAYYYYY back all together! LMAO
Mistakes I Made:
Not being at the airport 2 hours early. We almost missed the plane, my mom DID miss the plane and it was stressful to rush around with all the kids and our stuff. Also, TSA and airport staff WILL frown at you and sigh heavily while "dealing" with you.
Forgot the carseat. Luckily, Hertz rents car seats out! Ended up being the same price to just buy a new one, but who wants to deal with hauling it around the airport? NOT ME. Thanks Hertz!
Not downloading games and apps prior to trip. The kids had a tablet.....with ONE game on it.
Fighting with the HUZZZ instead of working together. Travel is stressful, okay!! But it's a whole lot easier when you aren't biting each other's heads off during the process.
Tip: If you can travel with your mom.....DO IT! The more helping hands, the better. It truly takes a village and vacations are no different. I don't know how I would have managed this trip without her! Love you mom! MUAH
We didn't make it out on the water this trip but that's because I get horribly sick on a boat and I'm a sissy when it comes to anything where a shark could eat me. But next time, maybe I'll gather the balls to go snorkeling and I definitely want to go zip lining through the jungle. 5 days is not enough!
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