Best Little Kid Beaches

Thanks for the recommendations that you guys sent us! We did do part of the coastal drive in Hilo, but didn't give ourselves enough time to go through the botanical gardens. We should have gone there first and then gone to Volcano National Park. Oh well. We didn't get to eat out in Honolulu as we would have liked. Staying in Laie, we didn't get downtown too often.

This trip I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time on the beach. Our last trip was a business trip for Mark, and I was pregnant and there was no way I was getting into a swimsuit. So, I think I spent a total of one hour on the beach alone on Waikiki.

This trip I tried to find toddler friendly beaches we could go to, and here are my recommendations.

On the North, Haleiwa beach: its relativly tourist free, because they all go to North Shore to watch the sufers and tan. And because it faces West the winds and waves aren't as strong. Downside is that the sand isn't the best. Its not the most fine sand around, but it does make clean up off an impatient toddler quite easy. Bonus: it is close to Matsumoto's shaved ice!

Also on the North, Pupukea beach: Head to the left side of the beach. There's more tidepools than sandy beach, but there are almost no waves where sand meets water because of the natural rock wall that surrounds the area. Perfect for little ones that want to splash around and not get splashed. On a sunny day the water in the tidepools warms up nicely. The sand is finer and great for sandcastles. There's lots of little fish to see and hermit crabs to play with just a few feet from shore. Downside: There's a little more people around, but the tourists are mostly farther into the tidepools snorkeling so the shore is pretty open for little kids. Also, the rocks are a bit sharp so keep your shoes on, and keep an eye out for your unsteady toddlers.

On the West, at new resort area in Ko Olina, the lagoons at the Marriot hotel have been fixed up nicely so there's plenty of sand, calm waves, and clean grounds. There are clean bathroom and shower facilities. Unlike the previous metioned. And the use of hotel lounge chairs are great! How would they know if we were staying at the hotel or not? It's nice because the grounds and the beach is maintained by the hotel, but it's still a public beach with free but limited parking. Downside: of course there are lots of tourists, but it's a big enough beach, that there's room to spread out.

I hope that will help out if you ever find yourself in Hawaii with little kids. :)

Boo, Snow!

Just our luck, the day we leave and the day we return, there's a snow storm! I'm glad that the snow didn't delay our trip home. That would have made an already dreaded trip more miserable.



Another boo. During the flight, Evan spilled his cup of apple juice all over his lap, my lap, and my seat. I sat in apple juice for an hour and a half!!! I took Evan's pants off to dry, but it didn't dry in time, so he went from the plane to baggage claim with a blanket tied around his waist. Me on the other hand... I was glad I had a sweatshirt that didn't get wet to tie around my waist to get me to baggage claim. Something about apple juice mixed with the airline seat bottom made it smell SO nasty! I couldn't stand the smell I was giving off through the terminal! I hope the steward remembered the seat I was in and had it cleaned, cause that would be an unpleasent surprise for the next person in 19A.

Besides our airport and winterstorm woes, our trip to Hawaii was divine. The snowstorm was a bit of a blessing, because it allowed us to finess the people at Continental to switch us to a closer airport and to extend our trip by 4 days. It was a cheap ticket to begin with so the days that we could travel were limited. We would only have 4 hours to see Mark's brother, his wife, and Mark's sister, before they left town, and only 5 days in paradise. So the storm was in our favor.

This is the shirt that Mark won from a radio station in Hilo, Hawaii. He called in and answered their question about what do you do to prepare for Chinese New Year. "Isn't it clean the house?" I'll have to get the video off our camcorder of Mark calling in and post it. :)

Mark's brother and his coworkers made these shirts to sell after the earthquake in Hawaii. Evan is quite pleased with his.

Our umbrella stroller has been EVERYWHERE with us on trips. Somewhere in Taiwan, the little clip that held the stroller shut came loose and was lost. So we've had to wrestle the stroller when we travel without this clip. I looked into getting a replacement part. It was $2 for the little plastic clip but $6 shipping! Forget it.
On our way back home from Hawaii, while we were getting ready to wrestle the stroller to gate check it, I noticed a dark plastic thing in the gutter of the jetway to the plane. Wow, just our luck! Its the same part we were missing! Someone must have lost it like we did. Its ours now!

Last days in Hawaii Pics

hawaii 2007 more

More Hawaii

hawaii 2007

Day One: Hilo, Hawaii

A local on the flight recommended we go to Ken's Pancake House for breakfast. We do too!
We thought we'd have enough time to go to Volcano Nat. park and a botanical garden, but it didn't happen. We only made it through the park. We did a stop at Akatsuka Orchid Nursery to make up for it. That was goregeous!
Here's pics from our trip.

hilo, hawaii 2007

We went to Cafe Pesto for dinner. That was good. It was great timing too. When we got there, they were getting ready to light firecrackers and have a lion dance right outside the resturant. Next thing we knew the lions were in the resturant dancing around our table. I was so surprised that Evan wasn't scared, and waved "hi" to them as they came by!
Happy Chinese New Year!

snow and sand

Evan enjoys the fun of both extreme weathers in a week.

When we took Evan to the beach, he pointed to the sand and said "snow". That's a sign that it was good that we got out of the snow to the beach.