Road Trip, Day #5: Character Breakfast + Travel Day - headed home!

First thing we did on our last day was pack and load the car. Bigger effort than it sounds with two toddlers! 

Character Breakfast 

It's so crowded at the parks and the lines to take pictures with characters are really long. I made a reservation for a Character Breakfast for our last day in California. I've done Goofy's Kitchen and wanted to try something different. We ended up doing Disney's PCH Grill at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel. 

Mini review: not the best character breakfast ever... but it's hard to compare Disneyland stuff to Disney World...! I didn't really like the food options and the layout of the place was a little odd. 

Little Guy was a little cautious of the characters, but he didn't cry. Little Miss had a different experience. She would wave "hi" and "bye" to them with a smile on her face. But if they tried to get close, she would scream her head off! So, I don't have any pictures of her smiling with the characters. 

Drive Home

The drive home went really fast and was relatively smooth. The kids did well for the most part, besides a few tantrum parties with Little Miss. 

Sweet Part of the Day: Pluto hugging Little Guy.

Sour Part of the Day: Having a toddler kick my seat while I was driving. 

Road Trip, Day #4: Beach Day

After all the excitement of the Graduation Ceremony, going to Disney's California Adventure, and Disneyland -- we planned one relaxing day to the BEACH! 

Since we got back to the hotel so late the day before, we got to sleep in this day! We all got up by 10:30am, which is extremely late for me and the kids. 

The day didn't start off great, as Little Miss continued her tantrum party at the hotel before we left... 

We had a beach in mind to visit, but we ended up at Newport Beach instead. Found some street parking and a beach that didn't have many people there! 

We were able to hang out and relax for a few hours. It wasn't too sunny, which was nice! The water was very cold. 

Little Miss had a few outburst at the beach that weren't fun... But I dealt with it. Overall the trip was a success! 

Later that night, we met with my cousin and God Daughter for dinner. 

Nice relaxing day, considering the busy hustle and bustle of Disneyland/DCA. 

Sweet Part of the Day: Hanging out at the beach. 

Sour Part of the Day: Little Miss's morning tantrum. 

Road Trip, Day #3: Disneyland, the Happiest Place On Earth! (for most kids)

Day #3 was Disneyland Day!!! With what happened at DCA yesterday, I tried to take some precautions to hopefully minimize Little Miss's tantrums - no luck. This day was just as bad (if not worse than yesterday) where her extreme tantrums are concerned. 

HOWEVER, even though she had tantrums-galore --> the rest of us had a good time :) Did same packing as DCA day. Disneyland is much more crowded though!!! Was hard to navigate the crowds and we didn't get to go on many of the Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, or Toon Town rides. If I were to do it again, probably would've done 2 days at Disneyland to fit it all in and not feel "rushed".

The castle!

In Tomorrowland, the kids had a lot of fun with this giant water ball. 

Watched Fantasmic, which was GREAT! I haven't watched the show since I was a kid. Little Guy with his glow sticks. 

The day at Disneyland was fun! We got to do everything we wanted to do (for the most part) and see what we wanted to see. We were very strategic with riding rides. They have some rides that have "single riders" and we used Fast Pass for other rides. The teenager and I just took turns watching the kids while the other one was on the rides. We took the kids on the rides with no height requirements (although Little Miss missed out on some of these because of the tantrum situation). Worked out really well overall!

Sweet Part of the Day: Being at Disneyland with my Little Guy! 

Sour Part of the Day: "Advice" from other parents on how to manage Little Miss's tantrums. <sigh> 

Road Trip, Day #2: Disney California Adventure

Today was Disney California Adventure (DCA) Day. I was "prepared" with toys, snacks, diapers, clothes, drinks! You can bring in food and drinks into Disney. Here's what I packed: 

• Soft Structured Cooler: located under the stroller that had water and ice to keep it cold. 
• Food Snack Trays for the kids. 
• Some Toys to help with down time. 
• In the Minnie Bag: A bag of extra clothes, PJ's, sunblock. 
• In the Spider Man Bag: Diapers, Wipes. 
• Blankets for each kid. 
• Baby Carrier for waiting in line. 

The day started out relatively well! It wasn't busy at DCA and it's a smaller park, so I didn't feel rushed. The kids were exploring and having fun. 

THEN, the meltdowns began. Little Miss had her first meltdown during the Frozen sing along. It was really bad. I can't add the details here... but they were so bad that someone at Disney came to talk to us about her keeping her shoes and shirt on, and that if I need assistance -- to just find a Cast Member.  Very embarrassing, needless to say. 

I wish I could say that her meltdowns stopped after that, but they actually escalated. She had meltdown-after meltdown. Screaming at the top of her lungs for up to an hour at a time... She ended up staying in the stroller for the most part because she was highly unpredictable on what she would do when she was out. 

Little Guy also became frustrated with her and would go up to her and say, "Stop it! No" and wag his little finger at her. 

We didn't let that impact our day though!! Little Guy still had fun, I had semi-fun, and the teenager that came with us had fun on the rides. 

The cutest thing was that Little Guy would "dance". He would stand in the middle of traffic and just start bouncing, going in circles, dancing :) 

Here's the kids waiting in line to take a picture with a Car in Cars Land. Little Miss didn't actually make it to the picture, as she had a meltdown right after I took this one. 

It was hard taking pictures of Little Guy with the cars, as he just wanted to look at them. He was fascinated that they made noise and that they had eyes! 

We watched the parade at DCA and it was really good! 

We also watched World of Color. I really enjoyed that one. I didn't know you had to have a fast pass to get seats!! By the time we figured it out, they were already out. So we found this spot, a little off center - but it worked out well! I also brought glow sticks for the kids to use when it got dark. Prior to it getting too cold, I changed both kids into their PJ's and put their jackets on - that way when it was time to leave, they can go straight to sleep when we got back to the hotel.



Overall, it was an OK day. Little Miss's tantrums were so constant and extreme and nothing I would do helped her or minimized her behavior. It was really frustrating.

Sweet Part of the Day: Watching Little Guy dance in the middle of Car's Land. 

Sour Part of the Day: Little Miss's extreme Tantrums. 

Road Trip, Day #1: 6 Hour Car Ride + Graduation Ceremony!

It's time for our Road Trip to California!! 

Agenda: My God Daughter's High School Graduation, Disney California Adventure, Disneyland, the Beach, and Character Breakfast. 

Getting ready for a road trip is a little bit easier than preparing for a plane ride! More space in the car for odds and ends, no worries about having to carry everything. 

Packing & Loading

For this trip, I decided to put each day into a zip lock bag. I've done this before, just skipped it for my Hawaii trip. Bags I packed:

• A bag for each day: 1 outfit for each kid + 1 set of PJ's. 
• A bag of just PJ's for each kid (for non-theme park days). 
• A bag of jackets, hats, sunglasses. 
• A bag of extra clothes: 1 outfit for each kid. 

Packing the car was harder. I don't have a huge car!!! So, trying to squeeze everything in there for 4 humans, a double stroller, and a pack-n-play was tough! I had two pack-n-plays (1 for each kid) but wasn't able to bring the second one because there was absolutely no room. Ended up renting a crib at the hotel.

I don't normally let the kids watch TV. I made a huge exception for this road trip. I bought TV's for the car with dual screens (can be played individually or as one). Since I have one kid rear-facing and one forward-facing, this worked out really well.

The Drive 

The drive went relatively smoothly! We stopped twice. Once for snacks + potty/diaper changes. Then once for lunch. Both kids did extremely well.

This is what the snack tray looked like:

Graduation Ceremony 

When we finally arrived in California, we were able to change and head over to my God Daughter's High School graduation. There were a lot of kids graduating, but it was still over in about 1.5 hours.



Afterwards, we went to dinner with the family and did gifts for my God Daughter. I made her two candy leis, a money lei, and gave her a "College Survival Kit". She loved it! I found all of these things on Pinterest and YouTube.

Arriving at the Hotel 

We arrived at the hotel relatively late, about 9:30pm. We got settled and went straight to sleep. We stayed at the Carousel Inn and Suites. The good: Perfect location, as it's only a 5 minute walk to both parks (it's right across the street) - very convenient, the price was pretty good considering the location. Downers: no free wifi, no free parking (only valet services that costs each day), a "resort fee" (although not very resort-y), crib rental fee.

All in all, the road trip to California was a success and everything went as planned.

Sweet Part of the Day: Seeing my God Daughter graduate!

Sour Part of the Day: It was humid! Not used to the humidity anymore! 

Hawaii 2015 Last Thoughts

This Hawaii trip was our "big trip" for the year. I like to try and go on one big trip every year, if possible. 

First, the planning. I went through a travel agency that was recommended by my boss. He uses them every year to go to Cancun with his family. He stays at all-inclusive places. I wish they had all-inclusive places in Hawaii!! Going through the travel agency made things a little less stressful with planning the hotel, booking the airfare, etc. The only thing is -- I'm a bit of a control freak, so I was double checking everything. So not sure I actually saved "time" in going through a travel agency! But I did like that she was able to show me different packages depending on the airline/hotel combination. Overall, I enjoyed going through the travel agent and will probably use her again for my next trip. 

I get good rental car prices through work corporate perks. This I will continue to use on trips going forward. So, I'll book this separately from the travel agent. Next time, I will look more into HOW to get to the rental place (need to take a shuttle or if it's part of the airport, etc). 

Second, the packing. I always over pack. It's just my thing. I'm a "just in case" type person. Overall, I over packed for Little Guy - had a lot of options. He still had half his clothes left that were clean! BUT his clothes don't take up a lot of room. My clothes - I packed JUST right. I used almost everything I brought. There were some hair accessary items I didn't need for Hawaii, like my curling iron. What I know I over planned for was the "in flight toddler entertainment." Almost none of it worked! I still need to do a "review" of the things I brought. Knowing what I know now - I will not bring as much stuff for Little Guy. The things that entertained him the most were a cup from the plane and a straw. Really! 

Third, attending events where I'm not really "welcomed". OK. So, not that I wasn't welcomed. But it wasn't a "we're happy to see you" type feeling that I got. Next time, I will not plan a trip around something like that where I will feel uncomfortable. I do have a wedding to attend next month with the same group... but that's ONE event and there will be more people I know to keep me company. 

Forth, the trip was a day too long for a toddler. You can only ask so much from a toddler! You can't expect them to just adjust and be ok with it. Considering we were in a hotel, I think I would prefer to stay in condo/apartment-type hotels when having little ones. Better to have a fridge and food at the ready. Plus, a bigger place to explore. I enjoyed our Florida trip where we rented a condo on the beach. Big enough to explore so it didn't feel like we were on top of each other. 

Fifth, traveling solo with a toddler is TOUGH. It's not like this is my first trip with Little Guy... but it is my first trip with him being a full fledged toddler! It was exhausting trying to get things done, carry everything, stay on schedule, keep a nap schedule, not to let him get over tired, not to let him get too far away, make sure he was eating, make sure he was drinking enough water, expose him to new things, etc. It's tiring. I'm tired! One day too long for both of us! 

Overall, I had a great time on this trip! I got to see most of the island, I got to experience things I haven't done before with the Luau, Botanical Gardens, North Shore, and just exploring Waikiki. There was equal chances to relax and explore. 

I love Little Guy and enjoy his company so much. Seeing things through his eyes is nice. But all he really wanted was to point at airplanes and play with his cars! Oh, and run around exploring without me saying "no-no"! I did a lot of research on "toddler friendly" places on the island. I'm sure he enjoyed himself, as much as a toddler can. 

Though it was fun and we got to do a lot -- it was also exhausting! Hoping for a nice relaxing weekend... then onto our next adventures: 

1. Next Week: Road trip to Southern California + Disneyland! I'm finalizing the plans for that one. This is to attend my God Daughter's High School Graduation! I'll have both toddlers for this trip and my friends' teenage daughter will be coming along. 
2. Next Month: Road trip to Southern California for the wedding. Will just have Little Guy for this one. 
3. December: Trip TBD. This will be dependent on TTC and adoption finalization. 

Hawaii Trip, Day #8: Travel Day -- Headed back to the Mainland!

Time to head home!!! I have to say, I was excited about going home. I loved our trip, but there comes a time when all you want to do is sleep in your own bed, let your toddler run around in a child-proof home, and just relax. I seriously need a vacation from my vacation! 

First, we packed and put everything in the car. When I say "we" - I mean me carrying a toddler in a baby carrier and lugging all of our junk through the hotel and elevator to the car. After we had the car loaded and ready, we checked out. Here's Little Guy saying "bye bye" to the Koi Fish. 

All in all, I was really satisfied with the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani. The resort fee is charged at all the hotels there, but I really liked what it covered (parking, 2 bottles of water/day, beach towels, beach chair, family photo). It wasn't fun facing the construction, but there's so much construction around the area anyways. Overall, satisfied. I loved the location, we were close to everything. Maybe a 3.5 stars out of 5? 

After we checked out, we went to our favorite breakfast spot Keoni by Keo. Then, it was time to head to the airport EARLY - so I wouldn't stress out! Also, to tire Little Guy out. 

Since I had such an "adventure" arriving in Honolulu, I decided to go about things a little differently for heading home. The game plan: 

• Park in the terminal, check in luggage. 
• Return rental car. Take shuttle back to the airport. 
• Go through security. 
• Let Little Guy run his little heart out. 

This plan worked out EXTREMELY well!!! Checking luggage before returning the rental car helped with the issue of loading all the luggage on the rental car shuttle back to the terminal. Saved me a lot of stress. Plus, check out the view from the terminal parking lot! What was awesome is that there were some military fighter jets in the air and Little Guy was fascinated with how fast they were going! I'll have to remember this for the future, maybe watch an air show one day. 

Since we got to the airport so early, Little Guy was free (for the most part) to wonder around. He played with luggage carts, played with pay phones (can you believe they have pay phones?!), talked to people, ran away from me as fast as he could, played on the computer, etc. 

Last views of Hawaii from the plane. 

You'd think that would tire him out? Well, it did! But it didn't really help on the plane ride home. He only slept for maybe 10 minutes on take off and was up the entire trip back home. Cranky toddler on the plane. That was us! 

Just to add to the "fun" of air travel with children. We arrived at our home airport right on time, like on the dot. Then, there was an issue with the jet bridge! We had to wait about 25 minutes on the plane before they could get the doors open to let us out. Joy-joy. Just got to roll with it. 

Regardless, it was nice arriving home. Our friend was kind enough to pick us up and our dog was happy we were home! 

Best part of the day: breakfast at Keoni by Keo's. 

Worst part of the day: Toddler meltdowns on airplanes. 

Hawaii Trip, Day #7: Pool Day + Family Photos

This was our last full day in Hawaii. Since we have been jam packed with adventures since we arrived, I decided it would be nice to just chill out by the pool for most of the morning. 

That worked out OK until Little Guy decided he wanted to run around and explore! That didn't bode well for me having to chase him everywhere. He would go up to people and talk to them, then sit by them, then get down and try to run away. He cracks me up. It's exhausting keeping up with him! 

Here he is sneaking up on people in the lobby! He was standing there for 5 minutes before they noticed he was there. 

Family Photos 

The hotel we stayed at offered a free photo by a professional photographer. Of course I ended up buying ALL of the photos! There were just too many I liked, especially by the beach. There are some really nice ones and the background looks picture perfect. 

Something completely random, I ran into someone I went to college with at the hotel! We didn't have time to chat - but it was so random and I haven't seen her in years. Small world. 

After we had photos taken, we went to the beach and ate. Had a spectacular view from one of the hotel bars.

That evening, Little Guy had a hard time! Had his first breakdown since arriving in Hawaii. That's when I knew the trip was maybe 1 day too long for him. Nothing that could be done at that point but just let him get through his meltdown. 

Best part of the day: Taking family photos on the beach. 

Worst part of the day: Toddler meltdowns. 

Hawaii Trip, Day #6: Dole Plantation and North Shore

Today was an adventure! We were up early and I decided to have breakfast in the hotel. It was OK... not the best considering the cost for the continental breakfast. I don't know if I will do the hotel breakfast again. Overpriced and just not appetizing.

Dole Plantation 

After breakfast, we picked up a beach chair and towels for our day trip to the North Shore area. We started the drive to the Dole Plantation and it wasn't too bad, not much traffic. I was really excited about this portion of the trip, as I was hoping Little Guy would enjoy riding the Pineapple Train and I couldn't wait to see how he liked the Dole Whip! 

When we arrived, the first thing we did was get a Dole Whip! At first, Little Guy wasn't so sure about the whole thing. Then, after a few bites - he really liked it! 

After we finished the Dole Whip, we rode the Pineapple Express Train. 

This is a 20 minute train ride around the plantation. It was very informative! Unfortunately, Little Guy was getting grumpy while we were waiting to board the train. Grumpy toddler + trying to escape while riding a train = kind of a stressful train trip for Mom. I don't think he really realized we were "on" the train! He was excited when he saw it, but I think he's still too young to realize these things. 

Afterward, we tried to do the Pineapple Maze. Bad idea! Right at that time it got extremely hot and we were both miserable with little shade to hide under. I mean, I was dripping sweat - it was so humid. Yuck. I decided it was time to buy some souvenirs (so we can hang out in the AC) and then have lunch. 

A few years ago I started collected Christmas Ornaments for each of the trips I went on. One of my friends did it and I thought it was a fabulous idea. I used to collect shot glasses - but those are harder to "display" year-round. I bought a Christmas ornament that says "Our Ohana" on it with our names :) It'll be our first "Family C" ornament for our tree this year. 

I wasn't too thrilled with the lunch we had at the Dole Plantation... I think I just ordered the wrong thing. Other menu options looked really good. Ours just wasn't very tasty. After lunch, it was time for the beach! 

North Shore 

North Shore is really close to the Dole Plantation. I have to tell you, the view from the road driving to the North Shore is amazing! So beautiful!!!

 I had a destination in mind, but I ended up detouring to a different beach. The drive was so beautiful and the ocean was picture perfect blue. Amazing. I drive up most of the North Shore until we reached a less populated beach. That's where I decided we would "hang out" for the rest of the afternoon. The waves were too rough for Little Guy to go in, so he just played in the sand. 

I have to admit, traveling with a toddler can be tiring - as I have to carry EVERYTHING! The toddler + all the beach stuff (chair, towels, cooler, backpack, toys, etc). So getting to the beach and leaving the beach are the tiring parts. Sitting there watching Little Guy play in the sand is the joyful / relaxing portion of the beach trip :) 

The drive back was LONG! Over an hour long to get back to the hotel. But the view... wow - the view!!! I wish there were more turn offs or scenic stops not his route. I would have stopped so much to take some pictures of the stunning landscape. Breathtaking. 

Although I was enjoying the views from the road, Little Guy wasn't having it! About 45 minutes until we reached the hotel -- he started whining and whined all the way to the hotel. Joy-joy. 

With the busy day - neither of us really got a good "nap" in!!! When we got back to the hotel, I gave Little Guy a bath - then we were off to dinner at the lobby cafe. Then off to sleep for us! 

Long day driving, but got to see a lot of Oahu that I haven't seen before. 

Best part of the day: The scenic route. 

Least favorite part of the day: Carrying all the stuff back to the car after the beach. 

Hawaii Trip, Day #5: Foster Botanical Gardens + Chief's Luau

I didn't have much planned for this day accept going to a Luau. Of course, the day ended up feeling a lot more busier than expected!

We didn't have anything planned for the morning. Figured we'd try going to another botanical garden, so that Little Guy can run around. There's not a lot of places for him to run around and he was getting a bit antsy being confined all the time. We went to a closer garden called Foster Botanical Garden. 

It was a lot smaller than the other one and closer to our hotel. 

Since it was small, I let Little Guy run around and go which ever direction he wanted to go. He enjoyed that part. It was really pretty and very educational.

Chief's Luau at Sea Life 

I REALLY wanted to go to a Luau this trip. I researched and researched different options. I finally decided to go to the Chief's Luau at Sea Life. 

It was ranked #1 on Trip Advisor and some people I spoke to said it was really good, smaller and more intimate. I decided to pay for a shuttle ride there as well. The shuttle ride was very scenic and I loved the drive! They give you a history while you're driving there and point out some places to see and things to do. 

I was thinking about going to Sea Life during the day, but the actual park doesn't have great reviews - so I opted against it and doing the botanical garden instead. 

When we arrived, we received some shell leis. They also had a bunch of activities to do, spear throwing, making headbands, taking pictures with the dancers. It was really nice and small! 

Little Guy was running around chasing the rooster and trying to get away from me. He really loves his freedom! Such a boy, he can wonder off far and away and not even notice how far he's gotten. 

Here's a view of the Luau. Such a great location and wonderful view. 

What was nice, the moon was shining bright during the performance. 

Also, the fire dancers were the best part! Loved it!

I was very happy with the Chief's Luau. Very well organized. Getting on the shuttle, arriving, eating, and then leaving - was all well organized and done well. The food wasn't the "best" - it was just OK. But the overall experience was excellent. Plenty of room for Little Guy to run around and not get hurt. Entertainment for the adults and something the kids would like. Little Guy liked the fire portion as well. 

Best part of the day: The Chief's Luau. 

Worst part of the day: Nothing today! Maybe just tired, we did a lot.