Skip to main content

Hawaii trip

We just came back from a short (too short!) but fun trip to Hawaii. Even though it was only 4 days, we needed the break and it turned out to give us a good reason to relax. We went to Kona, to a resort that was very suited for kids, which therefore means easy for the parents. And it was really perfect for the kids:
- several pools with 4 slides, one of them 70 feet high.
- one tram to go from one side of the hotel to the next
- a boat service on an artificial river
- a dolphin show several times a day
- a protected lagune (easy to snorkel, even for a 4-year old) where a variety of fishes and many turtles find their way

What else could we want?
It was truly paradise on earth for Daniel. He spent a lot of time testing the slides and, after quite a bit of nudging at the beginning, fell in love with snorkeling. He would keep going back to the lagune to look for more turtles, more fish, more new things to experience.

Charlotte enjoyed jumping in the pool too, although she was also disappointed not to be able to take the slides on her own. It was tough for her to see big brother having so much fun, and not being able to tag along. Hopefully, this will mean great motivation to start swim classes in a year when she turns 3.

We also spent one day at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which was very interesting (although a long trip for what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation). Daniel loved learning about the lava and the mechanics of volcanoes. He definitely is at the age where he benefits most from all our trips: old enough to comprehend everything, and young enough to be fascinated by what he sees. It's really a great age for travel, and I can't wait for Charlotte to get into this phase too. She will be there soon enough!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Turkey travel with toddler - a good idea after all

After 10 days traveling in Turkey with our 16-month old son, we found that going to far-away countries with a toddler is not as difficult as many people believe. Yes, we also had our own concerns, and we had set our expectations that we might have a rough time. Yet, we had decided that it would be worth the effort since we were very eager to visit Turkey. As it turns out, most of our concerns weren’t justified, and we found that Daniel had a great time in Turkey. Below are a few things we have learned in our trip. • Jetlag : Interestingly enough, it was easier for Daniel to adjust after this complex trip than after a “simple” journey to Germany. After a 26-hour journey (2 flights and one 2.5 hour car drive) and a jump of 10 time zones, internal rhythm is typically quite upset for everyone, big and small. We flew with the night flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt, so Daniel had a good night of sleep behind him when we landed in Germany. From then, we paced his naps until the follo

Jamaica vacation

This year, we started what we hope will become a tradition. Because we didn't have a lot of vacation time, we didn't want to go all the way to Europe over the holidays, since the kids' jetlag negates a lot of the benefits of a vacation. We suggested to our families to meet "in the middle" in the Caribbean. Pros: less travel, less jetlag and warm weather! Cons: nothing really, except some health concerns and the question whether everyone across our families would enjoy the vacation. We met with my parents, my in-laws and my brother in law and family. It was a first in many ways: first time with all family members, first time in the Caribbean. It turned out to be a great idea! We picked a wonderful hotel in Jamaica, the Franklyn D Resor t, which I describe in detail here . It was so family-friendly that it took away any issue that could come from traveling with young kids. I have to say that I had some health concerns going to Jamaica with 2 young kids. But they

Central America top picks

I was recently talking to a friend about places to go in Central America, one of our favorite regions to visit. She was primarily interested in Costa Rica, which is a wonderful place, no doubt. But as I was about to write to her, I decided to do a round up of our trips in Central America. You can't go wrong with any of these destinations. They are all wonderful in their own ways, but below are our favorites to date. 1.  Roatan I think the big gem of Latin America is Roatan (island in Honduras). We had the best time there: great beach, warm water, amazing snorkeling, jungle access. Flight there was convenient and affordable (red eye through El Salvador). I can’t think of any Con at this point. We are hoping to go back to Roatan later this year (which is very unusual for us to go to the same place twice, so this says something!) 2. Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica Even during the rainy season, this was a highlight for us. Tortuguero is   Wow! Amazing! Great jungle; turtles (at the right