The second half (4 days) of our vacation we spent at Aulani, a Disney resort. It took 40 mins from Waikiki and we arrived at the beautiful hotel. We were given an upgrade and checked into a nice room with an awesome ocean views up on the ninth floor. We felt so comfortable in the room that we could easily stay in the room all day long if we had to.  For the rest of the trip, the balcony was where we had our breakfast every morning and where Stuart and I spent some time reading.

    As soon as we unpacked, we did not waste much time to change and went downstairs to check out the amenities. The boys quickly jumped into a beautiful pool to warm up, then we headed over to the "lazy river" which was one of our favorite spots in the whole resort. It was so relaxing just sitting on a big tube and let the currents take you through the river. For the next few days, we spent hours at the different pools and we also had our lunch at poolside. There was an infinity pool that was very pretty and the boys later discovered the hot tub there where they enjoyed their time in it. They also liked a water structure where they ran around with other young kids.

     There were a couple of slides that Stuart eventually convinced Logan to try it out. They started with the one you slide down without a tube and it turned out to be dark and fast.  Stuart told me that he came down fast and was worried how Logan would do.  Fortunately Logan did what he was told and came down on his own.  Logan definitely did not care for the slide but we were proud that he did it.  The next day they tried the other one using a double tube; Logan liked this one a bit more but he did not care go again.  Connor was not interested to go with me so I rode a single tube on my own.  It was ok but thrill rides have never been my thing.  On the final day Connor suddenly agreed to give it a try and he went on a double with Stuart.  However, Connor did not care for the ride either.  At least we could say that we all tried it.

     Every afternoon, our routine was going to the beach.  Since it was a man made lagoon, the wave was very mild and the sand was soft.  Other than what the boys’ favorite of playing in the sand, we also tried boogie boarding.  We all had fun with it with the minimal waves there was.  It was also wonderful just hanging out and floating in the comfortable water.  Stuart and I also relaxed and read under the umbrella sometimes while the kids played.

     Connor was very into the Disney characters during this trip.  It might partially be that he brought his stuffed Pluto and he wanted him to meet all the character friends.  Connor would be constantly asking to call the special Hotel phone number that would provide the Character greet times.  At the end Connor was happy to get hugs from many characters but was also disappointed that he didn’t see the big Pluto.

     There was also “Aunty’s Beach House” where we registered the boys and dropped them off to play daily for a short time. The first time they were taken out to the courtyard to play games while some kids had dinner inside. The other two nights, the two boys stuck together playing video games or watching movie.  Each day they requested us to drop them off a bit longer.  While the kids were not with us, Stuart and I took a walk along the lagoon, had a drink and had a nice buffet dinner on our own on the last evening.  Everyone had a good time.

     At the resort there was also some events that we checked out. We tried Aloha fun which was some playtime for young kids but the boys were happy to see Chip and Dale there.  We did a movie night at the lawn where we watched Maleficient and we liked the movie.  We also participated at a Shaka pool party where Mickey, Minnie and Goofy were playing with everyone.  There was also many photographers on site and I tried to have us take some photos with them whenever possible.

     For dinner, we could take a short walk to a local plaza where we went for pizza one night and next at a restaurant for Stuart to have some crafted beer.  We also drove out once for some ramen.  As mentioned earlier, Stuart and I also had a great buffet dinner on our last night sitting next to the koi pond and enjoying the atmosphere.

     We really had a great time at the Disney resort and enjoyed our entire Hawaiian trip.  We, especially me, were sad that the vacation had ended and had to return home.  We definitely had taken a lot of pictures (with many cameras) for us to cherish all the fun moments; here they are.