Family Vacay in Kauai

We are extremely lucky to have access to a time share in Princeville on the island of Kauai. The Hanalei Bay Resort is beautiful, they have great accommodations, a great pool and are close to many beaches and activities. We haven't been there since Kellen was 14 months old so it was fun rediscovering the area with two kiddos. 

We arrived late afternoon and an exhausted Kellen threw an absolute fit that we didn't go directly to the beach from the airport. We compromised with an evening swim and sunset before bedtime. With the time change, we were up bright and early the next morning. Plenty of time to get some breakfast before heading to the beach.

Our first beach stop was Anini Beach. It had shallow water and was calm, a great place to start. Jae was a little timid with the sand but LOVED playing in the water. Total water baby!

Kellen's swimming skills have vastly improved since last summer. He is floating on his own, diving down to retrieve objects, and using his arms to swim. He is a total fish and having so much fun!

All dressed up for Sushi dinner. Both kids did great eating all week. Jae was willing to try anything and Kellen found plenty he was willing to eat and was ravenous!

We visited a park in Princeville a few times. It is within running/walking distance so we could all get in some exercise. 

Homemade sunset dinner on our lanai. We loved being on the garden level this trip, lots of space for everyone to run around.

Our favorite beach was Hanalei. The waves were gentle, the sand was fine, and the views were amazing. Not only did Jae love the water but she loved playing in the sand. Kellen loved it all, total beach boy. Steve even rented a body board for him to try one day and he loved it.

We had some rainy weather on the North end of the island the first part of the week so on Wednesday, we headed South to the Kilohana Plantation for a train ride complete with pig feeding. We also ate a great lunch at Gaylord's Restaurant on the Plantation.

I read about the Kamalani Playground at Lydgate Park online so we had to check it out one morning. The playground was amazing and we didn't even see the other part. Kellen had so much fun exploring the mass quantity of passages until a huge daycare showed up and then Kellen was done. We ended up going swimming there as well. They have a man made shallow beach sectioned off from the rough waters that we could play in. There were some tropical fish that Kellen could watch with his goggles on so he got a kick out of that. 

We swam at the resort pool everyday. It is beautiful and the kids had a blast.

Last night in Hawaii, dinner at The Dolphin in Hanalei right on the river. So yummy!

We had a great week sharing Kauai with our beach babes. Kellen thrives in these situations, he has so much fun with the new activities and exploring. Jae is happy doing anything and had lots of fun as well. They were both so exhausted every night, they passed out and slept no problem. They were both very well behaved and up for anything (even sushi dinners!). Steve and I had fun playing with the kids, relaxing when we could, checking out the island coffee shops and eating yummy food. A great week to always remember and a huge thank you to Steve's parents for the time share this year!