How we had Fun Beyond the Beaches of Hawaii

It’s the first trip, that wasn’t camping or to see family. We were headed to Hawaii with our three kids to renew our wedding vows, but we weren’t a beach family and there was a 10 year age difference between our oldest and youngest. We needed to find some fun beyond the beaches of Hawaii.

Pictures of Hawaii were beautiful and we looked forward to the trip. I had looked forward to renewing our wedding vows as I had always wanted a destination wedding. However, the wedding was only a small moment in the vacation week.

I was worried that the kids would be bored, electronics would fill our time away, and there would be endless bickering as we got on each other’s nerves. How do I find stuff to do that wasn’t overpriced typical tourist activities? How do I find activities that all the kids will enjoy when they are at very different ages in their life?

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Research

Google became my friend, along with travel websites and local event websites. After enough research, we decided on a car rental, so we had the ability to travel around the island without having to rely on tour buses.

The island was ours to explore over the 10 days. Microsoft OneNote was very helpful for our family recipes, so I thought of using it to help find fun beyond the beaches of Hawaii. It worked really well.

As I continued my research I would add the pages, dates, pictures, and any other info into a Microsoft OneNote document. I created a tab for the area of the island and then added pages within that tab for each activity or site seeing location I thought might be interesting for the family.

Digital maps of the island were included in the OneNote file so that everything was in one place. It was easier to keep it all in this file than creating a bookmark folder for websites and then forget where I found something specific.

Resist the Urge to Plan Everything

I am the planner for the family. Family schedules get us through very busy weeks year round. For me, the first step to truly learning to relax on vacation was during the planning stages of the vacation. It took everything not to schedule all of the activities.

My husband was thrilled that I resisted creating a schedule, even though he knew it was hard for me. I was determined to not control our days. I wanted it to help build up our teamwork and have fun on our new adventure.

We went on the vacation with the wedding scheduled and a guaranteed visit to Pearl Harbor between flights. Everything else was placed in the file and up for discussion with the kids. The budget was planned and we knew what big-ticket tourist attractions we could add without killing the bank account or going over our vacation budget.

The First Day

After settling into our rooms we checked out the resort and headed to the concierge. I wanted to see if there were any better deals for the tourist attractions we had scoped out, or if they had any other events or site-seeing ideas.

We were able to get much better deals than what I found online for some of the attractions and they gave us a list of local activities that were happening. We took the pamphlets and then headed back to the room to determine a plan.

The kids were excited about a few of the attractions and we were able to use the deals, so we booked a few of them throughout the week. Booking them on the first day allowed us to make plans around those activities.

The Morning Routines

Every morning we would gather around the dining table and talk about the day ahead. If there was a booked event then we would plan possible activities in the area. I would open the tablet to look at the OneNote file and we would review options with the family.

We made a deal that we had to keep an open mind and we would try to include something that interesting for each of the 3 kids. I was actually surprised that this worked as well as it did.

The kids loved seeing pictures and descriptions of possible places to visit around the island. Relaxing by the pool or a beach was chosen some days, while other days their choice was to return to the national park for some hiking.

Our mini road trips on the island were great, and we enjoyed our adventures. Local celebrations were a highlight, allowing us to experience the culture and our daughter did a local children’s hula dance lesson. We even found a food truck that locals loved and did some hiking on the beautiful island.

Our adventurous limits were tested by doing activities that some of us were excited about but scared others a bit. We visited a local beach early on the trip but found that the weather conditions didn’t favor us. The waves were pretty bad and we got scraped up pretty bad.

Or as my husband says,

“The ocean tried to kill us!”

Those Warm Fuzzy Feelings

Lazy days or end-of-day relaxing were done at the outdoor pool at the resort. It wasn’t so bad watching the oldest two boys teach their little sister how to swim. I enjoyed watching her confidence grow, and see the proud look on the boys’ faces as her skills got better.

Traveling with kids can be challenging, especially when they have different interests. We made it an adventure and used our research as a way to give the kids options. Discovering how to have fun beyond the beaches of Hawaii was an adventure worth having.

We were a team and had fun making the choices and keeping the communication open. If we didn’t want to do anything then we spent time close to our room. Every day was time together and we made great memories together, beyond just the wedding vow renewal.

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