Nielsons in Hawaii

We had such a fun week in Hawaii. The best part was being together with our family. We only had four full days together and we crammed them full of activities.

Costco Run

On this trip, we are staying at Hilton Grand Vacations Club Kings’ Land Waikoloa resort. Blake and Debbie booked a two-bedroom suite and Alison and I booked a three-bedroom suite. We had plenty of space to accommodate everyone. This resort was a great place to stay, but nearby food options weren’t great, especially for a party of eleven. We knew this going in and planned to prepare many meals in our suite. So a Costco trip was our first order of business. It was a necessity with a group this large. Bret and Calvin volunteered to accompany us. We were glad they did. Driving to and from Costco, plus shopping gave us a couple of solid hours to catch up. Together we made Costco shopping a fun activity, plus we hit up the Food Court for one of the more economical meals of the trip. 

Yard Games/Family Meals

We spent a good amount of time hanging out in our room. Most of the time we were chatting,  but we also played some games - Bret brought badminton and cornhole. Bret and Alison’s team may not have scored the most points,  but they sure had the most fun. We also had a few family meals - even more than we initially planned. On Tuesday we grilled burgers (there were barbecues right outside our room). On Wednesday we made grilled cheese on the barbecue (which was surprisingly delicious). On Thursday we made tacos (not our best effort, but pretty good considering the limitations of a timeshare kitchen). We were pretty resourceful and most everyone pitched in to throw together some really excellent meals and it was really the best way to eat together. 

Kings' Land Pool

Alison read beforehand that the King’s Land pool is one of the best, if not the best pool at any Hilton Grand Vacations property. It was a pretty great pool. It is quite large with a couple of kids' areas, multiple water slides, a family area, and an adults-only pool. At various times throughout the trip, we took advantage of all of these areas. Anna particularly loved the zero-entry kids area. Kristin also loved it because it wasn’t deep so Anna could play with minimal supervision. The kids just loved being in the pool. We spent hours there with them going down the water slides, playing The Little Mermaid (Anna is obsessed), playing Pirates and Mermaids, yelling Marco Polo, and doing cool tricks - Skylee and Meg rocked the handstands. 

Skylee and I worked on her chess skills

Family pictures 

On Tuesday night we had Big Island Photographer Brittany Renault take family pictures for us at the beach. Debbie has been wanting to make family pictures work for years and it has just not happened. So for her 60th birthday since we were together we not only took family pictures, but we did it in her happy place. Brittany was great. She helped us pick the location and she was able to get both kids to warm up and get excited about taking pictures (Kristin bribing Anna with a couple of LOL dolls also helped). We took pictures at Kikaua Point which provided the perfect beach background. We had a beautiful sunset too. We cannot wait to see the final result.  

Morning Yoga 

On Wednesday and Friday, we did morning Yoga at the resort. It was fabulous. On Wednesday Bret, Calvin, and Skylee did Yoga with us. Skylee is a little Yogi and did so well. She particularly liked the shoulder stands. On Friday it was us and Skylee. This class wasn’t quite as good as Wednesday's, but it was still fun and Skylee got to learn how to do Warrior Three. After the class, the instructor asked Alison if she was a Yoga instructor at home. She told him she wasn’t and he told her she should be because she is excellent at Yoga. She took that to heart and is considering getting certified. 

Keiki Crafts

Every day the resort would have a kids' craft. Anna and Skylee did their first kids' craft on Wednesday and it was such a hit they did it every day after that. They got to make a beach in a bottle, petroglyphs ornaments/magnets, stamped bags, and sea glass brackets. This was surprisingly one of the kids' favorite things about our Hawaii vacation. 

 ‘Anaeho'omalu Beach 

On Wednesday we had a beach day at ‘Anaeho 'omalu beach. This is a beach near the resort. We rented a couple of cabanas, plus we had a big beach blanket, and Bret and Calvin had a tent. We built a little Nielson complex at the beach. The best part of this beach day was that all of Alison’s siblings were hanging on the beach together. We floated in the ocean, Jake rented a paddle board, and we lounged on the beach. It was an excellent beach day. we had fun being together in the water. At one point we found a sea urchin that washed up on shore. That was pretty interesting. Maybe the best thing that happened at the beach was Anna saying “bitchin' chicken” repeatedly. We were all dying. She was saying something about bacon chicken and Jake thought she said bitchin chicken a little egging on and she was saying it on repeat and we were all rolling with laughter. Once we were all laughing there was no stopping it. It was such a fun beach day!

Bingo night

On Wednesday night we had Nielson bingo night. Alison and I brought a bingo set and we supplied prizes - each prize was a gift card valued between $5 - $25. When someone had a bingo they would pick a gift card. The value of the gift card was unknown at that point. If they got another bingo they could swap gift cards with another participant. Anna hated it - she thought I was going to ensure she won and that her mom lost. She was even trash-talking Kristin saying she didn't want to sit by a loser. Well, when Kristin won the first round Anna lost it, despite some tears, it was a fun family activity. 

Lagoon Pool

Staying at King’s Land also gave us access to the Lagoon pool at the nearby Hilton hotel. The Lagoon pool is a saltwater lagoon that connects to the ocean. It was an awesome place to hang out with the kids. We had so much fun we spent a couple of days there. The first day we stopped and ate dole whips on our way in, which hit the spot. Then we grabbed some beach chairs and played in the water. I practiced snorkeling with Skylee to make sure she was prepared for our evening manta activity. At one point I went on a walkabout. Skylee asked Alison where I went and Alison told her I probably either went to the restroom or I would come back with a surprise - the latter proved to be the case as I returned either two inflatable donuts. The kids loved them. We took the donuts and swam out into the lagoon where we saw four green sea turtles. They were swimming all around us. At one point I was photographing one sea turtle when something bumped into me from behind. I turned around expecting to see Skylee,  but it was actually another sea turtle. 

On our second day at the Lagoon pool, we rented a floating cabana. The cabana came with a paddleboard. We spent the entire afternoon hanging out at the Lagoon pool. We saw many more turtles and enjoyed paddling around the Lagoon. Anna loved playing in the shallow, warmer water. At one point during the afternoon, I also rented a dragon paddle boat which was a huge hit with the kiddos. 

More turtles - there were so many turtles at the Lagoon pool

Skylee took this picture

Skylee took this picture

Manta Ray Dive 

On Thursday night we went on a Manta Ray dive/snorkel. Alison and I dove while everyone else snorkeled. This was the one thing that was a must-experience for me on this trip. We tried to do it last time on the big island, but it was canceled due to bad weather. Fortunately, tonight it worked out. You go out at night to see the mantas because the lights you use while diving/snorkeling attract plankton which in turn attract the mantas. Mantas are huge underwater creatures, they are also perfectly harmless unless you are plankton. The dive to see the mantas is quite easy. We dropped down about 11 meters to a rocky circle known as the campfire. Once we reached the ocean floor we kneeled down around the campfire area. Our dive instructor set up some lights in front of us and we were all holding our own flashlight. We then sat and watched the mantas for about 40 minutes. There were four or five mantas by us this evening. They would glide in front of us, do barrel rolls, and even swoop right over our heads. There were numerous times when the mantas were inches away from us.  It was an incredible experience. 

On the surface, the rest of our group was also enjoying the mantas show. Although Jake and Kristin both were seasick and puked (it was a wavy night on the sea). Poor Meg was right in the middle of the vomit and she also lost her dinner. It sounded like a scene from the Goonies. 

I gave Skylee an old underwater camera I have so she could take pictures of the mantas. She took some really cool-looking photos and had a lot of fun recording her experience. 

Birthday Dinner 

On Friday night we had a birthday dinner for Debbie at Nui Italian. The food was meh, but they were able to seat all eleven of us together. That was the most important thing - to all be together for Debbie's birthday. It was a great way to end our family vacation.