Aulani - A Disney Resort & Spa - Review

We have just returned from one of the best trips we have ever taken.  My husband and I went to Hawaii on our honeymoon, and I remember it being beautiful and wonderful.  But I was only 24 and didn't have a full appreciation of just how gorgeous and stunning Hawaii really is.  We have travelled many places over the years, and this trip to Hawaii trumps all other locations.
We visited three islands, starting with Oahu.  

We stayed at the Aulani, a new Disney resort in Kapolei, Hawaii.  For me, one of the best things about the Aulani is that it is outside of the "city".  We stayed in Waikiki on our honeymoon which is filled with mostly high-rises.  It's a bit more low-key in Kapolei.  We traveled with my parents, so we stayed in an 1100 square foot, two bedroom villa which slept all six of us.  The villa had 2 1/2 bathrooms which made it perfect for a family traveling with grandparents.  It was the only hotel we stayed at that had such an option where we could all stay together.  Every other hotel we needed to get two hotel rooms.  As always, Disney is very family oriented.  The rooms are new and perfect.  The villa has a kitchen, although we didn't use it.  But it is an option for families who want to buy some groceries for the room.

This was the view from our balcony.  This was truly paradise!  The hotel from check-in to check-out was top notch and the lei greeting was wonderful.

The Aulani has multiple pools and a lazy river.  They have two water slides.  One that you slide down using a float, and the other one you just slide down without a float.  My kids went on both.  I only went down the one with the float.  I'm sorry I didn't try the other one now.  At the time I was pretty jet-lagged and just wanted to relax.  So I mostly floated down the lazy river.

They also had a private snorkeling lagoon.  It was a great way to see all kinds of sea creatures without leaving the pool area of the hotel.

The Aulani also has a larger lagoon which borders the ocean.   There you can rent snorkel equipment, paddle boards, kayaks, boogie boards and stand up paddle boards (my favorite).

The dining options at the Aulani are awesome.  We ate dinner the first night in Oahu at the Ama Ama at the Aulani.  It was wonderful.  The Aulani offers several different options for breakfast including a quick service restaurant where we could order a hot breakfast sandwich.  As you probably know, Hawaii is super expensive when it comes to food.  However, of the three different hotels we stayed at on the three islands, the Aulani was the most reasonably priced when it came to food.  It was expensive, but now in retrospect after seeing what we spent at other hotels, it was the best deal of the three hotels.

The Aulani was absolutely awesome and I would definitely go back again.  There were only two negatives, both completely minor.   One, it was very difficult to get lounge chairs at the pool.  We usually got one, but it took some hunting each day.  The only other negative was the way the pool area is laid out, you have to walk almost all the way around to get from one side to the other.  Depending on which area of the pool you are standing in, there is no quick short-cut across the pool area.

I hope you and your family will get a chance to visit the Aulani.  It's amazing and worth the trip.

-Judy

I'm Back

We are back from our vacation to Hawaii.  It was 2+ weeks of living in paradise.

It was really hard to leave and come back.  We got back late Saturday evening and spent yesterday recovering a bit.  I haven't even gotten a chance to organize all of my photos.   I made a conscious effort on this vacation to really get away, so I haven't been around blogland for weeks.  I am looking forward to catching up with what has been going on.  

I want to thank all of my guest bloggers who helped me during my long holiday.   

Here is a sneak peek of the three islands we visited.  

Be sure to stop back all week as I share our adventures and review the hotels we stayed in.  

We really stayed in some gorgeous hotels.   

Oahu

The Big Island

Kauai

Yep...pretty awesome.  I miss it already!

-Judy

Tips to Stress-Free Packing for Vacation

We are leaving for our family vacation in a week and I thought I would share some of my tips on packing a suitcase.  Packing for a trip is much easier with a little planning and organization.

1.  Make a list on paper of how many days you will be away and how many outfits you will need.  We are going to Hawaii.   This is a long vacation, so it's almost like packing for two trips.  We are visiting three islands in Hawaii, which will mean alot of packing and unpacking.   The first thing I create is a list for each member of the family.  On our computer we have a list of all of the things that we always bring on vacation (sunscreen, vitamins, cameras etc) and just print it out year after year.  Planning exactly what you will need not only keep you from forgetting things, it will also help to avoid you over or under packing.  

2.  A few days before you leave, lay out the clothes you plan on bringing.  I started this process last night and I organize the clothes by outfit, ideally aiming to have two tops for each pair of pants/shorts.  I also try to pack outfits that can use the same shoes to limit the amount of shoes as well.  Since we have so many nights that will require dinner outfits, I plan on wearing at least a few of the outfits two times.  Different islands, different restaurants...no one will know.  

3.  Now it's time to actually pack the suitcases.   I pack the suitcases by outfit for my daughter and myself. For my husband and my son, I pack all of their shorts/pants together and all of their shirts together, since they are less particular about outfits and will just mix and match while we are on vacation.

Folding clothes to fit the suitcase will maximize the amount of items you can fit.  For pants, I fold them in thirds and for t-shirts I fold them as shown to fit four columns of clothing.

4.  The last thing you want when you get to your destination is to have all of your clothing wrinkled.  To help prevent this, I wrap all of my clothing prone to wrinkling in tissue paper.

5.  I use freezer bags to protect delicate clothing and to keep items like socks together.  I also use socks being packed to stuff into shoes to prevent them from getting crushed during transit.

6.  If you follow these simple tips, once you arrive at your destination, you can just pull out the piles as you have them in the suitcase and place them directly in the drawers of your hotel room.  It makes unpacking super fast so you can start your vacation quicker and stress-free.

Hope these tips will help you next time you pack for a trip.

-Judy

Calling All Blogging Friends

There are a couple more weeks of school left for us, but then we will be going on vacation.
Each year we try to leave for vacation the day school ends.  There's something super exciting about leaving right after school and it is a great way to kick off the summer.  

This year we are going to Hawaii!!

 We are flying to Seattle and staying for one night then onto Hawaii.  We will be visiting three islands.

First we are staying at the new Disney Aulani resort on Oahu.

Next we fly to the Big Island and stay at the Hilton Wailkola Village.  This was one of the hotels we stayed at on our honeymoon 21 years ago.  I can't wait to stay there again.

We end the trip in Kauai staying at the Grand Hyatt.  We decided on Kauai over Maui because 21 years ago we were supposed to go to Kauai, but Kauai was destroyed by a hurricane a week before our honeymoon and we replaced it with Maui.  So this time we are finally going to get to Kauai.

We are all very excited.  

In the past I have asked some of my closest blogging friends to write guest posts for me while on vacation.  This year, I thought I would put it out there in a blog post, opening it up to more friends who may want to guest post.   So...if you would be interested in guest posting while I'm away, please e-mail me by Friday at diybydesign@gmail.com and I will get you all the details.
Thanks in advance!!

Don't forget to stop back tonight for my Swing into Spring party.

The party opens at 8pm EST.  Hope to see you then.

-Judy

How to Make a String Bracelet

Last week we were in Cape Cod.  A Cape Cod vacation is filled with days at the beach.  We were with my brother-in-law, his two sons and his girlfriend as well as my mother-in-law.  My brother-in-law's girlfriend brought along an entire kit of fun for us.  She figured me and my daughter would love to make bracelets with her.  What she didn't count on was that all of the kids, even the three boys, would become obsessed with making these bracelets on the beach.

She had an awesome box of embroidery thread to choose from as well as samples of all the bracelets we could make.  She created this kit when she was my daughter's age.

Here is the one of the ankle bracelets I made.  This is one of the easier stitches.  

Here's all you have to do.

First determine how wide you want the bracelet to be.  This was a six string bracelet.  I used three pink and three gray.  I tied all six together with a knot and taped it to my leg.  Arrange the string so that the three pink and the three grey are next to each other.  The tape was a great idea.  When I used to make these, I would attach the bracelet I was working on to the inside of the plastic case.  This was much easier and I would just add more tape and the bracelet got longer.
 It just makes the stitches more uniform.

Starting on the left, take the first string and make the number "4" over the next string.  

Tie off two knots this way.  

Simply continue with that string over the next five strings.  When you get to the end, start again with the next string all the way to the left.  It's really that easy.

Just keep doing this over and over again until you get to the desired length (a bracelet is shorter than an ankle bracelet, so you can be done faster :)).  

The kids really got into making these bracelets.  By the end of the trip they were cranking out a few a day.  It was a great way to spend some beautiful days at the beach.

DON'T FORGET TO STOP BACK TONIGHT AT 8PM EST 

FOR MY SIZZLE INTO SUMMER PARTY

-Judy

Conquering Fear

We are in Cape Cod this week and have been enjoying a wonderful vacation.  Our Cape Cod vacations usually consist of tennis, beach and dining each day.  Very fun and very relaxing.  However, yesterday we did something a bit different - we went parasailing.  I can honestly say that I have never had any real desire to go parasailing.  My husband has been talking about it for months.  He wanted to take my fifteen year old son when we were in the Caribbean earlier this summer, but it just didn't work out.  Well, it worked out here.  Like I said, I had no intention of going parasailing.  My son and my husband were very excited.  My twelve year old daughter was another story - I think she really did want to go, but was just afraid.  One of the many mottos I have with my kids is to never have fear hold you back from doing something you want to do.  So I made my daughter a deal.   If she wanted to go, I would go up with her and we would conquer our fear together.  

 My husband and son went first.  The worst part was the anticipation before it was our turn.  Once my son and husband landed safely, my daughter and I went and sat on the back of the boat and they clipped us onto the bar.

 Then you just start flying away from the boat.  No warning...no are you ready...no one, two, three, go...you just take off.

It's the weirdest, coolest sensation.  You fly 500 feet above the water.  When you're in the boat waiting, it's windy and a bit loud with the engine roaring.  When you're up in the air it's almost silent.  My daughter and I were up there talking the whole time.  We each were holding onto to the straps like it was a life line.  Halfway through the ride my daughter asked me if I thought we were supposed to hold on this tight.  Her arms were shaking and hurting (as were mine).  She got brave first and let go with one hand to wave.  Then I tried too.  We could see everything from up there.  We are here with my brother-in-law and his family and we could see them jet skiing below us.
It was a very beautiful view of Cape Cod.

It's a super gentle ride.  There were some parts where the wind pushed us a little, but mostly it was very calm.  I looked over at my daughter a few times, but that was when I discovered just how high we were.  I also realized around that time that I had forgotten to take off my sunglasses.  As it turned out that was okay.  Nothing happened to them.  

As fun as it was, we both were very happy when they started to pull us back in.

Today we will be back at the beach just relaxing! :)

What fears have you conquered lately?

Have a great weekend.

-Judy

A Country Home Weekend

As I mentioned yesterday, this weekend we drove out to Orient Point which is at the end of Long Island.  We were invited to the home of a friend along with another family, who have two kids similar ages to my kids, and two other friends.  The host and hostess of this weekend have graciously allowed me to share with you some photos of their spectacular home.  

When we arrived lunch was served outdoors under this gorgeous gazebo.  The flowers in their yard and lush and simply stunning.  It felt like something out of a movie.

Lunch and dinner were an absolutely gourmet spread, all prepared by our host and hostess.  

Seriously... some of the best cooking I have ever tasted. 

We had so many laughs and got to spend a weekend just relaxing...something we rarely do.

Their backyard is gorgeous with so many different conversation areas available.

I took this photo first thing in the morning on Sunday after it had rained the night before 

(hence the cushions drying).  I also took this photo from on top of their home...

 where they have a deck that has 360 degree views of the Long Island Sound on one side 

and a farm on the other.

I fell in love with this fountain in the yard. 

They have a mahogany deck on one side of their home.

I've never seen a more beautiful deck.  If you don't know, mahogany is virtually indestructible.  

Each board is absolutely perfect...no splinters at all.

It's truly a special deck.

Here is the guest room we stayed in.  Although they had ten guests (including us), this home was large enough that each of us had our own bedroom and bathroom.  

It was so warm and inviting.  The perfect guest bedroom with everything a house-guest needs.

Sunday morning was equally amazing with the breakfast spread they had prepared.

I can't thank our friends enough for being such wonderful and gracious hosts.

DON'T FORGET TO STOP BACK TONIGHT AT 8PM EST 

FOR MY SIZZLE INTO SUMMER PARTY

-Judy