Hawaiian Adventure day 13

Coming Home - trip wrap up

Why is it that just when we are finally all sleeping until 8 on a daily basis, it's time to go home?
It's going to be hard to get back to our usual time zone.

This morning was mainly about packing up, but the kids and hubby hit the pools one last time. Which gave me the chance to organize a bit and get myself ready.
We left Aulani around 10:40 and headed out to the airport. Other than the realization that we forgot to get gas, just after we pulled into the rental car lot... you know after you drive over the tire slasher things - bummer. The transfer to the airport was easy. Our gate was a long walk away, but we had plenty of time.
Our flight was on time and really an easy flight. I don't know if we are just getting better at this or the kids being older makes it that much easier. But these flights have been nice.
And any flight where I can have POG juice is a good flight ;)

We landed just after 10 pm. And with a short stop for gas, we were home and in bed before midnight. Lucky for us it only felt like 9 pm :)

We had a wonderful trip. It's hard to believe it's over. Each island was very different.
For our family, we made the right choice of Island order - going from the Big Island, the most laid back and least developed, to Maui, then to Oahu, with Waikiki and traffic and the staying at Aulani.
We could have easily spent all our time on Oahu at the resort. If/when we return, we think a few nights in Waikiki to see the sights and explore, then a few nights at Aulani to enjoy the resort may be our plan.

On the Big Island we used VRBO for our condo at the Waikoloa Beach Villas and it was perfect. A ton of room, beautiful grounds, close to shops and restaurants. It was about a 20 minute drive into the Kona area. Overall we really liked the location.
On Maui, we stated at Honua Kai resort. This we picked because of the pools and price (construction rate was good). Maui is a funny island, It's a trek to most parts of the island, so I am  not sure if there is a perfect location to stay in to easily see it all. To be fair, we weren't trying to see it all :) This was the only place we stayed that we didn't have 3 beds. It was fine, but not ideal.
And clearly we LOVED Aulani. Our lady is already plotting to return ;)

A panoramic view from our balcony.

We expect to someday give that submarine tour another try.
Every place we stayed we enjoyed having a kitchen and laundry in the room.
I think we are more organized on vacation than at home... hmmm? Maybe, more vacations??

Aloha! Mahalo, we had a wonderful time! 

And for the sake of being silly.....

Hawaii crumbs?
On our last evening, eating dinner in the room, I noticed these crumbs on the table. I asked hubby... "do these crumbs look like Hawaii?" We decided it was amusing enough to document. And I promise I didn't arrange them like this :)