We are leaving for Hawaii in just a few hours! This is our first family vacation since having Aiden, and we are very excited.

As we speak, I’m tidying up the last of my client work before I finish packing and getting organized. It’s a little stressful. But soon… relaxation!

Hopefully Aiden does well on the airplane, as it flies at night. That’s a “who knows” at this point. We will be touching down in Honolulu tonight at 9pm, then heading over to our hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Thanks to the great advice from friends and from a little research on my own, I was able to determine that Oahu was the best island for us right now. It’s very family oriented with lots of things to do – even an aquarium and zoo! My little Aiden is a social guy, so that was key for me.

After hours of research, we narrowed our hotel choices to ones that had pools specific for kids or toddlers. Though we do plan to spend a lot of time at the beach, thus fair Aiden has been afraid of the ocean, so I wanted a back-up plan. Plus, the variety is nice.

Most hotels only had one pool, since it is a beach culture, but some do specifically offer extra amenities for families. There’s the new Aluani resort on Oahu as well, a Disney-run property. Given that Aiden is still under 2, and not familiar with Disney at all, we felt our dollars were best spent elsewhere. Plus, we wanted a more central location.

We are very excited to be going to the Hilton Hawaiin Village and I will be taking lots of photos of our adventures to post when we get back!