Mauna Lani, HI - Day 1

Friday, April 16

It’s our first full day in the Mauna Lani Resort area, and already I can tell we’re really going to like it here. We’re back on the Kohala Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island which means the sun was shining, birds chirping and air temperates were a warm 80 degrees at 7:00am. The weather is reliably perfect here every single day.

There’s a small gym at the Palm Villas where we’re staying, but it doesn’t have any free-weights so I decided to do my workout in the one-stall garage that comes with our condo unit. I’m glad I bought a couple sets of dumbbells at the beginning of this trip because that’s been the most convenient way to stay on track with my workouts while traveling. Private gym’s rules & regulations are all over the place due to COVID and it’s just easier to do my own thing. The Mauna Lani Sports & Fitness Club is across the street from where we are staying this week, so out of curiosity Andi called to see how much it would cost for a daily or weekly membership. Because of COVID, they are only selling monthly membership for — get this — $950! No thanks, dumbbells in our garage will do just fine.

There’s also some great walking paths around the Mauna Lani Resort area. While I did my workout at the condo, Andi and Janie went for a walk together around the property.

Today is a special day because it’s Aden’s turn to have a one-on-one date with Grandma Janie. He choose ukulele lessons, and has been talking about this activity for weeks. He’s so excited! Once again, we used Airbnb Experiences to book this activity in Hawaii. We like Airbnb Experiences because they are typically a bit more casual (aka: not as touristy) and a good $$ value. We’ve used Airbnb Experiences in the past for farm tours, Tory’s painting class and now ukulele lessons.

Andi, Tory and I dropped Janie and Aden off at their ukulele lesson in Kona at 10:30am. The class was being held at the music instructor’s home — a retire teacher who now teaches music lessons in her backyard on the lanai.

Then, Andi, Tory and I drove into Kona’s city center for a “Tory date” our own. We parked our car along the famous Ali’i Drive and walked to a smoothie shop to start our morning together.

From there, we walked along the busy shopping street and browsed a few shops. I picked out a new pair of sandals for myself, and we also decided to surprise Janie with new Tevas sandals. They are the best travel shoes!

Aden’s 90-minute ukulele class was over before we knew it & soon it was time to the music instructor’s house to pick them up. When we walked around back, we could see Janie and Aden playing a song together with the instructor’s lead. Aden looked so happy! His little foot was tapping to the beat with gusto.

Janie said the class was fantastic, and they learned a lot in such a short time. The music instructor was very patient and attentive to Aden. She even sent a few music sheets with us so that Aden can practice at home and gave us a recommendation for a kid-friendly ukulele we can purchase later if he shows interest.

We were all hungry for lunch by the time we left the ukulele lesson. Andi called in a to-go order from a restaurant called Pine Tree Cafe for lunch, and we headed over there to pick it up. Once again, we all shared a few lunch plates — teriyaki beef with rice, a fish sandwich, side salad and chicken strips for the kids.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool in our Palm Villas resort. Tory and Aden wanted nothing more than to swim! They missed the pools while were traveling on Hawaii’s east side of the island in Hilo and Volcano. There weren’t any other kids to play with at the pool unfortunately. We had the whole pool to ourselves for most of the time we were there.

Before dinner, we decided to walk down to the ocean to catch the sunset. The trail system through the Mauna Lani Resort property is so nice and makes it easy to walk between beaches, restaurants and shops. There’s even a fish pond by the ocean where ancient Hawaiian ahi’i (chiefs) used to catch fish.

Andi was excited to grill the jumbo shrimp he bought at COSTCO for dinner. Unfortunately, the condo’s grill wasn’t cooperating very well so it took him a little monkeying around to pull dinner off for us all. Eventually he got it & we enjoyed grilled shrimp kabobs for dinner while sitting out on the balcony patio. It was a great ending to the perfect day in Hawaii.

We’ve truly had the best time here on Hawaii’s Big Island. It’s going to be hard to leave in a few days, but the reality of returning home is starting to sink into our minds. Two more days to enjoy this beautiful island.