The Kealia Trail is on the remote northwestern side of Oahu. It climbs the northern end of the Waianae Mountains behind Dillingham Airfield in Mokuleia and offers some of the most spectacular views of the North Shore that we have seen.

19 switchbacks take hikers up the cliffs to a covered picnic area marking the end of the trail. The trail is only about 1.5 miles long (3 miles roundtrip) but gains over 1,000 feet in elevation. The hike to the top is all uphill over some moderately rough terrain, it will take a little over an hour for most families to reach the crest. Its rocky so wear sturdy hiking shoes and a large portion of the trail is fully exposed to the sun so bring sunscreen and lots of water!

The trail is doable for most families. We recommend smaller children be carried in a backpack carrier due to the terrain and potential fall hazards along the trail. Older children (5+) should do fine if they take their time and maybe a few rest breaks.

Along the way are some excellent vantage points to witness the various activities that take place on and around Dillingham Airfield and spectacular views of the North Shore. If weather conditions are right, gliders from the airfield use the very mountain you are climbing to catch updrafts so you may hear them whoosh overhead as you climb! Dillingham Airfield is also very popular with skydivers so you are virtually guaranteed to see them floating gently back down to earth while on the trail.

At the top of cliff the Kealia Trail ends at a covered picnic table where you can rest and grab a bite to eat or drink before heading back down. There is an option here to continue your hike further into the mountains along a dirt access road near the picnic table which eventually intersects with the Kuaokala Trail, treating those adventurous enough to some impressive views of the Makua Valley. We recommend that folks stop at the picnic table though. This is far enough for most children and parents carrying children!

There are no facilities along the trail.

This is a really nice trail with some excellent views of the surrounding area. Be sure to bring your camera! The children will love watching all of the airplane, glider, and skydiving activities over Dillingham Airfield. The hike up is moderately strenuous but we think most families should be okay with minor preparation.

Tucked in amid lava flows from Mauna Kea, and Mauna Loa volcanoes is Hapuna Beach State Park, considered one of the best beaches in the entire state and frequently mentioned near the top of most lists for best beaches in the world. It is a beach lover’s delight, and a dream come true for parents seeking a family friendly beach to take the kids to for an afternoon of fun in the sun.

Hapuna Beach is a fantastic half mile long stretch of soft sand that boasts almost every convenience that a family could want. During the summer, the beach is a 200 yard wide expanse of powdery white sand that slopes gently into the water with waves typically calm enough for young explorers to enjoy. During the winter months, the beach gets eroded by high surf so its considerably smaller but still sizable and surf conditions are not as good for water activities but there is still plenty to do for an afternoon! Just be sure to check with the life guards before swimming or letting the little ones get too close to the shore break if it looks rough and take note of any markers they post regarding beach conditions. Life guards patrol the beach year round from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The weather on this portion of the Big Island is phenomenal! Orographic shielding from the surrounding volcanoes protects the coast for rain and clouds meaning almost everyday of the year is sunny and dry. The beach is a sun worshippers delight with plenty of space to stretch out and let the sun soak over you. Just be sure to bring plenty of sunscreen for the children! We also found a sun shelter useful in providing some protection for the smaller kids. The only shade at the beach park is in a small forest of trees between the parking lot and the beach.

The park has plenty of free parking, although it can get crowded early on weekends and holidays. Access trails are paved and stroller friendly so making your way to the beach is easy if you are loaded down with lots of gear. If you chose not to bring your own beach gear, there is a concessionaire called "3 Frogs" that rents chairs, umbrellas, snorkeling gear and other beach necessities near the parking lot. Located in the same building is "Paradise Grill" a convenient snack shack that sells burgers, tacos, kalua pork, shave ice and drinks. The prices are about average for Hawaii. There are numerous picnic tables and shelters scattered throughout the park that are great for eating lunch.

There are three restroom and shower facilities available for use throughout the park. The condition of the restrooms is questionable at best though—we would recommend bringing your own paper and hand sanitizer!

This is a great beach popular with locals and tourists. Conditions here are great for all beach and water activities although winter surf limit them if it gets to high. Since it is on the leeward side of the island, the beach also makes a great place to relax and watch a famous Hawaiian sunset!

If you decide you want to try camping, it is allowed by permit. There are 4 A-frame shelters at the park available for nightly rental. The shelters are simple, just a screened in room with a picnic table and wooden benches for beds (they sleep up to 4 people). There is a communal kitchen and shower area nearby. The rates are $30 for kama’aina and $50 for non-residents per night.

This is a must stop for any family visiting the Big Island! It is the one beach that locals come to from as far away as Puna and Hilo on weekends. Yes, its that good! One look at this pristine beach and you will understand why! As parents, this is the closest you will come in Hawaii to the perfect family friendly beach when conditions are right!

Last Sunday, Iolani Palace, once home to the Kings and Queens of Hawaii’s monarchy and now a museum and the only royal residence in the U.S., held their first ever Royal Easter Egg Hunt. Children of all ages had the opportunity to collect eggs from several locations on the palace grounds and learn about the history of Iolani Palace in the process. Additionally, free tours of the palace were available for children of all ages, something that we particularly looked forward to since normally the palace enforces a minimum age restriction on all palace tours which had prevented us from viewing it before!

The Easter egg hunt, while meant to educate, was extremely frustrating for our 3 year old son. Instead of the chaotic free for all that most egg hunts turn into, with kids running amuck in an egg grabbing frenzy, this one was very orderly and actually..kind of boring. There were 6 stations around the palace that children followed a map to find. At each station was a person that would give a brief history lesson on a particular topic about the palace and would then stamp your map as proof that you had been at that station. After the presentation, the children could reach into a box and pull out an egg. Once all six stations were complete, the kids could return the map for a prize and keep whatever was in the egg. While it may sound like a good plan, in practice, our son simply walked up to the boxes and grabbed an egg while Mom and Dad listened to the presentation. He could not have cared less what was being said. While I appreciate what the palace was trying to do and I think a more traditional hunt would have been better suited to accomodate all the different ages. Maybe it was just a difference in expectations but we thought an egg hunt on the the massive lawn surrounding the palace would have been very cool. Instead, we were sent to stations which wasn't nearly as fun.

The tour of the palace was quite nice and we thoroughly enjoyed it! It was rather regimented with strict guidelines to stay on the carpet and not touch the ropes! It was wonderful to see the inside of the palace though which contained beautiful koa doors and a massive grand staircase as well as the chance to see the royal jewelry collection! This glimpse into the monarchs private house was very rare for parents of young children and we were glad that we took the opportunity to check it out.

Tours for the palace take place daily, however, they restrict children 5 and below from entering so this really was a unique treat for us. Information on tours can be found on their website www.iolanipalace.org.

They do not allow strollers inside and you can not take flash photography. There are restroom facilities in the basement. There is no food or drink available but there are numerous restaurants nearby.

Its worth a trip to see the palace. Just be aware of the restrictions and line up a babysitter. If you plan on attending the Easter egg hunt next year, barring changes, it is not your typical experience but our son did have a great time! At least he can say that he got to hunt for Easter eggs on royal grounds!

Podium Raceway in Kapolei, is Hawaii’s first and only indoor electric kart racing track. It is an exhilarating 6 minute adrenaline rush in which racers test their skills against each other and the track in an attempt to claim family bragging rights and stand atop the podium!

Upon arrival at the raceway, racers proceed to a bank of computers to the left of the entrance and create an account for themselves (if this is your first visit) and create a driver name (it will be the name displayed on the monitors during your race). Cool feature: When you create an account, you can opt to link to your Facebook account and your results will immediately be posted to your wall after each race! Each racer must also sign a racing waiver. Minors will need their parent’s or guardian’s signature. Then racers can head to the counter behind the computers and pay for their races. The prices are a little on the high side. A single race is $25 for Adult Races and $20 for Juniors Races. There are discounts available for military and first responders. There are also weekly and monthly specials available so be sure to check the raceway’s website for details before you go. Also, check out discount websites like Groupon, Hot Deals Hawaii, and Akamai Buys which commonly offer 2 for 1 deals on races. For an additional $5.95, you can buy an Annual Trackpass Racing License which will save you $5.00 on every race for a year, not a bad deal if you will be visiting more than once. The license will also allow you online access to your racing history and scores.

Weekday nights are less crowded than weekends and holidays. We waited about 20 minutes on a Thursday evening. Once your name is called, you will enter the Pit Area and first time users will receive a brief from the staff on safety equipment and procedures, and racing instructions and rules. Staff closely monitors each race for inappropriate driving and will caution you to observe and obey the various flags that the staff will use to communicate with you during the race. Staff can adjust the speed on karts or kick drivers out for aggressive behavior if it jeopardizes racers safety.

Adult races are 14 laps and the Junior races or 9 laps. The karts are set for a lower maximum speed for the Junior races and drivers must be at least 48” tall and able to safely operate the kart to participate. Because of these requirements, this activity is only for the older children and adults in the family. Young children and those under 48” will not be allowed to race even with an adult, unless they meet the above conditions. Drivers for the adult races must be 55” tall and able to safely operate the kart.

Once all racers are on the racetrack, the staff will remotely adjust the top speed of the karts and it’s time to race. These karts go surprisingly fast! The raceway claims 0-50 mph in 3 seconds. We can’t verify that but suffice it to say they go plenty fast for the course and for you to feel as if you are really racing! You will have 14 laps to claim your spot on the podium before you will return to the Pit Area.

After the race, you can head back to the counter to sign up for another race and pick up a complimentary print out of your race details, like graphs annotating lap by lap breakdowns of race time and position.

Closed toed shoes are required. The prices, as mentioned, are on the high side and its location on Leeward Oahu makes it a bit of a drive for many.

The speed of the karts was a welcome surprise and the integration of the racing experience by incorporating the monitors, print outs and social media is something today’s tech savvy family will really appreciate. If all of the racers in your family meet the racing criteria, this is a terrific family activity that will undoubtedly leave them exhausted, full of smiles and laughter, and longing for more. We highly recommend it for families desiring to show off their racing prowess and heritage.

We recently took a mini staycation to Disney’s new Aulani Resort and Spa on Oahu’s leeward coast to celebrate our son’s 3rd birthday. Living on Oahu, we had heard a lot of good things about the resort and had even visited it one afternoon shortly after is grand opening to check it out. Seeing all of the great facilities and activities that were there-- but not available to non-guests-- we decided that we wanted to stay there to get the full experience and our son’s birthday gave us the perfect excuse!

Upon arrival, we were met with flower and nut leis and our son received a very special birthday pin to wear which he was extremely excited about! After checking in, we headed up to our room. The rooms are very nice and tastefully decorated, embracing Hawaiian culture over Disney commercialism. In fact, the whole facility seems to downplay the “Disney” factor and focuses more on Hawaii. The only “Disney” decoration we saw in the entire room was a neat desk lamp with Mickey toting a surfboard! The only place we really saw “Disney” around the resort was in the sundries store and gift shop and the characters that roam the property! We choose to save some money and opted for a room without an ocean view on the back side of the resort but we still got a nice view of the Waianae coast to the north from our balcony. There is plenty of storage, a very cool space to store suitcases under our king size bed, and a space saving couch that pulled out into a full bed which was perfect for our son!

We immediately changed and headed down to the pool area referred to as the Waikolohe Valley! The valley encompasses a variety of activites like the pool, a lazy river, two slides, and even an artificial reef suitable for snorkeling. The pool is very nice with a walk in area that the younger children congregate near. The pool wraps around a volcano which actually houses two fantastic slides. Be sure to look for the various ocean animals that are within the volcano’s rock walls! Very cool! Also in the pool area is the Waikolohe Stream, a wonderful lazy river that wraps through the valley and the Menehune Bridge, a waterpark like play area sure to thrill the kids. This is also the location of Rainbow Reef and the Makai Preserve, the first being an artificial reef teeming with native sea life and the former being a touch and feel type area similar to what is found in many aquariums. These are two fee based activities that your family may enjoy. Living in Hawaii though and having snorkeled extensively we chose to skip these but there is a terrific spot tucked away near the pool for observing the reef and is fantastic at feeding times (daily feedings at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.). Also be sure to check out story time with Uncle around the fire pit near the pool in the evening and listen to stories and songs about old Hawaii!

To celebrate our son’s birthday, we took him the Disney Character Breakfast at the Makahiki Restaurant. The buffet breakfast was fairly good though a bit on the pricey side. You are really paying for the show put on by Auntie and her friends and the opportunity to have the chance for your children to meet some of their favorite characters. When entering, Mickey will greet you and pose with you for a quick family photo. While dining, Auntie will put on an interactive show while Minnie and Goofy circulate through the tables. This really was the highlight for our son who loved every minute of it! They did allow us to bring in our own cake which was nice. The restaurant will be happy to make one for you but it’s not cheap! Be sure to make a reservation as the breakfast fills up fast and is not available every morning.

The beach at the resort is great. It sits on a manmade lagoon that is well protected from the surf and is terrific for smaller children. There is plenty of sun and sand available and lots of activities to choose from. We have been to Ko Olina many times before since we live there so we didn’t spend much time here choosing instead to spend our time with the activities that we could not use when not a guest.

The resort has one of the best children’s clubs that we have ever seen—and it’s free! Aunty’s Beach House is a fabulous facility that has an amazing array of activities and excursions available kids 3-12. It gives parents a nice break to explore the resort or island while giving kids a fun and engaging afternoon. Some activities are fee based so check first but even there are plenty that are not and will certainly keep the kids engaged.

There were only a few downsides to the resort, one of which Disney is already addressing. First, there is a surprising lack of lounge chairs near the pool. I know there is only a certain amount of space that the resort has to work with and they can only fit so many chairs in the area, but even with the resort only half full right now, we still had to get there early in the morning to get enough chairs for the family. By midmorning, they were all gone! It will only get worse when the rest of the resort opens in the next year. Also, there is a surprising lack of dining options. There are only four dining facilities at the resort and none of them provide a quick (or cheap) alternative for the family on the go. The closest they come is the Off the Hook bar near the pool that has a limited menu and slow service. Thankfully, Disney is listening to its guest’s feedback and is currently building a new quick service dining facility near the pool in Waikolohe Valley called Mamas Snack Shack. This new facility should be open by June 2012.

For those that live on Oahu or for interested vacationers who just want to check out the resort, you are more than welcome to come by for a visit. There is ample parking and if you spend $35 while you are there then it is free. Sounds like a lot of money but at resort prices, you will easily spend that much on lunch or a few drinks! You are more than welcome to walk the grounds, grab a bite to eat or drink, or do as much shopping as you like! You will not be allowed to use the facilities in the Waikolohe Valley, which unfortunately includes the pool and all the really fun stuff for the family! But you can still come and enjoy a terrific sunset dinner at one of the restaurants. Best of all, the Disney characters roam the resort all day and you will undoubtedly run into one of them (or ask the front desk for a schedule!) which will cost you nothing and will thrill the kids!

If you are kama’aina or in the military, be sure to call the resort directly for reservations. They DO offer discounts. They aren’t very big but they do offer them!

We did not check out the excursions offered by the resort, again because we live here, but they seemed to include all of the basic trips that most tourists like to go on like snorkeling and scuba, shopping, and luaus. We didn’t use the spa or eat at all of the restaurants during our short stay. What we did experience was great though and our son had a terrific time.

The staff was very friendly and helpful. They even agreed to help us have our son’s birthday presents delivered to our room by a cast member as if they were coming from Mickey Mouse himself.

Overall, it was a memorable experience for all and the resorts shortcomings are few and will stay that way if Disney continues to listen to guest feedback. If you are heading to Oahu be sure to visit!