Our Last Trip as a Family of Three - Maui 2018

I never thought we'd repeat a vacation location in such little time but  my sweet boy loves the ocean and there is something magical about Maui that calls you back. For us, it's a combination of sun, surf, island culture and, of course, the delicious food.

If you follow us on instagram, you know we arrived just in time for Hurricane Lane. Luckily for us, the hurricane never hit and was eventually downgraded to a tropical storm. Unluckily for us, our hotel the Grand Wailea and pretty much all the local business boarded up mid-vacation to prepare for the storm. We made the most of our trip despite the inclement weather and managed to be in either the ocean or pool every single daym rain or shine.  Here are some of my favorite vacation snaps and the stories behind them. I hope everyone had a fun-filled summer! Where did you travel?

Vacation stats

Beaches visited: 4 (Makena Beach, Baby Beach, Sprecklesville Beach, beach in front of the Grand Wailea). We attempted to visit Ho'okipa but it was closed due to the storm.

Shaved ices consumed: 5

Sea turtles spotted: 1

Sunburns: ZERO woo hoo

Hours spent in the pool: too many to count

Hours spent playing Pokemon Go: too many to count

Cloudy days: 5/6

It’s good to be back in Maui! 🌴 This view from our room at the @grandwailea is ✨. // #parkerprojectblog #maui #visitmaui #nguyenonvacation #oceanviews

A post shared by San Diego Lifestyle Blog (@parkerproject) on Aug 20, 2018 at 6:05pm PDT

[You know your kid has been forced to take too many pictures when he starts posing like this.]

Off to our first dinner on the island! We really wanted to try Mama's Fish House on our last trip but were not able to get a reservation. This time around, we booked a reservation far in advance and Mama's did not disappoint. The food was fantastic, the service was impeccable and the sight and sound of waves crashing onto shore could not be beat. If you have a chance to dine here, do it and try not to cringe when you pay $25 for a kids meal. Totally worth it, I promise.

The main reason for this trip was to celebrate Tuan's 35th birthday but he was weird about telling people it was his birthday and made up other reasons for why we were celebrating the whole trip. Happy Anniversary to us?

[Look Mama, I'm a tiki man!]

Here's the thing about traveling west. We're on vacation and we want to sleep in, right? But P is on west coast time and used to waking up at 7 AM everyday. So even when he "slept in," we were up by 5 or 6 AM every single day and in the pool or at the beach before the the crowd arrived.

Throwing kids is a great upper body workout. @deejaytuan did this for a solid 20 mins and Parker loved it! 💦 // #parkerprojectblog #maui #visitmaui #pooltime #bestdadever #welltraveledkids #travelgram #trekarooing #travelwithkids

A post shared by San Diego Lifestyle Blog (@parkerproject) on Aug 26, 2018 at 8:06pm PDT

I didn't plan a full itinerary for this trip but I did make a food list (duh) and one of the spots I bookmarked was Coconuts Fish Cafe. Lucky for us, it stayed open during the storm and I was able to eat their delicious coconut shrimp and chips when all the restaurants at the hotel were closed. This casual restaurant is super kid friendly. Parker couldn't resist standing up on the surfboard shaped benches. On our way out, the owner gave out apple bananas given to her by another restaurant that boarded up early! 

Thank you to all our friends, family and followers who reached out to check in on us! News coverage of the storm was panic-inducing but thank goodness it never hit as hard as what was predicted. Even if it had, the Grand Wailea did a fantastic job of communicating with guests and did the best they could to provide Waldorf Astoria service. All the restaurants at the resort were closed and complimentary meals were provided in the ballroom. The pool and beach were closed, though I still saw plenty of guests swimming, but the spa, gym and kids center stayed open. The storm was not that severe in Wailea but other parts of Maui were affected by power outages, wild fires and road closures. Some resort employees were not able to make it to work. Mahalo to the staff who continued to serve guests when staffing was short-handed. 

We spent an embarrassing amount of time playing Pokemon Go on this trip. We are in so deep you guys. With everything being closed and limited kids activities available, Poke-walks became a daily thing. The resort has great amount of gyms and pokestops, we made friends with other players and even managed to gather enough people for a Regirock raid in the middle of a rain storm. That, my friends, is dedication.

[Parker and Tuan at Sprecklesville Beach]

Before the trip, I online shopped for maternity bikinis only to realize that they are basically regular bikinis worn by pregnant people. Ha! I'm determined to embrace my body for this last pregnancy and rocked a two piece almost the entire trip. Weird skin discoloration, stretch marks and backne did not stop me from giving this bump some sunshine. It really helps to have a hubby in love with my curves as much as I am. Thanks for all the love for my belly pics on insta!

[Just the three of us after dinner at Humuhumu]

We treasured every day of this last trip as a family of three. In just two short months, baby Harrison will be here. We'll be that family schlepping a stroller and car seat through the airport, boarding early because we need the extra time, getting those "I hope that baby doesn't cry the whole flight" look from strangers. It's been so nice traveling with a (mostly) independent 5 year old. No diapers, no carriers, no extra baby gear. I saw a mama carry on her breast feeding pillow in the Maui airport and I'm like whyyyy mama, whyyyy. Fingers crossed that Harrison will be as good a traveler as is brother is. Aloha, Maui! We will see you again soon.

Exploring Australia with a Toddler

Australia has long been on my list of places to visit and this past November we finally had the chance to go. Our primary reason for visiting was to attend a family wedding but we filled our itinerary to the brim and managed to visit 4 different cities during our 2 week trip. Traveling abroad with a toddler can be a test of your organization skills, patience and adaptability but it's well worth it! 

Mom tips: 

1. Car seats and boosters are required in all cars except taxis. Here is a resource on the current car seat requirements. 

2. Be sure to print a packing list. I like this one from Independent Traveler because it allows you to customize the list with your own items. 

3. Keep all your travel documents organized and readily available. I uploaded all our hotel confirmations, flight info, car rental rental info, etc. into TripIt.

4. The flight from LAX to SYD was around 14 hours. We chose to fly out of LAX at 10 PM so our kiddo would be asleep for the first half of the flight. 

5. I packed a bunch of different snacks and toys/activities in Parker's backpack.The biggest hits for him at this age were: crocodile dentist (no batteries, no sound, no small pieces that can fall under a seat),  play doh, hot wheels, iPad loaded with episodes of Wild Kratts (don't forget headphones!), travel fishing game, and a Magic Ink mess free coloring book. 

SYDNEY

Our first stop was in Sydney where we explored Bondi Beach, the Opera House, the Sydney Bridge and visited family. We only spent 2 short days in Sydney but managed to see quite a lot. Sydney has a metro system that makes it easy to get around but we chose to rent a car since we were traveling with so many people. Driving on the "wrong" side of the road was an adventure!

[Bondi Icebergs Club]

[We roll deep.]

[Dessert at Max Brenner with family.]

MELBOURNE

After a couple of days in Sydney, we flew to Melbourne where we spent time prepping for Henry & Ngoc's wedding. Mostly we just hung out at their beautiful home and they put my wedding planning/crafting skills to work. Tuan was very busy running around fulfilling his groomsman duties so Parker was my hot date for the wedding.  

HAMILTON ISLAND

After the wedding, we hopped on a flight to my favorite part of the trip, Hamilton Island! Hamilton Island was a lush tropical dream. The island is small and everyone gets around on buggies (golf carts). We stayed at a rental called The Cowries which was surrounded by lush trees and a lot of fruit bats. 

[The first thing we did once we settled in was jump into the pool!]

[We hosted a BBQ at the house for all our friends and family and watched the bats as they swooped by the deck.]

[Parker and I at Catseye Beach.]

[Parker loved the Bougainvillea Pool which is located right next to Catseye Beach. The whole island was very kid-friendly.]

[Wild lorakeets and cockatoos can be seen everywhere on the island and they are very people friendly. This little guy flew right up to our table as we were having lunch along the marina.]

[Sleeping koala at WILD LIFE Hamilton Island.]

[Car seats are required for kids on the buggies! We were unprepared for this but luckily the owners of The Cowries had two on hand.]

[Us at Whitehaven Beach. The ride out was very choppy but the beautiful sands and water made up for the rough ride.]

[There's a tiny jelly fish commonly found in the water around Whitehaven Beach that can do some serious harm so these very classy sting suits were included in our cruise package.]

GREAT OCEAN ROAD

After our time on the island was over, we returned to Melbourne and departed on a 2 day road trip on the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road took us through a handful of charming little towns along the coast. We made pit stops to hike, see waterfalls, farms and tide pools. We also saw giant ants, ferns that were taller than me, wild koalas, parrots and lots of sheep and cows. The road is very windy so if you get motion sickness easily, take some dramamine.

[Erskine Falls]

[Going off trail.]

[Watch out for snakes!]

[The green rolling hills in Apollo Bay were covered in herds of sheep. It reminded me so much of Ireland.]

[Exploring the Merengo Reefs Marine Sanctuary.]

[Tide pooling with Parker. Of course he fell into a big tide pool right as we were about for dinner in town.]

[The view from Seafarer's Getaway. This was a gorgeous property with rolling hills behind it and rolling waves in front of it.]

[The parrots along the Kennet River Koala Walk were very aggressive. This one landed on Parker's head! Once we got passed the birds, we managed to spot one wild koala sitting in the Eucalyptus trees. You know what koalas do in the wild? The same thing they do at the zoo. Sleep.]

[We wrapped up our road trip with a stop to the Twelve Apostles. Such an incredible sight and well worth the driving time.]

DOWNTOWN MELBOURNE

On our last day in Melbourne, we ate and walked our way through downtown. We rode around on the free trolley, visited Victoria market to buy souvenirs and had a fantastic steak dinner along the river.

[Hot chocolate with fairy floss from #.]

[I was busy taking pictures of food while Tuan was busy parenting.]

[We spotted this orange vespa in front of a boutique and Parker HAD TO sit on it.]

[Graffiti lane]

[Downtown was decked out in holiday decor. Can you spot Parker being a creep?]

Our trip home was a disaster due to United Airlines making us miss our flight. Thanks a lot, United! We were rebooked with Quantas and had to fly from SYD to SFO to LAX. In total, it took nearly 30 hours for us to get back to San Diego. Parker was a trooper and did well on all the flights. In fact, he told me that his favorite part of the trip was all the plane rides. Where should we go next?