LIFESTYLE 7 years ago

My Dad's 60th Birthday

In Korean culture, when someone in your family turns 60… it’s a really, really big deal! We call this celebration, “Hwangap.” In the past, the average person’s life expectancy was a lot lower than 60 years of age, so if people made it to this age, we would throw them a huge party… a celebration of longevity!

With that said, we wanted to do something really special for my dad for his 60th birthday. He’s the type of guy that works on his days off, on the weekends, and even “for fun.” I guess I get my workaholicism from him… lol. We haven’t taken a family vacation since we’ve had Chloe and thought it would be nice to take him away from his usual day-to-day and have him completely unwind, relax, and be with his family!

As we get older, I find that it’s harder and harder to get away… demanding jobs, kids, mama duties, friend duties, wifey duties, etc. So for my dad’s 60th birthday, we took him to Kauai, Hawaii (I mean who can’t relax in Hawaii right?)! We’ve been going to Hawaii as a family for a very long time (even throughout my high school years), but we have never been to Kauai! Kauai is also known as the “garden island”…literally one of the most picturesque places I have ever seen. One of the reasons why I loved Kauai so much is because it is one of the most undeveloped and untouched islands… and the natural beauty this island has is absolutely insane.

The amount of hidden sea caves, insane cliffs, and exclusive beaches are endless. When I was researching places to take my dad for his birthday… we knew that Kauai was the perfect escape for paradise.

We ended up staying at The Grand Hyatt Kauai which, in my opinion, is the greatest luxury family friendly hotel in Hawaii. To be honest, before coming to Kauai, we had a list of all these things we wanted to do on the island, but I think we literally left the resort a total of 2 times! I mean, when you have a 2-year-old toddler traveling with you (read my traveling with a toddler checklist here!) and your resort has it ALL… then there really is no reason to leave! lol. The hotel is located on the sunny south side of the island making the resort super secluded.

When traveling with kids, it’s really important for me to research the resort/hotel we are staying at and I’m so glad that I chose the Grand Hyatt for several reasons:

-There are a total of 10 restaurants with a wide variety of cuisines.
-It’s a beachfront hotel, but there are also like 7 different pools to choose from in the resort.
-They have the best kids menu (sometimes I would order off of it because it was so good!)
They have the most amazing spa called the Anara Spa which has a pool, steam room, and gym in it.
– There were so many different activities for kids and families to participate in… such as movies on the lawn, marshmallow contests, feeding the fishes every morning, etc. there was never a dull moment!
– If you do wish to explore the island they have a car rental service in the hotel and you can also rent car seats there! We did this for 2 days as taking taxis was A LOT more expensive.
– They have the most popular and incredible Luau experience at the hotel. I’m still dreaming of all the food and all the fun we had that night.
-There’s a water sports center where you can rent Kayaks, floaties, and much more. We rented a Kayak for Chloe and she had so much fun in it!

– Our favorite part of the resort was the lagoon which is made out of real sand and ocean sea water. Although we love taking Chloe to the pool it’s hard for us to relax because we have to ALWAYS keep our eyes on her since she doesn’t know how to swim yet. The Lagoon is super shallow and she was able to walk in and out of it by herself… she was so proud! We were able to sit back and relax as we watched her play in the water with her sand toys and float around in her little floaty at complete ease.

– There is live entertainment every night at the resort, too! We would go watch the Hawaiian performers before we go eat dinner every night and Chloe definitely picked up a few dance moves herself!

I could honestly go on and on about how amazing this resort was, but I highly recommend anyone (especially those with kids) to visit Kauai and stay at the Grand Hyatt! We were blown away by how amazing the service and the wide array of activities there were to do with the whole family.

sponsored by Grand Hyatt Kauai

My dad was on cloud 9 the whole trip and he couldn’t stop smiling. My dad is the most loving, giving and supportive father I could ever ask for, and I’ve learned so much from him. I’m glad that I was able to treat him like a king for his 60th. And a HUGE thank you to Grand Hyatt Kauai for taking such good care of me and my family and helping us celebrate my dad and create memories that will last a lifetime.

Credits:

Photography by Drew Scott