Trip Report *COMPLETED* Aloha...E Komo Mai to Our Aulani Adventure!

Hi Everyone!

Based on the feedback we received during our last trip report, which you can read here, we have decided to write a trip report chronicling our first visit to the Aulani resort in Ko 'Olina, Hawaii. Not sure if this is the place for such a report as it's not WDW-based but figured I'd start here and if it's moved, so be it.

We just returned yesterday afternoon after a terrific eight days in paradise. Amazing to think how quickly things came and went, especially considering we made this reservation using our DVC points seven months ago, but the visit will be one we look back on for a long time. We didn't put together a pre-trip report or anything so here is a short preamble before we dive into all the sunny details.

So...for those of you who read our last report, you may recall that our last visit to WDW was not supposed to happen. Instead, we were 48 hours away from traveling to Honolulu for our second visit to the island. We were booked to stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, not Aulani. Less than two days before we were to take off, hurricane Lane hit the Hawaiian islands and our trip was wiped out. Our last minute scrambling allowed us to salvage our vacation and resulted in an unexpected return to the World. That trip was fantastic but we couldn't help feel lousy about missing out on Hawaii.

It was something we looked forward to for months so when we returned from WDW, Kelly and I decided we would try it again, this time focusing on using our DVC points to stay at Aulani. Our plan was to look at an April 2019 visit and as the seven-month window crept closer, we kept a close eye on the availability of a standard view studio. The day finally came that we were able to jump on the DVC site and we were most pleased to snag a studio for a trip from April 6 - 13!

We were pretty jacked up but felt a little guilty revealing to our moms, Ally and Deb, that we were heading back to Hawaii. They were so excited to be going to the islands with us before the hurricane and you could tell they were disappointed not to be included on this trip. Alas, we had a long-awaited beach vacation to look forward to and the added bonus of some Disney magic!

This report might not be as detail-oriented as a typical WDW visit, but we took a lot of pictures and explored the resort as best we could while we were there. Hopefully it gives you a good look into what Aulani has to offer.

Mahalo in advance for reading along. Kelly and I are excited to share our latest trip with you!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Just got caught up on your trip report. How absolutely beautiful it is there! Our next trip to Hawaii, we'll definitely be considering Aulani. It's the best of both worlds! Looking forward to hearing about all of your adventures.

Thanks for reading along! It really is the best of both worlds. I love that you get the Disney touch but nothing is crammed down your throat. You can still get a true Hawaiian experience.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Very good point and an absolute possibility. I’ve found lately that my body (and mind) feel better when I’m committed to running distances more than 10k as opposed to anything under 10k.

I did run a few more times during the trip and had the same struggles with each one but when I returned home those struggles have disappeared, thankfully.

Of course I would jinx myself by writing this! Went out for a 10k run early this afternoon and it might have been the most difficult run I’ve battled through this year. Had no legs and no lungs. Thankfully I was able to tough it out but by no means in a time to write home about!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Once we were all ready to go, we set out towards the pool to secure some seats and wait for the towel/bracelet stand to open up at 8 am. Kelly and I suggested that we find seats in a new location just to change it up, but the girls rejected that notion. They seemed to like where we had set up camp yesterday and this would end up where we would remain for the rest of the trip.

Nothing wrong with that, it was right next to the main pool, in the sun, near the washrooms and a quick walk to all the other pool areas and dining options. We grabbed four loungers and waited a few more minutes before heading to claim towels and get our bands. Once the bandstand opened, we grabbed what we needed and we were ready to jump in the water!

In what became our daily tradition, we would start by making our way directly to the slide and fly down a few times while there were little line ups. That way you had no choice but other than being thrust into the water and your body quickly got used to the cool temps. Kelly took some great videos of the girls coming off the slide but since I can't upload them using this platform, I didn't feel it was worth adding 8-second videos to YouTube!

After about four or five trips down the slide, we jumped in one of the four hot tubs around the resort just to warm up a bit and allow the sun to break over the towers of the resort and shine on the entire pool area. Three of the four hot tubs were at a very comfortable temperature. Not crazy hot, but warm enough that it felt really good to sit in, even if it was hot outside. Plus, the one by the main pool was almost always shaded by the volcano structure that housed the slides so that made it even easier to enjoy a dip.

Once we were warmed up and the sun was fully out, the girls were quick to exit the hot tub and tear it up in the pool!

Our seats made it easy to keep an eye on them and to join in when they wanted us to come and throw them around or if we needed to cool off. I guess the girls were right about the location even though it would have been nice to get a little different view now and then.

It didn't take long at all for the first couple of rows of lounge chairs would fill up very quickly in the morning but it seemed like people who weren't as eager to get to the pool before 8 am could still find the odd chair or two in the back rows. Usually, by 10 am each day, every seat around all the pool areas had spoken for. Most late arrivers would be relegated to the beach area, though I can't say that is much of relegation. I would have enjoyed doing that at least one day but as I have learned, my opinion matters not!

At some point during the morning, Kelly wandered over to the Wailana Pool Bar near the adult only pool. The pool bar serves as a coffee shop from 6-10 am and then converts into the poolside bar. The coffee menu looked amazing and I was very excited to try some 100% Kona coffee at some point during the trip but Kelly was in the mood for a frozen treat. She's not much for coffee drinks at all so she ended up getting a caramel cream shaka. Since they made too much, she essentially got two drinks for the price of one, which made Lennon very happy!

With the appearance of Kelly's drink, the girls turned into full snack mode. They were tempted to grab another Shave Ice but after a quick rip through the Lava Shack store near our pool chairs, they quickly changed their mind. The Lava Shack had all sorts of different snacks, treats, and drinks along with a number of cool merchandise pieces, mostly sun and water related. There was a ton of different Aulani branded water shirts and some waterproof pouches for cell phones, room keys, etc. that guests could browse. The water shirts were actually really cool and I was somewhat tempted to get one but I knew I wouldn't wear it and I wasn't going to pay $70 for a souvenir I'd get no use from.

While look at the merch, the girls were all over the treat wall.

Cotton Candy is always one of their favourite Disney treats and with the Passion Fruit option, they definitely wanted to give it a try. Wisely, though maybe not so wise for a diabetic, they decided to forgo the apple sauce and granola bar I had packed for them and opted to share the bin of cotton candy instead.

I didn't get to sample a lot of the tub myself by the time their little hands and mouths were through with it, but the little bit I did have was pretty amazing!

After the quick snack break, the kids were back in the water for a bit before we decided to take a walk around the courtyard to see if we could find some characters to meet.

One of the things I was most excited to try out at some point during the trip was snorkeling in the Rainbow Reef. The saltwater snorkeling lagoon right within the pool courtyard. It looked so cool watching guest swim around with a massive number of different fish to look at. I'm not much of a swimmer but I really didn't want to pass this up. I have never gone snorkeling before and what better way to give it a try than in this Aulani guest-only lagoon?

I wasn't sure exactly when we would give this a try but I couldn't wait to jump in and look around. In the meantime, we took a few minutes to watch the other guests enjoying their experience before setting off to wander around the resort for a bit.

 

[maxntina]

Wow! Those snorkeling pictures were wonderful!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Wow! Those snorkeling pictures were wonderful!

The snorkeling set up is so cool. I couldn't wait to try it out. They had a great alcove with windows built into the side of the lagoon that guests could watch the swimmers. Provided a great opportunity to check it out and certainly enticed me to try it for myself.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

After stopping to watch the snorkeling for a few minutes, we continued our tour of the grounds. No matter how many times you walked around, you'd never get tired of the surroundings. It was really cool to see how well the areas played both in the daylight and after dark. You really got different experiences depending on the amount of natural light.

We had a blast just wandering around and taking it all in. So much to see throughout the entire place.

The Koi pond was one of my favourite places in the entire place. Just an extremely peaceful area, and in a perfect spot to help frame the main building.

and the views from the top of the balcony outside of the lobby was pretty tough to beat. Here you can see the volcano used for the slides.

We walked around for a little bit but came up empty on finding new characters to meet. We decided it was a good time to grab a little lunch as Kelly had signed the girls up for a t-shirt making class at the community hall in the early afternoon. Just before we made our way from the loungers to the restaurant, a pretty noticeable star walked by that ended up getting a lot of attention.

We had a few things up in the room that we could have gone back up for but we decided to hang out by the pool and try one of the poolside restaurants, Off the Hook.

Off the Hook is literally steps from the main pool which was convenient as we could keep tabs on our chairs without having to worry if the CMs might pack up our things and open up the chairs if they are left unattended too long. Folded towels hanging over the top of the lounger was the sign that they were keeping an eye on your chairs. If your chairs were left unattended for an hour, they would round up your stuff, take it to the towel hut and open the chairs for others. So longs as you pulled down those hanging towels, you were safe for a while.

We grabbed a table that was partially shaded and offered most of us a nice reprieve from the sun. Kelly was happy to order her first taste of alcohol in the form of a $14 Lava Flow and I went with a much more moderately priced $7 Longboard Lager.

We were all hungry and it seemed like almost everyone was craving a hot dog. Kelly ordered the adult hot dog with onion rings while the kids god the Keiki version. I went a different route and ordered the chicken wings. Kelly also decided to order another side of onion rings thinking that Lennon would be all over the ones that came with her hot dog.

Turned out Lennon wanted nothing to do with the onion rings so I ended up eating more than my fair share of wings and rings. The wings were unreal, by the way, and definitely hit the spot. The rings were top notch too.

Everyone got their fill of food and we enjoyed a little relaxation under the table umbrella before squaring up our bill and heading back to our lounge chairs for a little more pool time before heading over to the community hall for some shirt making.

 

[Darstarr]

After stopping to watch the snorkeling for a few minutes, we continued our tour of the grounds. No matter how many times you walked around, you'd never get tired of the surroundings. It was really cool to see how well the areas played both in the daylight and after dark. You really got different experiences depending on the amount of natural light.

We had a blast just wandering around and taking it all in. So much to see throughout the entire place.

View attachment 370196
View attachment 370198
View attachment 370199

The Koi pond was one of my favourite places in the entire place. Just an extremely peaceful area, and in a perfect spot to help frame the main building.

View attachment 370197

and the views from the top of the balcony outside of the lobby was pretty tough to beat. Here you can see the volcano used for the slides.

View attachment 370200

We walked around for a little bit but came up empty on finding new characters to meet. We decided it was a good time to grab a little lunch as Kelly had signed the girls up for a t-shirt making class at the community hall in the early afternoon. Just before we made our way from the loungers to the restaurant, a pretty noticeable star walked by that ended up getting a lot of attention.

View attachment 370195

We had a few things up in the room that we could have gone back up for but we decided to hang out by the pool and try one of the poolside restaurants, Off the Hook.

View attachment 370194

Off the Hook is literally steps from the main pool which was convenient as we could keep tabs on our chairs without having to worry if the CMs might pack up our things and open up the chairs if they are left unattended too long. Folded towels hanging over the top of the lounger was the sign that they were keeping an eye on your chairs. If your chairs were left unattended for an hour, they would round up your stuff, take it to the towel hut and open the chairs for others. So longs as you pulled down those hanging towels, you were safe for a while.

We grabbed a table that was partially shaded and offered most of us a nice reprieve from the sun. Kelly was happy to order her first taste of alcohol in the form of a $14 Lava Flow and I went with a much more moderately priced $7 Longboard Lager.

View attachment 370201

We were all hungry and it seemed like almost everyone was craving a hot dog. Kelly ordered the adult hot dog with onion rings while the kids god the Keiki version. I went a different route and ordered the chicken wings. Kelly also decided to order another side of onion rings thinking that Lennon would be all over the ones that came with her hot dog.

View attachment 370193View attachment 370192

Turned out Lennon wanted nothing to do with the onion rings so I ended up eating more than my fair share of wings and rings. The wings were unreal, by the way, and definitely hit the spot. The rings were top notch too.

Everyone got their fill of food and we enjoyed a little relaxation under the table umbrella before squaring up our bill and heading back to our lounge chairs for a little more pool time before heading over to the community hall for some shirt making.

Those lava flows are soooo good!!! Perhaps the price tag makes them superior? Best I ever drank!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Those lava flows are soooo good!!! Perhaps the price tag makes them superior? Best I ever drank!

Kelly really enjoyed it too! Which is good considering it would really suck if the $14 drink turned out to be awful!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

We arrived at the Community Room shortly before the kids 2 pm shirt stamping class. It was already buzzing with people and it was pretty clear this was a popular activity for many. The room was very well organized with several different tables set up with name tags of where guests were to be seated and a wide selection of stamps and colours for everyone to work with.

The kids seemed pretty excited to try out something new and put their own creative touch on a cool keepsake they could remember their visit with.

and, after all, it is still Disney so you'd expect to see hidden Mickey's everywhere. Even in the paint!

We waited for a few minutes before the CMs were ready to start everything and provide instructions to the group so I took a little stroll around the room to get a better look at some of the other activities guests were able to enjoy. I had already seen the large collection of movies but the game selection was pretty top-notch, too!

After a few simple instructions, it was time for everyone to get down to business. The CMs had a few shirts on display to act as inspiration but our girls had no interest in what others had done. They were quick to jump in and do their own thing. Lennon was very meticulous about every stamp she placed on her shirt. Ella...well, Ella was not. It's not that she was disinterested in the activity, I think she was more consumed with the speed of getting as many stamps on the shirt as she could. She would fire paint on to the stamp and barely push the stamp on the shirt which led to a number of touchups that were starting to frustrate her. Once she finally figured out that she had to take a little bit of time on the project, things started to progress quite nicely.

They sat at their tables, stamping away, for a solid 20-25 minutes before declaring their work complete. Some shirts around the room were quite impressive and our girls were uniquely their own! The only issue is the shirts had to dry for an hour so trying to get the finished products back the room without smudging the paint would be a challenge.

So maybe they weren't going to be the next big sellers in the gift shop but the kids were pretty happy with their work and were excited to have a piece of Aulani to take back home with them at the end of the trip.

I, of course, was tasked with safely getting these masterpieces back to our room to dry. I have never been more careful walking up stairs than I was on this occasion. One mistake would set off a time bomb that could ruin the rest of our trip but luckily I accomplished my mission with no issues!

I hustled back down to the pool floor to find the girls in line to meet Donald. I guess taking a picture in passing as he walked by the pool wasn't enough and that was a-ok by me. Can't have a Disney trip without a picture from the true #1!

All three of the girls were happy to see my regular hat returned so as not to mess up any photos. But still, Go Pats!

With our afternoon activity completed and a quick visit with Donald in the books, it was back to the pool for a bit before heading up to the room to get ready to venture off-site for dinner.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Having spent most of the day out at the pool or in the community room, we eventually decided to head back to the room to get out of the sun, freshen up and get ready to head off-site for dinner. One of the places we’d researched before the trip was the Cheesecake Factory. We have Cheesecake Café here in Canada, but the Factory is a whole different animal.

As we love cheesecake, we wanted to find the opportunity to visit this restaurant at some point during the trip. Turns out there was a restaurant at a mall about 20 minutes from the resort so that’s what we had planned to do for dinner.

We spent some time in the room, showering and getting ready. Once everyone was all set, we made our way towards the lobby to head to the parkade. Before leaving the property, we walked out on the large veranda that overlooks the pool area and out towards the ocean.

It was the perfect time for a few family photos before grabbing a bite to eat.

I snapped a few pics of the amazing lobby just before we walked out the front doors to pile into the car and try and figure out how to get to the restaurant.

 

[maxntina]

Gorgeous pictures!

 

[LittleTuna12]

Beautiful family Matt!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Gorgeous pictures!

Beautiful family Matt!

Thank you both!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

After our brief stopover in and around the lobby, we made our way to our car and punched in the restaurant into the GPS. I had yet to recharge the car and with the limited range I was kinda nervous about how long it might take us to find the place but based on the GPS, we had plenty of range left and since the Cheesecake was in a mall parking lot, I knew there would be free charging stations.

We drove out of the hotel and back towards the freeway. Any time we drove to or from the resort we drove alongside the Ko Olina Country Club which was just tempting me to play a few holes. I didn’t know it at the time but the course was hosting the LPGA event the week after we left, an event that was won for the second straight year by Canadian Brooke Henderson! It looked like a beautiful track and I still kinda regret not finding time to slip away for 9 holes.

We drove along the freeway for about 10 or so minutes before finding the proper turn off and eventually found the restaurant. Lucky for us, there was a spot at the charging station waiting for us so I pulled in and plugged in the car before making the short walk to the doors.

We walked in and were seated on the covered patio by a very friendly server. She handed us the monstrous menu. I somehow forgot how many options you have to choose from even though our motivating factor for visiting was simply to get cheesecake.

We took some time to browse through the menu and finally settled on our meals. Mac and Cheese for the kids and Kelly and I both ordered salads, yet again…what’s wrong with us!? Kelly ordered a chicken Caesar salad and was asked if she wanted the half or full size. Since it was all she was eating she ordered a full size not thinking much of it. Until the thing arrived…

I ordered a salad off the Skinnylicious menu that I cannot recall the name of, nor is it on the website. At any rate, the salad, which was of normal size, was very tasty so I was pretty pleased with my decision. Especially knowing it would ease my mind of ordering a big slab of cheesecake for dessert.

The patio area was starting fill up as we were about halfway through our meal and there were two men with guitars and ukuleles performing songs for the guests. They were really quite good and added a lot to the dining ambiance. There were quite a few families within this area and all the kids were really enjoying the entertainment.

Ella kept creeping over by the performers and you could tell she wanted to dance but was kind of scared to jump in and do it. She finally worked up the courage and that got everyone else up on the floor around her.

It was a blast watching everyone having such a good time together.

After the meal and some dancing, Kelly and I decided to order our dessert to go. She went with her go to, white chocolate raspberry and I went with the Cinnabon cheesecake. A nice before bed snack!

Our cheesecake arrived and we paid for our bill. We were pretty surprised that the bill was less and $80 (tip included) for the four of us. It turned out to be a good, relatively cheap meal and the kids loved dancing around with a bunch of other little diners.

We piled into the car that was now about 80% charged and made it through the dark back towards Aulani. Kelly was starting to feel a little lousy, likely from eating a family sized portion of Caesar salad, but the kids were fired up to go back and continue the Menehune Hunt. I was open to that but Kelly decided that she was going to head back to the room and take it easy once we returned.

We arrived back at Aulani, parked the car and we went our separate ways to enjoy the rest of the evening. Kelly went back to the room to relax and I took the girls back to the Community Hall. We walked in on a paint night crowd that looked really cool!

Upon arriving and asking for a tablet, we were informed the systems were down and the hunt was unavailable. The kids were super bummed but the CM informed us there was also a no-tech scavenger hunt that we could do which would earn us a prize if we were able to collect pictures of all the items on this list.

Off we went, throughout the resort to grab photos of the different items and have a little fun.

We didn’t quite get everything done before I decided it was time for us to turn in but we did get a good majority of the items and it gave us a great opportunity to stroll through a bunch of different areas around the resort and see a different side of things when the sun is down. It was a lot of fun for me to watch how excited the girls were whenever we found one of the items and took a photo. They were really getting into this different Disney experience and so were Kelly and I.

Speaking of Kelly, we got back to the room and she was feeling a little better having now climbed into bed. Wisely, she stashed our cheesecake in the fridge instead of trying to power through its deliciousness while feeling a little under the weather. At least we’d have a tasty treat to enjoy the next day.

We got the kids ready for bed and before we knew it, the lights were out and another day in paradise was behind us.

 

[maxntina]

Good luck on your Menehune hunt!

 

[susan lees]

After our brief stopover in and around the lobby, we made our way to our car and punched in the restaurant into the GPS. I had yet to recharge the car and with the limited range I was kinda nervous about how long it might take us to find the place but based on the GPS, we had plenty of range left and since the Cheesecake was in a mall parking lot, I knew there would be free charging stations.

We drove out of the hotel and back towards the freeway. Any time we drove to or from the resort we drove alongside the Ko Olina Country Club which was just tempting me to play a few holes. I didn’t know it at the time but the course was hosting the LPGA event the week after we left, an event that was won for the second straight year by Canadian Brooke Henderson! It looked like a beautiful track and I still kinda regret not finding time to slip away for 9 holes.

We drove along the freeway for about 10 or so minutes before finding the proper turn off and eventually found the restaurant. Lucky for us, there was a spot at the charging station waiting for us so I pulled in and plugged in the car before making the short walk to the doors.

We walked in and were seated on the covered patio by a very friendly server. She handed us the monstrous menu. I somehow forgot how many options you have to choose from even though our motivating factor for visiting was simply to get cheesecake.

We took some time to browse through the menu and finally settled on our meals. Mac and Cheese for the kids and Kelly and I both ordered salads, yet again…what’s wrong with us!? Kelly ordered a chicken Caesar salad and was asked if she wanted the half or full size. Since it was all she was eating she ordered a full size not thinking much of it. Until the thing arrived…
View attachment 373134


I ordered a salad off the Skinnylicious menu that I cannot recall the name of, nor is it on the website. At any rate, the salad, which was of normal size, was very tasty so I was pretty pleased with my decision. Especially knowing it would ease my mind of ordering a big slab of cheesecake for dessert.
View attachment 373135

The patio area was starting fill up as we were about halfway through our meal and there were two men with guitars and ukuleles performing songs for the guests. They were really quite good and added a lot to the dining ambiance. There were quite a few families within this area and all the kids were really enjoying the entertainment.

Ella kept creeping over by the performers and you could tell she wanted to dance but was kind of scared to jump in and do it. She finally worked up the courage and that got everyone else up on the floor around her.
View attachment 373136

It was a blast watching everyone having such a good time together.
View attachment 373137


After the meal and some dancing, Kelly and I decided to order our dessert to go. She went with her go to, white chocolate raspberry and I went with the Cinnabon cheesecake. A nice before bed snack!

Our cheesecake arrived and we paid for our bill. We were pretty surprised that the bill was less and $80 (tip included) for the four of us. It turned out to be a good, relatively cheap meal and the kids loved dancing around with a bunch of other little diners.

We piled into the car that was now about 80% charged and made it through the dark back towards Aulani. Kelly was starting to feel a little lousy, likely from eating a family sized portion of Caesar salad, but the kids were fired up to go back and continue the Menehune Hunt. I was open to that but Kelly decided that she was going to head back to the room and take it easy once we returned.

We arrived back at Aulani, parked the car and we went our separate ways to enjoy the rest of the evening. Kelly went back to the room to relax and I took the girls back to the Community Hall. We walked in on a paint night crowd that looked really cool!
View attachment 373138

Upon arriving and asking for a tablet, we were informed the systems were down and the hunt was unavailable. The kids were super bummed but the CM informed us there was also a no-tech scavenger hunt that we could do which would earn us a prize if we were able to collect pictures of all the items on this list.
View attachment 373143

Off we went, throughout the resort to grab photos of the different items and have a little fun.
View attachment 373139
View attachment 373140
View attachment 373141
View attachment 373142

We didn’t quite get everything done before I decided it was time for us to turn in but we did get a good majority of the items and it gave us a great opportunity to stroll through a bunch of different areas around the resort and see a different side of things when the sun is down. It was a lot of fun for me to watch how excited the girls were whenever we found one of the items and took a photo. They were really getting into this different Disney experience and so were Kelly and I.

Speaking of Kelly, we got back to the room and she was feeling a little better having now climbed into bed. Wisely, she stashed our cheesecake in the fridge instead of trying to power through its deliciousness while feeling a little under the weather. At least we’d have a tasty treat to enjoy the next day.

We got the kids ready for bed and before we knew it, the lights were out and another day in paradise was behind us.

OMG that salad was enormous lol. I do try to have some healthy food on holiday but temptation more often wins

 

[Matt and Kelly]

OMG that salad was enormous lol. I do try to have some healthy food on holiday but temptation more often wins

Neither of us expected that size of the plate to be dropped off in front of us! Kelly did a good job of getting through about half of it but we packed up the rest. I was happy to take it back for lunch the next day.

On any typical WDW trip, our eating experience is all about letting temptation take over! This trip was a little more health conscious at times which wasn't such a bad thing considering we were in swimsuits the whole week!

 

[susan lees]

Just a wee side note our daughter has just qualified for a freestyle libre on UK nhs. She was self funding so this has made a huge difference for her diabetes management. What does Ella use to cover her sensor?

 

[riverside]

I ordered a salad off the Skinnylicious menu that I cannot recall the name of, nor is it on the website. At any rate, the salad, which was of normal size, was very tasty so I was pretty pleased with my decision. Especially knowing it would ease my mind of ordering a big slab of cheesecake for dessert.

Might it have been the Skinnylicious factory chopped salad? I love The Cheesecake Factory. There's one about 2 miles from me & I eat there at least once a week. I always eat off of the Skinnylicious menu b/c their portions on the regular menu are huge & I'm always afraid I'll just keep eating if it's in front of me!! The veggie burger on that menu is excellent. I get that more often than not.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Just a wee side note our daughter has just qualified for a freestyle libre on UK nhs. She was self funding so this has made a huge difference for her diabetes management. What does Ella use to cover her sensor?

That’s very exciting! Congrats to her. I know Ella’s monitor has made a world of difference since we started using it.

The cover we used during the trip is called a Griff Grip. They work pretty well and come in all sorts of colours.

Might it have been the Skinnylicious factory chopped salad? I love The Cheesecake Factory. There's one about 2 miles from me & I eat there at least once a week. I always eat off of the Skinnylicious menu b/c their portions on the regular menu are huge & I'm always afraid I'll just keep eating if it's in front of me!! The veggie burger on that menu is excellent. I get that more often than not.

That’s may just be it! I simply can’t recall but the sounds about right.

I was super impressed with the variety on the skinnylicious menu and compared to the regular menu, the portion size and calorie count was much easier to handle!