We arrived in Honolulu around 8:30 in the evening on Memorial Day. The flight was gratefully uneventful, the meal was edible and the in-flight movie, Tuck Everlasting, was easy to sleep through. We were soon in a taxi and on our way to Waikiki. After taking us to two incorrect hotels, the driver finally made it to the Aston Waikiki Beach Tower Hotel.

I'm not sure how most families plan their vacations, but we have a pretty straightforward system. Each person picks out the top one or two things they want to do and time is dedicated to that activity, tour or shopping mall.

Tuesday was my mom's day. So after a complimentary breakfast, we went on "free tours" of Maui Divers Jewelry and Hilo Hattie (home of the world's largest Hawaiian shirt). It hadn't taken long for the souvenir purchases to begin.

We then took a free shuttle to the Ala Moana Shopping Center, where I had my first cup of Kona coffee. It was quite delicious and very necessary to survive the window shopping.

In the evening, we went to Creations - A Polynesian Journey, a dinner show at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani. Both the buffet dinner (the first of too many) and show were decent, but better ones were still to come.