Hello again! Welp, my high hopes for keeping up this blog last year did not quite come to fruition, but thanks to those who have connected and followed along via our micro-posts on Instagram (@lamuccafamily)! As I sit here on the plane en route to Hawaii, I wanted to take a moment to share our travel plans this year. So where can you find us in 2024? Read on for a run-down of our three main trips planned for this year!

1. Hawaii (Maui + Aulani) (February 2024…currently en route!)

If you’ve been following along on our travels, you may have noticed that we go to Hawaii, a lot. 😅 It all started with Tyler’s parents, who took their family to Maui three decades ago, fell in love with it, and bought a timeshare. Now as adults, the whole family travels to Maui together every two years and spends a week at the same timeshare in Kahana. Some people wonder, what’s the fun in going to the same place over and over again? For us, this trip is all about exhaling, slowing down, and connecting with our family. Although traveling to new places is always thrilling and is a big part of our other travels, there is something magical about traveling somewhere totally known, like a favorite, well-worn t-shirt. There is less pressure on trying to see the sights and more room just to live in the moment. Our Maui trips are one of our most cherished family traditions, and we look forward to making more memories together this year. I believe we are in store for lots of cousin swim time at the pool this year!

In addition to Maui, we’re also tacking on a few extra days on the front end in Disney Aulani. Yes, another place that we have been before! This will be our 3rd time in the last three years, to be exact. As I mentioned in my post last year, Aulani is such an amazing resort for families and a place where we (especially mom!) can fully relax. Confession:  our love for Aulani, combined with our desire to explore more Disney adventures over the next several years with the kids, actually led us to purchase a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) membership last year. We don’t consider ourselves to be “Disney adults” or a “Disney family” (though the evidence is starting to mount against us!), but we really enjoy the experiences that Disney has to offer at this stage of our lives. For Aulani this year, we are also traveling with Tyler’s folks, so we’re looking forward to some quality time together with them (and for them with their grandkids) before joining the extended family in Maui.

2. Amsterdam, Netherlands (April 2024)

For our international trip this year, we chose Amsterdam! We have two sets of friends currently living in Amsterdam, so the timing felt perfect to explore this city that’s been on our bucket list, while also getting to connect with (and get local guidance from) our friends. We will be going for spring break (April), so hoping for nice spring weather and of course lots of tulips! We know very little about Amsterdam & the Netherlands, so if you have any tips, please share!

3. Disneyland, CA (August 2024)

Per the DVC mentioned above, we will be putting our points to good use by taking the kids on their first trip to Disneyland! Ever since we’ve had kids, I’ve been so excited for this moment — it definitely feels like a parenting milestone! At 7 and 4, the kids are prime ages to take in that Disney magic. And Daphne, 7, is the exact age that I was when I first went to Disneyland. We’re taking this trip at the end of summer, just before school starts back up in the fall, which will hopefully be a fun way to cap off our summer and main travel season.

We’re excited to be staying at the Grand Californian, with the luxury of being *inside* the park. We’re hoping this will come in handy to come back for a mid-day rest and enable us to enjoy some of the evening park activities (like the fireworks show!). We are total newbies to Disney parks, and lately I’ve been reading that there are literally classes you can take to learn how everything works and how to maximize your time. While maximizing is not our MO (remember our “slow and simple” mantra?!), we do hope to avoid any common pitfalls, so if you have tips for us, please send them our way!

Let’s Connect!

We’ve loved connecting with the family travel community through social media and would love to connect with your family there as well, share tips, and learn where you are headed this year. If you have any tips to share on our destinations this year, please send them our way!