ALOHA!

We just got back from a little trip to Hawaii.  I had a conference to attend, but let's face it anyone traveling to Hawaii is on vacation.  We weren't there long but we had a great time and wish we could have stayed longer.

We loved the little lagoon area outside our hotel where the waves were calm and the water was warm.  You kept running back and forth in and out of the water.  You wanted to keep running in as far as you could but we only let you go about waist deep. 

We saved a couple of plastic cups to use for sand castles. 

You learned the word "pool" and made sure to let us know over and over how much you liked it. 

This poor swimsuit used to be a shirt and bottoms but it's been worn so much it's stretched out to more of a dress at this point.  We're going to invest in a new one. 

I just loved your tiny footprints in the sand. 

Sand castle master. 

Traveling west with a 3 hour time change meant we were up at 4 a.m. the first morning.  You slept a little later each day, but we still got the chance to see the sunrise every morning we were there. 

When we're up before breakfast is available, what better way to pass the time than to collect flowers to put in our hair?  (For the record, they had already fallen on the ground, we did not pick them off the trees.) 

Relaxing on the balcony. 

Jabbering away on the phone again.  You could reach the phone on the nightstand on your own so you spent much of the time in our room doing just this. 

Exploring the hotel property. 

I had a business dinner one night where I received a real flower lei.  I saved it for you to play with the next morning, though to be honest you seemed more interested in pulling the flowers off and making sure they made it safely in the trash can. 

We didn't have much time for sightseeing but the one thing we did was visit the Dole Plantation.  It was raining off and on the whole way there and ended up pouring while we were in the maze, but we had fun anyway. 

Turns out pineapples actually grow on the ground.  For some reason I always thought they grew on trees.... 

World's largest maze.  To be honest, I was a little worried about getting lost, but one of the employees ensured me that they make it easy to find your way out.  He was right.  (It's a claustrophobia thing.) 

You really enjoyed this. 

Parts of the maze were pretty tight where the leaves would brush us on both sides while walking through.  The leaves were all wet and you were loving it.  You kept saying "weaves" every time we would walk through more of them. 

Just before the rain set in.... 

And of course, what is a visit to the Dole Plantation without a ride on the Pineapple Express? 

As you can see, we were soaked at this point. 

We took a stroll through the gift shop before leaving and you fell in love with this bear.  I'm generally not one to buy you something every time we go somewhere but you hugged it and carried it around the whole store and it was just so darn cute we had to buy it.  Daddy and I have deemed him Dole Bear or simply Bob Dole (this reference will probably mean nothing to you). 

All in all we had a great trip.  It was nice to get some good quality family time in.  I know I needed it and you enjoy yourself so much when we are all together.  I know Daddy enjoys it too.  I usually notice him acting a little more attached to you when we get back home after a nice trip.  It makes my heart smile.