Fun in the Sun and Sand

I have to post about the fun time we had in the sun and sand. Our mornings at Aulani were spent in the beautiful Lagoon there. We were able to sit on the beach and play for a few hours. It was nice because we could get complimentary large beach umbrellas, so I could keep Jack out of the sun. The girls would play in the sand and on theses huge floating boards in the ocean that were anchored to the ground. We could check out large bags of beach toys and build sand castles. One highlight is that we rented a paddle boat for an hour and tried it out. Hannah and I especially liked that. Robert and Hannah did a lot of snorkeling too even though there was not many colorful fish in the lagoon.

In the afternoon we hit the pools. There was a lazy river and two pools and water slides. One water slide was for inter tubes and the other for bodies. We all loved those! There was at least one pool party a day with characters in attendance. Winnie and I especially loved the endless hot tubs. I loved sitting in the tub overlooking the ocean. I sat in one the morning we were leaving and mourned our departure.

On the last morning we were there we walked down the beach a ways to a spot where you can often see sea turtles. We were successful!  We found a sea turtle that wanted to play with us. Truly amazing.

Meet and Greets

Aulani

We spent the four post-conference days of our vacation at the Aulani Resort. This is the Disney Resort in Ko'Olina on Oahu. When Robert and I were on Oahu for our anniversary trip last October we stayed next door to the Aulani which had just opened. I knew then that I wanted to take the kids there. I got my way. It was absolutely AMAZING!


I will spend the next few posts about our fabulous stay there. It is kind of pricey, but considering all your entertainment is right there (there is a water park right there for goodness sakes) and included in the price, it is not too bad. There were so many activities from hula and ukulele lessons to lei making to pool parties and arts and crafts, that we couldn't get it all in!


It was actually a great time to stay there because this is the first year it is open, so they are doing a trial run and only have 1/2 the rooms filled. So, it was not overly crowded. The grounds were beautiful. There are two pools, a lazy river, two water slides and 4 large hot tubs. Not to mention a perfect beach in a beautiful lagoon.


We spent our mornings on the beach and our afternoons at the pools. Our evenings we ate in, took walks and attended shows. So relaxing a fun.


And yes the Disney characters were around. My next post will be about them.  So awesome.

Here we are at the Aulani!

Jack kickin' back.

We were greeted with leis. The girls were given these cute necklaces and Jack got this cute grass fish!

Hannah ready for lunch. We had a kitchen so we were able to eat in.

Me with my very fragrant plumeria lei.

What a sweet baby.

The architecture---AMAZING!

Winnie overlooking the water park. The volcano is where the water slides are.

Hannah and Stitch.

Aulani at night.

Hannah taking a walking tour.

Sisters.

Beautiful KOI.

With a Mehenue. Mehenue are little Hawaiian sprites. There are 300 hidden all over the Aulani.

More architecture.

Fireworks on the Beach

We watched the Friday Night Fireworks on Waikiki Beach. Hannah took some pretty neat pictures.

AAO Honolulu 2012

This year the American Association of Orthodontics meeting was held in Honolulu Hawaii! We decided to take the staff with us as well as Hannah, Winnie and Jack. We had a really fun time. I took so many pictures that I will be posting about this trip for a while.



First of all let me explain why Bobby did not accompany us on this trip. We love our precious two year old, but this was mostly a work trip for Robert and I. The first 5 days of the trip would mainly be spent at the convention. Even if I were not attending classes, which I was, It would have been nearly impossible for me to take care of Bobby and Jack by the pool or the beach. Bobby would be diving into water right and left. So we decided to let Bobby have a week with Grandma and Grandpa. I will be forever grateful to them for keeping him.


The first 5 days were spent on Waikiki. The conference was held at the Honolulu Convention Center. Our family stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki. Saturday through Tuesday we attended classes and parties and such. Hannah and Winnie attended Camp AAO, a kids program at the convention. (I will post about this later.) Jack attended classes with me. I am in charge of marketing for the office and so I attended classes on that topic. I have never attended a convention before and was amazed by all the orthodontists in the world. There were thousands of doctors and staff representing 63 different countries.

At the airport! Robert, Andrea, Petra, Julie, Arlyne, Amanda and Eldon.

Robert, Eldon and Jack in front of the Honolulu Convention Center

Hannah in front of our hotel.

Winnie and Papa in front of a beautiful mural at the convention center.

In front of the Hilton.

The view from of room with Diamondhead in the back.

Robert in front of an herb garden.

The newlyweds.

The staff at a party.

Another beautiful mural in our hotel.

My pale son.

At our beach.

Bethany Hamilton

I have to post this because I am so excited. While we were in Hawaii for the American Association of Orthodontics Convention one of the exhibitors arrange to have Bethany Hamilton there to sign autographs and pose for pictures. She is one of our family's heroes. She is a competitive surfer from Kauai who had her arm bit off several years ago by a shark. This all happened when she was a teenager. Since then she has overcome her handicap and won the National Surfing Championships. She recently had a movie made about her life called Soul Surfer. What an inspiration she is. It was an honor to meet her. She was very friendly and said that it is her dream to visit Alaska. Soul Surfer is Hannah and Winnie's favorite movie. What a thrill!

Jack at 4 Months

Jack Facts:

Blows raspberries
Plays with toys
Looks at his feet a lot
Enjoys the excersaucer
Giggles
Sleeps in Mommy's closet
Enjoyed a trip to Hawaii
Weighs 13 pounds 8 ounces
Is 27 and 1/4 inches long--100 percentile!
Loves big sisters
Big brother loves Jack
The sweetest baby ever!