Hawaii

Colin loves his turtle floatie!

What do I do with the shovel?

Colin's first day at the beach

Majestic Sea Turtle Swims Nearby.

Colin had a fabulous time in Hawaii, and Mom and Dad enjoyed a little relaxation, as well. The pool was a big hit for Colin -- he spent several hours a day floating around in his turtle floatie, watching people. We also fed him his lunch there (at the pool edge). He must have been on a growth spurt this week, as we kept packing in the food -- just amazing!



The beach was not a hit with Colin. We were all geared up with eagerness and a vast quantity of sand castle building supplies. Once he got the sand on his hands, they went to his mouth to "check it out," and then he used his other (sandy) hand to try to remove the sand that the other hand had just introduced...a vicious cycle that gets worse with each attempt to clear it!



His favorite afternoon activity was joining Mom and Dad for an early dinner at Leilani's, a beachfront patio restaurant with a band playing and plenty of people to watch. Colin made friends with the people from Michigan seated next to us, and we all enjoyed the band's Aloha rendition of "Boot, Scoot, Boogie" (bet you didn't know that country music could be put to a Hawaiian type of tune!)



Our other big food outing for the day was early buffet breakfast. We even walked one morning down to the Hyatt's buffet (and checked out the penguins in the lobby of the hotel). Their food was better quality, and we enjoyed a water front view of a pond with swans -- it was like something from a fairytale and very gorgeous. Of course Colin's favorite birds at each meal were the little outdoor tweetie birds that would hop under his highchair just waiting with certainty for the food he dropped -- smart birds!



During Colin's naps (he's still taking 2 a day), Mom and Dad took turns going on mini outings. Sarah shopped at Whalers Village, snorkeled at the north end of Kaanapali Beach, and enjoyed a massage as her Mother's Day treat. Matt enjoyed a few days of snorkeling and boogie boarding. One day a turtle hung out nearby as he snorkeled -- the picture captures the majesty of these primitive creatures.



On the flight home, by the grace of God, we had a row with the one seat not taken on the entire airplane! Yeah! Colin curled up in the seat and slept and then curled into Dad's lap to continue sleeping the remainder of the flight. We are slowly adjusting his schedule back from Aloha time, though we like this part where he sleeps in a bit longer.