Hauʻoli lā hānau, Deven!

Dear loyal reader(s): in the spirit of FIFO, I am finally writing up our wonderful trip to Hawaii earlier this year (and back-dating it accordingly). Much has happened since then, but don't worry, I'll get there eventually...

For reasons that are not worth describing, we had four tickets to Hawaii that were due to expire in mid-February. Nothing like sunk cost as a forcing function to take a vacation! So, we decided to "celebrate Deven's 2nd birthday" by taking the trip, and since we had to go to Oahu (long story, but basically because of the way the tickets were purchased originally that was the case), we decided to try out Aulani, Disney's new resort in Hawaii. Yes, we are those people. Sonia was elated (having devoured every piece of direct mail marketing we received about the property, which was a lot), and we were psyched to stay at a brand new property where we would be able to get a room that was essentially a little mini-apartment (living room separate from bedroom, kitchen and w&d included, etc.). If you would like the scoop on how to book Disney Vacation Club properties at a discount when you are not a DVC member, drop me a line.

After a relatively uneventful flight (thank you Steve Jobs), we got off to a bit of a rocky start when another passenger mistook our luggage for theirs, and so we were short one bag. Of course, it was the one with all of the kids' stuff in it, so while Sameer toured the property, I made an impromptu visit to a nearby Target for swimsuits and Froot Loops, the latter because I have told Sonia that the cereal is only available while you are on vacation (miss smarty pants recently asked me if that was true, then why is it sold in our local grocery store, but seemed to accept 'because people come here on vacation too' as an adequate response).

After being reunited with our luggage the next morning, we proceeded to spend the next week on a vacation I would describe as relentlessly fun. I have never been on a cruise ship, but I can only imagine it must be something like this. Each day there is a schedule printed of all of the activities going on in the resort (all family-oriented, and largely included for free while you are staying there). So, instead of sitting your a** by the pool as we have done for all previous Hawaii vacations, you find your self taking "surfing lessons" with Chip n' Dale (note: on land, we're not there yet w.r.t. swimming ability). The kids *loved* it, and Sonia has asked to go back on a weekly basis ever since we've been home. Sameer and I were left to wonder a bit what happened to our relaxing week in Hawaii, but it is hard to imagine that there could be any destination that was more kid friendly (and I will say that their spa was an amazing refuge, easily on par with other high end places we have stayed). And I was very impressed by the multitude of lifeguards on hand (literally, several constantly positioned around each pool), to the point that if our kids could actually swim well, I could envision a very different vacation where we are firmly ensconced in our lounge chairs while "keeping an eye" on the kids. Pencil our reservation in for 3 years from now.

All sniping aside, many, many highlights to remember:

• Sonia was able to see her beloved Disney characters (or at least the ones who are "visiting" Hawaii, namely Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Stitch, whom she deemed weird, but still hugged to be polite). And that whole experience was much more low key than Disneyland, which was nice.
• The hotel itself is really amazing, with a pool area that was the best for kids I've ever seen. Sonia is still raving about the slide you go down in rafts, and even braved the "big kids" slide once (due to some ill advised daring on the part of her father). Deven was more of a fan of the lazy river, and everyone was thumbs up on the hot tub. The pool was so nice the kids were practically complaining when Sameer insisted they go to the beach (literally 50 feet from the pool).
• There are tons of activities around the hotel for kids, so on the couple of days the weather was less-than-sunny, we were able to hang out at the kids' club, do a very cool high tech scavenger hunt with custom configured loaner iPhones, watch tropical fish being fed in their big salt water aquarium, etc., etc. Way too much to describe. See my reference above about the "relentless fun."
• I was very grateful that they were very prepared to make Deven's birthday a big deal (obviously having children celebrating their birthday at the Aulani is not a new concept for them). We attended a "character breakfast" that morning where Deven received special attention from Goofy, Minnie, and "Auntie" (not clear he was happy about all of the attention, but his big sister enjoyed the spillover effect), and then at dinner that night they were able to provide a birthday cake complete with a tropical Minnie & Mickey decorations on top. I looked like I had my act together, even though that was not at all the case.
• Not to be outdone by the special attention being paid to her little brother, Sonia was delighted to get to go to the spa for the "keiki package", which I thought was sort of girly hula lessons, but turned out to be a full blown toddlers-and-tiaras style makeover. I drew the line at makeup ("pixie dust"), but since we had already gone through a manicure, pedicure, full updo, and a new dress, Sonia didn't mind. Yikes. Still, if you ask her what was the highlight of trip, she will definitely mention it, so I guess it makes the list here. :-)
• I should also note that they have a deal where if you buy one of their plastic mugs, you get unlimited self-serve refills on soda, so I had as many Diet Cokes as I could conceivably consume. Given that Deven stubbornly refused to switch timezones (causing us to be frequent visitors to the lobby to pick up the day's schedule when it is released at 5am), I very much appreciated this all-you-can-drink access to caffeine.

Not included on the list of "highlights" include several lowlights, most notably the absolute fit Deven threw on the plane ride back to California which caused a complete stranger to offer us his iPad just to get Deven to stop crying. Note to self: do not book flights during naptime with the overly ambitious goal that your child will sleep then, because odds are they will get too riled up, skip the nap, and then be a complete nightmare.

But, I digress from the fun...and there was tons of that...here are just a few of the many moments:

Sporty Spice

I was never really into soccer when I was a kid. In my defense, it was Oregon, so soccer in the fall = cold and muddy, and there was also the fact I had zero natural skill for the game.  So, I acknowledge that it was pretty hypocritical that I decided it was time to sign Sonia up for soccer, even though she wasn't that excited to start.  She did get more excited when I explained we would be buying her a new soccer ball, cleats, shin guards, and matching soccer socks (all pink, of course). At this age, soccer is just a once per week class on Saturday where they play various skill building games before "scrimmaging" for 5 minutes.  And by "scrimmage" I mean run around in a pack somewhere in the vicinity of the ball, while the one kid who is naturally skilled scores goals at will (needless to say, not our kid).

In yet another reminder of why we deal with California's high cost of living, the weather has been beautiful, even though the classes started in January.  Sonia has learned how to kick the ball with the "power spot" on her foot (not her "stinky toes"), the basics of defense in a game that involves "kitties" chasing "doggies", and a bit of goal tending (where the ball is an "insect" which she has to keep out of her "house").  I don't think any of it has really sunk in, but I am just happy that she is having fun, and Sameer is working on controlling his facial expressions when Sonia allows the other kids to take the ball away from her when they are scrimmaging.  Apparently we have over taught her the importance of sharing.  :-)

The kids line up for the first day of soccer class (Sonia second from the right)

Running around, nowhere in the vicinity of the ball

Time for a juice break -- for the record, if you added in orange slices here you would have captured all of my positive memories of soccer

Sonia walks away after scoring a goal (of course, note the lack of goal keeper)

Showing off her "soccer pose"

Besides soccer, Sonia also goes to swimming each week (and she used to go to gymnastics, until we missed the cutoff date to renew her enrollment, so there went one shot at the Summer Olympics).  She has been working on getting her "red ribbon" (the next level of swimming) for what seems like at least a year, to the point that Sameer had considered enrolling her in more frequent swimming classes (earning him the nickname "Tiger Dad" from Molly).  After our recent trip to Hawaii (a blog post to come), the extra practice paid off and Sonia finally managed to get her ribbon. That means she can do 5 "up faces" in a row (essentially taking a breath five times while she swims), can "pencil jump" into the pool, can float on her back, and two other things I forgot. Next up is her "white ribbon", which requires her to swim underwater for 16 feet, pick items up off the bottom of the pool, and dive in from the side (head first, feet last).  Stay tuned for the post where she earns that ribbon...in about a year at least I would guess.

With her brand new red ribbon (note: I did not sanction the wearing of this 2 piece swimsuit, but maybe the lack of clothing propelled her to swim faster)