Aloha!

We have just returned from a wonderful week in Hawaii. My mother joined us this year which was a special treat.

Vivian has been so sweet and compliant lately, and she did really well on our trip. She loved feeding the fish in the koi ponds around our resort, and while it was never her idea to get in the water, she had fun kicking her feet and splashing Robert and me. We had one dramatic moment when Vivian fell into the pool fully dressed (and was quickly retrieved as I was standing right next to her). The incident did not faze Vivian one bit, but I had to grab every towel within reach and wrap her up quickly because she started pulling at her shirt and pants saying, "I can't swim in my clothes, I have to swim in my bathing suit." We have had countless talks on "we don't take off our clothes until we are in our room," but the concept clearly has yet to take root.

Here are a few pictures from Hawaii. I'm ready to go back!


Shortly after our arrival. Vivian seemed pretty happy to be there but wanted no part of wearing her lei


View from our room


Dots brought along her hammock


Robert and Vivi in the pool


Two Vivians relaxing by the pool


Vivian, Robert and me in the lazy river - Vivian is giggling because she thinks she is splashing Robert with her kicks


Vivian going down a slide with Robert


Robert reading a book on his iPad


The beach


Katie and Dots at Happy Hour


Our dessert one night at dinner. This was incredible! It's coconut ice cream inside a chocolate shell coated in toasted coconut. It was as delicious as it was beautiful and creative


Vivian feeding the fish


Vivian would always say, "The fish are so happy now." I bet those fish miss Vivian!


Teenage girls by the pool {sigh}. Dots didn't know I was taking her picture - I think she was hiding from the sun


Heading to Lahaina


Annual kids picture by the banyan tree



A happy Vivian


Strolling in Lahaina - this was a pretty quick trip as Vivian's new stroller is too big and clunky to maneuver very easily in the tiny shops. Plus Vivian's tolerance of/interest in shopping is even less than Robert's and his is pretty close to nil


Mama's Fish House - on the north shore of Maui


View from our table at Mama's Fish House. We ate lunch there one day


Robert doing his best to keep Vivian entertained until our food arrived. When Vivian's lunch of baked fish, fresh fruit and rice was set in front of her, she said, "I don't like my food!" and started to push her stroller away from the table. Robert distracted her and prevented a majorly unattractive scene in an otherwise lovely restaurant, and within about 30 seconds Vivian was devouring her lunch. (Notice that Vivian is wearing a different shirt than she had on just an hour or so before in Lahaina. I found a whale t-shirt for her in a shop. I asked Vivian if she liked it, and before I even realized what was happening, she had taken off her other shirt (which I took to mean "yes"). Thank goodness there was no one else in the store!


Sunset from the lanai off our room


As I was enjoying a delicious lobster salad sandwich one afternoon at the Four Seasons, this egret walking on the hedge right by our table availed himself of the off-menu fresh gecko


Vivian (wearing the whale shirt again) relaxing by the pool. She would tell me, "Make my chair a bed!" and often fell asleep


View from my chair as I worked a crossword puzzle


Dots and Robert in a kayak


Looking out over the pool and beach from our hotel's restaurant


Hawaiian sunset on our last night (photo credit to Dots)


Meanwhile, guess who thought Gulf Shores, Alabama with college friends sounded like more fun than Hawaii with the family!