Aulani - Part I

  I'm going to post about Hawaii in a few different posts because there is SO MUCH to say! First I wanted to start with Aulani. There are no words to describe the joy, relaxation and contentment we felt staying at this resort, so I will try to combine it with pictures and see if we can come close!

  We weren't sure what to expect walking into Aulani the first evening. I mean, it's a Disney hotel in Hawaii... could it possibly live up to the amazingness that this combination suggests? We knew immediately when we arrived: Yes, it can!

  We received a flower and kukui nut lei greeting as the hosts who took our bags handed us off to the greeter waiting in the front lobby. Although it was dark when we arrived, the view of the lobby was breathtaking as we took in all of the beautiful Hawaiian art and enjoyed the relaxing music. If you have been there, you know... even just breathing the air is enjoyable! The humid, comfortable temperatures and the smell of plumeria. Heaven.

  These are photos of the lobby taken throughout our stay...

The view from the entry way

The beautiful glass work over the entry

 The view down one of the wings

Some of the art work on the walls 

 Beautiful engraved hallways - they spared no detail on this hotel!

  The greeter talked with and welcomed us as we made our way over to the check-in counter and she handed us over to the employee there.

This was one of our favorite pieces - all photographs taken by school children from the island.

(All under age 10. There was some beautiful art in this collage!)

  When we made our way to the room the bell hop was waiting for us as we exited the elevator on our floor and he gave us a tour of our room and some tips on what not to miss at the resort. Every detail of the room was carefully thought out, from the space built under the bed for suitcases to the beautiful view. We ate breakfast on our balcony every morning because (even in one of the "value" rooms), this was our view.

  I have to admit I was initially nervous about spending six days here without a car. I even asked Andy on the first morning "What are we going to do for six days?? We're going to get bored." I have to chuckle now as I look back on that statement. We weren't bored for a moment. In fact, we were bummed when we had to leave six days later for Waikiki and wondering why we didn't book the whole stay there.

  The first morning we were there we decided to watch the sunrise, so we were up and out of our room by 6:30 a.m. We made our way out to the beach to enjoy the show.... but as we headed out, it dawned on us that the sun rises in the EAST. We were on the West side of the island. Bummer. So instead we just enjoyed the unique lighting of the early morning and eventually watched  the sun rise over the buildings & mountains. :)

  We walked around a bit and enjoyed the view of the different inlets and a few neighboring hotels. None even came close to the beauty of Aulani, though (in terms of hotels).

  One of the many things Aulani offered that we really enjoyed were the evening shows. There were multiple options every night. You could sit around a campfire and listen to "Uncle" tell stories, attend the Hawaiian show that they put on several times per week...

(I'm sure you can tell I'm happy!)

   Listen to live Hawaiian music at each of the restaurants or on the lawn...

  ...even sit out and watch movies under the stars. All family friendly Disney flicks, ofcourse! We watched Brave. Well, Andy watched. I caught glimpses while I snoozed on the lawn under the stars... it was fabulous! Great movie, I was just exhausted from all the fun in the sun...

  We made sure to spend time on the beach every day. It was so great to have the whole day to do a little bit of everything. Snorkeling, sunbathing, waterslides, walks, lazy river, hot tub, shows, special events... we didn't get bored once! We even did a scavenger hunt that they have set up where you go all over the hotel looking for these hidden jewels. It's themed around the Menehune, a Hawaiian legend about these little men...

  It's a great theme for kids as they are one part devious and one part helper. There is a huge kids water area/play bridge called Menehune Bridge that I can't wait to let the kids play on one of these days! They had endless entertainment for children, most of which we did not take advantage since we were without the kiddo's this time around. I'm sure our next trip will be quite different since we definitely plan on bringing our little ones back here! Character breakfasts, character picture opportunities, photo pass people around the resort taking photos of your family fun, lei making, weaving, all kinds of learning opportunities... the list goes on.

  The best kids feature is Aunty's Beach House where the children have an abundance of activities to choose from and they receive very personalized attention! Most of the kids we saw did not want to leave - even if the parents were taking them to dinner or to the beach. One little girl we overheard summed it up - when asked what her favorite part of their Hawaiian vacation was she responded "Everything about today at Aunty's beach house!" So cute.

  I should note here that the prices for this hotel are very high, but when you figure in the price for up to 14 hours per day (if you wanted) of childcare and child activities (even if Mom & Dad go off to explore the island), it is considerably less! Kids have to be 3 & potty trained so it will be a while for us... but we will take the kids there some day.

  Another thing that we loved was Rainbow Reef - a private snorkeling pool that they have where you can swim with tropical fish and be guaranteed an up close encounter. They let you snorkel during feeding times, which was our favorite part! The fish were even coming up to our masks to see if we had food! (We learned a trick - if you pay for the "length of stay" pass to Rainbow Reef you get your snorkel gear and life vest rentals down on the beach for your "length of stay," as well!)

Look closely, you'll see Ariel's castle in the "reef" :)





  It was an amazing experience that we will not soon forget! We very much look forward to the next visit with the kids! And maybe another one alone before then... we shall see. ;-) More to come in the next Aulani post...

Preschool

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a preschooler on our hands!

Our big girl!

Oh, the excitement!!



Amberlin in front of her new school



The school we wanted Amberlin to go to was full at the beginning of the year and they pretty much told us it was not likely that an afternoon 2-day opening would come up, so we thought we would just wait until there were openings there next year.

Waiting outside with Daddy for the doors to open up

As soon as the school year started, we began to regret our decision to wait. She is so ready for this social interaction! So when an opening unexpectedly came up we jumped at the opportunity to get her started!

Walking in with Daddy



Amberlin went right in and didn't look back!

We attended a curriculum night before she started that showed us what they are teaching the kids (it's called Tools of the Mind) and observed the classroom for a little while. We were very impressed with the program and so excited to get her involved. It has a lot of emplasis on play, but very structured play. They have the kids write out "play plans" to talk about what they are going to be doing in the center they choose for the day. For example, if they play in the kitchen they have the kids create a play plan (picture) that shows what they are going to do... bake a cake for dad's birthday, etc. There is a lot of encouragement toward the dramatic, which has always been a gift of Amberlin's! 

I can't wait to see Amberlin thrive in this learning environment. When we signed her in, she walked right into the room and hardly even looked back. She connected with her teachers right away and they showed her where to hang her backpack and how to sit on the carpet to wait for class to start. It was really sweet to see how quickly she jumped into it.



She is growing up so fast... :)

We bought her the book that she has been asking for as a reward for a great first day... we left it as a surprise when she got into her car seat. It was really cute...

Lucky Girls

The girls and I are so lucky to have Andy in our lives!

 

What a blessing to have a Daddy that cares so much about his kids, that takes time to read to them and to play with them.

 

He truly is the best partner I could ask for in this parenting journey!

I'm feeling especially grateful for him today.

Gourmet on Gore

We went to the Vail food & wine festival Gourmet on Gore over Labor Day weekend. We had a lot of fun, tasted great food and found some new places to try out next time we're up there. It's funny... we used to walk away from these things with photos of amazing gourmet dishes and close-ups of me & Andy and now we mostly get shots of fountains, playgrounds and self-frosted cookies and two little ones. I wonder what changed? :)

Potty Training Conquered

Wow. Potty trained. After more than a year of a complete power struggle and major control issues (I wonder where she gets those??), Amberlin is potty trained. It has been the most frustrating experience of parenting so far, but we made it through and most importantly - AMBERLIN ACCOMPLISHED HER GOAL! We are so proud of her!

We promised her that when she got fully potty trained we would get her this princess bike. As you can see, she is VERY happy about reaching her goal.

We had to run all over town to find the one that we had promised her, but we finally found it. She was almost as excited about the helmet as she was about the bike! 

I thought this video was cute - enjoy!

Time to catch up!

It's been over a year since I posted last and this blog is far too out-dated! It's time to start blogging again...