Aulani

The next day we headed to Aulani for the second half of our trip. My mom and Henry used their Disney points to book us rooms together and we could not wait to see the resort.

We got checked in and right into our swim suits.

Ahhhh that's the life.

Jane saw Minnie.

We could usually find Henry in the hot tub.

Jonah took a ukulele lesson, which he loved. He kept it for a while after and did a great job learning.

We went to meet Mickey.

And the turtle, Olu. 

But mostly Mickey.

We were the only ones out there, so Jane had a nice chat with Mickey, from a distance.

Scott all masked up, ready to swim.

Jane brought her bucket to the beach.

We got a little snorkeling in. There wasn't a lot to see in the lagoon, but it was a good place for the kids to learn and practice.

Perry booking it right to the water.

Scott and Perry did their usual sand play, but the warm water did persuade them to swim as well.

I picked up a big burrito family dinner at a local restaurant and we ate at the beach so we could keep playing.

Some of us couldn't get enough.

John and I were not able to relax as much as you might hope on a Hawaiian vacation, but we had a lot of fun altogether.

Every day blurred together into water fun. Beach, pools, lazy river, water slides.

Mornings with my girl on the balcony.

A little homework sneaked in the cracks.

Some late mornings for this dude.

Stacks of nutella pancakes, oatmeal, and cereal in our room for breakfast.

If you have to do schoolwork on vacation, it may as well be with this view.

The rainbow reef had snorkeling, but it was hard to get a spot and pricey for all of us to do.

We did enjoy seeing the fish through the window, though.

We trekked over to Paradise Cove instead for some more natural snorkeling.

Jane and John were buddy buddy all week. She loved the extra time with him.

We took turns snorkeling and saw a variety of fish. It was really cool and a great, quieter spot to spend the afternoon. 

Jonah and John stayed out a long time, but Scott had big sand creation plans to work on, with his assistant, Perry, of course.

Back at the resort we bought a popcorn bucket and had many, many free refills.

Definitely got our money's worth out of that one.

We were walking by and saw Minnie out again.

Jane was thrilled.

She wanted her picture with her.

AND Mickey.

Eventually other people came and we wanted to give them a turn. Jane was only willing to leave because she knew we were on our way to get shave ice.

We got one with Mickey ears for her. They were pricier than local spots, but we thought the flavors were great and the ice was nice and powdery. Not Matsumoto's quality, but a delicious and refreshing treat on a warm day.

Minnie Jane walking along the beach.

Perry wanted a picture with her, too.

Adrenaline junkies went nonstop on the water slides.

Jane could not get enough.

Even Perry went, solo.

Some poolside pizza our last day to maximize our final hours.

The next morning was a sad goodbye to Oma and Opa and return to real life.

Our early morning departure gave Perry some great bedhead.

Jane's airplane excitement eventually crashed and she took a little nap.

We had the three boys sit together and it was great. They all did really well on the flights, which made for a much less stressful experience for John and me.