This week, we got ready to go to Hawaii. We have been planning this trip since Aidan was just a bump in Mama's tummy, when Grandma suggested celebrating his second birthday as a kind of family reunion in Hawaii! Everyone loved the idea of an excuse to congregate in such a beautiful place, so that is what we decided to do. Except for Uncle Chris and Aunt Lauren (who were disappointed that they were unable to come), everyone is going: Nana and Pop-pop, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Jon-Michael, Aunt Frances, Uncle Gabe, Aunt Karen, cousin Miya, Uncle Matt, Aunt Devon, and cousins Rae and Elsey - it's going to be quite a party!
Since we are planning on going to the beach a lot in Hawaii, we spent this week preparing to go by visiting the newly opened outdoor pools in Van Cortlandt Park almost every day. Aidan is not used to being in water, except for the bathtub, so we had to take baby steps. On Sunday, he skeptically watched Mama drench herself, and eventually was willing to get his toes wet and eventually walk in the water in between Mama and Daddy. On Monday, Mama took him up after daycare while Daddy was at work, and he warmed up to the (chilly) water a bit faster, but was not thrillled about being there. On Tuesday, there were thunderstorms, so we didn't go. Finally, on Wednesday, we went up again: this time the wading pool was closed, and they let us go into the big kid pool. Aidan had fun kicking for a while, but eventually Mama jumped into the water with him, and had him do "circles", where he put his hand into the water, grazing his fingers and arms with spray while Mama swung him around and around - and he LOVED it! He laughed and laughed, and Mama was so happy that he finally had a good time in the water!
On Thursday, we flew from New York to San Francisco and stayed the night in an airport hotel, to help us split up the long trip. Friday morning we flew the rest of the way to Kona, and Aidan was awake but mostly happy the whole trip. The scheduling ended up working out great, because Aidan then went down for a nap at about 1PM Hawaii time (pretty normal), and woke up at 5AM on Saturday morning (not 3:30AM like the last time we were here) - when Mama and Daddy were wide awake anyway! Overall, we had a very good trip.
Since we got here, we have been having a wonderful time. Aidan warmed up to everyone extremely quickly, and has had a wonderful time playing with everyone. On Saturday, we saw some Hawaiian green sea turtles released into the ocean, and then had a fantastic beach day at beautiful hapuna beach. On Sunday, we visited old friends at Mokuaikaua Church, and then had a wonderful time at the water-park-like pools of the Hilton Waikaloa hotel. Despite short naps and late nights, Aidan has been a great sport, and Mama and Daddy have been having a ton of fun enjoying playing in the water and soaking up the sun with him. We are so happy to be here!
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