The first 2-3 weeks of the pandemic I remember as being rather blissful. All the crazy running around had stopped. There were no weekend sports activities, playdates, scout meetups, etc. We could sleep in everyday, 7 days a week and life slowed down.
Skylar would get up with me and do a lap around the block to get out of the hosue and start off the day with some exercise. There was a bush that had bloomed with all these yellow flowers, and I wanted to take a portrait of her with the bush in the background.
While visiting Josh and Sharon, Skylar and I found a baby gartner snake in the road. I picked it up with a jacket and took it to the park where the other kids were playing. It was great amusement for a solid 10 minutes.
We spent a couple days at the Aulani Disney resort. The theme was Moana – there was a 40 foot “Volcano” with 2 slides coming down from it. We also went around the lazy river no less than 30 times. Susan and I were able to sit and talk for a bit while the kids did laps around it.
They also made t-shirts and learned about Hawaiin art.
Staying a Disney is a study in psychology for me. Disney is expensive and largely artificial, so why in a place like Hawaii, where there is natural beauty all around, would you stay at Disney? I prefer making my way around the ‘real’ places, but a couple of days at Disney are entertaining. Regardless, here is my answer:
Great Customer Service: Disney’s customer service rivals the best in the world. The staff know your name and your kids name, even if you’ve never seen them. Not sure how they do that, but it is amazing. Need ketchup, a knife to cut pineapple or a framed photo of Jeff Goldbleum to adorn your nightstand? Disney will bring it to you within minutes. I have stayed at luxury hotels and I’ve never felt as comfortable or as taken care of as with Disney.
You can have adult time: I don’t go on vacation to do adult things, but there are plenty of people who do. Disney kid club will take your kids for as long as you want them to – all day, or all night, or both. From what I can tell the kids love it. We spent our entire time with the kids, so it’s not for us, but I talked to plenty of adults via hot tub or while waiting in line for the slides whose kids were MIA.
The Disney Story / Dream: Disney as a brand does one thing that no other company can do as well as them – tell a story. The top of the hotel is shaped like a canoe. At check-in girls get lays and boys get large beaded necklaces. The lazy river is covered in references to the Moana movie. Humans love stories, and Disney tells them like no other and then builds physical worlds that reflect those stories.
Manoa Falls was amazing – not the falls as much as the opening that was about half-way up. It looked straight out of Jurassic Park. The kids did great hiking, no one fell off the edge.
We hiked the whole thing almost non-stop, because as I found it rather quickly, stopping meant mosquito bites. Unlike Virginia East Coast mosquitos, at least the bites that I did get disappeared an hour after the hike.
Parker helped Mom down the trail by holding her hand and showing her where to step. The Hike wasn’t bad and we got local taco’s within the town of Diamond Head.
The weather was a little iffy, but we made it without incident, which is good because I prefer not to come down via water slide.
I made everyone come with me to the CapitalOne Tennis Class in D.C. on Sunday for the qualifiers. Next year we will try to go for family day, which is the day before.
The kids had fun, but 2 hours was about their max. Lots of fun vendors there, so that helped considerably.
Skylar had a blast at Petra’s birthday party running around and climbing, jumping, etc. I was nursing a hang over with coffee, otherwise I like to do the kids activities too…
For the last few months Skylar has enjoyed reading books from the Chicken Squad series of books. Parker has enjoyed listening and it’s so cute to watch them.
I tried to get a video, but these small animals are averse to being filmed in the wild:
Every year Reston has the “Trick or Trail” at one of their community centers where they setup activities to win candy and have an educational trail with various stops. It’s like the rock star event for community centers and sells out each year within a couple hours of tickets coming online.
You get a mini lesson on mosquitoes, pollution, wildlife, etc, and candy. What could be better!
