My attitude on staycations has always been a bit negative. I could never understand spending so much money to stay at a nearby resort when
I live here. But...that was before neighbor island airfare doubled. And before I had a son that looooves the action that a certain local mega-resort supplies. We picked the Hilton Waikoloa for a variety of reasons...but chief among them was for their child-friendly features (trains, boats), massive water play areas (3 pools and a saltwater lagoon) and size (it's so large that we knew it would be easy to confine ourselves within its walls and totally unplug from the rest of the world).
So last Saturday morning, we headed north to Waikoloa (a 40-minute drive or so) for our first ever family staycation. Ryan was beside himself with glee. His only 'job' was to carry in his little kickboard, which he clutched in his hands very diligently while I waited in line to check in. As I was being handed room keys, he started jumping up and down gleefully screaming "I love the Hilton Waikoloa!" Though it took a long time to get to our room (the boats no longer run until 2pm, and though the train runs every 15 minutes, it takes another 10-15 minutes to actually get there), we were surprised at how large our room was.
We had a beautiful view of the golf course and a partial ocean view (in Hawaii, this is the cheap seat, since the full ocean view rooms are the ones that go for a premium). But this was still plenty good enough for us (since we see the ocean everyday anyway)!
As soon as we unpacked, we headed down to the pool(s), which Ryan immediately declared "too cold" and quickly hopped out. :-( This was a bit of a let down seeing as how we'd booked this hotel specifically for their pool(s), but
thankfully, thankfully...he loved the warmer, saltwater lagoon. As did we! I particularly liked the abundant amount of soft, white sand (imported, but still lovely), the shower access, the shade-covered beach chairs, and the fact that it's a (man-made) protected cove, which felt very safe for our daredevil little 'swimmer.'
Later we checked out the hot tubs (none of which were close to being even warm) and the Keiki Fountain near the Kona Pool (warm water, nice!). Unfortunately, 11 of the 13 water spouts were not operational, so again, a bit of a disappointment. Again, thankfully- Ryan didn't seem to notice and still had fun running through the water streams. According to a manager I spoke with there, they 'plan' on addressing the hot tub temperatures (it's been a consistent complaint), as well as warming the pool(s) sometime in 2012. But I wouldn't hold my breath...as he was bit vague about when/how they plan to do it.
It didn't take long before someone got all tuckered out and quiet/zen-like, so we carried him back to the room for a long, family nap. The very best kind.
Look at all the flamingoes! [Hint: One of them is actually Ryan.]
The next morning we took a leisurely walk out to Buddha Point for some family pictures.
Once there, Ryan and I decided to get centered...
He was a little disappointed that we didn't let him lie down on the lava and be the letter Y again (thanks, Uncle Joey!), but he loved seeing his name in rocks (again)!
Ride 'em cowboy!!! I'm pretty sure this was exactly the artistic impact/vision the hotel had when they ordered this bronze work for the hotel premises...
I don't care how long you live here...this sight
never. gets. old. The waterway opening under the bridge leads to the lagoon that we went to every single day for hours on end.
Ryan had a terrible time there. He hated boogie boarding. ;-)
We did it! We finally did it! We completely buried our son in the sand. He looooved it. When we told him he could come out (he grunted and grunted but couldn't move a thing other than a single pointer finger)!
That night we met the rest of the 'ohana for dinner (we'd gotten my parents a room for Mothers Day to join us for the second night) at Rich's favorite restaurant...Sansei (it's his Asian genes). We were lucky to have Uncle JJ and Aunty Lynne in town to join us too!
Ryan was given his first pair of practice chopsticks that night, which he figured out how to use so that he could eat his authentic Asian french fries.
Getting chased by Grandpa at the Queen's Shops after dinner and dessert before ending the night back at our room for a second consecutive disco dance party with Uncle JJ and Aunty Lynne (we brought glow sticks).
Waving high and riding the boat with Grandpa on our last day there (and yes, I totally noticed that the lady to Ryan's left has ENORMOUS boobs). Just before checking out, we finally made it over to the parrots so Ryan could hold one. I'd been prepping him for days on what to expect (even pressing down on his shoulder with my fingernails a little bit to emulate the bird's weight and claws), and he was still very excited to hold them. That is, until five seconds before we were about to take the picture. At that point he buried his head in Rich's chest and said, "I don't want to!" and then looked completely traumatized and terror-stricken in every single one of the 15 pictures the photographer took of us!
All in all, we had a
great time. We totally unplugged (I never saw a single TV show or logged on once while there), and were therefore able to totally focus on the relaxing with the family. In fact, Rich and I have decided to make a trip out there annually so we can start a new family tradition for ourselves. :-) Would I recommend the resort to others? If you're newlyweds looking for a quiet, romantic resort to stroll around while gazing at the sunset? Um...maybe not so much. But if you're a parent of a child under the age of 12 and don't mind it taking 15-30 min. to get to and from your room each day, chilly pools and the overall ambiance of a loud, somewhat pricey, Disney-esque resort...have at it. You won't be disappointed. :-)
And since we were in South Kona, we decided to swing by Kona's historic, cute little version of the Sistine Chapel! Even though we were well past naptime at this point (see that exhaustion on his face?), Ryan had a ball running up and down the ramp. 
Grammy Kay (a faithful Catholic) loved St. Paul's Church and its murals.
Ryan asked my mother what all the boards were for, and once she told him...he wanted to do it!
Ryan told me that he prayed mostly for his Uncle Joey's soul and to please make him stop drinking all his paychecks away...but that God told him not to waste his time. ;-)
Running and splashing in the 'surf' with his boogie board! Love my future waterman!
Balancing atop daddy's hands at the condo pool!
Whoops. Butterfingers!
A video of someone loves jumping into the pool and "swimming!"
Ryan was so excited to be at JJ's graduation luncheon that he passsed out cold in the corner of the restaurant. He hasn't done something like this since he was like...one! I loved it though...because we got to eat uninterrupted. And talk to other adults. It's a big deal nowadays. ;-)
After a brief stop at the mall for some arcade time & rides for Ryan, we rushed home so I could start baking his birthday cake (he insisted on helping me) since his birthday party was the next day (Sunday).
Thanks to Grammy Kay, my parents and brother (can you see all the mirrored disco balls he hand-carried over from San Fran ?!), the decor once again rocked the house. Can I just say that this year's disco party was sooooo much fun? I kept reminding myself to have fun, take things in, not stress out...(easy to do with so much helpful family around). Unfortunately, I forgot to share this advice with Ryan, because for the first hour or so of his party he was veeeery shy. :-(
We thought about dressing up that night, but decided not to. I also decided not to straighten my hair. If I may be so bold, I couldn't help but notice all the lustful & highly inappropriate glances from all our guests all night long.
Since no kiddie party is complete without tons and tons of sugar, we had a little candy bar table with bags for all of Ryan's friends to fill up with their favorite treats.
The menu that night was mostly Japanese...garlic edamame, inari sushi, spam musubi, spicy ahi tuna rolls & California rolls. We also had vegetable yakisoba, orange chicken, and of course-pizza for the kids!
After dinner we did the disco ball pinata that I made (with help from Ryan). The only bummer part is that we had 12 kids lined up to take a swing, but about 3-4 of them never got a chance to hit it because it broke. Note to self: next year, make four layers instead of three (or just invite weaker children). 
The post-pinata mayhem!
Ryan blew out the candles on his disco ball cake expertly this year, but he still had the same huge grin on his face (from last year's Elmo party) when we carried it out and sang to him. This is also a great shot of the cute t-shirt my mother whipped up for him 15 minutes before the party started once she realized he didn't have anything cute to wear!
We ended the night with the disco dance party (which really became more of a let's-chase-balloons-and-run-around party) and present opening, with the birthday boy finally crashing around 9:30 that night.
The next morning I got up early to make my brother Joey's birthday cake, and to prop Ryan next to his birthday presents so he can always remember the love and generosity he was shown that day. 
I made my brother Joey a wine bottle red-velvet cake (really, did I have any choice?) for his birthday party on Monday night. Not my best effort, but I didn't have the kitchen tools (or patience) to do any better. :-) So we did it. Three parties in three days! Hollah. I think I may have gained fourteen pounds, but no worries, I have a plan 
Yesterday, while killing time at the beach waiting for Grammy Kay and Uncle Marc to fly in, Joey decided to write Ryan's name with white coral rocks on the black lava. Only he wanted it to be interactive art, so Ryan got elected to be the letter Y...though he wasn't nearly as fond of the idea as his Uncle ("It hurts, mommy!"). Nonetheless, he did it. And wasn't it worth the fuss? How cool is this?!
We found a dead a'ama crab and thought we'd have some fun... I cannot wait to go to Iceland with this guy in September & Vegas in January. Because this is the guy who almost got busted in Hearst Castle for trying to sit on a rare chair (he was stopped by a blaring alarm)...for touching 300-year old tapestries in a museum...for laying down on a sarcophogas in Egypt & playing Indiana Jones with me in a tomb...and I won't even mention what he did to a giant Lego Darth Vader in FAO Schwarz or in the S & M Museum in San Fran...because this is a G-rated, fun-for-the-whole-family kinda blog. I'll just leave it at we're happy he's here, we're happy Grammy Kay and Uncle Marc are now here too...and life is good. :-) 
Last night was Rich's hospital's first ever Community Open House. I think I was more excited to go than anyone else, mostly because I wanted Ryan to have the rare opportunity to see where his daddy works. My hope was that it would be somewhat of a "Take your child to work" Day and unravel some of the mysteries of that vague "Daddy's workplace" that we always talk about. 
The evening was exactly what I'd hope for and more...we enjoyed some delicious appetizers, got to watch an ukulele performance by Brittni Paiva and best of all, go on a tour of the hospital! Ryan was fascinated by the multi-million dollar MRI, CAT and radiation machines and wanted to play on all of them.
On our tour of the radiation unit (quite beautiful actually), we surprised to see my own mother's handprint on the wall for successfully completing her own treatment a few years ago.
I have to admit, I was very impressed by the hospital's capabilities, equipment and technology. Whenever you live in a rural area with a small hospital, you tend to hear only about what we don't have...and how someone entered the hospital with a moquito bite but ended up leaving with their left kidney removed and a staph infection in seven toes. So it was nice to see the amazing things we DO have. I just hope we never have to use it. :-)