Staycation

We have been very busy lately, so a staycation was much needed.  It is funny how things have a way of working themselves out.  Out of the blue, a friend of ours asked, do you like staying at the Hilton.  Well of course we do.  We had a great time there last summer for our staycation.  

And then she tells us that she is booking us at the Grand Waikikian, the newest building in the Hilton complex.  But why, I ask.  She says it is a thank you for the help she was given.  Wow!  So I offer to pay and she says NO and the next thing I know, we are booked for four days and three nights.  SWEET!

We get there and the girls love the suite.  They were more interested in exploring the suite and chilling than going out to explore the grounds and jump in the water.

We had a full kitchen.

And a cozy little nook.

And a quite spacious lanai that spanned our living room and bedroom.

Can you guess what the girls liked the most?

They really liked "their own" flat panel TV that was bigger than the one we had in the bedroom, the large and deep tub, and a new experience...a fold out sofa bed.  I was fully intending to have them sleep on it and when they saw me open it up, the both shouted, "I call the sofa bed.  I call the sofa bed!  The sofa bed is ours and you and mommy can take the bedroom.  And close the door."  Oh, OK.

The room maid and the girls all did a good job of creatively arranging the stuffed animals that girls brought.

And while the girls were content to just luxuriate in the suite, we had to go out on occasion.

The grounds of the new building were really nice.  And I really liked the Hawaiian artifacts that they used in the decor.

Of course, what caught my eye were the lei-o-mano!

We played in the ocean, in the pools, went shopping, lounged around and relaxed and all that good stuff, but one of the things we did the most, was EAT!  All I can say is the little monkeys ate good.  So they are continuing their training to not be cheap dates when they are older.

Getting ready to eat.

Eating...

We had a delicious tan tan ramen dinner from Goma Tei, breakfast at Wailana Coffee Shop, lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, a fast food dinner (we still had soccer practice since I am the coach), breakfast buffet at the Hilton, Genki Sushi, teppenyaki at Tanaka of Tokyo, breakfast at the IHOP, lunch, dinnerm breakfast...

And throw in desserts, like green tea ice cream, a Lappert's ice cream treat...

Stuff we brought, like fruits and nuts and some nice teas.

It was nice to have a hot cup of coffee or tea on the lanai too, or on the kitchen bar, or the cozy little nook, and even soaking in a nice hot bath.

Joined by a buddy of ours.

The obligatory teppenyaki volcano.

The view from the Royal Hawaiian.

The girls really wanted to eat the buffet breakfast, since there was also a water element with lots of fish and turtles and various birds.

There is a four foot something swimming in there.  You can't see it because of the reflection, but it made the ripple as it swam away.  It was within reaching distance of us.

When the girls went shopping (ok, I went along, but I didn't shop), they each bought a new sarong.  They are so creative in how they put them on.  The older monkey princess is also a master of the towel head.  After every bath, she has a different towel configuration on her head.  Some are really cool too.

The Dread Pirate Monkey Princess #2.

Lounging.

Of course all good things have to come to an end at some point, so we had to go home.

So a nice staycation comes to an end.  It was relaxing and hectic at the same time.  We still had two soccer practices, a PTA meeting of sorts, tai chi and ukulele classes, as well as some play time in the park with home school friends.  I need a vacation after our staycation.

So...