SUNDAY, July 6, 2008: Time to go play in the water!!!

Today, we slept in a little and were all happy to feel a little more rested than the night before. As much fun as traveling is, it is really a drag on traveling day...especially with ALL the luggage and the poor kids having to have patience for us cranky parents who just want to get through security. Of course, I know Courtney and Ryan don't feel like their parents were cranky yesterday at all, we were absolute gems as security has nothing on us! :)

We all met up in the lobby around 11 am to drive to the Hawaiian Adventure Water Park about 45 minutes away. It was a gorgeous, hot day and we were ready for some fun in the sun. (A quick note worth mentioning, Ryan stayed dry for the 2nd night in a row, which for this heavy sleeper is a big deal. We all clapped and were excited for his big accomplishment!) Once at the water park, Dave & Rhonda headed over to the sunny area, and the rest of us headed over to Keiki Kove, the kid's area. This park has something for everyone. As excited as Ryan was to get here to the water park, he was hesitant to go down any of the slides, despite having done them when we were here a few years ago. Amazing how much fear kids can develop in such a short amount of time. He had no fear last time, and now thinks through it all and it has to be on HIS terms. He did great though, despite a few tears at the top of the first small water slide. He found an area he liked a lot and just played with the small waterfalls and kiddy slides, etc. Courtney and Jason found some bigger kid slides to go down and had a blast. It wasn't long until they headed to some of the other areas of the park to experience more "teen like things". Tom took both kids to Volcano Express, a fast paced slide about 400 feet long. You slide down on your tummy on mats and the water flows underneath you while you go over dips. This was a favorite and the kids spent a good part of the afternoon on it. Grandma & Grandpa just hung out and took pictures and people watched. It was a full day of water fun.

Next door, there is an 18 hole family friendly garden golf course. It is set amongst small waterfalls, palm trees, Hawaiian flowers, canoes, etc. It is really pretty. We divided into 2 groups since there were 9 of us golfing. Grandma & Michelle were playing with the kids since we weren't "serious golfers". We were definitely the amateur bunch. Dave and Rhonda golf more and Grandpa & Tom have more sporting skill than we do, so they were more serious about getting their putts lined up. We were hot, hungry and tired, so after the last hole it was off to Outback Steakhouse Restaurant for some dinner. The restaurant was FREEZING cold, which you would think would be welcoming for us since it was so warm out there, but it was really, really cold. Ryan warmed up by huddling in Grandma's sweatshirt. We all couldn't wait to be done eating and get our bill so that we could go back outside where it was warmer. Once we got outside, Ryan layed down on the sidewalk and asked Rhonda if she wanted to lay and look at the moon. Silly guy...he will be a hopeless romantic when he is older.

Tomorrow is a day of rest (or more appropriately shopping!).