Hawaii Day 6: We Met the Main Man, Mickey Mouse

img_3651.jpg img_3652.jpg img_3655.jpg On our 5th morning Makai’s sleep schedule is pretty much back to normal. We spent the early morning in our room with Josh, Juney and Mae, eating breakfast, watching cartoons and playing. When we headed out of the villa, we came across this Stitch statue and took photos next to it. Yes, that is magic marker all over Juney’s face! She did it herself that morning. No worry, we swam so much it all came off soon enough.

img_3657.jpg img_3660.jpg img_3663.jpgWe headed over to Aunty’s Beach House where they were having Open Play time. This is a total kid zone! We watched Disney movies, dressed up, played board games, read books, did crafts, played this really cool touch screen table game, went outside in the yard and climbed on the playground equipment and played with toys. And then to top it off, the REAL Stitch showed up to dance and sing with the kids. As we were leaving, we noticed a HUGE line of people wrapping around Aunty’s Beach House. Turns out this is where you can drop your kids off, for an hour, for the day… whatever you want. But you’re kids have to be at least 3, so bad news for us, since Makai was only 2.5. 🙂

img_3775.jpgimg_3681.jpgimg_3695.jpg Next we were back to the Makahiki buffet for breakfast. Everyone with reservation for breakfast, first got to meet the main attraction, Mickey Mouse.  Makai was pretty shy when meeting the main man, but eventually he did give him a high five. He didn’t cry, which is more than we can say for Santa and the Easter Bunny. Juney and Mae were really comfortable with all the characters, but they’re a bit older and had been to Aulani before. In the days/weeks since our visit he still talks about meeting the REAL Mickey Mouse, so even if he seemed reluctant at the time, I know it made a huge impression.

img_3701.jpgFullSizeRender-6img_3704.jpgFullSizeRender-7The breakfast buffet was pretty good. They had a really cute kids section where you could get Mickey Mouse shaped waffles and bananas cut to look like dolphins. Makai loved the waffle, but got mad when I tried to cut it and didn’t actually eat it at all. The loco moco was a little odd, but tasty. With my coffee, I had a POG-mosa. YUM.

img_3705.jpgimg_3710.jpgimg_3718.jpgAt breakfast we also got to meet Minnie Mouse and Goofy. Makai was so funny. He could see Goofy making his way through the restaurant towards our table and he was SO anxious that he could not even eat! Not until Goofy got to our table, we took our photo and he left. Then he could finally relax!

img_3729.jpgWe tried to use the potty at the Makahiki and saw this cool map of Oahu. Makai was really interested in looking at it for a long time.

img_3736.jpg img_3737.jpg After breakfast we went and checked out the beach. It was so beautiful. And perfect for kids. Very sheltered cove, so calm and shallow, clear turquoise water. Perfect.

img_3734.jpgWe also spent a ton of time in the other pools and water structures. No one went on the scary slide, though! In the afternoon our friend BJ and his son Kanehoa came to visit the resort and swim. Kanehoa is a bit over a year old and it was the first time we got to meet him! While we were in the pool, Goofy and his whole crew came into the pool and got everyone dancing and playing games. The resort really did a lot to get kids involved in the fun. I remember Makai in the pool asking “Where’s Juney!?!?!” When I brought him over to Juney he said “Where’s Little Juney?!?” (meaning Mae). It was so cute.

img_3751.jpg img_3747.jpgFullSizeRender-8Late in the afternoon we went back to the room for naps. Josh had to leave that night so he started to pack up all their things. I had seen a few shops I wanted to take a look at so I went out for a walk around. I’d spent so little time in the hotel that I actually had to ask how to get to the lobby! But what a beautiful lobby it is!

img_3742.jpgAt the shops I didn’t really buy too much. I got an Aulani tshirt for Makai, an Aulani Christmas tree ornament, and some stickers for Makai. When I got back to the room Makai was sleeping and everyone was gone! Josh, Juney and Mae had packed up and gone to visit Billy and Ging before going to the airport. And BJ and Kanehoa left too. I had no idea everyone was leaving or I would have made my outing quicker or not have gone at all! When Makai woke up he asked where his friends were and we said they had to leave and he started crying 🙁 🙁 🙁

img_3762.jpg For dinner we let the Aulani property and went to Curry House Coco Ichibanya in Kapolei. Dallas and I have been going to Curry House in Hawaii and Japan forever and have our standard orders down. We got a keiki plate and split with Makai. He had a tantrum and sat under the table on the floor for a while, but whatever! The waiter who worked here was suuuper nice. Great food. Pretty reasonable prices. Glad to mark another favorite off the list!

img_3764.jpg When we went back to Aulani there was a Hawaiian duo playing some really nice music. The weather was great. Beautiful night. Beautiful music. We stood on the overlook off the lobby and listened for a while. When we were up there Makai and Dallas were looking at a map of the property. On one side it said Mauka and the other said Makai. Makai pointed to his name and recognized it!

img_3772.jpgWe were walking back to our room and I wasn’t really paying attention, but Dallas led us out onto a lawn where they were playing Toy Story. Everyone who came got a woven mat to sit on. Great night to sit on the lawn outside and watch a movie!

When we got back to our room, we put a ton of pillows from around the villa onto the king bed and then put Makai in the middle. We’d learned on this trip that he thrashes around in his sleep, so we were trying to avoid him falling off the bed. Dallas went to sleep in the suite that Josh and the girls had been in. My plan was to join him, but when I went to check on Makai a while later, most of the pillows were kicked off and he was laying right on the edge! So I decided to sleep in the king with Makai. He totally hogged the bed all night and laid so close to me that I was teetering off the edge. Every time I moved him over and fell back asleep, the same thing happened!