Toothless Wonder

With as many activities as we have packed into this trip, one would think we've been running ourselves ragged. I really have to hand it to Mom & Dad for also including lots of water time. Nobody is obligated to participate in any of the activities if they don't want, and the flexibility has been a must to keep the kids happy and sane. This morning, after a little while down at the pool, Nathan started peering around at the bottom of the pool. He then informed Jennifer that he had lost his other bottom tooth! Naturally he was worried that without an actual tooth, there would be no visit from the Tooth Fairy. We assuring him that the Tooth Fairy makes exceptions for vacations and pools. Luckily, he accepted it without question. There's nothing like the faith of a child.

If there is one thing that has been somewhat neglected so far this trip, it's the beach. Our condos are literally on the beach. You can walk out the side door and be in the sand 10 seconds later. Unfortunately, the kids discovered very early in this trip that playing in the ocean mean accumulating vast amounts of sand in swimsuits, on arms, legs, faces, etc. Which in turn leads to an unpleasant hosing off courtesy of the beach shower, and subsequent hosing in the condo shower. All three of the boys have let us know that they much prefer the pool to the beach. So be it. It may not be for several more years, but I doubt this will be our last trip to paradise.


We dined on Hawaiian Haystacks and then moved on to the main event – Saturday Night Live! Each family was instructed to come up with one or more acts, preferably involving the entire family. I toyed with the idea of memorizing some of my favorite Brian Regan jokes and presenting them, but there just wasn't enough time to practice the delivery. Maybe next time. We decided to take several children's songs (Popcorn Popping, I've Been Working on the Railroad, and Three Blind Mice) and rewrite the lyrics. The boys had fun helping out and practicing every few days during the last couple of weeks before the trip. We even managed to work in a few actions as well. Amy's family did a fantastic rendition of Life is a Highway, and Mom and Dad gave an awesome Top 10 list. No guest host for our SNL, but plenty of laughs and a lot of fun.


All of the cousins had been promised a “slumber” party, or at least a movie night, and tonight was the night. The kids donned their pajamas and met at Amy and Scott's room for pictures, crafts, snacks, and movie time. Amy had some very cool construction paper fish to do, and both Nathan and Benjamin really got into it. The smallest kids only lasted the first half hour or so until they were whisked back to their own beds. Everyone was very well behaved, which means there's actually a possibility of doing this again!