Kevin, Heather & Dakota: Hawaii, Day 2...

Day two started very early for mommy and daddy!! We both woke up at 3:00am, which is actually 6:00am back home. We layed there for about a 1/2 hour, but eventually fell back asleep. I thought for sure Dakota would be waking up around 4 or 5am, but she actually slept in til 6:45am. Not bad considering the time difference!!

We ate breakfast in our room, which consisted of cereal and yogurt. Of course, we forgot spoons, so Dakota and I went to the cafe downstairs and "borrowed" some plasticware...

The "borrowed" spoons. Her cute hawaiian PJs came from Grandma Debbie!

Dakota and Daddy hanging out on the Lanai...

Having breakfast on the lanai...

Ready to head to the pool!!

By 8:00am, the four of us were in our bathing suits and ready for some pool time!! Grandpa rented us a cabana, since we knew we'd be at the pool all day. It was so nice to have a lot of shade, especially since they didn't have any other umbrellas out that day. The cabana rental came with bottled water, a fruit plate and frozen grapes. It was nice considering the price!

She was definitely ready to go in!!

So, we pretty much swam around all day. We'd come back to the cabana here and there to lather up our pasty skin and just lounge around. We had our first meal out at the pool. I got their famous seared ahi sandwich, which I had been craving since 2005. Kevin got their nachos and grandpa got the same thing I did. Dakota had a sample of everything, but ultimately went for daddy's nachos. Great for me though! lol.

Just lounging around...

Enjoying another shaved ice...

Dakota helping Daddy apply some MUCH needed sunscreen! lol

Daddy showing his appreciation!!!

Dakota was always so excited to go down the waterslides and started figuring out that every time we got to a certain part of the big pool, we were heading towards the slides. This was also the first day she tried one of the slides by herself. I was all for it, since I knew she could handle it. Grandpa was on board too. It was dad that was a little worried. She did great and had the biggest grin on her face after such a huge accomplishment.

We also had a great time floating around the winding river, which had a pretty strong current! Dakota enjoyed it, since she could just hang out in her floaty as the current propelled her down the river. We also took her through the waterfalls. I didn't think she would be a big fan of it, but she actually enjoyed it!! She'd point and squeal, "waterfall," every time she got near one. Inside every waterfall was a grotto, which was pretty neat! There was also a winding lagoon, which was located at the bottom of the last waterfall. There was also this carved statue set in stone that you passed in the lagoon. It looked like a dragon and everytime we passed by it, Dakota just had to give it a kiss.

We had so much fun being propelled through the winding river by the current...

Dakota having fun with Grandpa...

Splashing her way through the lagoon...

Grandpa loved taking her through the waterfalls...

Rapids slide...

More waterfall fun...

Can you tell how much we liked the pool??

After all the fun we had in the pool, Dakota was insistent on walking around the pool to check everything out. She literally grabbed my hand and started pulling me to walk with her. She got a kick out of walking over all of the bridges, which she just had to do by herself. If I attempted to carry her, she would say "down, walk." She also liked walking up the dark cave, which takes you up to the connecting pools and series of waterslides.

Walking around the pool, checking out the scenery...

We tried warming Dakota up to the baby beach and ocean. Still wasn't having much of it, but we were determined to get our little water lover to at least tolerate the sand. On this day, the best we could get her to do was walk on the grass "near" the beach. LOL. Baby steps, right? Anyway, she loved being by the beach and would stare out at the ocean to watch all that was going on. I got her to sit on my lap while I sat in the sand, but she only lasted about 5 minutes. Again, it was my attempt at warming her up to it. Later on, you'll see my attempts actually paid off!

I just love this picture!

Pruned feet = LOTS of fun in the water!

Dakota eventually zonked out under the cabana and slept for almost 2 hours. Grandpa watched her during that time so Kevin and I could get ready for dinner. Once Dakota woke up, we all headed down to the Humuhumunukunukukuapua restaurant. Rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?? lol. It's such a nice restaurant and it's set in these bungalows that sit above a large pond. We got a seat right on the water, which was perfect for Dakota. She got to stare down at the fish and feed them cheerios with Grandpa. Dinner was just awesome. Kevin and I got the Mahi Mahi, and Grandpa got the salmon.

Ready for dinner in her Hawaiian dress!