Disney Aulani Fun

We recently checked Hawaii off of Harper’s list.

She has now been to 37 of the 50 states.

We got up at 2:00 am to catch an early flight.

After a stop in Las Vegas, we finally made it to the Disney Aulani Resort on Oahu.

There was so much to do!

We went to the Shaka Shaka pool party.

There were lots of characters and music and dancing.

We saw lots of characters each day.

Harper didn’t want her picture taken with most of them, but agreed to meet Moana.

We played giant Connect Four

and Harper won most of the time!

We checked out the Rainbow Reef, but didn’t swim there because the water was extremely cold.  It was fun to see all the colorful fish.

We completed a scavenger hunt around the resort.

It was very interactive and 

the iPad gave us all the clues.

We watched the hula dancers

and took a Disney animation drawing class.

We took the boogie boards out 

and did some snorkeling.

There weren’t many fish in the protected lagoon.

We ate shave ice (it isn’t called shaved ice in Hawaii)

and Harper made sure we didn’t waste any of it.

She loved the Dole Whip too!

At the end of the day, there was fireside storytelling.

Easter 2025

We had lots of fun this Easter!

We started with a lighted egg hunt.

We hid the eggs several times.

Harper even hid them so Ashley and I 

could compete to see who would find the most!

We decorated eggs

and they turned out great!

Harper loved her Easter basket!

It was a rainy day, so after church we played games

then baked Easter egg fruit cookies.

We had fun decorating them
and they were so tasty!

After church they gave out ice cream, but Harper is lactose free so we skipped it. Later that afternoon, we went to Bette Rae’s to try some new dairy free flavors. Mmmmm!

We had a wonderful Easter!

Mississippi Fun

On Saturday, we went to

Ocean Adventures Marine Park.

We laughed because we were the only car in the parking lot.  It reminded us of Wally World in National Lampoon’s Vacation movie.

For a little while, we had the place to ourselves.

We loved the stingrays

and the sea lion show!

They had the cutest puffer fish

and a scary polka dot eel.

There was so much to see and do,

 but meeting the dolphin was the best!

Harper was scared at first

but quickly realized how smart dolphins are.

She ended up loving this dolphin.  It looks like the dolphin loved her too!

We had so much fun at Ocean Adventures Marine Park

More Spring Break 2025

On Friday, we started our day at the

National World War II Museum.

We didn’t take a lot of pictures, but agreed 

this is the best museum we’ve ever been to.

We saw a 4D movie called Beyond All Boundaries that taught us a lot about the war and life in the 1940’s.  

We each got a dog tag and could 

follow our lives throughout the war.

After the museum, we wanted to try a Snoball.

At the first place we tried, we thought we might get knifed if we got out of the car. We left and started our drive to Gulfport, Louisiana. Once we felt like we were in the suburbs, we tried again.  The GPS took us on a 15 minute detour off the highway.  The second place was next to a pawn shop and liquor store and it had bars on the windows, so we skipped it too.  Eventually we saw a cute little pink building in Bay St. Louis.  We were so excited to finally get our treats and Ms. Mary’s Snoballs were delicious!

When we got to our hotel in Gulfport

 it was overcast, but we were excited 

that we could see the ocean from our room.

We decided to check out Banana’s Mini Golf.

Some holes went well.

Other holes not so much. 

Harper’s ball is somewhere in the plants 😁

On this hole, we had to hit the ball over a creek.

They have nets nearby,

 so I’m guessing Harper isn’t the first one to miss.

It was a beautiful and fun course.

Shaggy’s looked like the perfect place for dinner.

The views were great

and the shrimp tacos were pretty tasty too!

We highly recommend Shaggy’s in Biloxi!

New Orleans Day 1

For Spring Break 2025, Harper and I decided

 to check two more states off her list— 

Louisiana and Mississippi.

Today, we went to Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.

There was a huge swamp area.

We loved the macaws too!

We saw lots of animals, but Harper was

disappointed when we realized there were no zebras!

The flamingos were really cool though!

We had Po’ Boys at Johnny K’s for lunch.

It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

On the way back to the hotel, we drove past one of

Harper’s favorite stores and had to stop.

Later, we shopped, snacked, people watched and listened to live music in the French Quarter area.  The beignets at Cafe du Monde were so yummy!

For dinner, we checked out another Diners, Drive-ins and Dives place, Katie’s in Midtown.

We are having lots of fun in New Orleans.