With everyone’s busy schedules
and living so far apart, the one thing we truly treasure are our annual
Horiuchi family summer vacations. This
summer (end of Aug. 2013), we decided to go back to Aruba, but mixing it up and trying a new
resort this time.
We selected the all-inclusive
Aruba Divi Resort where we had adjoining rooms which allows us to spend all our
time together. I particularly enjoyed
Kai reading to me every night. It was actually quite nostalgic as the book he
read was Encyclopedia Brown, a boy detective who uses his keen observation
skills to solve crimes, a book series I loved to read when I was his age.
Our rooms at the Aruba Divi All-Inclusive Resort:
Here are the sophisticated sand castles that Kai and Tyler built. Check out the tunnels, the bridges, the moats and barriers to protect the waves from crashing in and destroying the castles.
Papa relaxing in the hammock outside our hotel room.
As Kai’s been taking swimming
lessons for many years now and has grown to become a strong swimmer, we thought
he might enjoy learning to snorkel. We
practiced in the pool and then near our hotel.
When we went to “Palm Island” where they have a snorkeling area with
lots of fish, Kai snorkeled and saw quite a lot of different fish.
Here's video from Kai's first snorkeling experience:
Here's what Kai saw snorkeling:
I was thrilled he had such a
positive experience as I’m hoping that when he turns 12 (the youngest age to start
scuba diving) he’ll get certified and become my scuba diving buddy!
While Aruba Divi Resort has a
great pool and easy access to a beautiful white-sandy beach, for some variety
we went twice to Palm Island which is not only where Kai snorkeled, but also
where both Kai and Tyler played in the water park. It’s not a huge water park, as it had only 6
slides, so I was amazed that Kai and Tyler didn’t get the least bored. They
went up and down the slides, crying out “red slide” or “dark blue slide” to
indicate which slide they were next going down on, so many times!
Mom and I at the water park on Palm Island.
In between snorkeling and water slides, Kai and Tyler got tattoos! Kai selected the fish and Tyler chose the dolphin. Very, very cool!
Tomu and Masa on a Banana Boat ride at Palm Island:
Our last evening we had a special dinner (I miss a decent California Zinfandel) and Papa played his shakuhachi for us.
Everyone enjoyed a safe vacation, with the minor exception of Kai "Mr. Monkey" jumping on the hotel bed and hurting himself (see injury below). It's worth mentioning that his parents told him not to jump on the bed and that this is not Kai's first "run in" with a hotel bed. (Note: This is where I take advantage of my license as his Auntie to share an "I remember when" story) This reminds me of when we were on vacation in Houston, Texas before Tyler was born and Kai hurt himself from falling between two beds he was jumping between in the hotel room. He still has the scar, it's near the outside of his (left?) eye.
As the main purpose of the
vacation was to spend time with family, I just did a two-tank dive one
morning.
At the end of the second dive, we saw a 2 meter shark resting under the rocks. Otherwise, not a lot of action.
Photo collage from the dives: