Day 43: My name is Aunt Coral, and I'm here for the spoiling

Posted by: Guest Blogger - Aunt Coral (with editorial comments by Cris - denoted by *)

**"You want to sit on the couch and eat pop-tarts for breakfast while watching a show?...Sure...My name is Aunt Coral and I'm here for the spoiling."** I am little embarrassed to say that I may have to go home from this trip to Hawaii without a trip to the beach. But a day full of rain spoiled our beach plans, so we did the 2nd most fun thing tere is to do in Hawaii: go to the mall for what my adorable nieces call "shopping play"! I forgot how much fun it is to pack up a diaper bag, zippy cups, an extra change of clothes, car seats, a camera...oh, yeah... And 2 girls, and pack them in to the van for a trip to the mall!
The girls were so well-behaved, and promptly found the toy store!

The only way to get them out of the store, of course, was to buy them each a toy and promise a trip to cinnabon! So after a 'buy one, get one half off' deal scored a Belle and an Ariel doll, it was off to get some cinnamon bread loaded with cream cheese icing.

**"So you want to line up all the princess dolls on the floor and then pick out which want you want me to buy you?...Sure...My name is Aunt Coral and I'm here for the spoiling."**

My plan: buy 2 cinnabons- 1 for Juneau and Nova to share and 1 for me. What really happened- While I was still cutting Juneau's half, Nova had hers gone and was asking for more. So I gave her half of mine and began to eat my other half. By the time Nova had finished her 2nd half, Juneau decided she didn't want the last 4 bites of hers, so...Nova finished that, too!


Finally, loaded up on sugar and carbs, we arrived at the notorious 'play' portion, which is basically a glorified jungle gym with fake rocks and animals and waterfalls to play on. The girls had a great time for the next hour and a half running, climbing, and making new friends.










Juneau informed me that "I made up a new friend", and then introduced me to 'Sarah', who promptly informed me that her name was really 'Julianna'. Juneau, however, renamed her Sarah and continued to call her that. Then they made a game of pretending that Julianna-call-me-sarah's brother was a scary monster and running away from him, even though he appeared to be only about 18 months old and posed no real threat!




**"So you want to ride the carousel and have me actually put money in to make it go around since daddy just lets you sit on it without making it go?...Sure...My name is Aunt Coral and I'm here for the spoiling."**

Finally I convinced them we should head home, and was able to bribe them with a pop-pop once we got to the van.

These girls truly are amazing. They are so polite and caring and loving. I love their cute little babbling in the car with each other, and their hugs and kisses and 'I love you's. It reminds me of my 2 special little girls just a few short years ago
After a nap and a snack, we hung out with some of the grad students and played some foosball this evening. Cris and I found that our Ohio State tabletop foosball days didn't translate well to the full size version. We held our own, but were eliminated in the semi-finals. **Melanie in her natural state**
**The girls loved playing foosball with Jen**

**The girls were happy to find "Horton Hears a Who" on the TV**
**"Hey Jen, let's go sit on the couch together and I'll show you our wedding album"..."Ok!!"**
**The girls were wiped out when we got home but I let them stay up late and watch the end of "Horton Hears a Who".**
So tomorrow, it's back to the cold and snow of the Midwest, but there are 2 little girls and a little boy who are terribly excited to see their cousins, and 2 other little girls who are just as excited to be seen.

I know I am no substitute for your amazing Mommy, Juneau and Nova, but thank for sharing the past couple of day with me. You are amazing little girls, and your Mommy should be very proud of the awesome young ladies she is raising!