Today is Thursday, and we just spent the day at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island.

A short walk from the room, there are flamingoes which the girls and I have enjoyed watching.  They are a breed which is endangered, so it's cool to be able to see them.  They are literally so close that we can see the detail on their feathers.  A hedge is the only divider between us and the flamingoes.

The art here is incredible.  The Hilton Waikoloa Village has an art collection valued at more than $7 million, and it has over 1,800 objects from Asian, Western, and Oceanic cultures. These are the cultures whose diverse beliefs and traditions have mixed and mingled to make Hawaii so unique.

The morning was spent in the kiddie pool area - going up and down the water slide.  The girls had SO much fun. 

After doing that, we headed to the lagoon.  It's a four-acre ocean-fed lagoon that has tropical fish and green sea turtles.  It's calmer than the ocean, so Sophia and I tried snorkeling.  She liked snorkeling very close to the shore (she's 5 1/2, so the fact that she even tried this was great!).  I went out a bit into the lagoon and saw some beautiful fish.  At first it's a bit unnerving to see them so close to you...some are rather big fish!

Olivia enjoyed playing in the sand and feeling the sand and water go through her hands.