Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Leis & Luaus

Leis and Luaus
The Gosselins engage in some traditional Hawaiian activities, including hula dancing and a great luau.

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I watch this episode with envy because I *so* want to be in Hawaii right now.

As the family arrives in Hawaii, dancers greet them with leis. Of course we couldn't really see how great the kids found it, because no one could hear over Kate's screeching. I was listening in my headphones and it hurt my ear!

When they arrived at the Grand Wailea, we realize how incredibly beautiful Hawaii is and how crazy lucky they are. The gardens are perfectly manicured and everything is so green and lush. I could probably be convinced to stare for hours on end. Although Kate declares that it took her a day to get used to it because it was "over stimulating" to her. How is a free trip to Hawaii over stimulating to you?

The family's private suite was huge and amazing. Definitely something that I will never be able to afford. Ever. The hotel treated them like royalty and even left them these adorable gift baskets for each of the kids.

The resort is huge and has multiple pools for them to play in. And to make it even more cool is that all of the pools are connected by waterslides. This has to be so beautiful. Oh, how I want to go.

Everyone heads to the pool for some swimming. Jon took Cara and Mady on these huge waterslides. The girls looked like they were having fun with their dad and not having to compete for attention with the little kids. Kate and Jenny stayed in the pool with the other kids.

And one of the cutest things happened...Leah started swimming by herself! They let her take the water wings off and she would swim underwater for a few seconds. It was super refreshing (and out of character) to see Kate interact with her kids. Granted, it's gotta be hard to do it when you have 7 other ones wanting your attention. But I enjoyed her having that time with Leah, who was so proud of herself! Of course, Hannah, who always wants to have Kate's attention, didn't seem thrilled that she was devoting so much time to Leah, but I'm glad that Kate watched her and took the time to be one on one with one of the kids. Now we'll just have to work on her hanging out with one of the boys...

Jon took the girls to the beach to try snorkeling. The water looked kind of rough for them, but they tried it anyway. Mady wasn't a huge fan of the salt water, but that's okay. Although I don't know why Jon thought it would be okay to dump Mady on the beach and go back out with Cara. I know he would have had to leave one of the girls (and more than likely pay attention to the one in the water), what did he think Mady was going to be doing while the 2 of them frolicked in the water? Thankfully, Mady made some friends on the beach and waded around in the water.

The hotel did a cute program for the family. They gave the kids chef outfits and let them decorate cookies and stuff with their pastry chef. So cute. When the Norma, a chef, came up to get the family, the kids seemed to have fun meeting her. And cute Aaden was so polite and even shook her hand, saying "nice to meet you."

Cara and Mady got to make their own cookies, which were named for them! How awesome is that! Unfortunately, Mady wasn't behaving and they didn't allow her to come down and decorate. It's definitely sad that Mady's behavior is awful and it's so obvious she needs some sort of intervention. Whether it's her parents turning off the camera from her life or something else equally as loving, it's obvious she needs something more. But it was nice to see that when she was behaving badly, they didn't reward it with something fun. And thank goodness we didn't have to see that outburst. Because we definitely don't need to have her relive that one over and over again.

That night the family went down to the hotel restaurant and just ate and ate and ate. The food looked amazing and super delicious. They chowed down on lobster, crab, and other crazy expensive food. I did have to wonder why there weren't any other guests in the restaurant. Alexis got a flower put in her hair and it made her look adorable!

In the morning, the family split up. The girls went to make leis and learn how to hula, while the guys went to look for shirts for the wedding. Making leis looked super fun. Mady and Cara seemed to like it. One of the ladies that was teaching, weaved some flowers right into Alexis's hair. It looked beautiful. They should definitely consider doing all the girls' hair like that for the wedding.

The lei making was followed up with hula lessons. Mady was really the only one that did it for an extended period of time and she really seemed to take to it. She seemed so happy and relaxed. After the incident above, it was awesome to see her do something that she loved and made her happy. I think she's in for a little bit of heartache in her life, so when she finds something she's good at and likes, I think she should go for it.

Jon took the boys on a treasure hunt around the hotel. They all seemed to have fun digging around for stuff. One of the saddest things was that Joel found a palm and pretended it was his sound boom. It's kind of cute that he has such an active imagination. But how many hours a day does someone follow him around with a sound boom?

After playing in the ocean, the guys headed to find some shirts for the wedding. Why they didn't get outfits *before* they left home, no one knows. Good thing he found some, just in the nick of time!

Later in the evening, everyone went to a luau. The food looked awesome - I love pig roasts and all the stuff that comes with them! Although, was the food organic? Kate only feeds the family *organic* food.

As with all luaus, there was dancing and entertainment. The best part of the night was the group hula where Mady was invited up to participate with everyone else. She did an awesome job! Although having Hannah scream Mady's name through the entire thing was annoying. Kate probably should have said something about that. The night ended with fire throwers who mesmerized the kids.

Of course no Gosselin trip would be complete without a catamaran ride out in the ocean to go snorkeling to see some sea turtles. As a person that *loves* the water and would be on a boat all day and night if allowed, this might have been the most jealous I have ever been of this family. Not that I want to have cameras in my face 24/7, but because this experience is once in a lifetime and I hope they really loved it. My boyfriend and I are hoping to go Hawaii on our honeymoon one day - and I know that a trip like this is probably out of our budget. Especially if we'd like to eat while on vacation! hehe

The boat captain was super awesome. He was so friendly and definitely interacted well with all the kids. He let Collin drive the boat for awhile, too! When they finally got to their destination, they put life jackets on all the kids and sent them off into the ocean. Each of the kids got these little boogey boards with holes in them so that you could look and watch the fish underneath. I thought that was awesome for kids. Then they don't have to worry about snorkels and breathing in the salt water.

Kate wasn't sure if she wanted to go in. She says she wasn't projecting her fear onto the kids, but Mady seemed kind of leery too. Kids definitely know what parents are feeling. But in the end, Kate decided that she would in fact go in the water. She ended up loving it and convinced Mady to get in, too. Oh, how I wish I could do that one day. Alexis LOVED it, too.

The family ended the day by having the captain drive around for 2 more hours (yes *2* more) so they could lay around on the catamaran and relax. On most things I go on, I would love to spend a few more hours aboard...but it usually costs too much. Oh right, this was free. Silly me.

SassySarah's Review: This family really gets to do a lot of great stuff and have someone else pay for it. Normally, I'd be fed up with them by now, but since I thoroughly enjoyed watching Mady take to hula dancing and viewing the scenery...I give it one thumb up.