Hyatt Family Blog

At the Children's Museum of Manhattan

A few weeks ago, we went to the Children's Museum of Manhattan for almost the whole day. The kids had a lot of fun, and got to see every exhibit. One of the things they enjoyed most this time was to hide behind a curtain hanging in one of the exhibits.

Paradise again!

Art & I recently went back to one of our favorite spots...Hawaii. We had promised ourselves that we would come back to this beautiful area after we went there on our honeymoon and 38 years later...we finally made it! We met our travelling buddies, Carole and Lenny, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Wakiki for a few wonderful relaxing days before boading the NCL Cruiseship, "The Pride Of America." Although the service onboard was horrendous, we still managed to have a wonderful time seeing the islands again and just being away together.


The hotel was a resort with many restaurants, shops, and had flamingos, penquins, swans right by the pool and beach area. At night they had a parade and show with dancers and singers. As usual, I had to get my pictures of Carole and Lenny "relaxing".

After spending 3 glorious days at the resort, we boarded the ship. Here are some shipboard scenes.

As on every ship, I was freezing and had to resort to using a napkin at dinner to keep me warm!

Every day we were in a different island and each one was distinctively beautiful. We saw the different volcanoes, craters, and enjoyed shopping, sleeping on the bus, and visiting all the tourist spots, especially the places where many Hollywood movies and TV shows were filmed.
Here are scenes from Hilo...

Here is food and offerings to the God Pele left at the Halema'uma'u crater.

Maui was one of our favorite islands. We spent the first day at the Haleakala Crater, which was very different that the crater in Hilo.
On the second day in Maui, we went to Lahaina, where we saw the largest banyon tree, various shops, and then went to Whaler's Village. After an exhausting day, we couldn't resist a little nap!

Next stop, Kona...

Kauai was one of our favorite islands. We went on a tour of all the spots that have been in the movies and TV. Included were Gilligan's Island, South Pacific, Elvis movies, Jurasic Park, and many, many more.

On our last day, we went back to Oahu and took a tour of the North Beach, which is famous place for surfing. We also went to the Japanese Memorial and the Dole Pineapple Factory. Then back to the airport for the long trek home. It was a fabulous trip and we hope to go back someday...maybe with our kids and grandkids and stay at the Hawaiian Hilton Village again.

Belated Hannukah Entry

Last month we celebrated Hannukah with our immediate family, and both sets of grandparents. It was a very fun week and the kids got tons of great gifts.

Here they are showing off some things from mom and dad. Jordan's new electric guitar made him very excited!

We had several Hannukah meals with the Chervitz side. Jordan was so excited to give Grandma Bevie the special Menorah he had painted.

The Hyatts just got back from a cruise to Hawaii on the last night of Hannukah and had us over for dinner and gifts. In addition to some great toys, they also got some special things from the islands.

The kids had such a great time, they're already asking "When will it be Hannukah again?"!

S'mores

Last weekend, for the first time ever, we made s'mores. The kids didn't quite know what to expect, but they enjoyed it. I'm not exactly sure I made them right. I just toasted the marshmallows over my gas burner, and put them on the chocolate. No melting of the chocolate was done. I think maybe if the chocolate was a little melted, it would be been an even bigger hit.

Marianne Goes to Oprah!

For years, I have actively been trying to get tickets to see my idol, Oprah Winfrey tape her show in Chicago. It is next to impossible to get tickets. So imagine my surprise when I got a call last Tuesday afternoon asking if I could grab some friends and make it to Chicago by 7:00am Thursday morning. Of course we all made it happen and had a great time. I took my mom and my friends Mindy, Gayle and Tracy. We even found time to have dinner with my cousin Alan. Although the topic of the show changed from Matthew McConnahey (he canceled at the last minute - just my luck!), to "Burning Questions for Oprah" to what the show ended up as - "Breakfast with Oprah" with surprise guest Mary J. Blige, it was still an amazing experience! There are no pictures inside the studio because they confiscated my camera. : (

At the American Museum of Natural History

Greta, the kids and myself all met my friend Adam at the American Museum of Natural History. It's been many months since we last went, and Marin and Annelie enjoyed it more than ever. Annelie especially liked the life-size Polar Bear exhibit in the famous Blue Whale room. She wanted the Polar Bear to come back home with us and sleep in her bed. There was also a carved fat dog from the Americas exhibit that she couldn't get enough of. Marin liked everything, and was especially excited about some of the marine life, like an octopus and a trumpetfish.