Pengi

Our Hawaiian vacation is almost over.   I type this as I sit in the Maui airport, waiting to board an overnight flight home.  We had a very lovely time.   We saw some amazing things (for those of us with sight) and experienced just as many things with our other senses.

We thanked Nana and Papa today over lunch as we reflected back over the week.   We went to the top of the island when we went up on the volcano.   We went to the bottom of the island when we went on the submarine dive.   We went all around the island in the car, visiting cities, sights and beaches.   And we went above the island, taking a helicopter ride up and over the island yesterday.

We took pictures on our phones, but we took more than we would have normally for one unexpected reason—Pengi.   Pengi is Juliette’s “Travel Buddy”.   Her fourth grade class was tasked with picking something to have travel around with friends and family, taking pictures along the way.   When we first committed to taking pictures with Pengi I thought it was going to be a lot of work, and a commitment I did’t really want to commit to.

But we’d said we’d do it and we’d do our best.   My husband started out the trip by getting Pengi “wings” with American Airline and documenting the flights there with several great shots.   From there it sort of snowballed.   Everyone wanted to get in on the Pengi photos.  He went everywhere with us.  

My husband created a shared pictures folder on iCloud with my best friend (Juliette’s mother).   We would upload photos a few times every day or whenever Pengi went somewhere with us.  I got texts from Eleanor in the middle of the week saying how her family was loving getting picture updates from Pengi.  

We called last night and talked to everyone about Pengi and how the vacation had been going.   Eleanor got on the phone and said she couldn’t believe she was actually saying this, but she has been jealous of a stuffed penguin this week as she’s looked at the pictures with her girls.  

I told Juliette we had to thank her for letting us borrow Pengi.  At first I felt like it was a big commitment to remember Pengi and take pictures with him.   But it was the other way around—Pengi turned out to make us all more excited about taking pictures.   The children wanted to be in pictures with Pengi, they didn’t complain about taking pictures and they actually smiled when we took pictures.  

The adults all had fun finding different and interesting places to get Pengi in photos.   Nana’s favorite shot was Pengi at the ATM because he needed to withdraw cash for more adventures.   We’re all looking forward to telling Juliette and her family all about Pengi’s vacation too when we get home tomorrow.

You’re Not In Charge, You’re Responsible:  My son and daughter wanted to go downstairs and outside of the condo to play in the Hawaiian grounds around our building.   My daughter really wanted to go and have fun with her brother, even though she didn’t know the area and it could be hazardous to her without vision.   But she trusted her brother (and is tenacious in wanting to be independent).  I pulled my son over to the side and told him, “you’re not in charge of your sister, but you are responsible for keeping her safe.”  He nodded, understanding and agreeing.   They went down and played more than once like this over the past two days.   Once when I went somewhere with my daughter she showed me the wall they had climbed over and the bushes they had hidden behind with one of their games.   She got to do things with her brother she wouldn’t have done with an adult or another child that didn’t know her well.