Liliuokalani saved her culture with music

On our second day of Princess Week, we learned about Princess (and then Queen) Lydia Liliuokalani. The book we read was a long one, and we had several other plans for the day, so I read it to the girls the night before. Liliuokalani was the last queen of Hawaii, and her legacy was the preservation of her culture through music. She wrote Aloha Oe, as well as many other Hawaiian songs, so we spent our day learning about Hawaiian culture.

First thing in the morning, we prepared a Hawaiian treat for later. I found this at World Market, and I figured we'd try it out! Basically it's a coconut jiggly gelatin snack. Yummy.

While it set up in the fridge, we went to the gym and then came back home for a swimming and lunch playdate... during which it rained! So much for island-style fun! After our friends left, I made the girls some slushies with pineapple and watermelon... and we opened up a coconut, which they did not like, so I drank it all.

While sipping her slushie, Ellie colored a flipflop matching game. We are like Hawaiians in our house, because we never wear shoes indoors. When Paul and I went on our honeymoon to Hawaii, we bought a little tile that hangs in our entryway with a picture of shoes that says "Please take off your shoes, but no leaving with better ones! Mahalo."

All day, we listened to Hawaiian music on Pandora (Aloha Oe channel), then I showed the girls some Hula dance videos on YouTube to inspire them to do their own. 

We made foam flower leis, flower hair clips, and grass skirts with crepe paper.

Then the girls did their own little hula dances and let me take their pictures.

I even got a little video of Katie. She was so focused on her moves.

We ended the day with a dinner of coconut shrimp and fish sticks to give us a little island flavor. This day wasn't as activity-filled as Monday since we had other plans too, and I didn't take a lot of pictures, but it was still a fun one. Plus the rain did not help to put us in the proper island mood!

I am all about being flexible with these themes... so if it's not working, we have places to go, or it's not fun, we add, subtract, and modify!