OK, so I lied, sort-of. Just one more Hawaii post and then I swear I’m finished with the vacation posts… until our next trip anyway (which is just two months away, so stay tuned!).

However, this post isn’t about a beach or a favorite restaurant of ours. It’s about the random, relaxed fun that T had while on our recent trip. It’s about T’s various crews of “vacation friends.”

Water fight! T and a few of his “vacation friends” in the lagoon at the Hilton Waikoloa Village (Big Island, HI).

T with his “snorkeling friends” while on vacation earlier this month. This is a different set of “vacation friends” than the water fight crew.

T and another set of “vacation friends” down at the beach. He found these guys after another set had checked out of the hotel. I only wish making friends as an adult were this simple!

What are vacation friends, you ask? Well, they’re sort-of a mix between a summer fling but without the romantic aspect of it, and the camp buddies set but minus the guarantee that they’ll be there next year the same time you will. They are playmates for the week. They are the same set of kids who are always down at the pool and/or wherever it is kids hang out at the hotel. They are all BFFs for the week, behaving as if they’ve known one another for years, yet simultaneously they’re the types of friends that the typical outgoing, open-hearted five-year-old is capable of making – and saying goodbye to – on a day’s (or perhaps hour’s or few minutes’) notice because there will be another set of vacation friends checking in or showing up later that afternoon.

A common sight every day while on vacation: T and his “vacation friends” with C digging in the sand and building a sand castle of some sort together. I think this was the turtle. They also made a monorail, a superhero hideout, and some other creatures together over the span of several days.

T with his BFF “vacation friend,” N.

T with N building another sand structure of some sort.

T and N driving the boat at the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort.

One more photo of T and N driving the boat around the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort.

T had a few different sets of vacation friends during our recent week-long trip to the Big Island. However T definitely had one main partner-in-beach that he hung out with for several days in a row. The two boys would seek each other out at the same spot on the sand morning after morning and play for hours on end without a single incident. They got to build sand castles together during the day, and drive the boat around the resort together in the evenings. It was a vacation bro-mance at its best.

T and N just before saying goodbye to one another while on vacation. Yes, they are playing with a Smart Phone on the beach. Boys!

It really was amazing and so joyful to see such a one-on-one rapport develop between two kids in such a short amount of time. Witnessing the camaraderie between T and his vacation bro (I’ll call him N) really highlighted the innocence that is the age of five. Basically, the two boys met, played, and had fun together; from there, a friendship was born. And in about as much time as it lasted (not much), the friendship ended. Very much like a Hawaiian rainbow, vacation friends are a fleeting find, fun while they last(ed)… yet one of the most memorable parts of the trip for all of us.

Have your kids made “vacation friends” during your travels or weekend getaways, RMT’ers?