Today’s Hoda Kotb Celebrates Spending ‘Beautiful Days’ With Daughters Haley and Hope on Vacation

Hoda Kotb traded in the New York City cold for a spring break at the beach.

While taking time away from the Today show, Kotb, 59, shared a glimpse of her tropical vacation with daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 4. “Beautiful days … magical nights ??????,” the TV personality captioned an Instagram slideshow on Thursday, March 21.

Kotb’s carousel began with a sweet snap of herself and her sister, Hala, smiling at the camera while holding Haley and Hope on their laps. In addition to relaxing on a swinging sofa, Kotb and her daughters spent their quality time lighting sparklers and running up and down the beach.

“Run to me!” Kotb shouted at her girls in an Instagram clip, after which Hope warned her to avoid stepping on “pricklies” on the sand. The video ends with Hope running back down the beach.

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Kotb previously shared insight into her family getaway on Monday, March 18, captioning an Instagram post of a beach sunset with a single red heart.

Kotb is one of several Today hosts who has been absent from recent episodes. Saturday Today coanchor Laura Jarrett has stepped in to replace Kotb and Savannah Guthrie during the show’s first two hours, as well as Sheinelle Jones on the third hour of Today.

Jarett, 40, also filled in for Jenna Bush Hager on the Wednesday, March 20, episode of Today With Hoda and Jenna, which was prerecorded, before taking over for Dylan Dreyer on the show’s third hour on Thursday. (Dreyer and Bush Hager, both 42, returned for the Friday, March 22, broadcast.)

Kotb’s vacation absence comes one year after she took a break from the NBC morning show due to a “family health matter” in February 2023. Upon returning to the series one month later, Kotb explained she had been gone because Hope was in the ICU. (Kotb shares her kids with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman.)

“I’m so grateful she’s home … I was waiting for that day to come,” she shared in March 2023. “And we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy.”

Kotb subsequently took two more breaks from Today during her daughters’ spring break from school and to recover from a sickness.

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Earlier this month, Kotb opened up about Hope’s health scare in an interview with People, detailing their “scary stretch” for the first time. “Any parent who’s been through a scary thing with their child understands. It’s like you just can’t believe that your child’s sick,” she continued. “You can’t believe that there’s nothing you can do. You can’t believe that no matter what you do, you can’t will it away or protect her, or all the things that we’re supposed to be doing as parents. And it’s a position I’ve never found myself in.”

Noting that Hope’s health has since “stabilized,” Kotb stated that she doesn’t want her daughter’s condition to define her. “It’s really tricky, because I don’t want Hope to get labeled,” she explained. “She’s a kid who is so vibrant, and most days everything is totally fine. I don’t want people to look at her differently.”

She went on to praise Hope’s strength, stating that she will “have the easiest adulthood because she’s had a tough go of it early on.”