Hawaii Here we Come

It had been a rough few weeks.
 

 'The Boy' came down with, wait for it...Scarlet Fever.  I know...I didn't know people actually got this anymore either.  Of course one of my kids would get it.  I was terrified that all of  'The Littles' would get it with only a couple of weeks before our vacation.  Thankfully, they didn't. 

Then, with less than two weeks before we left for paradise, we all got the stomach flu.  It was awful!  'The Hubs' was out of town (of course) and 'The Littles' and I got hammered.  I feel like I should get the highest badge of Mommy honor for that one.

'Munchkin' had it the worst.  She slept for nearly 48 hours straight. Broke my heart.

 

Once we had all recovered, it was crunch time.  So little time, so much to do.

 'Mitser' go his first haircut.  He hated it and cried the entire time. Now he looks like such a big boy.  I can't stand it!

'Munchkin' got some new shoes.

She accompanied me on a last minute trip to the mall.

The night before we left, 'The Hubs' and I stayed up packing until after midnight.

I managed to get three whole hours of sleep.  I was tossing and turning with worry and anticipation.

The day that we had been planning for nine months finally came.  We made it to the airport right on schedule and the wonderful people of Hawaiian Airlines helped me and 'The Littles' up to the check-in counter while 'The Hubs' parked the car.

These guys were so excited and on their very best behavior.

 

   We had a little bit of a rough time boarding the plane.  'The Boy' had an absolute meltdown.  He panicked and screamed that he was scared and didn't want to go on the plane.  For a minute, I didn't think we were going to be able to go. 
   Again, Hawaiian airlines to the rescue.  They helped 'The Hubs' with the other two while I tried to calm 'The Boy' down.  I eventually had to pick him up and carry him to his seat.  A super nice flight attendant came over and engaged him in some guy talk and he finally calmed down.

Take off was a breeze.  'The Boy' squeezed the heck out of my hand and as soon as the plane leveled off he said, "Mom, this is awesome." 

'Mister' took a snooze for the first hour.

 

'Munchkin' was totally entertained by the Ipad and movies on the laptop.  She didn't get out of her seat for the entire 5 and a half hours.

 

'The Boy' listened to airline music and drew, did some homework, watched a movie, colored, played with a sticker book.  It was more difficult to keep him from being bored but I was very well prepared.

 

Such good 'Littles'.

'Mister' was so good but hard to keep entertained.  He just wanted to move so badly.  We walked him up and down the aisles over and over.  He made so many friends on the flight.  He took a second nap with 'The Hubs' just before we landed.

When we landed, we were in paradise.  Even in the terminal of the airport.  From there on, everything was easy...getting our bags and rental car.  I want to remember that for the next time I plan a trip.  This was not as difficult as I thought it would be at all.

We drove about 40 minutes from Honolulu to our resort in Ko'Olina.  'The Hubs' had some Starbucks for the drive, all three of 'The Littles' napped and we just enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
 

Entering Ko'Olina.

The view from our balcony.

My parents had stayed the week before in Maui and were meeting us in Oahu but had a later flight.  They checked in a few hours later and were only a few rooms away.  We all went out for a quick dinner.  'The Hubs' took 'The Littles' back to the resort and I went grocery shopping with my parents. 

By the time I got back to the resort and got in bed it was 11 o'clock Hawaii time.  I was so beat.  Still, just so happy to finally be in paradise.