Hawaii - Day 1
Wednesday, March 2
Our flight out was scheduled for 9:50 a.m. Joe's parents were driving us to the airport, and I had to argue a bit with them to convince them that we really wanted them to pick us up from our house at 7:45. They like to get to the airport at the last minute, I guess. We all scrambled out of bed at 6, and I had just enough time to get Julie fed, eat a bite myself, get us all washed and dressed and finish packing before the in-laws arrived. Thankfully, they were on time and once we got the car seat installed and everyone and everything loaded in the car, we left the house at 8. We had just the right amount of time to check the bags, clear security, pack up our winter coats, make it to the gate and get a tag for the stroller before they started boarding.
The flights went so much better than I had expected! We travelled with Julie as a lap child, which meant that we hadn't bought a seat for her. Luckily, on every flight we were on except the very last on the way home the person sitting next to us managed to find an empty seat somewhere else, allowing us a row to ourselves. Julie behaved so well I could hardly believe she was my kid. Our first flight was from Minneapolis to Denver, and was delayed for about an hour on the runway because of some electrical problem involving resetting of fuses.
We started to worry that we'd miss our connecting flight from Denver to Honolulu, but made it with enough time to spare for me to change a diaper in the airport. We got both lunch and a late-afternoon snack on the second flight, and those events took up some time along with an hour's nap plus a bunch more drinks, snacks, songs, books, stickers and saying Hi to our fellow travelers about a million times. When we arrived in Honolulu without a single meltdown in over 12 hours of travel, I couldn't believe it. I have to give Joe huge credit for doing his share of the work. We really acted as a team so that we each got a little bit of a break when we needed it and Julie got all the attention that she needed. I'm so glad I over-packed the snacks and activities. There were two backpacks worth of stuff just to keep her occupied and it was worth it! I have to give mad props to Brenda our ECFE teacher who recommended flap books like this one. They kept Julie occupied for hours.
When we arrived, there was a greeter with leis ready to lead us to our transport bus. He even took our picture:
Although Julie had had enough sitting still by the time we reached the hotel, I managed to keep her under control with the 101st round of "The Wheels on the Bus". We got checked in, changed clothes in the room, and went for a sunset walk on the beach. It was a bit shocking to go from 7 degree weather at home to 75 degrees and a beach, but it was wonderful!
We wandered around Waikiki for a bit looking for something to eat, but since we had had a late snack on the plane, neither of us were starving and we didn't see anything that looked all that great. We ended up going back to the hotel, feeding Julie snacks from our bags and ordering a pizza while I unpacked the bags. By the time we got her to sleep, Joe and I were pretty zonked ourselves and we all went to bed almost at the same time - 9 p.m. local time, 1 a.m. Minneapolis time.
Our flight out was scheduled for 9:50 a.m. Joe's parents were driving us to the airport, and I had to argue a bit with them to convince them that we really wanted them to pick us up from our house at 7:45. They like to get to the airport at the last minute, I guess. We all scrambled out of bed at 6, and I had just enough time to get Julie fed, eat a bite myself, get us all washed and dressed and finish packing before the in-laws arrived. Thankfully, they were on time and once we got the car seat installed and everyone and everything loaded in the car, we left the house at 8. We had just the right amount of time to check the bags, clear security, pack up our winter coats, make it to the gate and get a tag for the stroller before they started boarding.
The flights went so much better than I had expected! We travelled with Julie as a lap child, which meant that we hadn't bought a seat for her. Luckily, on every flight we were on except the very last on the way home the person sitting next to us managed to find an empty seat somewhere else, allowing us a row to ourselves. Julie behaved so well I could hardly believe she was my kid. Our first flight was from Minneapolis to Denver, and was delayed for about an hour on the runway because of some electrical problem involving resetting of fuses.
We started to worry that we'd miss our connecting flight from Denver to Honolulu, but made it with enough time to spare for me to change a diaper in the airport. We got both lunch and a late-afternoon snack on the second flight, and those events took up some time along with an hour's nap plus a bunch more drinks, snacks, songs, books, stickers and saying Hi to our fellow travelers about a million times. When we arrived in Honolulu without a single meltdown in over 12 hours of travel, I couldn't believe it. I have to give Joe huge credit for doing his share of the work. We really acted as a team so that we each got a little bit of a break when we needed it and Julie got all the attention that she needed. I'm so glad I over-packed the snacks and activities. There were two backpacks worth of stuff just to keep her occupied and it was worth it! I have to give mad props to Brenda our ECFE teacher who recommended flap books like this one. They kept Julie occupied for hours.
When we arrived, there was a greeter with leis ready to lead us to our transport bus. He even took our picture:
Although Julie had had enough sitting still by the time we reached the hotel, I managed to keep her under control with the 101st round of "The Wheels on the Bus". We got checked in, changed clothes in the room, and went for a sunset walk on the beach. It was a bit shocking to go from 7 degree weather at home to 75 degrees and a beach, but it was wonderful!
We wandered around Waikiki for a bit looking for something to eat, but since we had had a late snack on the plane, neither of us were starving and we didn't see anything that looked all that great. We ended up going back to the hotel, feeding Julie snacks from our bags and ordering a pizza while I unpacked the bags. By the time we got her to sleep, Joe and I were pretty zonked ourselves and we all went to bed almost at the same time - 9 p.m. local time, 1 a.m. Minneapolis time.
posted by Shelly Kang at 1:11 PM
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