We woke our children up at 3:30 am and Cian wanted to crawl back into bed. Once the kids figured out we were going though they were wide awake. We got to the airport at 4:30am and had the loveliest ticket agent at Alaskan Airlines. She went above and beyond and I was very nervous and had 1 hour of sleep so this was a very good start. She got us seats together and managed to find a seat for Emily and so we could carry the car seat on the plane for her. Carrying the car seat is annoying and cumbersome but it is beyond worth it on the plane I can't even describe to you. Also, the Joovy caboose was a great purchase. Even though the manouverability isn't totally fantastic, both kids love being in it and therefore trips through the airport are a lot smoother. The first 2 hour flight to Seattle was heaven. The kids were good - they even slept for a bit. Other kids were crying which gave me both empathy for the other parents and tremendous relief it wasn't my kid.
The flight to Hawaii was awful. Keith had slept a bit on the first plane and the night before so he was better equipped to deal with a non-car seated Emily (the flight was totally full). She could not sit still and was hyper and crazy cause at this point she had been awake for several hours. She didn't really cry but wouldn't take a bottle or sleep. Major kudos need to go to Cian because he was amazing the entire flight. He did not make any noise and was, in general, completely awesome. He played with his toys and the iPad and was delightful. The cast of characters around us on this flight however was another difficulty. The people behind us were lovely but the woman sitting in front of Cian was a mean, old woman who I believe is the natural nemesis of children. She really had nothing to say about my kids since the little one wasn't screaming and just making our lives hell and Cian was awesome but her dislike of children in general was palpable; however, Keith felt nothing. We also had this little Fijian boy who sat across from us with an older female relative of some kind. The kids had played with him in the airport and then he was across from us on the plane. First of all, we're pretty sure that child was over 2 and not in a seat. She had told me he was 2 in the airport and then told the flight attendant he was over 2 and then changed her story that his 2nd birthday was a few weeks away. Secondly, I don't believe she brought ANYTHING for him on a 5.5 hour flight. They don't provide anything other than peanuts on that flight and I didn't see him with a snack, drink or toy the whole time. My children however had toys packed and he was forever coming to our row to try to take toys from my kids. My kids love to share so they of course would give him the toys. He then didn't want to give the toys back and the adult with him was asleep most of the flight and just yelled at him when she was awake. He also liked to sit in our row when one of us was up. It was not enjoyable and heartbreaking for that little kiddo.
We landed in Honolulu and took a shuttle to the car rental place. In total I think it took us 2 hours to get the rental car but we actually have a happy rental car story. When I finally got to the front of the line the guy helping me was super lovely. We had rented a mid-sized car and he actually gave us a Crown Vic which seemed better cause we have a lot of stuff. When I went to pick up the car from the garage Keith didn't have Cian and he had told us he had to go to the bathroom a few times so I guess he really had to go and the Thrifty's manager had taken him cause Keith was with our stuff and Emily and I was renting the car. I guess Cian had endeared himself to the Thrifty's manager because he helped me move out the Crown Vic to help us load up our stuff. Well, our well laid out system that we had organized in a mid-sized trunk at home did not work in the deep pit that is a Crown Vic trunk. This was apparent to the manager before we really loaded anything so he decided to upgrade us to a minivan for the same price. This now has endeared him to me for life. He was very concerned about us being comfortable. So he brought out this new Dodge Caravan that easily fits both the kids, all our stuff with plenty of room and the kids LOVED it. He also let me use his phone and gave me directions and was, in general, a lovely guy.
We drove up to the North Shore which is a gorgeous drive. The kids of course fell asleep immediately in the car (what's wrong with sleeping in a plane!) and Keith and I enjoyed the scenic drive. The condo is lovely - just what we need with lots of space. We got some groceries and got the #1 Fish Tacos on the North Shore which were outstanding. Emily and I also shared a Lilikoi smoothie which was very tasty. The kids were exhausted by 7pm and so were we but despite the flight it was a really lovely day.
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