Aloha Hawaii

We have been soooooo looking forward to our family trip to Hawaii.  Damien and I haven't been back since our honeymoon in 1999 so we were so incredibly excited to return to such a beautiful paradise and be able to show it to the kids!  The kids have been begging to go to Hawaii for years.  Literally, years.  They were so excited when we finally broke the news that FINALLY, they were going to Honolulu, Hawaii!

When Damien left his job back in December, he had qualified for his company's Club Trip.  Because he wasn't going to be there when they took a trip, they gave him a voucher to a travel agency for the price of the Club trip.  This was a huge financial boost for us as six round trip flights to Hawaii, five nights in a hotel with two separate but connected rooms (we don't fit in one anymore), food, activities, and miscellaneous spending would have amounted to a lot!    Turns out, the voucher was able to cover our flights and most of the hotel stay.  Thank you CDC Software!

We planned to stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village because it seemed to have everything that we could ever want in a hotel in Hawaii.  Beautiful beach front, a shallow lagoon, a pool with water slides, a great luau, perfect location in town, yummy restaurants, a coffee shop, and great activities (paddle boarding, surfing, snorkeling, paddle boats).  We chose Honolulu because we felt that the kids would get the best overall feel of Hawaii there.  There is the International Marketplace, Hanauma Bay, both big city and the beach.

We were all packed and ready to go this morning.  The kids were giddy with anticipation.  We flew with Alaska Airlines and were able to get two rows, one in front of the other.  We put Michael, Claire and Matthew in the row behind us while Damien and I figured we should tag team Emily.  She made herself comfortable in the seat between us and was in heaven.  So much attention for her to receive!  We purchased video/movie devices for the kids which was WELL worth the money.  They could watch movies and play video games at their leisure.  We originally purchased one for Emily but Damien and I were able to watch an entire movie while she napped so it was a WIN for us!

When we landed- the kids couldn't believe how different the air felt.  The sky was blue, the temperature warm, and the air was sweet from all the tropical flowers.  Ahhhhh.  This was going to be a wonderful trip.  I could just feel it!

Damien had a little trick up his sleeve.  I didn't know it, but he hired a stretch limousine to take us from the airport to the hotel.  The kids loved the surprise but loved the beautiful leis that the driver gave us even more.  After a short drive, we arrived at the hotel.  

What a gorgeous hotel.  Auntie Lani (who vacationed with her family at this hotel a month earlier) told Emily about the flamingos that lived there.  Since Emily found out about the flamingos, she has told everyone that she was going to see flamingos, even before she told them we were going to Hawaii!  You can only imagine the sheer bliss that completely took Emily over when she saw the flamingos perched right near us.  She approached them carefully, looked at me with tears in her eyes (no joke) and said, "My flamingos."  It was a precious moment and one that I will never forget.

We checked into the hotel, got up to our rooms on the 24th floor, enjoyed the stunning view, watched the kids feel cool because they had their own adjoining room, and breathed a deep breath.  We made it to the island paradise of Hawaii.  Let the vacation begin!