Aloha {Part One}

Aloha.  We survived.

I agonized and agonized over two things in preparation for this trip.  The first was what to pack for our week-long stay.  I didn’t want to over-pack, but also knew we wouldn’t be able to do laundry and didn’t want to spend a fortune buying things once we arrived.  So, I packed everything but the kitchen sink in three bags.  One bag was for Ryan and me, one was for Cam and Zoey, and the other held the rest – beach towels, diapers, Cam’s puddle jumper and boxes of favorite snacks, and Zoey’s water carrier and beach tent.  The second was sleep.  I have a tendency to obsess over the kids' sleep even when we're at home so you can imagine how much anxiety it was causing me considering the time change and that we'd all be sleeping in one room.

We left from Seattle on Saturday evening.  There was an early morning direct flight and an evening one, and I thought the later one would help the kids adjust to the time change better.  Camden did great on the six hour flight, despite not sleeping a wink.  He discovered the Fruit Ninja app on the iPad and was hooked.  I'm sure the plane loved his squeals after slicing each and every watermelon. Zoey did well too – smiling, eating, and sleeping as she pleased.

We landed in Honolulu at 8:30pm local time (11:30pm on our bodies) and Camden started to lose it while we were waiting for our luggage.  Of course, three bags and one car seat came out instantly, but we were standing there waiting and waiting for what seemed like forever for the second car seat.  It got to the point where all the other passenger bags had been retrieved and I was standing there looking at Ryan like, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”  An employee must have noticed my WTF body language and told me they had pulled it off the conveyor belt and set it aside for us at the opposite end of the baggage claim.

I managed an “Oh, thanks!” but what I really wanted to say was, “That would have been nice to know 15 minutes and one toddler meltdown ago!”

We literally schlepped our luggage to the rental car shuttle area and waited for the “school bus” to take us to Budget.  Both kids were crying while I signed our paperwork (and in the process had a miscommunication and got charged big money for an upgrade), and I’m pretty sure I sweat a few pounds off my bod while trying to secure Zoey’s car seat while wearing her and standing out in the humid Hawaii air.

During the 20 minute drive to the hotel, Camden promptly passed out despite Zoey crying the entire ride.  I got us checked in and we said “hell yes” when the bell  service offered to bring our bags up for us.  Cam had woken up when Ryan got him out of the car and he caught his 12th wind as we got into our room.  The room had a king size bed, pull out couch, and crib/pack-n-play but Mr. Camden was not super thrilled to be sleeping in an unfamiliar place in an unfamiliar bed.  I was exhausted and not willing to fight that fight so he crawled into bed between Ryan and I and passed out.

The details are a bit fuzzy now, but I think the kids woke up around 4:30am local time (7:30am on our tired bodies) so we kept them quiet and contained for as long as possible and then fled the room in search of coffee before touring the resort grounds to get a lay of the land.  The most perfect pool (of the five at the resort) was right by our tower and we didn’t waste any time putting it to use.  

After swimming for quite a while and checking out the beach, we went back to the room for naps and to get ready for my Sunday night work meeting.  Of course I worried about how the kids would do/act with the time change in general, but I was most worried about how they (ahem, Camden) would act when they were tired and we were around my co-workers and our customers.  Normally, he’s a little social butterfly and eats up attention – but I just didn’t know what to expect.  Like everything else, I set my expectations really, really low, came armed with everything possible to keep him and Zoey happy, and hoped for the best. 

He did fine at first – happy to sit with me and just take it all in.  Then we brought out the activity book, and he quickly was “over” that and wanted to be constantly held, so then it was time for the iPad.  Thank the lord for the iPad and Bubble Guppies episodes.  We lasted about an hour and half total and bolted before Camden started a fire (not really, but I'm not discounting it from the realm of possible).  Zoey was losing it too and I knew if I fed her she would be fine – but I was not at all comfortable trying to nurse her in front of my co-workers and customers (whether it’s right or wrong for me to feel this way - I felt it would be unprofessional), so we left and went to a restaurant where I felt it was more appropriate.  By that time we were all exhausted and just “done.”

Monday morning came bright and early.  To make a long story short, I was gone from Ryan and the kids for 11 hours from the time I left the hotel to the time I returned (thank you, endless presentations and Honolulu traffic).  Ryan took the kids to the pool in the morning but stayed too long and ended up having two very tired and hungry kids on his hands – one of which had chafed in-between his legs and was scream-crying the entire walk to the elevator and our room.  

He survived the rest of the day and we had dinner at one of the resort’s restaurants when I returned (and paid out the behind for it).  Our bill included a $12.50 fruity frozen cocktail that Ryan had ordered (not paying attention to what it cost, just wanting to consume alcohol) and ultimately gave me to drink.   You’d have thought for $12.50 I would be feeling pretty good afterwards, but alas – I remained stone sober (and that’s saying something because I hardly ever drink alcohol).

Tuesday morning I think he wised up a bit and watched the clock a little better in order to avoid cherub meltdowns.  I think it was this day that he said Zoey fell off the bed while he was making her bottle.  No idea how it happened but he said Camden ran to him in the bathroom, hysterical, saying “Baby Zoey fell off the bed!”  Ryan felt horrible and that incident just fueled his already overwhelmed fire.  I don’t think he got Camden down for a nap this day either, so it probably won’t surprise you when I say that when I returned Tuesday from work/meetings, I hadn’t even put my bag down before Ryan ran out the door for a beer and some alone time.   Camden and I enjoyed a gourmet ABC Store meal consisting of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pineapple, and Doritos.  I gave the kids a bath and they both fell asleep without so much as a peep.

Lordy, I'm exhausted just writing this all out and I only got to day three.  And it was so boring, I'm sure you are now asleep.  Wednesday was a big and fun day for us, so I'll start on that positive (and more exciting) note next time.

Until then.  Aloha.

Take Luck,

LP