Getting There is Half the Fun

Our day started bright and early yesterday. This is our first photo of this vacation taken before 5am. I love seeing the girls all sleepy-eyed and excited.



While waiting at the airport, the girls kept busy playing ping pong. If there's a way to make the sport dangerous, our girls figured it out. A few early Monday morning business travelers got a good wake up call as they had to dodge a flying ping pong ball on the way to their gate.



We stopped at the play area right outside our gate for a last minute chance to burn off some energy. It was much needed. The girls were way too excited, and Alyssa was probably the only one who entirely understood the length of the flights we were about to board.



Once we were in flight, Emma worked on her travel journal and MadLibs {she loves, loves, LOVES those silly stories}, Alyssa started her assignment for church and you can see Rebekah who argued long and hard for that window seat zonked out in the back.

I'm not sure that this story is blog appropriate, but Alyssa insisted I share it...before we took off, I was helping the girls get settled in their seats. I had my back to the aisle and was leaning into their row. There was a male flight attendant (and I tried to leave this detail out, but the story literally lost some of it's pizazz, but let's just say the bath towels in his house are embroidered His and His) who tried to slide past me as he stowed a bag, and the button from his coat got caught on the back belt loop of my pants. We were stuck, both embarrassed, and he giggled out a nervous, "Oh, well this is something new." Alyssa was laughing so hard she couldn't stay in her chair. In the confusion of trying to get seperated, Alyssa thought he was trying to put a luggage tag on me. A few seconds later, we were no longer attached, but not due to any help from her ~ she definitely has my tendancy to fall into laughter in awkward situations rather than offer help.

And because I seem to have a knack for making embarrassing situations that much worse, he was collecting trash at the end of the flight, and I turned to Alyssa to ask her if she had anything, and when I called her sweetie, he thought I was talking to him. He thanked me and called me "Love." Alyssa was very amused.



We were welcomed in Honolulu so sweetly by Dave's family. Here is Dave's sister and our nieces and nephew. Poor Emma was between sneezes here, but the cousins were so excited to see each other.



We were so surprised that everyone came to meet us at the airport. Here are the girls with Dave's grandparents. It was so wonderful to see them!!



Little Kamele and Grandmommy.



Enjoying the fresh Hawaiian air as we drive to the condo. Rebekah kept looking around, asking us if we were sure this was Hawaii. She was concerned that she could not see sand anywhere. Dave said that she must have seen too much Aloha Scooby Doo, and that skewed her expectations.



The smell is different and wonderful here ~ full of flowers...that was the first thing Emma noticed as we got off the plane, and she kept taking deep breaths, savoring it all.

About 5 minutes after this picture was taken, our car was rear-ended as we sat at a red light waiting to make a right turn. It was just a tiny bump, but a startling welcome to the island :-)



We made it to the condo without further incident, had a wonderful dinner at Rainbow Drive In, and swam in the pool. We are SO thankful and excited to be here.