to the beach

So to get to Maui there is a 3 1/2 hour drive to Oakland. Beautiful, scenic Oakland.

Then we stayed overnight for our 7 am flight. Flight time is about 5 1/2 hours. Then, Lahaina is about 45 minutes after a big stop at Costco. It’s a process- not like a few hours and BAM you get to the beach. Traveling with little children is tricky, but I think we did pretty good for all the various legs of the trip.

Except Oakland.

(After this trip, my dad said “What happens in Oakland, stays in Oakland..” but I don’t think he would mind me sharing this lovely story.)

So we leave Redding at about 5:30 and head south. We stop for some dinner and get the kids out of the car when we realize that I did not put Isabelle’s saltwater sandals on her when we loaded up in the car. NO SHOES. My kid, at a restaurant, shoeless. I remembered three kinds of sunscreen and all the phone cords and mountains of toys and blankies and tiny hair ties and swimsuits but FORGOT SHOES. Luckily, she had “backup” shoes in her suitcase that are slightly too big for her but worked for the time being.

We drove and drove and got to Oakland about 10-ish. We needed to find milk for Lincoln but all the gas stations were closed (what.) and even Walmart was on lockdown. We weren’t really sure why. Anyway, we found milk at this one weird gas station with a bank teller window where you pay through a sliding drawer…checked in to the hotel and got tucked into bed. Lincoln is not used to sharing a room with anyone, much less four adults and his favorite sister. We got Lincoln to sleep for a little while, but about midnight he popped his head up like ‘hey mom, I see your face right there. Lemme see if I can grab it.” And he threw a fit. Cried like a banshee, seriously. We calmed him down, got him back to sleep, and it lasted for thirty minutes. More screaming. Lather rinse repeat. He cried the entire night. Everyone took turns trying to get him to sleep like a normal human baby. Even my dad got up and was like ummmm can I help? I felt horrible. HORRIBLE. Like the most ridiculous fail parent ever- couldn’t get my baby to sleep and our alarm was set for 4:45. I was in tears telling everyone I was so sorry and our trip was ruined and maybe we should just go home. Maybe Linc has an ear infection or is bleeding internally or maybe he just hates me!

Jazz is a saint, and he sat on the bathroom floor and held Lincoln for at least an hour until he was deep enough asleep to put him in bed. About that time, I got up and showered. WAS SO RIDICULOUS. Luckily, Lincoln was pretty much delusionally tired, did great at the airport and slept almost half of the flight. Isabelle was awesome- had tons of things to keep her busy and was so excited to be flying. Bless you, child.

My dad has this weird jedi-mind trick connection with Lincoln. Linc loves him.

We landed in Maui at 9:30 am local time and the whole day to force ourselves to stay awake enjoy before our 3 pm check-in. When the sun set at 7:30, we were all pretty much spent.

The great part about this story is that by the end of all that, we got to see this:

totally worth it. sorry that lincoln cried so much. and that I cried too.

Hi I am refusing to wear a floaty. And I don’t want to hold hands, but thanksss.

This kid could spend all day in the water.

from the hip.

 

 

Sabrina (and her 7 month pregnant belly!)  flew in later that night, and Morgan came the next day. I was so happy to see them. And the kids were excited to play with baby Margo!

Matching mer-jams!

Isabelle age 3 1/2, Lincoln 16 months, Margo 11 1/2 months

Feeding her babies snacks