I finally was able to download the photos from our trip and I will keep it short here and explain them as I go. We went on a Hawaiian cruise a couple weeks ago with my in-laws and had a wonderful time! It took 40 forevers to get there, but it was worth it. The adults were up for almost 24 hours straight the day we flew out there and I ended up with what I thought were bad allergies, but turned into a cold. I'll just tell you that I lived on Benadryll, DayQuil and Afrin the whole time and felt fabulous! (I missed a night of benadryll thinking I may not need it anymore. Big mistake!) Now, on to the photos!

We spent the night in a hotel by the airport in ATL. The kids could NOT wait to make coffee the next morning. They don't drink it, but they love to make it and carry it around. They made the coffee, we poured it into the cups and they carried it down to breakfast. It was hilarious!

Waiting to board the plane and so ready to get there!!

First plane ride!!!

(Not for Christopher, but he doesn't remember the other time.)

 Movie time! The kids did really well at first. Then the guy in front asked us if we would separate them. We didn't plan on them sitting together at all, but they both wanted the window. From then on, every time we were on a plane Brandon's parents had Christopher and I had miss priss. They had the better deal.

 Sophie finally passed out.

 Christopher fought it hard! He tries to convince me every night that he can stay up really late. He did.

We made it on the boat! The kids were in heaven! It was fun and exciting and they couldn't wait to explore everything. I always thought I would be a nervous wreck with kids on a cruise, but having 4 adults really helped. I never would have done it if we didn't have backup. Sophie had to wear her cowboy boots that day and pretty much everywhere we went someone made a comment about how cute she and her boots were. Not too many people go to Hawaii wearing boots I guess. (I think our friends in Texas would have been proud!) We even had some of the employees come up and say, "We heard about the little girl with boots on and how cute she is and had to come find her!" I swear I heard someone say, "There she is!" It was like having a celebrity. This boat was mostly full of senior citizens so we were definitely were part of the "young crowd." (in-laws included!)

 Sophie just couldn't stay awake by supper time. The restaurants didn't open until 5:30 and that was 9:30 our time. She tried her hardest. She slept through most of our dinners come to think of it.

We signed up for a whale watching tour for our first day in Maui. Worst day for the tour. Wind was literally blowing everything sideways. We got off our bus and went straight to a drug store and bought bonine and dramamine for everyone. I made sure everyone got a dose (and not too much, thankfully Dr. Dad helped figure out dosages) before boarding b/c I did not want anyone to get sick. It was so rocky a few of us ended up needing a second round. We weren't on the boat 15 minutes and poor Sophie fell asleep. I was afraid of that, but figured an earlier nap make help her stay awake for dinner. It did. She did wake up in time for us to go to the front and see more whales. Unfortunately I woke her up b/c John and I were so excited to see two of them right out of window. Y'all, it was amazing! Those things are massive and beautiful! The boat cancelled the rest of their tours b/c of the choppy waters and of course the next day there was barely a breeze. Oh well!

 

 

 This day we decided to stay on the boat and relax. It helped that all the adults had been to Hawaii before so we didn't feel the need to rush out and see everything there is to see. We put the kids in Kids Crew (they LOVED it!!) and he adults napped and relaxed for a couple hours. That afternoon they taught a hulu class, so Lisa, Sophie and I went to that and then meet the boys for a Kukui nut lei making class. It was so fun to do stuff together. The kids really got into it. Sophie passed out again while waiting for supper.

Random photo:

Brandon bought the kids Hawaiian clothes and they thought they were the coolest things! Christopher wore his shirt 3 days in a row. We had to hide it so he would quit wearing it. I have no idea when some of these photos were taken for that reason, so they will just be labeled "random."

Hated it. We never should have gotten off the boat. We'd already seen everything the tours took you to and we didn't want to pay the insane prices they charged to see it again. But since we stayed on the boat the day before we decided to just get off and catch a shuttle into town and walk around some and shop. Y'all it was depressing. Brandon was dying for Mexican and we couldn't find it. So we just found the only place that wasn't a dump and ate there. We went back to the bus station and waited for the next shuttle. A man walked by with a joint behind his ear. Not a town you want to spend a week.

Random photos:

Christopher LOVED the characters they staff would make with the towels. He even found our steward (?) and asked her if she would make two one night. He was so excited when he found them.

 LOTS of silly faces were made on this trip. 

LOTS.

Sophie got a hold of Brandon's little camera and took about 400 pictures herself. I think about 200 of them were self portraits. The others were of walls, chair legs, feet, more feet, and the occasional sunrise and sunset. We pretty much saw both every day.

Loved it in Kona. Beautiful! We had to ride the "emergency boats" to get to the shore and then we rode a trolley to Turtle Beach and the dads went snorkeling. They tried to take the kids, but once they saw sea urchins the kids freaked and wanted out. So they played on the old volcanic rocks in the water and I did my best to not have a heart attack from fear they would slip. It was not easy. But the dads had a blast and not long after they came in the biggest sea turtles I've ever seen swam close to shore and were eating. It was glorious! After we decided it was time to eat we loaded up and went for lunch (had some amazing Mexican food, finally!) and then headed to Hilo Hatties for a little shopping. Best place to buy your touristy stuff. Lisa and I bought Hawaiin printed dresses (not mumu's, we wanted to wear them again) b/c the ship was taking photos that night and we thought it would be fun to dress up. We are the type of family that loves stuff like that. You can't go to Hawaii and NOT dress up? (Just wait for the luau...)

 

 

 

 (Christopher watching the emergency boats come back and is wearing a ribbon lei that Lisa and I made in another class on the boat.)

Sunrises and sunsets. They were beautiful! Every single one of them! It made me so glad that the time difference was enough we could wake up and see them without needing to set an alarm.

We had originally planned to take this day easy b/c we the big luau planned that night, but when we docked they said this was the most beautiful island and you do not want to stay on the boat. So we hopped off and rode the shuttle into town and did a little shopping. Lisa and I had taken another lei making class the day before and it was followed by a sarong tying class so we decided we needed to buy sarongs to wear that night. It was so fun to dress up and wear our leis that we had made. We decided to do the luau with the train ride around the plantation. Christopher was in heaven. It was such a fun night! It was a wonderful family event and had people of all ages showing you traditional Hawaiian games, weaving and body art. They even had "kiddie" mai tais and Sophie had 3 of them. They were really yummy!! Then everyone went to their assigned tables and the show began. They blew horns and brought in the pig and performed while the food was set out. It was delicious!!! Unfortunately my allergies were flaring up by the time the show started (thanks to the fresh flower lei around my neck and everyone else's) and so I couldn't breathe the entire time. Sophie couldn't wait to see the fire dancers, but just couldn't stay awake any longer and passed out cold on her daddy's shoulder about 5 minutes before they came out. When we had looked at the program earlier we noticed 3 of the women were blonde and could not figure out where in the world they would fit in the show. They were the fire dancers. And wore a unitard with a hood. We laughed when we saw them. 

It was a sad day. Time to go home. I really think I could have stayed longer. I loved it. I know it will be a long time before we go back (not a trip you plan overnight), nor do I want to go back any time soon due to the fact it takes about 24 hours to get there (from the moment you wake up to hanging out when you get there to help adjust to time change and then finally go to bed). It was much easier in my 20s. But one of the funny parts about our trip was every place we docked (except Kona, you have to stop in the water and ride a boat to shore) had forklifts and cranes right next to the boat. Christopher was in awe of it all. Everyone would be saying, "Look at that incredible mountain that runs right into the ocean and has the sun rising/setting next to it." and Christopher would be saying, "Look at that huge forklift!! And there's a crane, Daddy!" It was awesome.