Hawaii - Day One

Rusty's earned a trip to Hawaii by meeting some goals at work. So, Rusty and I had a paid trip to Oahu, but what do we do with the kids while we go? We debated and came to the conclusion that we should bring them. We figured, when are we going to do this again, when the kids are all able and excited to go on a trip? As it was, Porter said he couldn't possibly go cause he couldn't miss school for a week. We made him come on our family trip anyway! In fact, I think this is the first non-family reunion vacation that we've ever been on.

And boy did we have fun!

Ellie, Porter and Ren wait to board the airplane at LAX.  We had to leave the house at like 4:30 am to get there on time for our flight.  Everyone was tired, and excited to get seated and to get some rest.  :)  

The 3 girls sat in a row, with Porter right across the aisle by himself.  He had to sit by a stranger.  I said I'd sit there, but he wouldn't let me.  He watched movies the whole way.  There were little tvs on each seat back.  You could choose your movie or tv show from a pretty big list.  There was also games to play or music to listen to.  We all slept or watched tv.  It was hard to get comfy but I slept anyway...way too tired from my 2 hours of sleep, since I stayed up packing and cleaning.  (My cousin, Brooke and her new hubby, Casey came into town and stayed in our home while we were gone.  I was sorry to miss them.)

Rusty, Ren and I were in this row.  Ren had so much fun on the plane.  It was all new and exciting for him.

We stayed at the JW Marriott Ko'Olina Resort in I'Hilani.  It's about 20 minutes from Honolulu.  We had a beautiful suite and an even more gorgeous view.  As you can see...

Chloe gets comfy on the bed.

Ren...Now this was a wonder!  :)  We used this huge tub daily!  We came back to the room from swimming and all get in with our suits on to wash our hair.  Even I got in.  In fact, I could lay down completely, it was so large!  :)

Ellie and MJ

This little lagoon right outside our hotel was a hot spot.  We went down there daily to swim, snorkle, kyak and just play!

After a swim, we just had to try these pineapple drinks.  Delish!  And there were in those pineapples and we thought we were so cool drinking them!  :)

All the kids (minus Porter who was asleep on the couch) at 6 pm Hawaii time (9 pm CA time).  We were all exhausted after the long travel day plus pool and beach.  The first day of Hawaii was awesome!