Mixed Nuts: Vacation - day 1 and 2

Quotes

"There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark." - Helen Keller
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck
You may never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.- Unknown
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow' ~Helen Keller
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."- Dr. Seuss
"Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it."
"God doesn't give children with disabilities to strong people: He gives them to ordinary, everyday people, then He helps the parents to grow stronger through the journey. Raising a child with special needs doesn't TAKE a special family, it MAKES a special family."Author Unknown
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go – Abraham Lincoln
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~ Benjamin Franklin
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle - Albert Einstein
The journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step
Sometimes in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives you a fairy tale
Where there is great love, there are always miracles - Willa Cather
The Difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer
Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.
Be the change you want to see in the world
Don't tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big Your God is..........
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it
Fall down seven times - get up eight - unknown
Despite our differences, we sink or swim together
Life may not be the party we expected, but while we are here, we might as well dance
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." -Confucius

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Vacation - day 1 and 2

Now that we are home, I have a little more time, so I am going to blog about our vacation. This year for Christmas, Mat and I took the kids to Hawaii and San Diego for nearly 2 weeks. We had a great time, and now that we are back in frigid Boston, we miss the warm weather.

We flew out on December 23rd, and our first full day there was the 24th, so I will blog about both of those days here.

We left bright and early on the 23rd. Our wonderful neighbors drove us to the airport so we wouldn't have to leave a car there for 2 weeks. Our plane left for LA airport around 8am. LA was just a layover for us - the first flight went very smoothly. We had a 3 hour layover there - just enough time to stretch and eat some lunch, and then were back on the plane for 6 more hours to Hawaii. Flight also went very smooth, and the kids did very well. It was a total of 12 hours of air travel, and not one complaint from them.

We got in at 6pm Hawaii time, (we were staying on Oahu), got our rental car, stopped to get a few groceries, and then headed to our condo. We used AirBnB again this time to find a place for us to stay. Because we are a family of 5 we either have to get an expensive suite, or two hotel rooms, and renting a condo has proven to be cheaper for us time and time again. This is my new favorite way to travel because we have a lot of space, we have a washer and dryer, and we spent about half of what we would have in a hotel. So that saves us much more money for excursions we wish to take. We are only ever in the room/condo to sleep, so why spend a lot of money on it? The complex had a pool and we could walk to the ocean, so it was perfect.

Once we got settled, we fought to stay awake for just a little longer, but barely made it to 9pm (Which would have been 2am Boston time) and we were all out. The next day was no rush so we at least knew we could catch up on sleep.

However - we only made it until 6am until we were wide awake (Since Boston it would been 11am). So we decided to get up, have breakfast (which we did each day at the condo), and get ready to head out.

I had all of our days planned and this day Mat and I planned to take the kids hiking at Diamond Head. Diamond Head was formed over 300,000 years ago during a single explosion. As the materials settled, they formed the crater. In 1908, the trail was built up the crater as part of Oahu's military defense system. It is an almost 1 mile high up - and it is pretty strenuous, but the kids did great. Once you get to the top, there is an amazing view. At the summit there is also bunkers and a station that directed artillery fire. Down below is a lighthouse that was placed in 1917.

After Diamond Head, we went to the beach in Waikiki for the afternoon. The water was colder than we expected, but the kids got used to it quickly. They enjoyed swimming and we enjoyed relaxing on the beach after our hike. We had dinner reservations at Duke's - a favorite restaurant of ours when we visited before. We sat outside and watched the sunset and had amazing food.

Before heading back to the condo for the evening, we drove by City Hall to see they Christmas decorations. It was a great Christmas Eve. Enjoy the pictures

We traveled in 5 carry on bags