Kona, HI Day 1

We all got up early and got dressed and ready to head to the airport.  The girls, minus Lauren, (meaning Megan, me and Kayla) took Megan's car so we could park it and get on the "people mover."  The boys and Lauren went with Kevin and all the baggage to get dropped off.  Megan and Kayla and I had a pretty difficult time finding a parking spot and then had to walk a good distance in the cold weather in our warm weather clothes.  Eventually, we got to the check in counter after a trip on the people mover and a chat with a marine (who gave us a recommendation in Kona that I'll tell you about later...)

We all got checked in and to the gate and grabbed some food.  The flight from O'Hare to Honolulu is approximately 8.5 hours.  The five of us adults were in those 5 middle, middle seats in the plane and Kayla was a lap baby.  I'm not going to lie and say that I wasn't worried at all about how she would do.  I was dreading that she wouldn't nap since we didn't have anywhere to really put her and then she'd be terribly cranky and that would progress to uncontrollable screaming.  We boarded and got settled in our seats and it was about nap time for Kayla.

There are no words to describe what an angel baby Kayla was.  She fell asleep on the "bed" we had created for her out of blankets on Justin's lap for about 30-45 minutes at the beginning.  We played, we ate, she fell asleep on Mommy for about 30 minutes.  We played some more.  We walked around the plane saying "Hi" to practically everyone!  She was such a hit on the plane I can't even describe!  So many people afterwards said to us, "She is such a happy baby!"  Every time another baby cried on the plane, I thanked God for our little stinker!

Also, if you aren't aware, United Airlines does a game on the flight to Hawaii called the "Halfway" game.  Basically, they tell you some information (average speed, wind speed, distance, departure time, etc) and you have to figure out the exact time to the second that we cross the halfway point in the flight.  Well, if you know me, you know I was doing that math.  So I did, and we took 3 guesses right around the time I had calculated give or take 2 minutes or so.  At the end of the flight they announced the winner of the Kapono CD.  For some reason, Lauren and I were really excited, and when we were started to descend, the flight attendant came on the speaker and said that we crossed the halfway point at exactly 9:30:10 seconds.  Lauren and I look at each other with huge eyes, knowing we won because we had guessed 9:30:12 seconds.  What a great way to start our trip right!?

We got to Honolulu and met Mom at the airport.  The five of us ate while Gigi hung out with Kayla (and her new old man admirer from our previous plane ride.)  The quick island hopping flight wasn't quite a great.  It was WELL past Kayla's bedtime and she had hardly slept at all in about 15 hours or more.  During the take-off she was screaming and screaming and screaming.  I couldn't do anything to get her to stop.  Finally, after what felt like hours, I just decided I would "nurse" her (she didn't actually eat anything) and she fell immediately asleep.

After getting the rental cars, we drove to the rental house.  We finagled room assignments, put Kayla to bed and the girls checked out the hot tub while Mom, Brendan and Justin went to Costco and to pick up Dad.  Overall, a VERY pleasant traveling experience with an infant.  We all headed to bed to get ready for our first day in Kona!

Here are a few photos I took of Kayla at Honolulu airport with Aunt Megan and some of our view through our HUGE sliding, open air windows at the house!

Today, I'm thankful for Kayla.  I'm thankful for Kayla every day, but here is why I am today.  She is walking....like, EVERYWHERE.  And watching her makes me well up with so much pride.  I love watching her learn.