We packed everything up and met my parents at a swap meet at the University of Hawaii for some last minute shopping (it's worth checking out!), and then we headed to the airport. The car return was super easy and fast, but I swear getting to your gate is worse than LAX! Partially because Gary got held up at security for having a water bottle in his carry on (and the line is sloooow anyway). But also because you have to get your check-in luggage prescreened (you know, to make sure you aren't smuggling any fruit or animals!), and then after security, get your carry-ons screened again!
Then our plane was slightly delayed...and the kids were hyper and just wanted to get on the plane. No one told me my kids were well behaved at this airport! ;)
Then they did not do pre-boarding for families with kids on this flight...boo. Luckily, we had priority boarding, but geesh people were anxious to get on this plane- it was mobbed and we could barely get through the crowds to board!
There was no meal on this flight so the kids had to snack on junk, and Everett, while still awesome, was a bit fussier/loud on the flight home. Poor guy, this time he had NO nap at all, no real meal, he was so tired but still a trooper. Both kids were great. And this was a smaller plane with 3 seats on each side so I sat between both kids and Gary was in the aisle seat on the other side. Not ideal.
We finally arrived at LAX at 9:15, but baggage claim took SOOOOOO ridiculously long that we didn't arrive home until midnight! MIDNIGHT! The kids and I were bored...
Everyone was starving so we made the poor driver who picked us up drive us through Del Taco (nice healthy choice when eating dinner at midnight, right?). Both kids had fallen asleep in the car, but Ella woke up to eat. Everett said he was starving, but when I set him down on the couch to get the food ready, he literally tipped over and fell back asleep so we just put him to bed.
My general thought is that it was an amazing trip. The best thing about it was seeing how happy the kids were and how much they loved Hawaii (they are already asking to go back!).
The kids did SO well with their luggage. They each had a heavy backpack AND a rolling carry-on, and they lugged their own stuff the entire time, through all the airports, hotels, etc. Without even complaining! It made our lives so much easier.
The hotel was fantastic. We love Wailea anyway, but I feel like the Kea Lani is the best deal in town since all their rooms are suites. The pool was perfect. I love the location because I love Kihei, and it's right next to Wailea. It's also close to the airport, Target, Walmart, Kmart and Costco if you need them! It's also not too far from Paia. The only downside was the beach (Polo Beach) since it's a little choppy, but the sand was like walking on feathers, and even the Four Seasons beach (Wailea Beach) right next door is calmer if the water at Polo is too choppy for your kids. My kids won't go in ocean water so all we need is sand to play on!
Since you can't go out of SNA to Hawaii anymore, the best thing we did was hire a limo company to come pick us up in an Escalade to take us to/from LAX. The car easily fit all of us and all our luggage, we had no hassle of parking our car, waiting for a shuttle, getting tons of luggage on/off the shuttle, etc. Especially for the return trip when all we had to do at 11 p.m. was walk out of baggage claim, get into the car and head home.
We are already talking about doing another big trip since this one went so well!
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