Day 1, Thursday, August 8
Cast of characters: DH (Jason), me (Amy), Mallory, 10, Tabitha, 8 and Quinn, 4
We have been to Hawaii 2 times before. In 2001 we went to Oahu and Maui and in 2005 (when Mallory was 19 months and I was pregnant with Tabitha) we went to Maui and The Big Island. We knew we wanted to go back but weren't sure when. Then we heard about Aulani and decided our vacation plans would include it too! We almost went last summer but were too busy and I wanted to wait too until Quinn was a little older.
We had a 1 PM flight out of Dulles Airport. We got to the airport around 10:30. Due to some confusion with our tickets, we didn't get charged for our 3 checked bags! We think the agent probably just forgot to charge us.
Our flight was a 10 hour United Flight, no layovers, to Honolulu. A little bit daunting with 3 kids, to say the least! I made sure everyone had plenty of snacks and stuff to do. Each kid had an electronic game player and then the girls brought dolls, books, activities books and Quinn brought some cars and coloring books. We had the plane that has 2 seats on the sides and 3 in the middle. We had 3 seats in the middle of a 5 seat row and 2 seats on the right side of the plane a few rows back. I sat with the girls in the middle and Jason sat with Quinn a few rows back.
The kids did really well on the flight! They did get up to use the bathroom multiple times and I hated to have to keep saying excuse me to the gentlemen on the end of the rows. They offered food (to pay for) maybe one hour into the flight but we had lunch at the airport and weren't hungry. I thought they would come around again during Eastern time zone dinner time but they didn't. By 7 PM Eastern time, the girls were hungry. I found out you could go to the galley in the back of the plane and order food and quite a few people were doing that. I got an Asian chicken salad and the girls got snack boxes that included crackers, cheese, pepperoni , candy and cookies. We had a choice of 8 free movies/TV shows that they played about 3 times each. I decided to watch The Incredible Burt Wonderstone on the third time around but I should have watched it earlier as I had to miss the last 20 mins. because we were landing!
Landing was 5:20 PM Hawaiian time or 11:20 PM Eastern time so the kids were pretty tired. I think Mallory napped for just a bit on the plane but she was the only one. We got our luggage relatively quickly and took the shuttle to the Alamo rental car. That went smoothly too with no line and a large choice of vehicles. We chose an orange Grand Caravan, mainly because it was orange and stood out among the other cars.
We tried to find a Jack in the Box (one of our favorite fast food chains we don't have at home) but missed the turns so decided to drive straight to Aulani. All the kids had fallen asleep in the car anyway so it was for the best.
We were greeted with floral leis for the girls and a kukui nut necklace for the boys. Also, they gave us a cup of fruit infused water. Jet lagged me
Check in was quick too. Our room was in the Ewa tower, 12th floor. We had a 2 room villa with a view overlooking the pool and the ocean. Posting a photo of our view.
Mallory usually sleeps on the pullout couch and she did that here too. Quinn took the pullout chair and Tabitha took the bedroom to herself with the two beds. It was probably sometime after 7 by this time and the kids were wiped out.
Jason didn't have a dinner on the plane and went in search of a plate lunch. He ended up with a Korean BBQ place nearby and got the beef and got me chicken. I ate a bit but was too tired and we were all in bed by 8:30 or so.
