Day 1 in Hawaii - Mama and Luc time

I was pretty sad and worried that we were having to split up for the flights. Luc on the other hand was so excited. He was so excited to stay in a hotel room without Evan and Madeline and to just spend time with me alone. Although that one day alone was super busy looking for houses and we were so tired, we did make time for some fun.

 

 

On the way back from seeing a house, we found this scenic point. As soon as we stepped out of the car we started seeing whales. It was amazing. Luc was more interested in the lava rock.

 

We found Target, got some lunchables then went back to the hotel for a picnic dinner. We saw this sea turtle. I thought it was distressed because it was so close to shore and kept getting knocked against the rocks. After calling a "save the sea turtles" hotline, I learned they come in to tide pools like this to feed. Yep....silly me. Since this we see them at almost every beach we visit.

Luc was a trooper driving around looking at houses and dealing with me being on the phone all day. All he wanted was a fresh coconut. We found a market and got him one. I think we were both picturing the coconuts we get from the grocery store. This is what a young green coconut looks like though. It's delicious!

So after having this day with Luc, I am so glad things worked out the way they did. Luc and I need this time to spend together even if it was a bit hectic. I love this kid!

Flights

Obviously it isn't cheap to fly a family of 5 to Hawaii. Brian and I decided to save money that Luc and I would go out on confirmed tickets so that I could look for housing, get him enrolled in school, and begin work. Brian, Evan, and Madeline were going to fly standby meaning we weren't really sure when they would get to come.

Luc and I had a crazy flight schedule that went from Austin to Salt Lake City to San Jose to L.A. to Kona. It was really fine except that we got hungry. We were running to gates for some of those so we couldn't really eat. When we got on the Kona flight I finally splurged and bought us crazy expensive food. We left Austin around 8am and arrived in Kona around 8pm (12 pm CT). We were both exhausted.

After we gathered our luggage, we had to rent a car. That took forever. The 20 minute drive to our hotel room was super dark. The street lights that were there were orange so I kept thinking it they were caution lights. We arrived to the hotel about 20 minutes before the lobby closed. Our room was across the street, up a hill, in a very dark, sketchy parking lot. There were a couple of men outside smoking. I told Luc to get quickly get out of the car and help me get our luggage to our room. We lugged our 49 lb suitcase and our carry on bags up 3 flights of stairs. If you know me well you know I was super grumpy by this time.

Brian, Evan, and Luc were able to get on a flight the next morning. They flew directly from Austin to L.A. which sounded so nice until they experienced their 7 hour layover. I don't even know what all they did. Brian was a champ though. They arrived in Kona about 8pm (12 pm CT). Brian was exhausted. The kids had caught their second wind.

So we loaded up in our itty bity car and headed for the hotel.

"Two Tickets To Paradise"...more like 5 and...

I have promised that I would try to keep up with at least occasional blogging while we are in Hawaii. So I'll write about the good, the bad, and the ugly about moving my whole family for a temporary travel position, about what it's like to live in "paradise", and about places we visit while we're here.

How it started: Back in September or October, I got an email from a company I used to work for about jobs in Hawaii. I asked a friend who still works for the company. Shortly after someone called me about it. I was somewhat interested but when the recruiter didn't call me back, I just blew it off.

During Christmas break someone from the company called me several times. I finally returned their call the second week of January. I listened to what they had to say, Brian and I talked about it, and we decided we couldn't do it for the price they were going to pay me. They called back the next morning and asked how much we would go for. After lots of calculating and thinking and praying, we gave them a price and thought we were done with it. They called me back the next morning and accepted my offer. They asked if I could fly out at the end of the following week. There was no way I could have possibly made that work but we decided to leave about two weeks later.

As most of you know, that two weeks was crazy. We tried to sell some things. We subleased our house. Our parents were with us most of that time helping pack, move, and clean. I was busting my butt trying to make sure my sweet babies at Capital Area Speech were in the best hands. I was trying to make sure the therapists covering them were prepared.

In all that chaos, some of our closest friends stepped up to help out so much. The Todd's housed us for a few days. Denise even cooked the most awesome Texas meal...full spread meal. My mouth waters thinking about that deliciousness. Caren watched kids for us while we moved. Ashley and Zac watched kids for us while we cleaned. Jason, Jeff, Scott, and Kelsi helped us move almost ALL day. Kristen and Jeff had us over for a yummy meal and fun friend time. Kim and Joe had us over from more yummy food and friend time. Jamie has been very supportive even though it wasn't the easiest situation for the office. Countless people have prayed for us, lent an ear, and asked how they can help. I can't even express how grateful we are for all of you. We really do have the best family and friends there are.

So here we are in "paradise", right?