Preparation and the Flight (it's a long one so grab a cup of coffee!)
I'm pretty sure I spent more time thinking and preparing for this trip than I actually spent in Hawaii. Trying to think of everything, anticipating everything and knowing I would for sure miss something. Oh well I did as good a job as I could. The flight going to Hawaii was very stressful for me. First I sat next to a baby-hater that rolled her eyes the minute she found out she'd be sitting next to a baby. She wouldn't even hand me stuff that the flight attendant was trying to give me as if we were going to give her cooties! Second, I kept thinking 'this is it,' the melt down is inevitable but thankfully it never happened. The boys did well despite only sleeping 1.5hrs on a 5.5 hr plane ride, it was just too new and exciting! On the way back it was so much better, I sat next to a kind lady that liked babies. The boys all slept at least 3hrs and were less restless than on the way there. We all had window seats (bc of regulations), Phil in front with Thomas, me in the middle mostly with Caleb, and aunt Janet behind me with Eli. Chance caught a different flight. Whew! Even though we survived I don't want to do that again for at least another year and a half!
Phil and I rarely take relaxing vacations, the world is too exciting to relax, so much to see and do. Even though we weren't going to be exploring ancient temples on this trip we had no notions of relaxing considering we were taking 19mo old triplets but can you believe it, relax we did! As I've mentioned before the boys' aunt Janet and uncle Chance came along with us and it made a world of difference. We simply wouldn't have gone with out them! They introduced us to the concept of napping on vacation. I'm the worlds worst napper and have to take a sleeping pill in order to make myself nap. But even I took two naps (without sleeping aids) while everyone else napped most days during the boys' nap time.
The Condo
Before any trip I usually start to panic about our accommodations, 'what if it was a scam and we get there and have no where to stay?!' We got such a 'great deal' what if it was too good to be true? I really did not have high expectations of this place considering what we paid for it but to everyone's surprise it was such a great find! It was nicely decorated, surprisingly toddler proof (although there were several modifications we had to do) and the lanai was spacious and safe for everyone to be out on at once.
We bought groceries at a Safeway just outside of the tourist area where things were so much more affordable than in the tourist area. Many things were the same price as the main land and if it was more it was never more than a 1/3 more (Milk was $5/gal versus $3/gal in Portland). Phil and I must have looked pretty ridiculous walking back with our double stroller packed with groceries and no babies! Ah well it was worth it, we cooked approximately half our meals and did lots of take out.
At the Beach
We spent a lot of time at the beach, we never had a day off from it. Even if I didn't feel like going, the minute I looked at the calm blue water and soft sand it was simply irresistible!
Do you see Thomas showing some crack up top? Can you believe those are the same swim trunks from last year size 6-12mo! Considering we had a hard time keeping them on I think I can get another year out of them : )
I dug a hole the last day and filled it with water using the buckets. The boys had a blast with it, and played for hours in it (video down below). I wish I had thought of it the first day! Caleb is wearing the blue fish, Eli in either multi-colored fish or dinosaurs, and Thomas in orange/brown stripes.
We quickly developed a beach routine. At the condo we'd strip the boys down to their diapers, grease them up with sunscreen and load them onto their strollers (the boys would jump right in without our prompting). At the beach we'd take their diapers off and put on their swim trunks and hats. One person was assigned to Eli (he was the most adventurous and fearless) and one person with the other two boys. The boys were pretty easy to look after at the beach, they stayed close by and didn't run off too far from us (this is not the case anywhere else). The boys could not stand lots of idle time in the condo which was great motivation to get us out the door and into the beautiful landscape!
Aloha Shirt Photo Shoot!
We had this huge entourage gawking at us while we snapped pictures! What makes people think this is acceptable?! (Eli in orange/red, Caleb in red, Thomas in black)
Misc Pics
The picture of Thomas snuggling up to aunt Janet is because the boy was terrified of the crazy howling monkeys at the zoo (they kind of scared me too)!
The bottom two pics are Phil and I's meals that we had on our date night, soooo yummy! We ate so much seafood on this trip : )
Last Night
We kept the boys up two hours past their bed time and they were in rare form. They were so excited laughing, giggling, being sweet and giving hugs and kisses. We had some paparazzi next to us, a group of 5 ladies that were head over heals over the boys. While Phil was taking a video he turned the camera on them! (see video below) They were mild with comparison to the lady that screamed when she saw the boys on the beach, immediately she drops the sandals that were in her hands and whips out her camera to take a picture (that one takes the cake I must say of all time reactions to the triplets). As it is people lower their inhibitions while on vacation but when you add identical triplets to the mix it's all over people!
Here are three little video clips in one, just over 5min long...Phil made a really cool 30min long video but I won't be posting it on the blog. I can only think of four persons that would want such a big dose of Pitts Trips. So if you are a grandparent (to the boys) or you are my sister expect something special in the mail. Anyone else is per request : )
