Off to Hawaii we go! This trip has been in the works for quite awhile. We knew about it before Briggen was even born!
I was most nervous about the flight. 6 hours is definitely a long time with a 10 month old baby. I came prepared with lots of snacks, toys, and even some candy to keep Briggen occupied. Luckily our flight was midday, so Briggen was awake and happy. He even napped for awhile which helped! We first flew to California and then to Hawaii. On the longer flight we were lucky enough to have a seat open between us! It wasn't supposed to be that way, but when we checked in at the gate, the lady was kind enough to move someone to an aisle seat closer to the front to free up the seat between us. Phew!
We got in late at night, so we took a slow morning the next day before hitting up the pool. Mom Fish found an awesome duplex to rent within a resort. This meant we had access to private beaches, pool, gym, shopping center, and restaurants all within the resort.
Almost every night we would go to "Sunset Beach" near the golf course to watch the sun go down.
The boys were able to go scuba diving several times, but I usually stayed with Briggen. One morning I was lucky enough to go with Durant, Cohan, Brodie, and Dad Fish. Since we are all certified, we rent the gear and pick the beach! Our favorite spot of the trip was Puaco Beach. We were the only ones there and saw lots of turtles.
Even more amazing was a night dive that we did to see the Manta Rays. We took several pictures using Brodie's underwater camera, but we haven't downloaded them yet. I was slightly terrified to scuba dive at night, but I didn't want to chicken out. Those of us who were certified did the dive, while others did the snorkel. The divers go to the bottom of the ocean floor while the snorkelers watch from above. Giant lights are put into the water to attract the rays and the swim just inches from you!
Another day was spent at Hapuna Beach to get the good waves. Briggen refused to be in the sand, which actually worked out well because he would stay put in the shade on a chair. Adults took turns on the boogie boards so there was always somebody to stay behind and watch him.
More days at the pool . . . Briggen finally warmed up enough to the idea of getting into the pool.
We loved that the kiddie pool was right up next to the big pool and Briggen was tall enough to stand and watch from the shallows.
Fun free show at the shopping center inside the resort.
shopping for souvenirs
night time swim
On our last day we went on an amazing hike!! Briggen was carried the whole way (obviously) which wasn't bad when he was on Brodie's shoulders on in a sling on my hip. The tricky part was hiking back up with him dead asleep in my arms! He was a champ this whole trip and was really good about taking naps when needed. We would lay him in the sling, give him a bottle, turn on white noise with my phone, and he was out. Way to go little, buddy!
rope swing
There are even more pictures floating around that I need to gather from people and add later, but for now that's what I have!
We were sad to fly home and I was even more nervous about this flight because it was a red eye and we had two layovers rather than one. We got lucky again and had empty seats between us and Briggen slept most of the way. He struggled the last half an hour which required me to give him lots of lollipops, but we made it! After getting home he took the longest sleep in history (16 hours!!) and was back to his normal energetic self by the next day.
