Totally Worth It

Didn’t mean to leave you hanging on the slightly more negative aspects of our trip, like long flights, jet lag, and… well… vomit.

Because despite all that?  TOTALLY worth it.  It was an awesome vacation.  And yes, I actually used the word vacation.

The first thing that made it awesome: traveling with a large and helpful group.  A total of ten adults and four kids.  My dad and stepmom were obviously enthusiastic kid-watchers, and all of the extra pairs of eyes were great.  My stepbrother’s daughter is only 10 months younger than my kids, so she was an awesome extra playmate.

The house we stayed in was to die for.  Five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, huge (and well-equipped) kitchen, covered outdoor eating/lounging area with a table big enough for all of us to eat dinner together, and even a small pool.

And it was one house away from the beach.  A beautiful stretch of beach, completely uncrowded, just people walking or running by with their dogs.

I hereby declare the rental beach house to be possibly the most ideal mode of vacation with young kids, and not just because this particular house was a million times nicer than my own.  No, I think it’s perfect because it gives you so many options.  When you stay in a hotel, you are either cooped up in the room, or you are out Doing Something.  You have basically no option but to eat at restaurants, which gets old, real fast.  Especially with young kids.

In the beach rental, you have space.  You have flexibility.  You have options.  You can stock the kitchen with cereal and sandwich fixings, and you can choose to make a real dinner if you’re so inclined (on this trip, each family group took a night to be responsible for dinner).  You have space to just hang out and lay low if it’s a quiet kind of a day, and the adults have somewhere to hang out and relax when the kids are asleep.

And then there’s the beach aspect.  Oh, the beach.  What a joy, to be able to put your towels and toys in a little wagon and be so close that you don’t even bother putting on shoes.  Once again, it takes the pressure off of finding Something To Do for every moment of every day of your trip.  You can just decide to wake up slowly, eat your breakfast, watch a little Curious George, and then spend the morning at the beach.  And then wander back on your own time for a snack or when someone is tired of the sand.  So, so lovely.

We did some of the other great Oahu things, of course.  We took the kids to the (nice but surprisingly small) Waikiki Aquarium, where they got a kick out of the audio tour.

We went to a Luau, where I started chatting with one of the dancers (not the guy in the picture) only to find out she has two-year-old identical twin boys.  Twin moms find each other, everywhere we go.

We left the kids at home with the grandparents (woot!) so that we could spend most of the day taking in Pearl Harbor.  It was on M’s absolute-must-see list, and I’m glad we didn’t have to rush it and entertain the kids. As it was, my pregnant ass could barely keep up with all the walking.

All told, it was an amazing vacation, a practically once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (thank you, Dad!).  Would I have had the guts to do it on my own? Most likely not.  But boy am I glad we did.

If for no other reason than to hear M proclaim that he has found his happy place.

For a guy who’s a major home-body and not much of a traveler, to hear him proclaim his love for it over and over, or to say that, if he didn’t have a wife and kids, he would have called his boss and told him he was never coming back to work, but instead going to live on the beach… and you couldn’t pick someone who is less of a “beach person.”  Yeah, it was that awesome.