Another long travel day. We had to leave the hotel by 10am so we spent Friday night packing. Nana, Papa and Seth stopped at the hotel to say good-bye.
We took a long ride up the coast to the Kilua Lighthouse to kill some time as our flight was supposed to leave at 2:50 pm. Lindsay desperately wanted a pair of binoculars but they were $65 and we knew they would break so we only let her borrow a pair. She whined about this for about an hour.
Here are pictures from the lighthouse:
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We got to the airport at 1pm. Brady was sleeping so I put him in the stroller and checked-in the luggage. One of David's bags was 58 lbs so I had to pay a $25 penalty. I hate Aloha Airlines, but that was just the beginning...
David returned the rental car and the four of us (Brady was awake by this point after a whopping 20 minute nap) went through security and then to the terminal to wait for our plane to leave. We waited and waited and waited and waited.
At 3pm the take-off/arrival board said our plane would be delayed until 3:20 p.m. The plane was nowhere in sight and we started to become concerned. At 4:00 p.m., the board still said that the plane was going to leave at 3pm. And then our flight disappeared from the board completely. The Aloha Airlines staff made no announcements about our flight and had one attendant at the check-in counter and about 100 irate passengers. I called Aloha Airlines on my cell phone and they informed me that the plane had already left, according to their computer system. I assured the person on the phone that such was not the case. I asked when the next plane was leaving to Honolulu and she said in 15 minutes. I asked if we could get on and she said I would have to speak to the manager. I went to the front of the line and asked the sole attendant at the counter to speak to a manager and she said she was a manager. I asked if they were planning on informing all of the passengers on our flight whether they might be able to get on another plane and she said that we would have to wait for flight 73 from Honolulu - which had not yet left Honolulu! The kids were extremeley fidgety and cranky by this point, and we were not doing any better (We had been in the airport kicking a ball down the hall for three hours and it was hot and humid).
I asked the manager if we could get on the plane that was leaving and she said that people who had connections to the mainland would have first priority. David said that we should just wait and said that if I kept complaining the woman at the counter would call security. I think he was overreacting and I was not going to sit around and wait until the Aloha Airlines personnel got their act together. I was goign to get on the next flight come hell or high water.
I saw that the line for the flight was fairly short and told David, who was waiting in the hallway with seven carry-on items and the kids to go wait in the line. He did not want to since he thought it was futile but I did not want to take any chances in case we could get on the plane.
To make a long story even longer, we did get on the plane but, of course, our luggage did not. We arrived in Honolulu around 5:30 p.m. with only one carseat and our various carry-on bags. Of course, our luggage was nowhere to be found. We decided to send David back to the airport later since there was no way it would be there any time soon. We got our rental car (God Bless Hertz Gold!) and an extra carseat and headed for the hotel. On the way there, Brady said, "I'm hungry." We did a double-take and he said it again.
The hotel is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS and we got a penthouse room. There are two bedrooms and a sunroom. The place is HUGE and the hotel sits on a beautiful lagoon with clear blue water and no waves. Perfect for little kids. There are two or three pools in front of our building, one of which has a sand bottom. We ate outside at the restaurant that overlooks the water and they had a great buffet. Brady ate more than I have ever seen the kid eat. A Polynesian band was playing live music and Lindsay wanted to dance on the lawn area of the restaurant. David and I took turns dancing with her, but she was also content dancing by herself and with Brady (when he finished stuffing his face).
The kids were filty after dinner so we threw them into a bath and changed them into the one extra outfit I had packed for them in the carry-on bags. Then David went back to the airport around 1opm, just as our luggage was coming out onto the carousel. He got all seven of our bags and then went to Safeway near our hotel. By midnight, he was back at the Marriott Ko Olina. From 2am - 4am, Lindsay came into our bed and said she could not sleep. She mostly kicked me and rolled around. I was exhausted.
We took a long ride up the coast to the Kilua Lighthouse to kill some time as our flight was supposed to leave at 2:50 pm. Lindsay desperately wanted a pair of binoculars but they were $65 and we knew they would break so we only let her borrow a pair. She whined about this for about an hour.
Here are pictures from the lighthouse:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZNWzhq4asmvB
We got to the airport at 1pm. Brady was sleeping so I put him in the stroller and checked-in the luggage. One of David's bags was 58 lbs so I had to pay a $25 penalty. I hate Aloha Airlines, but that was just the beginning...
David returned the rental car and the four of us (Brady was awake by this point after a whopping 20 minute nap) went through security and then to the terminal to wait for our plane to leave. We waited and waited and waited and waited.
At 3pm the take-off/arrival board said our plane would be delayed until 3:20 p.m. The plane was nowhere in sight and we started to become concerned. At 4:00 p.m., the board still said that the plane was going to leave at 3pm. And then our flight disappeared from the board completely. The Aloha Airlines staff made no announcements about our flight and had one attendant at the check-in counter and about 100 irate passengers. I called Aloha Airlines on my cell phone and they informed me that the plane had already left, according to their computer system. I assured the person on the phone that such was not the case. I asked when the next plane was leaving to Honolulu and she said in 15 minutes. I asked if we could get on and she said I would have to speak to the manager. I went to the front of the line and asked the sole attendant at the counter to speak to a manager and she said she was a manager. I asked if they were planning on informing all of the passengers on our flight whether they might be able to get on another plane and she said that we would have to wait for flight 73 from Honolulu - which had not yet left Honolulu! The kids were extremeley fidgety and cranky by this point, and we were not doing any better (We had been in the airport kicking a ball down the hall for three hours and it was hot and humid).
I asked the manager if we could get on the plane that was leaving and she said that people who had connections to the mainland would have first priority. David said that we should just wait and said that if I kept complaining the woman at the counter would call security. I think he was overreacting and I was not going to sit around and wait until the Aloha Airlines personnel got their act together. I was goign to get on the next flight come hell or high water.
I saw that the line for the flight was fairly short and told David, who was waiting in the hallway with seven carry-on items and the kids to go wait in the line. He did not want to since he thought it was futile but I did not want to take any chances in case we could get on the plane.
To make a long story even longer, we did get on the plane but, of course, our luggage did not. We arrived in Honolulu around 5:30 p.m. with only one carseat and our various carry-on bags. Of course, our luggage was nowhere to be found. We decided to send David back to the airport later since there was no way it would be there any time soon. We got our rental car (God Bless Hertz Gold!) and an extra carseat and headed for the hotel. On the way there, Brady said, "I'm hungry." We did a double-take and he said it again.
The hotel is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS and we got a penthouse room. There are two bedrooms and a sunroom. The place is HUGE and the hotel sits on a beautiful lagoon with clear blue water and no waves. Perfect for little kids. There are two or three pools in front of our building, one of which has a sand bottom. We ate outside at the restaurant that overlooks the water and they had a great buffet. Brady ate more than I have ever seen the kid eat. A Polynesian band was playing live music and Lindsay wanted to dance on the lawn area of the restaurant. David and I took turns dancing with her, but she was also content dancing by herself and with Brady (when he finished stuffing his face).
The kids were filty after dinner so we threw them into a bath and changed them into the one extra outfit I had packed for them in the carry-on bags. Then David went back to the airport around 1opm, just as our luggage was coming out onto the carousel. He got all seven of our bags and then went to Safeway near our hotel. By midnight, he was back at the Marriott Ko Olina. From 2am - 4am, Lindsay came into our bed and said she could not sleep. She mostly kicked me and rolled around. I was exhausted.
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