Aloha!
About a month ago, we decided to book a trip to Maui for my 30th birthday (whoop, whoop!). I had never been to Hawaii and we had never taken our two year old on a long flight, so this was a big deal! After the 5 hour flight (which was a bit tougher than I'd hoped), we landed in Maui and arrived at our hotel. Even though we couldn't check in for 4 hours, we tried to make the best of it! The three hour time difference was difficult for all of us, most of all our son. The kid didn't go to bed until 10 every night, a far cry from our usual 7/7:30 bedtime. Pair that with a 5 am wakeup time, minimal naps, and... yeah...
The second night we were there, little man woke at 11 pm screaming with a barky cough. We had a feeling it was croup, which he's had once before, but I worried that he could be having an allergic reaction to something. We bundled him up and ran downstairs to the lobby, only to discover that the closest hospital was 45 minutes away! That's when we really panicked! Luckily, a kind man came up to us, noticing our frenzy, and suggested that we go to the walk-in clinic across the street. Even though they were closed, this interaction gave us a moment to pause and regroup. After a little discussion, we decided to go back upstairs and run a steam shower (classic croup remedy). After about 2 hours, we all finally fell asleep. It's now 3 am...
Two days after this, a huge storm came rolling in! Lighting struck the whole island of Maui and the power went out around 1 am. Our son has a sound machine that helps him sleep, so of course, without power, no sound machine. He woke up around 4 am screaming, with croup, in the pitch black. So picture me in the bed, little man in his little metal jail of a crib at the foot of the bed, and my husband in the living room on the hide-a-bed. We wake up in a panic because we can't see ANYTHING, so I crawl to the foot of the bed and pick him up. Then I try to set him on a bed that I can't see, and when I go to lie down myself, I FALL OFF THE BED!! Holding my son, we hit the floor - hard. I stand up and yell for my husband to come to the bedroom and help, and he kicks a table trying to get to us. My son is screaming, my husband is swearing, and I have a giant bruise on my hip. We turn on the battery powered aquarium about 10 times to keep some light on, and eventually we fell asleep in the same bed with our son, who we have lovingly dubbed the sleep ninja because of his ability to kick you in the face no matter what position he is actually in.
The power was out for about 12 hours, and the next few days went by with relatively little drama. It rained every day, but considering how the trip started, that was small potatoes. Maybe it was being forced to let go of control, or maybe it was sheer exhaustion, but we were finally feeling like we were on vacation. We went to a beach every day, which was absolutely amazing. I remember sitting on the beach and taking photos of my guys, thinking, "I am SO lucky." We built sand castles together, only to be maniacally destroyed seconds later by our two year old. We played in the crashing waves and smiled so hard our faces hurt. We ate shaved ice, tons of delicious fish, and had countless drinks by our hotel's gorgeous pool. My thoughtful husband booked me the most relaxing massage, and he got to do his favorite thing, which is diving. Our son got to see and taste lots of new things for the first time. We even visited the local park and aquarium. Despite all of the drama, when we look back on our first family vacation, we'll remember how much fun we had together. Yes, it was stressful, and yes, there were times when I just wanted to come home; but in the end we made some beautiful memories and pushed through the drama together. That's what family does, right?
Until next time!
-Karcy




















