Planning For Hawaii

Part of the fun is the planning, right? 

I have started a list of the items we need to bring for our 10 day vacation to Hawaii. 

Of course, the obvious, clothes, swim suits, sunscreen, etc. 

But I have to think about 9 hours on a flight with two kids. (And that's just one leg). 

Our connection is through Chicago, and then we have a direct flight to Honolulu. It's going to be around 9 hours. Rochester to Chicago is about an hour and a half? It's short and should be no problem. It's the direct from Chicago to Honolulu that worries me a bit. The girls haven't been on a plane in years. Like, 7 years? And evenso, they don't remember it. So it's not like we can ease them into a flight. 

I will be traveling a few weeks prior to this trip and having gone on several trips this last year for work, I feel pretty well-versed in air travel. I'm confident with going through security and know what to expect. 

That being said, I usually travel alone. Or with other adults who are responsible for their own things.

And I travel very lightly.

This time I'll be with my immediate family and my sister. My mom will be going the day before and meeting us in Hawaii. 

I'll be wrangling two very excited children, one who doesn't listen that well, my husband who can be out to lunch most times, and my sister. 

I have TSA Precheck, thankfully, so I can at least go through that with the kids. That will make things a bit easier, not having to remove shoes and all that. 

We are just about 2 weeks away.

I have to think about what really makes sense to bring.

We will have one large suitcase that we will check. That should hold the majority of our clothes and shoes. 

Each kid has their own hard-sided carry-on that I'm planning to use for all of our stuff that we might need on the plane. 

Then they each also have their Disney LoungeFly backpacks I got them. That will be for their own snacks, drinks, whatever can fit in there. 

Steve and I will each have backpacks as our carry ons. Mine will include my new MacBook plus whatever I need on the plane. 

Summer clothes shouldn't take up too much space and I'm not planning on bringing more than maybe 4-5 pairs of sandals/shoes. I need to make sure I have shoes for hiking, etc. I'm wondering if the one checked bag will be enough for all of us for 10 days. 

Not only am I planning for the actual trip, but I have to think about the FOUR dogs I have in my house.

Definitely not an ideal situation.

I have a house sitter, which is awesome, to watch MR. and Wiener.

Bella has been having bathroom issues and is unable to hold it overnight now, and we don't want our poor house sitter to have to deal with that shit. (literally).

Then there's Cricket. I thought I had found a sitter, but they backed out.

She'll be on her heartworm treatment, which means she'll be on strict crate rest for like, two months.

Yeah.

So....not convenient to say the least. 

But I did it to myself and need to deal with it. 

<update> 

Cricket has a potential adopter! We have a meet and greet Sunday. You know, two days before we leave. If it all works out, she will get adopted that day and stay with these people. If not, she comes home with me and the house-sitter will watch her while we're gone. 

Our flight is at 6:50am on a Tuesday morning. My plan is to get my family up around 3:30am and out the door around 4am. This is so we can drive to my mom's house and get my sister. We will then leave my truck at my mom's house and take an Uber to the airport. That way we don't need to worry about parking, paying, getting to the terminal. We will get dropped off right at the door. 

We land sometime around 8am in Chicago and have just under 2 hours before our flight for Honolulu takes off. This, to me is the perfect amount of time, especially with kids. We can land, get to our next gate, have time to hit up the restroom and get some snacks/food. 

Then it's the 9 hour flight. 

I want to bring several things to help keep us all busy - coloring books, snacks, movies, tablets, etc. I'm sure we'll get through all of that before we even taxi away from the gate. (sigh)

Oh I'll also be bringing some Benadryl and melatonin just in case things get hairy.

Blankets and neck pillows. 

It's all we can do. Just hope for the best with wiggly kids.