and we are off...

our journey to paradise begins.  we picked olivia up from school and headed over to b and pop's house.  the kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement, and i have to admit i was pretty thrilled too.  our hawaii vacation was finally going to happen.  we loaded down the car and we were off to the airport.  there we met up with mark (he was coming from a meeting.  of course, he worked up to the very last minute) and the fifers.  i didn't get any pictures of our LARGE family hauling our load through the airport or security, but let me assure you it was a TON of stuff.  i did snap a picture of the kids "carry-on" bags.  that would be 4 backpacks, 4 american girl dolls, and 2 personalized travel pillows.

of course, moonbeam, created a little something special for o and j to use during the long journey.   these travel pillows were perfect and super soft and cozy!!

once through security we all took a deep breath! (funny story-- because i wear a VERY supportive underwire bra, i kept setting off the metal detectors.  funny now, annoying and somewhat embarrassing at the time.  but because of that,  i had to get a VERY thorough pat-down to clear security.  again, funny now, a bit annoying and very much an invasion of my personal space at the time.).  we then grabbed some lunch and then found our gate so we could board the plan to LAX.

olivia and b were plane buddies on plane #1.

jack made sure to review the safety briefing card before we took off.  he was my travel buddy the whole time.  :)

about three hours later we landed in LA and had a nice long (4 hours) layover there.  the kids played in the terminal, and once again we ate, this time dinner.  (priorities people!!)

cousins hanging out, giggling over some mad libs

finally it was time to board the plane #2.  this time when we landed (6 hours later) we would be in our final destination- kauai!!  we were all smiles and so excited that we were almost there.

plane #2.  all the girls got to sit together.  they were very excited about this sitting arrangement. 

next up, five full days filled with family and fun!!!