In early June my MIL and FIL took all of their children and grandchildren to Maui to celebrate their 70th birthdays. In total our posse rolled 13 deep. As a parent, I had two big fears leading up to this trip, 1) the flight and 2) how Charlie would handle the time change. Thankfully, neither ended up being anything to worry about.
Okay, I’m gonna cram a lot into one post. You ready?
Navigating the airport was much easier than we expected. We were lucky enough to have a seat on the plane for Charlie so we were able to bring his car seat. We made our way through the airport with car seat thanks to the Go Go Kidz car seat attachment. The attachment turns the car seat into a stroller — pure genius!
The flight over was also much easier than expected. Charlie napped for the first 2 hours — hooray! The next 3 were a little less manageable, but not nearly as bad as we expected. Larry and I just took turns walking up and down the single isle plane. The passengers were not happy with us, but we didn’t care.
I've got my book, I'm ready to fly!
Make way for me!
We stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea and could not have asked for a better set up.
View of our Cabanas at night *we had 2 of them
Every room was a suite, which meant that Larry and I actually got to stay awake and hang out after we put Charlie down for bed. Had we shared a room, we would have had to go to sleep at the same time as Charlie. Instead, we got to hang out on the Lanai or watch tv or even get a babysitter while we went out for dinner one night. Charlie also decided to adjust to the time change immediately. We didn’t have any early morning wake ups after the first night. It’s like he knew we were all on vacation.
Balcony view
The trip was 6 days of pure bliss. Traveling to Maui with just Larry and Charlie wouldn’t have been very relaxing because parent duty is 24/7. That doesn’t leave much time for relaxation. Having the grandparents and aunts/uncles around allowed for each of us to take a much needed break every once in a while. If you get the opportunity and you have a super loving and helpful family, I highly suggest going on vacation with them… especially when you have kids.
Nanny sitting on the floor in the middle of the restaurant
Reading poolside
It was also great for all of the cousins to hang out and play together everyday. We live in Southern California, but Charlie’s cousins don’t. This means they don’t get to spend much quality time together. This trip made up for that, but also showed us what we are missing not living near family.
Here, try a raisin!
Coloring with cousins
Nanny and Poppy's Dream Vacation
This post wouldn’t be complete without a family photo and a few pictures of the gorgeous Maui sunset.
All Smiles on Vacation
A typical Maui sunset... breathtaking.
Most AMAZING sunset ever...
The flight home was not as easy as the flight over. If you saw my previous post, you’d see that American Airlines did nothing to make it a pleasant experience. We made up for our awful plane ride home with a pimpin’ pick up from the airport. We ordered a town car (it was cheaper than a taxi), but got picked up in a stretch limo! So, the three of us got to ride home with an abundance of room and our legs sprawled.
Leg room, glorious leg room!
Thank you Nanny and Poppy for the most wonderful vacation we could ever have asked for.
Hooray for Maui!
*I will try to post soon with my suggestions for packing when traveling with a toddler.
Tags: family trip to Maui, Traveling with a toddler
