hawaii

As my last vacation before starting the big job, we decided to go to Hawaii for the 3rd time in 5 years. I absolutely love Hawaii ever since I went there as part of my Youth With a Mission Discipleship Training School 10 years ago. While I love the place, this was likely the most tiring vacation ever.

We brought my in-laws and 9 month old Ryan. The poor child had a difficult time with the time change and also suffered a bout of diarrhea. Sitting in a car seat for the bulk of the day did not help matters. Since I was traveling with non-swimmers, we basically traveled by car to every site around Oahu and the Big Island and poor Ryan needed his diaper changed about every hour or two. Diarrhea leads to diaper rash and then to very painful diaper changes.

The plane ride was no fun either. You've probably sat in airplanes where other people's children are crying and felt a bit of stress, but the parents are by far more stressed out than you are. I have finally become one of those parents.

The feeling of people staring, fatigue from jet lag, and a feeling of being claustrophic for an 8 hour plane trip is sooooo stressful. I truly envied those in first class where the seats were the size of 2 coach seats.

What a trip. I still enjoyed the Hawaiian vibe and Ryan got to swim in the beach and pool on one occasion, but I definitely didn't mind going home so that Ryan could re-establish his daily routine.

In hindsight, I still would have brought Ryan. But, since I had seen all the Hawaiian sites already, I should have stayed back in our beautiful condo with Ryan and just basked in the sun.