Hellooooo Washington State!

Hi! Long time no talk to! Thanks to everyone who has been asking about our little journey! Here's a little update.

While everyone else was out celebrating the 4th of July we were Washington bound. Even with all the preplanning and packing I still felt like a basketcase when it was time to go but off we went. Goodbye North Carolina, hello Washington state!

When we arrived at the Charlotte airport all I could think of was, "THANK GOODNESS" my father was traveling with us. With two kids and all the luggage I had I don't know what I would have done. Especially since "curb side check-in" was now being done indoors (What sense does that make?) In addition to all the luggage I decided to take Mo's car seat and stroller with us. I checked the car seat in with our luggage and checked the stroller in at the gate. On Delta both count as "special" luggage so there was no additional fee to bring them with us. Just an FYI for those of you that might be traveling soon!

I had filled the girls' backpacks with things to do. Sticker books, Color Wonder pens and paper (pens went dry within 20 minutes!), magnet activity book (magnets did not stick!) a DVD player (that decided not to work - of course), their MP3 players (which they did not use but they did use the headphones), seek-and-find activity books (left untouched), etc. I guess no matter how well prepared you think you are you never know what your kids are going to want to do!

The first leg of our trip, from Charlotte to Cincinatti went pretty well. Kailani was a bit apprehensive as she has a slight fear of heights. Momo on the other hand yelled, "WHOOOOOOOA" as the plane took off into the skies. I think Momo talked non-stop on the flight. I felt bad for the other passengers on the plane but at least it was happy chatter and not a screaming, short-tempered child!

Our layover in Cincinatti was just long enough for a diaper change and a cup of coffee (both of equal value!) Next thing you know we were on the 2nd leg of our flight. Kailani got over her fear of flying and thought the plane was "SO COOL!" especially since each seat had it's own television, music player, etc. They even had "Kidz Bop 16" as one of the listening choices. Whoo-hoo!

With about an hour and a half left in the flight Momo had had enough. She started yelling, "PAU! PAU!" at the top of her lungs. ("Pau" means done, or finished in Hawaiian.) I was feeling a bit "pau" as well.

We finally arrived at our destination and have been having a wonderful time ever since! We've been spending some quality time with my sister and her family and even managed a visit up to Seattle to visit my uncle and his. There have been a few meltdowns:

But they have been outnumbered by good times:

Washington has been fun. What a fantastic state! Very kid-friendly and quite multi-cultural! I love it.

The day after tomorrow we leave for Hawaii. I can't believe it. It's so surreal! I am excited to be back home and for our family to be reunited (and to have full access to a computer with fast internet speed!) But yet it bittersweet as well. We will miss our family and friends that we have left behind . I hope they come for a visit...or even a stay!