The Dagupion 'Ohana: Kai's Birthday Weekend

Debbie Downer post coming up. Sorry.

I have always had visions of traveling with the kids - showing them new places, having fun together, experiencing new things. It's definitely a goal of mine to show these kiddos the world. So a few months ago we got a wedding invitation and the wedding was on Oahu. And it coincided with Kai's birthday so we booked our tickets for Honolulu for a wedding and birthday weekend. The kids have been talking about going on the airplane for months. We got a discounted hotel room in Waikiki. We planned on going to the zoo.

This trip started out terribly. We made it through security on Maui no problem and arrived in Honolulu with a very cranky Cruz (no nap). We get to the rental car place to discover that somewhere along the way Peter had lost his driver's license. We sat in the lobby of Enterprise going through every bag and every pocket while Cruz was a puddle on the ground screaming and throwing his shoes at people. Finally I just said forget it, changed the reservation to my name, and we could head to the hotel and put Cruz to bed. When we got to the hotel, which was booked as an employee stay, we didn't have the correct paperwork and couldn't check in. Peter had to iron things out with his hotel on Maui while me and the kids waited. Poor Cruz. An employee took pity on me and got ice pops for the kids. Finally we got checked in and had to start getting ready for the wedding.

The wedding was in a really fancy hotel ballroom. We should not have brought the kids. End of story. This was too nice. Kai and Cruz decided to breakdance on the stage. We were all exhausted.

Sunday we went walking around Waikiki. This was too much for Kai, who totally reverted. He was a puddle on the ground. He was sticking his hands in his mouth. I think the change of routine and location was just too much for his system. He wouldn't listen. He was all over the place.

The kids really did enjoy the zoo though. It was a great zoo - not too big. Peter took the older two swimming and I took a nap with Cruz in the hotel room. Then we went to get Auntie Jean at her dorm at UH Manoa and decided to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory for Kai's big birthday dinner. It was packed. We waited an hour and ten minutes for a table. The service was really slow. Kai fell asleep when his cheesecake came. They sang Happy Birthday to the table next to us but not for Kai (even though I told them). I was totally disappointed.

Monday morning we headed home. The trip to the airport was rushed, the kids were going bananas. It was just really, really hard. I slept for 3 hours when we got home. I was just spent. The trip wasn't at all the trip I had envisioned. I guess I had built it up in my mind to be this really awesome experience, but the boys are just too young.