Hawaii was SO much fun! Traveling with kids can be overwhelming but my babies are at such an exciting age where they can respond, react, “appreciate” the simplest of things. The fish in the hotel lobby made the plane ride worth it alone! That said, we could not have made it through the flight and everything else as smoothly as we did without our team! We went with a ton of family and felt very fortunate to have so many hands.
So how was the flight? If you’re asking cuz you’re going on vacation soon. Just remember that. You’re going on vacation! The flight was freaking busy, but by the time we checked into the hotel the day of travel was a blur. Thanks to exhaustion and forgetful mom brain, which God gave us for reasons like this. To forget the challenging stuff and remember the good! The so SO good. One thing I do remember is that I packed lots of snacks. Like lots. You know when you add a ridiculously amount of extras “just in case” and you never use them? Well, we used them. ALL of them. Particularly the teether biscuits, puffs and yogurt melts. We bought milk at the airport so we had plenty on the plane (airlines usually have milk but you never know when they’ll run out). We left our heavy duty stroller at home and bought a lightweight umbrella stroller that we could easily fold up and check at the gate. Def not as good as our uppababy or bob when it comes to steering or manuvering but well worth the sacrifice in our opinion! We had SO much stuff so adding a heavy bulky stroller (plus all the special accessories) was not ideal. The one thing I forgot for the plane was extra clothing #momfail. Of course I had extra clothes for the flight there. And of course I didn’t need them. But on the way home. OM(F!)G. One baby had two blowouts. And then projectile vomit. Let’s just say there was a lot of improvising. And if you’re really interested in the details, email me. Oh and for the record, baby wasn’t sick, it was just a long day of travel, and a long flight with turbulence.
As far as other vacay necessities, I ordered a ton from Amazon and had it delivered to our hotel. Specifically diapers, wipes, bath soap, bulk snacks (biscuits, puffs, melts, veggie squeezes for the room!), pool floaties, water shoes, sunscreen etc. I also ordered a couple packs of white onesies which came in handy since it was so hot and the babies were constantly getting dirty and we didn’t have a laundry machine in our room (but I did used the communal laundromat in the lobby once)! I loved the extra onesies, and almost wish I had packed less of everything else, because they could just play, eat and even sleep in them (thanks for that suggestion mom)! If you’re heading to Hawaii and do the Amazon route keep in mind “prime” doesn’t really exist and it can take up to a week or two for some products. We ordered ahead!
When it comes to the twins’ schedule, I usually run a pretty tight ship at home.. but with the long flight and time change I decided to just let it go and let the babies lead the way. They were out of sorts the first day or two but by Day 3 we got into a rhythm and it was great! Still waking up between 4:30 and 5:30 each day (so 7:30/8:30 CA time), but two long naps during the day which then allowed us to push bedtime later than normal! I think the first time I took the kids on vacation I tried to get them to nap at the pool. They didn’t, so we’re a bit more cranky, and on different schedules from one another which was the hardest part. This trip I tried to keep naps in the room if possible, but wasn’t strict on precise time. I really just wanted to implement same schedule for the two so we’d have a shot at two happy kids (and therefore happy parents!) during playtime. I am pretty strict with bedtime at home but on the days they had great naps we had a lot more wiggle room in the afternoon and evenings to hang with the group and head to family dinners! As for sleeping arrangements, we put their pack n plays (which we loaned from hotel) in the foyer of the bathroom (there was no door, but a small wall), closed the curtains to the room so it was completely black, and put the sound machine on at its loudest volume. We had a connecting room to my parents so we could use their bathroom etc if needed but it was dark and loud enough to keep the babies asleep that we could use our own amenities too. I wish I could give you tips on where or how to arrange your sleeping. If you’re staying in a house you’re set, but when it comes to a hotel, it really depends on the room and you have to just wait till you’re there. I’ve slept in a few hotel rooms now with two babies and a)I always remind myself no set up will be “home,” and b) we always have always and always will figure it out!
As for activities, we kept it simple. Lots of pool & ocean time and hotel exploring. And lots of bananas. When you have two kids, you never have to waste one! You split one banana up in the morning to share. And since they’ve each only had half so far, you can still give them more banana in the afternoon #bribery! On walks I’d wear my lillebaby carrier , since with or without stroller, usually one baby wants to be carried at some point. It was so fun to see my babies personalities come out during the trip! Zoe was all about island life. The way her eyes lit up on walks, the way she crawled straight into the kiddy pool with her perfect technique. And always a radiant smile. It was like she owned the place. It took a bit for Slates to warm up but he was SUCH cuddle bug, and it was fun to see this side of him! The first three days he screamed in the elevator, so we’d have to sing “wheels on the bus” to get him down without a peep. By day four he was all about it! As far as water activities he loved the pool and even got into the ocean for a dip. He played bocce ball with the boys and brought Bunny along everywhere. I can’t wait to take the kids on their next vacation! Okay, actually I can (cuz it was busy and mama needs a break), but I am very excited:)
Special thank you to my family for such an incredible week. And a thanks to you all for following along on this adventure of ours! Here’s a list of things we packed for those who asked!
TRAVEL/PLANE:
Double Umbrella Stroller (single version here): easily folds and can be checked at the gate so you can push your babe all around the airport while you grab your coffee and what not. Unless you’re going on extreme excursions on your vacation (like long runs, amusement par visits, etc) this stroller did the trick for the trip.
Carrier: I love wearing carriers when I travel (mine is lillebaby but ergobaby is great too!). One baby usually wants to be held so it enabled me to be handsfree. Also good for takeoff and landing, and great for red-eyes if your baby will sleep! We took an all nighter months ago, I forgot this thing, and totally regretted it. Carriers are nice for walks on vacation too. In the lillebaby, the kid can be worn facing in, facing out, or even on your back (which Zoe loved during the day)!
Clothes in diaper bag – do not forget these, k? Even if “you’re passed the messy newborn/infant stage.”
Snacks – you need all of these. Every single one in your pantry. I took 2 cans of Puffs, 2 bags of Yogurt Melts, one box of teether biscuits, and a handful of Happy Baby Veggie Squeezes (my kids love these so a good way to get in veggies while traveling ). We bought them turkey sandwiches before boarding for lunch (try to buy a meal at the airport or if you’re on a flight that sells food, buy it right when you get on as they sell out fast)
Toys – a few new ones to catch the babies attention. I bought these Fisher Price Morning Rush set, as well as Kids Tech Set that includes fake keys and a remote! Friends of mine also suggested “wrapping” the toys so it makes it special for the babes to rip open one at a time throughout the flight. Mine aren’t into opening presents yet, but I think I’ll try that in the future!
Books – we brought 2 mini finger puppet books like Baby Shark puppet book and Baby Bunny . We also brought Guess How Much I Love You board book version.
Diapers/wipes – lots of these!
Security Blanket – Slater loves his Jellycat Bunny. Zoe not has much, but we brought both!
Wubbanub Pacifiers – another thing Slater loves, and again Zoe not as much. Both sucked on them during take off and landing – they seemed to help ears with the pressure changes
Bottles (since mine still use bottles, we actually did water in bottles too just for the plane, since the sucking helped the ear situation and it simplified the packing here)
Sippycups /Water bottles(we didn’t bring on the plane since we used bottles, but adding anyway)
TROPICAL VACATION (a lot here, so just going to list off and comment where needed):
Pajamas (ours ended up sleeping in onesies though, so didn’t need!)
Sound machine – just bought this small Lectrofan machine and it worked wonders
Onesies – lots of these
Sweatpants (to put on over onesies in the morning for little activities, coffee strolls. Also good for plane)
1 Sweater/Hoodie per kid
2 swimsuits per kid
1 rashguard per kid (I like this Quiksilver & Roxy version – both have sun protection!)
2 hats per kid
Hair Bows/headbands (just a few!)
Disposable Swim Diapers + Reusable Swim Diapers (I find reusable more reliable, but presents more to clean)
water shoes (we didn’t use ours but would have if my kids were walking by the trip)
bottles/sippy cups (we packed 2 bottles and 1 sippy cup per kid, and washed them)
pool floaty (ordered beforehand on amazon, but most hotel resorts sell these too)
canopy/playpen (ordered beforehand. my babies are a few months too old as they got over this thing after 10 minutes, but perfect for 6mo-12mo)
socks (didn’t use)
shoes (didn’t use. If they were walking we would have done sandals but otherwise barefoot most of the trip!)
