Going to Hawaii as a family was one of the best decisions Dave and I have ever made. YES, we wanted to go alone—absolutely. It had been at least three years since we had taken a trip alone and we needed some alone time. But neither of our parents were able to come stay with the kids. After spending about five minutes devastated that we couldn’t go, we looked at each other and made the BEST decision to book flights for all six of us and just GO FOR IT!
We had been wanting to go for years, and once we were there basking in the island life, we realized we were the ones holding ourselves back all these years.
When we had our first child, we told ourselves that we weren’t going to let our new family situation slow us down. We would still be active in church and small group, keep working and teaching, still take trips and hang out late at my parents’ house. Each newborn got a fantastic trip to San Francisco or San Diego in the first few weeks of life. We expected our firstborn (and later kids) to just be flexible and adapt—sleep where and when you need to and try to keep up, kid ?
We went on one-day and weekend trips with Pepperdine students, and went on trips to San Diego with my parents all the time. We were Disneyland annual pass holders and Santa Barbara Zoo members, and burned up lots of pavement between Thousand Oaks and Anaheim and Santa Barbara.
Somewhere along the way, we all slowed down. Four children and a lot of “stuff” have a way of doing that, I suppose. It might have happened when we moved thousands of miles away from parents (with kids 7, 5, 3, and 7 months old) and no longer had the luxury of an extra adult or two on deck.
Living as far away as we do, most of our trips have parents’ or grandparents’ addresses as destinations. It’s the way we were both raised. But we knew that fall and winter would be coming and we would be longing for the sun and warmth of a tropical climate.
IT WAS GLORIOUS. We soaked up every minute of sun and warmth, from pools and hot tubs and beaches, to volcanos and rain forests and sunsets. It was magical and amazing and WORTH IT. –sorry FB and IG friends, I hardly posted anything because I was taking it all in and being present and having all the good times.
We had the time of our lives. And we did it together. YES, Dave and I still need some married people time. But we are so glad we went and made all the memories as a family ♥
What are you holding yourself back from? Is there a trip you’ve been wanting to take? Something you’ve been wanting to explore or try? The whole wide world is waiting for you to SAY YES!
Thanks for sharing this! I am glad you had a wonderful time with your beautiful family.