Hawaii - Day One

Aloha, friends!  It's been a whole year since we Hawaii-blogged here on the Steinberg-travel-blog-extravaganza.  We are really excited to be here.  "We" consists of Will, Jenna, Isaiah, Jackie and Wayne and...coming soon...Susan Steinberg!  We are so excited Will's mom will be joining us on Tuesday!  Yay!

Now that we have the introductions out of the way, let's talk "Day One".  Day one started out like all the others.  Up at the crack of dawn, coffee, on the plane just before 7 and then...the "toilet incident". DUHN DUHN DUHN...

As we were making our preparations for the 5 1/2 hour flight - - books, crossword puzzles, etc. - - over the loudspeaker came our captain: "Well, ladies and gentlemen...we've run into a bit of a snag.  One of the toilets in the back of the plane is having a technical issue. I'm going to need to call in a mechanic to look at it.".  Little did we know that calling in a mechanic meant an hour and half on the tarmac.  It was not fun. But, who can complain??  We made it.  It's so lovely here.  

Will had a great time listening to some lady negotiate with the Hertz counter rep about getting a red car, big but not too big, shiny but not too shiny...not kidding.  The people in line were about to get a mutiny started.  Lucky for her, paradise makes people more forgiving.

We headed to get provisions for the week.  We were famished so I used Yelp to find a tasty local place.  Tasty Korean BBQ in the strip mall with Safeway - Kapolei...yum.  I was proud of myself because I knew what about half of the sides were.  Kimchi of many kinds, shredded daikon, cabbage, noodle-y something, green something, red-ish something...yep, I said half.  Either way, it was amazing food. Thank you, random strangers who reviewed Tasty Korean BBQ.    

Once we got to the hotel, it was all about the pool.  Isaiah spent 3 hours playing, splashing, making friends and generally, enjoying himself immensely.  The adults, however, were feeling the effects of a 4:30 AM wake up call.  We relaxed, rested and recuperated.  

We were ready for bed by 9 PM.  A 3 hour time difference is always interesting.  Again, who can complain?  

I've been thinking about that concept a lot.  When children are starving, how can I look in the fridge and say, "Sigh...there's nothing to eat.".  When my sister-in-law is struggling with stage 4 cancer, how can I complain bitterly about a head cold? When people across the country can't find a job, how can I agonize over difficult change in my wonderful workplace?  Perspective is a blessing.  So, here I am in Hawaii...free to relax, play and enjoy life.  I hope that today you'll acknowledge all your blessings, use some perspective when you want to complain and tell people how much you love them.