HAWAII OR BUST!

The sun did not shine

It was too wet to play,

So we sat in the house

All that cold, cold wet day.

I sat there with Sally.

We sat there, we two.

And I said “How I wish

We had something to do!.”    (Dr. Seuss, The Cat In The Hat )

On a cold weekend in February, Howard and I were babysitting for Avery and Emilia. Not wet, as it was for Sally and “I", but very cold. The kind of cold that keeps everyone in the house—even Avery, who says that because she was born in the winter, she can handle the cold. But also unlike the narrator and Sally, Avery and Emilia always had “something to do” ideas and didn’t need a Cat in the Hat to play them out. So on this frigid day, the girls decided that they’d plan a trip to Hawaii. I have no idea why they thought of Hawaii or what they knew about Hawaii, but we decided to help them to plan their trip. 

What’s first? Packing, of course! Emilia had turned three in November, and Avery had just turned eight the week before. But age aside, they were pretty expert packers. They hauled their suitcases out of the closet and started, as Howard and I supervised. I was amazed at how efficient they were. They pulled summer clothes out of their closets. I watched as Avery demonstrated how to pack dresses. Just fold and roll them up neatly. It’s amazing how many dresses could fit in a smallish suitcase. Emilia followed suit, though she was more the “throw it in the suitcase” type of packer. And she did remember to pack her sleep sack. Howard and I watched and helped them to figure out which clothes would work best in Hawaii.

When they finished packing, they wanted to take the suitcases downstairs. That seemed a bit much. We certainly didn’t want them to carry those stuffed suitcases. We were surprised at how heavy they were, so we didn’t want to lug them downstairs, either. Quickly, I found a resolution. “The plane’s delayed,” I told them. “When we know when the plane’s taking off, we can take the bags down.” That satisfied the girls. I then realized that in their zeal to get the clothes together, they’d forgotten underwear, toothbrushes and hairbrushes. Actually that's okay. Imaginary underwear, toothbrush and hairbrush should suffice on an imaginary trip. 

Money—Avery and Emilia knew that vacations cost money. They brought their piggybanks down to the living room and emptied them on the coffee table. That was a lot of change and small bills! Emilia didn’t have much. Mostly quarters. She likes quarters because they can get her a ride on the play horse at the toy store. Though of course, when we’re at the toy store, we fund the horse. Hence the plethora of quarters. So the real financial planning fell to Avery and us. The girls had consulted on this and decided that Mommy and Daddy would pay for the airfare and most of the hotel. Realistically, Avery figured that she could handle paying for one day if she found the right hotel. Avery and Howard counted the money. They came up with about $128 and change. That could possibly cover one night. 

All of this packing and planning was wearing Emilia out. We put her down for her nap. Then the real planning began. Howard and Avery went on YouTube TV to look at hotels and prices. Surprisingly, there were a few hotels in Avery’s price range. Methodically, they looked at all of them. Some looked a little too funky. But some actually looked like they could be okay. Of course, it would have been easy for a hotel to manipulate a few shots to make the place look better than one would expect for $128. Avery diligently wrote down the names of possible candidates and included the prices. A nice little ledger for an eight year old. Looking at the ledger, then taking a second look at the viable options, she narrowed the list down to a few that could work. By the time Emilia woke up, Avery and Howard had the plans in place. 

Howard and I were impressed with Avery’s organizational skills and with Emilia’s ability to participate, too. At about five years apart, they could play on the same level, with Avery making sure to take care of Emilia, but Emilia also being able to keep up. 

We sat together and talked about what they’d do in Hawaii. Of course, there were good beaches. And walks to see the sights. No extra money for souvenirs, but Grandpa and Nana were willing to pitch in on that. It’s funny, but it seemed so real. To the point that we were all still thinking and talking about the trip the next day. And Tracy just told us that they continue to talk about it now.

We did have a glitch—Avery went off the deep end about something—can’t remember what. “I’m not going to Hawaii!” she said. Emilia frowned, on the verge of tears, and said “But I’ll be all alone.” I explained to Emilia that Avery didn’t mean it—she was just in a bad mood for some reason, but would come back to her cheery Hawaii-bound self soon. Emilia understood, having been through this before. Avery ran upstairs. Howard followed and panicked because he couldn’t find her. I knew Avery’s pissed off routine. I climbed the stairs to help Howard. I wasn’t sure whether I needed to take care of Grandpa or Avery first. I showed Grandpa that, in her bed, cluttered with stuffed animals (whoops—did the girls remember to take a stuffy?), hidden under the quilt, Avery would be cozily buried as she brooded. And so she was—hidden and still pissy. So I told her that we understand, and she should take her time, and when she finishes feeling mad, she could come down and join us for more planning. And Grandpa and I left the room. Within ten minutes, Avery was back downstairs, her usual self. We continued to fantasize about this magical trip to Hawaii.

How much fun we had on that cold, cold day! How the day flew by! I don’t like cold. But even trapped by the weather, two magical granddaughters made it feel like the sun was shining—as it probably was in Hawaii!!

EVEN IF THE TRIP IS AN IMAGINARY ONE, PLANNING AND RESEARCHING ARE ESSENTIAL TO MAKE THE EXPERIENCE COMPLETE