Hawaii

Dear Diary,

Let's be adventurous.

Let's show up at the airport without confirmed seats and fly standby halfway across the world with two young kids.

And when people tell us that we're nuts, we're crazy and there's no way, let's just smile.

Let's allow our experiences tell the story.

Like the one that just happened.

On Thursday 12/29, we flew into Orange County and then Uber'ed our way to LAX. We slept at an on-site hotel during a 7-hour layover, then successfully caught a flight across the pond into Honolulu. The kids tolerated the 6-hour flight better than expected, and their reward was a weekend in paradise.

Greeted with a traditional lei and cup of pineapple juice, we were so grateful to thaw our chilled Minnesota skin with the warmth of the Hawaiian sun.

We walked.

We swam in the ocean. I don't think Madelyn left the water for three hours - she loves it so, so much. Meanwhile, when Landen took breaks from the water, he examined coral, built moats in the fine sand and explored natural lagoons.

We ate fish tacos in 80-degree weather by the beach. 

We had no real itinerary - just let Hawaii happen.

(We watched the sun rise and set on the same day.)

Celebrating and counting down to the New Year in the one of the most beautiful settings in the world, with the love of my life and my two babies at my side, surrounded by lit tiki torches and the twinkling stars as waves crashed into the shore - I cannot think of a better way to both close and open new chapters in a life I am so proud to have built with the man I met when I was 18.

Back then, I took a chance on a country boy who attended school 3 hours away.

This past weekend, we took a chance on a standby flight to Hawaii. 

Even with the unknowns, and against all odds, I am so thankful for every chance I have taken.

Because I could not ask for anything more. The biggest takeaway here, is to be scared. Flying standby halfway around the world is scary! Do it anyway.