So this is how it all ends. Our vacation. Our last night in Hawaii mama meets an old friend at the Hyatt next door for margaritas. Four to be precise, but who is really counting anyways? That's after the 2 glasses of wine she threw back while out to dinner with us. She proceeds to have a jolly time catching up with Joni and then stumbles home in the rain at midnight. She 'borrows' one of the very lovely umbrellas that the Hyatt leaves out for their guests to use because the prospect of getting caught in the rain doesn't appeal to her at all. She was sporting a skimpy dress with little fabric to shield her from the elements! Fast forward to 6am when I'm waking up to start my day. She throws me in with daddy so she can cram in another few hours of shut eye. Once she's fully functioning at 8am, she realizes that if things don't go incredibly smooth today, she is hopelessly screwed! Traveling with two kids while nursing a hangover is not a thought that sits well in mamas mind. Why she didn't think of this while on her second margarita, is beyond me. Daddy takes us to the pool so mommy can pack our bags and make sense of the mess in our hotel room. She does it at a snails pace but miraculously, pulls it together and we're off to the airport after we feed the fish for one last time and say goodbye to fatty, the biggest fish we ever saw. One final stop at a burger joint...mama gets an oddly strange yet delicious taro veggie burger that she's never heard of before and fries. And then shares daddy's vanilla shake. All the grease/fat in the world can not cure her of her illness. Afterwards, mama wants to toss her lei in the ocean as a final farewell gesture along with a desire to get more good luck in her life. Daddy decides to drive into the dock area where a very enormous cruise ship is docked. Daddy totally disregards the two security personnel sitting at the gate and blows right by them and heads for the water. Moments later we hear a loud whistle and then see a very angry Hawaaian man running towards us. We are read the riot act while daddy apologizes profusely as if he had no clue in the world that what he did was wrong. He just kept saying that he only wanted to make his wife happy. In the end, the wife is very happy because he finds legitimate access to the ocean and the two leis set sail in the water. With only an hour to spare before our plane departs, daddy drops us off at the terminal while he returns the rental car. First calamity of the day.....he returns without the stolen, i mean, borrowed umbrella. Apparently, it was left in the trunk of the car. Carry on and kept calm. Our mantra of the day. We are passing through security and have to have everything either inspected or have all liquid vapors tested. Like a 4 year old is going to pull a fast one and blow up a plane by planting something in a lightening mcqueen sippy cup. Sophie and I both had a baton, which doubled as a magic wand, confiscated because it had liquid in it. I think they just wanted to keep it for themselves because it sparkled! Once again, keep calm and carry on. Mama promised to run to michaels because she hasnt anything else to do in her life and replace it. Surprisingly, the actual flight home was painless. Sophie and I both napped and were pretty well behaved. If you recall from previous blogs, we were landing in Oakland while our car was parked in San jose. Yes, a quandary indeed. Problem solved thanks to daddy and Hotwire. We secured a vehicle at the airport but by the time we collected bags, it was 11pm and the car rental agency had shut its doors for the evening. Thankfully another agency honored our reservation. We are home free. Or so we thought. The house keys are in the car that is parked 55 miles away in San jose. It's too cold outside for all of us to sleep in the car so mama reluctantly calls Mel and asks her to kindly leave the spare set she has under her mat. She of course does and by 1am, the house is quiet and everyone is asleep. But not for long since we had to pick up ally at 9am sharp this morning!!!! We are, as usual, back into the swing of life. I bet you're left wondering how we are going to fetch our car, eh? Daddy volunteered to do it late tonight after work because there's nothing else he'd rather do after a short night of sleep and a long day at the office. He is our hero!!!!!!!