Thanksgiving in Saipan

We left for the airport at 6 AM on Wednesday - everyone did a good job getting up and the cab we had reserved arrived at 5:50 and rang the doorbell at 5:59 - gotta love those prompt Japanese folks! We had a 5 minute ride to the hotel to await the Friendly Airport Bus - the airport is about an hour outside of Tokyo. Once at the airport we checked in and headed for the Northwest Lounge. It was the kids first time there - they loved all of the snacks and Mac computers. We boarded a huge, new plane complete with personal movie players for everyone and we were off. I enjoyed watching Mamma Mia on the way, Sydney watched Peter Pan, and the boys watched Wall E. We arrived safely and as we landed, I looked at Chris and said, welcome to Kauai!

The airport was small and easy to move through - everything was very "island style" and Chris and I were quickly reliving our lives in Hawaii! The hotel sent a bus to get us and we were off - I was loving all of the palm trees, ginger plants, and just gazing at more green than buildings!

Once arriving at the hotel, we quickly checked in and headed to our rooms, our luggage was brought up and within 15 minutes of arrival, we were in the pool! It was beautiful and the kids were in heaven! That's pretty much the way it went for the rest of the trip... swim, eat, swim, go to the beach, swim, eat, hang out, play putt putt golf, watch the evening show, shower, sleep... then get up the next day and do it all over again - I don't think we've ever done a vacation like this with the kids and it was very nice. The weather was great - a few sun showers here and there but nothing that lasted over a few minutes...

A few highlights...

- the staff was amazingly nice and helpful - everyone from the front desk staff to housekeeping always smiled and made us feel genuinely welcome
- I went under the assumption that there was no shopping there - imagine how surprised I was to see that there was a Costco and an ABC store!! I came back with a suitcase full of cereal and another full of poptarts and granola bars
- there was even a Hard Rock cafe - we ended up eating there two nights - on the second night, we went with several other families - Chris was "nominated" as the one with the birthday and before I knew it, he was on stage singing! He sand Sweet Caroline and we all did our best to help out... video to follow...
- every night there was a show put on by the employees of the hotel - Sydney LOVED it... one night was hula - she jumped up and danced with them...
- I realized how fun it was to hold and use American money and speak English to everyone around me!
- we even found a movie theatre - went to see Madagascar 2 - LOVED it - can't decide if I was more excited about the movie or the milkduds and popcorn???!!!
- we saw an AMAZING sunset - photos to follow
- I realized how funny it is to be on the 5th floor of the hotel with the balcony door shut and hear people singing and know instantly that it was my husband!
- I got a Thai relaxation massage and Chris got to golf - we were both very happy campers!
- I was blessed that my children still would rather hang out with me at the pool and beach rather than run off with other kids
- We flew out on Monday morning at 5 AM - Sydney waltzed through the airport in her PJs and Nicholas decided never to even put on his... we were in a row of three and Chris graciously "allowed" me to sit with the kids - where I spent the next 3 hours being a human pillow for two tired little children...
- However, I realized that flying out in the dark, with two sleeping children, and being exhausted myself really helps reduce my flight anxiety greatly!

This was the first Thanksgiving where I wasn't with extended family and didn't eat turkey or get to go shopping on Black Friday - so it really doesn't seem like it happened at all. Chris and I ate steak that day and decided that we would have our own Thanksgiving when we came back - so come on over on Sunday if you didn't get enough turkey yet!