Tahiti 2013!!!

Ready to pack!!!

October first finally came, Marc and I were pretty excited and anxious about the whole travelling with two kids thing. At 2 o'clock in the morning, we started packing the van, and dressing up the kids so we can make it to Edmonton at a decent time. We dropped the van off at the jet set parking lot in E-town and took the bus to the airport. Yann was pretty excited about ridding in the bus and had a big smile on his face. Once in the airport, we went directly to the west jet counter and waited for about half an hour in line to get our boarding pass. So far, the kids were doing fine but they started asking for food. After getting the boarding pass, we had to get into another long line in order to get all of our bags through security, and the U.S customs. By then the kids were hungry and started crying a little bit. Thank goodness it only lasted a couple minutes (well, maybe 5). Once we got to the boarding area, we were able to seat and relax a little bit. Then 9 o'clock came around and we started boarding. We liked the fact that they let us in first because we were travelling with young children. In the plane, Yann sat with me and Marc with his dad. Our first flight lasted about three hours from Edmonton to L.A.X. The children were pretty AWESOME, and Marc and I were pretty relieved and happy but we still had an eight hours flight left to do. We made sure the boys were sucking on their soothers or drinking their milk so their ears wouldn't bother them too much. And it worked. From terminal two, we had to walk a little bit in order to get to the Air Tahiti Nui terminal which was located in the Tom Bradley Airport (still in L.A.X).

After spending way too much time in the line again in order to go through security and all, we finally got to the boarding area, and we were hoping to get some lunch before taking off. Well, guess what? All the restaurants in the airport (Tom Bradley Airport) were closed for renovations. Just our luck. Thankfully, we have packed a bunch of snacks and knew that Air Tahiti Nui will be providing one meal just after take off, and one before landing. So, I tried not to be too mad (was though), and my wonderful husband found a little shop that was selling some cold sandwiches and got me one. The airport "people" did provide free water/coffee and apples for the passengers, so we took advantage of that. We didn't have any problems taking big bottles of water and formula through security so that was neat. In order to entertain Yann, we brought the Ipad so he wouldn't get bored. That worked too. We had a lay over of 5 hours in L.A.X. Yann and I did a little bit of walking around and Marc took him to go look at the different airplanes. He sure liked that. My little M just sat with either one of us, and played occasionally with his brother. The time to board in came, and once again we were among the first ones to do so.

I love travelling with Air Tahiti Nui. Not only it is a Tahitian company, but it is beautiful, the food is good, and the crew is 100% Tahitian and they had a bassinet for children like my little Marc, so we didn't have to hold him on our laps for the entire flight. And the children had their own seat belts not like in west jet where they didn't have any. Anyway, once in, we fed the boys and they started falling asleep. So glad the boys can sleep anywhere. We were able to relax a little bit, and watch movies (movies and food are free even the headphones). 

We arrived in Tahiti a bit earlier. As soon as we landed, and started getting down the stairs onto the tarmac, I just couldn't stop smiling and the excitement was even bigger now. I was so happy to soon be able to see my family. Excited to know that they would finally meet my boys.

The local musicians welcomed all the passengers with beautiful songs from my childhood, and a beautiful dancer was performing a traditional dance for us as we walked in the airport building. Because Marc and the boys had Canadian (or foreign) passports, we didn't have to wait in the big line, and we were able to get through custom really fast. We grabbed our suitcases, then got out and were welcomed with beautiful leis by my parents, and the rest of the family. Pure HAPPINESS!!! Of course, they couldn't help wanting to hold the boys. My older brother got to hold Yann and my dad had little Marc.

Yann with his uncle Isidore and Marc with his papi (grandpa).

My mom, my sister, my nephew and uncle joined in for the picture.

Marc and his auntie.

After visiting at the Airport for a little bit, we went to the Hotel Radisson. My sister and brother drove us there. They put us in a hotel room so we could get some rest before going to my brother's place which is located on the other side of the island. It's a short commute but they wanted us to rest from our long trip. We stayed at my brother's house on our holiday. My siblings spent a few minutes at the hotel with us. They got to enjoy the boys a bit more. My sister even had treats for us to eat (which I did, of course). We must have been really tired because the boys never made it in the beds the hotel had for them.
The sound of the waves crashing on the beach in the morning woke me up. What a beautiful sound it is to wake up too. I was so glad to be home. I couldn't help but run outside on the balcony, and admire the ocean, the palm trees, and the beautiful black sand beach we were surrounded by. I couldn't feel prouder and happier to call this beautiful island of mine home. I have missed it so much. I took Yann out for a walk on the beach. He grabbed some sticks on the beach, and played with a small coconut. I took one of the stick he had found and wrote our names in the sand. He was really excited to be playing in the sand and couldn't stop staring at the ocean. I forgot my camera so I didn't have any pictures of our little morning escapade. We stopped by the hotel's pool too, and got to play a little bit before going back to the room. My sister came, and brought some more treats for breakfast. Once again, I had to eat them. An hour later after my sister came, my sister in law arrived with my niece (whose a month older than Marc). They couldn't come to the airport, so I was pretty happy when I saw them. I couldn't wait to hold my princess, my niece. She is so beautiful, and always smells so good. I fell even more in love with her now that I was holding and playing with her. From the hotel, we drove by the house I grew up in. It was sad to see it, and know that I would never go back there. We then went to my brother's house where my mom and my brother Yann were waiting for us.

Bed time!

Getting ready for the day!

With Ohana!

Meeting my princess!

From that day on, we did something different everyday. We went to the beach. We had a pig roast. We even had a French pastries tasting day. Ate all of our favorite foods. Visited families. Played in the pool daily. Visited places. Toured the island, and so on. Too many things to write about. We went to show Yann the fire trucks his uncle drives (my older brother is a fire fighter). IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Yann enjoyed the beach and the ocean, and water in general. I am convinced he loved it over there. He spent most of the time wearing just a diaper and a t-shirt. No socks, no shoes. He was free to go anywhere, running in the yard, following his uncle Yann. Going in and out of the pool any time of the day. Just having a blast. Meal times were always outside. No walls, just the beautiful trees, and plants around us. He ate all the food they had for us there. He loved the fresh fruits off the trees like coconuts, bananas, papayas, Tahitian apples, yellow watermelons, etc... He enjoyed eating the lamb, pig roast, mussels, different Tahitian and french sausages/meats, french pastries, local fresh juices and yogurts. Everything really. He warmed up to my brother Yann easily, and my dad too. A couple days in and he got used to my mom and my other siblings, and loved his cousins. He was so gentle, and careful with his cousin Ohana (my niece), and loved giving her kisses. His favorite was probably uncle Yann. Every morning he would wait for uncle Yann to wake up, and just followed him everywhere. Yann's French vocabulary expanded while we were down there. He learned to recognize a few colors too like blue, orange, green, yellow and if you ask him (in French) what color mama is he would tell you that I am maron (brown). My whole family just loved/loves him. Daily they would say to each other how cute my Yann was.

Little Marc was good with everyone. My mom was crazy about him maybe because he is more sociable than Yann, lol. He had smiles for every body. He ate a lot when we were there. He spent most time in just a diaper and a t-shirt too. Drank a lot of liquids and ate anything we gave him. He enjoyed the ocean, and the pool too if the water was warm enough. He would fall asleep easily with my mom. My siblings, and parents were crazy about his eyes, and smile and hair. Every day they would comment about how cute they were and how cute he was. My parents kept saying that he looked just liked me when I was his age :). Marc's eyes were crazy beautiful in Tahiti. They kept changing colors depending on the weather. Sometimes they would turn grey or just looked like beautiful pearls. I'm NOT kidding. They really were amazing. He learned how to crawl in Tahiti, and holding to furnitures so he could stand. As with Yann, everyday my family would comment about how cute my Marc was. They loved/love him a lot too.

Marc and I didn't really get to go on a one on one date together but we were able to rest and have a lot of relaxing time among my family. The boys were at times demanding (especially at night) but it was nice to have family members that were always so willing to take them off our hands :). We had a lot of great time together. Long nights of just talking, holding hands, cuddling and more... feeling grateful for my family's kindness, and love for us and our sons.

The weather back home was mostly beautiful with a couple days of rain but it was so hot and humid that I sometimes wondered how I ever survived the humidity growing up. I don't mind hot but humid? Bath time for the boys was outside in a baby tub every day. All we did is filling some water bottles with water and leave them out on the sun and you had your hot water for bath. Sometimes you had to add cold water to it because it was too hot. The boys sure loved that. They could just splashed water everywhere. Yann would run around the yard naked at times, and make you run after him. Lots of fun! We did enjoy the beautiful weather we had because we knew what we were coming back to.

IT WAS A LOT OF FUN!!!! We have a lot of beautiful memories of our holiday, and created some new ones with our sons. We brought a few souvenirs but forgot to take a lot of pictures. I kept forgetting my camera and was having way too much fun to even think about taking photos. My bad!

Our last day in Tahiti, we packed our suitcases, did some shopping, went to the beach and wrote our names in the sand again, went to say good bye to some of my family members (uncles, cousin, etc...), drove to the airport where my dad treated us to some tasty food then we did some more shopping and had to say good bye to my parents, siblings, nephew and niece. My least favorite thing because it always hurts so much.

My family was once again WONDERFUL!!! Their kindness and generosity was out of this world. They always do so much without ever expecting anything back. I love them. So looking forward to our next trip to Tahiti.

I'll post some pics on facebook but here's a few for now.

Breakfast time!

My brother and his daughter.

Uncle Yann and his favorite niece.

The cousins!

Pig roast.

yum, fresh shredded coconut.

With their great grandpa :).