The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Here’s the short story.

The Good. We had a magical time in Hawaii.  We wanted the kids to experience all that we love about Oahu, and at 5 and 8 they are old enough to actually do some amazing things.  We snorkeled, hiked up to a waterfall, cracked open macadamia nuts and rode horses through the jungle.  We went off-roading through Kualoa Ranch and saw wild pigs and amazing views. We stopped at side of the road fruit stands and ate fresh coconut, pineapple and papaya.  We ate out of shrimp trucks.  We rode trolleys and double decker buses. We went to the zoo. We surfed and played in the ocean. We learned about Polynesian culture and went to an amazing Luau. We watched fireworks off the beach. We did amazing wonderful things together.

The Bad. On our last full day on the island, we got robbed while snorkeling in Hanauma Bay.

The Ugly.  All our valuables were in the car because we were in the midst of transferring hotels.  ALL OF OUR VALUABLES were stolen out of the trunk our LOCKED rental car.  Several thousand dollars worth of valuables. 2 laptops, an ipad, a 3dsxl, my canon camera, and all my lenses, our video camera, Dave’s cell phone.  All of them GONE.  Most devastating of all, is not the money amount any of these were worth…. most valuable of all were the hundreds of pictures and video we took to remember this once in a lifetime vacation.  I sobbed uncontrollably the moment I knew our camera was gone.  So many “should have’s, would have’s, could have’s” went through our minds.  So many regrets and blame on ourselves.  We should have taken our stuff. We could have at least taken our camera.  We could have parked somewhere else. If we would have just stayed in town.

We called the police after finally checking in to our new hotel.   The first question asked was, “Was it a rental car?”  Yes.  The second question asked was, “Was it a Dodge Charger?” Yes.  “NEVER, EVER RENT A DODGE CHARGER AGAIN.” were the officer’s words to us. The cars are NOTORIOUS for being easy targets to break into.  I am heart broken over and over and it is really hard to cope.  I feel violated.  I feel sick.  They also took a lot of my personal items, including all my makeup and toiletries, and my underwear and bras.  SICK people.  I am angry and so sad. I am angry that they stole something priceless to us (our pictures and videos) and so meaningless to them.  I am angry that my kids that are so young and innocent had to experience this horror and harsh reality.  I am devastated for my son who lost his 3DS XL and all his games that he got for Christmas… his most prized possession.  I am DEVASTATED that I won’t get to look at the picture of my kids at the top of the waterfall and see the look of pride and accomplishment on their faces. I am heartbroken that we can never recreate those memories, and we can never retake those pictures. Pictures of all of our feet in the sun while we rode the catamaran out to sea. Pictures of my little daughter riding the biggest horse at the ranch, pictures of my son who was so proud to see a sea turtle when we went snorkeling.  I feel sick when I think of the heartless people rifling through our things, taking personal items. I feel so violated that they took my precious pictures and video of my beautiful children and probably just wiped out those priceless memories forever; before selling off our stuff so they could get money for their drugs or what have you. I am angry at myself for letting this consume me and for spending the last day and a half sobbing and crying in Hawaii.  I had a panic attack on the plane because I could not hold it together.

I am trying to remember the good most of all.  Trying to burn the memories into my head. Trying to be grateful that we are all ok. Trying not to cry. Trying not to be bitter. Trying to remember that a lot of people never even get to go on vacation.  Trying to remind myself that we had an amazing time and we were all together experiencing these things together. Trying not to cry.  My kids drew pictures of some of the things we did to help us remember. I look much skinnier in those pictures, than I would in the real ones. My daughter keeps praying to Jesus and asking him for our camera back. Trying not to cry.  My son is being so strong and trying really hard not to cry over his lost DS. I know that I have to get over this, and not let this ruin our trip.  It’s hard to go back to real life in general after a vacation. Even harder for me to not be able to look at the pictures of what we did together. Trying not to cry.

Learned a big lesson. BIG lesson. Never leave your camera. Never rent a Dodge Charger- even if you have to pay more for something better. Upload your picture/videos to some kind of internet service every night. Leave your valuables in the hotel safe or take them with you. DON’T EVER LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN. I hope it never happens to anyone dear to me.