Aloha

On Thanksgiving day, Ace and I bid farewell to our 5 little ones and boarded a plane to Hawaii.  We planned the trip with his parents back in the spring.  I'd been having all kinds of anxiety about going, because I HATE leaving my kids.  Especially overnight.  I don't know why.  Plus, I was dreaming up all kinds of things that may or may not to us or to our kids while we were apart.  I hardly slept a wink the night before we left because I was bawling my eyes out after I told my children good-bye.  I'm not going to lie.  The ONLY hard part about this trip was getting out the front door.  

 

OK...not the ONLY thing.  Virtually watching ourselves fly over nothing but a big fat ocean was panic worthy.  I was relieved to peek out the window to see only clouds.  That would be a much softer landing, if any of my made up scenarios were to take place.

 

I started to relax a little after my own two feet were touching the Earth…and I got a lei.

We started our vacation in Oahu, and loved, loved, LOVED the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Laie Temple grounds.  We have a much better understanding of the solemn spirit that surrounds Pearl Harbor.  I was also able to visit a good friend who actually LIVES in Hawaii.  She’s so lucky. ;)

 

The view from room at the resort, where we stayed was breathtaking.  We could have just stayed right there the whole time, I would have been happy.  It was beautiful!  The running path along the beach was gorgeous and I finally decided that if I lived in Hawaii, I’d be in the best shape of my life.  I’d never miss a run.  Ever.

While in Oahu, we took a boat out into the deep ocean, hopped off, and snorkeled.  I did a lot of praying.  From where we were bobbing, there was no shallow end in sight.  Even though it felt like I drank half the ocean, it didn’t seem to damper the amazing things I saw with my eyes, both above and beneath the water.

 

Every beach we saw was post card perfect.  I couldn’t get enough!

After a few days, we ventured over to Kauai to soak in the sights and sounds of that island.  We did more snorkeling—saw turtles, dolphins eels, whales, and even a shark (after we were back on the boat)-- a luau, and golfed at one of the most beautiful golf courses that I’ve ever witnessed. If there’s golfing (complete with GPS on the golf cart) in heaven, I’ve been there. 

For experiment purposes only, I spent plenty of time in the sand at the golf course.  I was just comparing the sand on the beaches with the sand on the course, and I came to the conclusion, that they are very similar. ;)   

We were surrounded with beauty everywhere. 

   

After running one day, instead of going inside, I went down by the pool and laid in a hammock.  This was my view for the next 20 minutes:

 

        

As the sun set on our last day in Hawaii, I felt such gratitude for the opportunity to have spent 10 straight days with my very best friend.

On the flight home, I felt like a child on Christmas morning—excitement drowning exhaustion.  I was so eager to see my little tribe. 

We all survived without each other, but we’re much happier together!