How About Hawaii

Tomorrow morning we leave for Hawaii.  Here is a picture of where we are going. This is my dads backyard. We are in the midst of packing and composing out of office messages.   I’ve been dragging my feet hard over this trip. It’s giving me so much anxiety.  I hate flying and this is a lot of flying. I fear storms any time of year. July is thunderstorm season. I’m reluctant to spend this much money. I have some hesitation about how things will go staying with family.  If I fly I vastly prefer to get a nonstop flight so that I don’t have to talk myself into a plane more than once. That is not possible when flying to Kona or Hilo (our two options).  Here is how I’ve talked myself into it.  The kids have never been. Considering that their grandparents live there that seems wrong. They both really want to go. They even had an idea of staying there all summer, which didn’t work out for Meg because unaccompanied minors can’t go on flights with connections. Kiernan...

 Today we flew. Our flight left at just past noon so we left the house at 8 to try long term marking. I was sick with anxiety, just super nauseous and breathing shallowly. Kiernan had a migraine and was on the verge of throwing up. Megan’s period started and every stress fell on David.  An auspicious start indeed.  Then I got this on my phone.  Then it was a get things done one thing at a time. I always like a list but in states of high anxiety they are the anchor for my mind.  We made it to the parking and got a shuttle and then got through security. (check, check, and check) David and the Kids went through TSA clear.  I went the regular way. we met in the concourse shuttle.  So at least on the day we went the special clearance doesn't seem worth it to me.  Both of the kids started feeling better. We filled up the kids with healthy smoothies and chick fil a. I kept checking the weather and the storms kept moving a hour back and forth from our fli...

Our first full day in Hawaii was spent settling in. We explored the house and did a quick dive into Hilo to orient ourselves and get the kids their first visit to the Pacific.  As you can see from the video above the garden here is world class.  My dad and stepmom have done exemplary work transforming their back lot into a paradise.  I had a cousin who visited recently say of the Hawaii bioreserve that it was good but that seeing after spending time in this dazzling family plot the price of admission hardly seemed worth it.  We woke up in good time with no significant jet lag and were treated to some fresh white pineapple for breakfast.  We got to know the dogs.  Caught up on favorite songs.  Then they took us down to Hilo to get the lay of the land.  The kids got their first visit to the Pacific and we plotted which beaches to visit later for swimming and snorkeling.  We saw some breathtaking banyan trees.  We found a place where some ...

Our 2nd full day in Hawaii had to be a beach day. We wanted to do some snorkeling and Meg just wanted to get out there and see it. We decided to try Carlsmith beach first for the chance of seeing some sea turtles.  I got up and made some macadamia nut pancakes with ginger and pineapple compote (from the garden!)  Then we were pretty much ready to head out.  Except that I wanted a shower and especially wanted to try out this ginger shampoo thing I had seen on Instagram.  Behold my important experiment for the day.  This worked quite well.  My hair felt very clean and light. No residue and a slight smell of ginger.  I used the outdoor shower and looked out at the garden and boy that tropical sun hits where the sun don’t normally shine.  Hahaha It was fun.  More garden pics from the morning.  This is an invasive and dangerous (especially to dogs) cane toad . Then it was off to the beach. Kiernan had a down day.  We borrowed some snork...