Hawaii can be quite educational

Things I learned while vacationing in Hawaii with my husband and college friend...4,225 miles from my kids:

One should bring sandals to Hawaii, even if 80F temps seem impossible to one living in the midwest in the middle of February.

One should also shave her legs for the first time in months before wearing shorts for the first time in months...um...

I didn't miss my kids as much as I thought I would. Mostly I worried about the people I had enlisted to care for my children. I don't think they're telling me the worst parts.

I thought about my kids almost constantly. I wasn't missing them, just thinking stuff like "I wonder what they're doing now" or "Alice would get a kick out of this" or "Ha, ha, ha, I don't have to put anyone to bed!" Every once in a while, we'd cross paths with a vacationing family with young kids like ours. I admired their courage and gusto, but I was glad I could leave the courage and gusto home this time.

Snorkeling in hot spring tide pools is nigh unto heaven. I'm definitely doing that again if I ever get a chance.

I remembered what full sleep and energy reserves felt like. I would get tired, sure, and go to bed at 9pm or so, but I wasn't exhausted...spent...drained. We could fit more into a day than I was used to.

It was nice to have clear conversations with other adults whenever the fancy struck.

One of the most spiritual situations I experienced during our trip was attending church on Oahu. We attended a local family ward/congregation of our global church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first two meetings were well within my expectations. The third meeting, Relief Society, amazed me. Here was this group of women, quite diverse in age, ethnic background, and family situations and they were like an old group of friends getting together again after a long time away. They were real friends. As the lesson progressed, it became quite clear that there was a plethora of life experiences and opinions represented by this diverse group. I was amazed at how the sisters and the teacher could still find a way to agree on their common goals. They were all LOOKING for that common ground. They were more interested in finding common ground than in convincing the rest of the group that their way was the "best" way. I've never seen that before, especially on the topic of motherhood. What a treat!

I also learned that I largely live in the present. And I'm generally a selfish person. It only took a few days away before I had trouble remembering what my kids looked like. Alice was stuck in my memory as a 4-year-old. Robert was a bundle of energy without a face, and James, well, sometimes I forgot I had three kids at all. It only took a few days before the jungle scenery, majestic cliffs, and blue water beaches kinda lost their "wow" factor for me, too. Lame, huh? I was lucky that Hawaii has such diverse ecosystems within only a few miles of each other. The Big Island is strikingly different from Oahu in many ways.

Bobby and I talked often during the trip about coming back with our kids. We mentioned that to Alice. She wants to pin down a date right away. We're setting these basic expectations before even considering dates:

---All participants must be able to walk, talk, feed, and potty themselves reliably

---All participants must be confident swimmers and know how to snorkel

---All participants must be able to walk/hike at least 1 mile carrying their own water bottle

---All participants must earn/save some money towards the trip, including, but not limited to, completing extra chores, taking on jobs from neighbors/friends, starting a small business (Alice is dying to get a lemonade stand going this summer), and opting out of certain costly extracurricular activities (only a few apply).

Let's hope we get to go back before I'm too old to walk, talk, feed, and potty myself reliably :)

Bobby's Sunday Summary (Hawaii)

Sorry I have not written for a while.  No real excuse, just didn't make time to do it.  This is a rundown of our trip to Hawaii.  The kids stayed home with some friends and later with Susan's mom and her sister.

I have to start off by saying that we forgot our regular camera, so all of these pictures and videos are from my phone.  They are not too bad, but they also are not great. Also the SD Card on my phone died while we were there.  So the pictures are all out of order.

Oahu:

Dole Pineapple Plantation:


Beach:


Whale Watching (We saw some whale tails from very far away):


Pearl Harbor:






Huge Banyan Tree in Honolulu:


Big Island (Hawaii)

Lava Trees (Trees killed by and covered in lava):



Black Sand Beach (With Sea Turtles)



If you look closely you can see the sea turtle going back into the ocean.

Volcano National Park:

Lava Tube (Sorry it is dark in there):


Steam Vents:


Kilauea at Night:

Petroglyphs:

Southern Most Point of USA (With cliff diving):



Chocolate Farm/Factory:

Chicks!

It's official, I'm a farmer again! This morning, we picked up five baby Rhode Island Red hens. All the kids are in love, though I only managed to get a picture of James peeking into the box...

I purchased all five as the same breed so we wouldn't feel compelled to name and humanize them. The chicks of this breed, however, sport unique markings so obvious that even the kids can tell them apart easily. Suggested names so far: stripe, dark, light, tiger, lion, banana, tomato, potato, zucchini, and rhubarb (my personal favorite).

I had forgotten how loudly and consistently these babies peep. Peep peep peep!

They should begin laying somewhere between May and June. Welcome to the farm, ladies!

From the back seat of the van...

...Robert bursts out, "Mom! I know what I want you to bring me from Hawaii!"

"What's that, Bud?"

"A snow shovel!"

Alice snickers and says, "You can't find a snow shovel in Hawaii because there's no snow."

"I don't want snow, I want a snow shovel," he retorts.

Alice insists, "You can't find a snow shovel in Hawaii!"

"Mom?" Robert asks, "What if there's a kid in Hawaii who wants a snow shovel for his birthday. They could MAKE one for him, right?"

"Yeah, they could probably make one."

"Yeah. At a factory," he says quietly to himself, "But if you can't find a snow shovel at Hawaii, I want a big bag of candy."

"And if you can't find a fancy dress with matching red ruby shoes, then I want a big bag of candy, too!" chimes in Alice.

"Um. Okay. Will do."

New Friend

After preschool on Tuesday, Robert hops into the car and says, "I think I made a new friend."

Trying to contain a wave of relief and excitement, I ask casually, "Oh really? Who?"

"I don't know his name. He has a green truck on his shirt."

I then ask him a string of follow-up questions, hoping to stir his memory, but he starts getting frustrated and I have to stop.

"I don't know any more. Just the green truck on his shirt. Maybe next time I can show him to you."

We drive a little longer in silence and then he says, "I hope he's there next time. If he's not there, then I don't want to go to preschool. But if he's there then I will have fun."

Why am I so dang excited for Robert to have a friend? First, as he mentioned, it might help him look forward to preschool more, which is something he still struggles with a bit. Second, I just like to see him trying out relationships with peers. Woo hoo!