Hawaii. Ah Hawaii. What is there to say about a perfect, relaxing, almost free trip to Hawaii? We found out a few months back that Joe would be attending a conference at the Hawaiian Hilton for 4 days. Throw in two travel days, his plane ticket, a free hotel room, and per diem for food and he was on his way. He called when it was finally official-official that he was going and said two words to me, "tax return." That's all it took for me to book myself a ticket and meet him there.
My mom has been saying that she would watch the girls for us so that we could go on a little trip. I called her up, and as luck would have it, she was going to be watching my sisters 2 1/2 and 1 year old that same weekend. She thought about it and said it could still work. So the girls and jumped before she changed her mind. My mom and dad are such troopers...4 kids under 3, are you kidding me? But of course, my girls were in heaven and loved, loved, loved playing with grandma and grandpa and ALL their cousins. My mom said Gabs would wake up in the mornings and say, "which friends house are we going to today?" She hasn't stopped talking about each of her cousins. Boy, does that make it ever hard to live so far away! Each of my sisters did so much to help out while I was gone. So to you, I say thank you! And mom and dad, we will forever be grateful! Thank you, thank you!
Joe and I haven't had a trip like this ever, just the two of us. It was wonderful! We spent hours and hours on the beach. We ate out every meal. We walked all over Honolulu. We watched a sand soccer tournament on Waikiki. We watched professional body boarders compete at Pipeline. We visited the Temple and Visitors Center (a one of a kind visitors center by the way, well worth the visit!) We layed on the sand and soaked up all the sun we could handle. We went out on a catamaran and went snorkeling with the biggest turtles ever! We watched the sun set. We ate shrimp from parked vans on North Shore. We shopped for souvenirs. We bobbed in the ocean outside our hotel. We walked along the sand holding hands. We missed our girls. Oh, and Joe attended the conference...well most of the days, anyway.
I told Joe we needed to do this every four years. What a treat it was to be together and away from our everyday responsibilities. Totally worth that tax return!
15 comments:
Oh, Jamie, I get chills just reading about Hawaii. Chad and I were married there and lived there for 3 1/2 years. I know every knook and cranny of that island and we love the place. We were recently presented with the opportunity to move back there for a couple years and we turned it down. I found it a beautiful place to live but with many challenges which I think will only be compounded now that we have children. Now I find myself questioning if we made the right decision! I would take a trip there any day but living there is a different matter. Glad you had such an amazing time!
Welcome Back! It sounds like you guys had a really great time. It makes me want to take a trip...hmmm...maybe I should talk to Drew:) Anyway, its so nice your parents were able to help out; I love having my parents close by to hook me up with a little free child care:) I think it's really good for a relationship to have some alone time to connect as husband and wife, and not daddy and mommy.--oh, I love your picture too!
So were is the next trip?
Jamie..thanks for the run down on your trip. I needed to hear about some fun travel excitement. Your trip sounded fabulous. That settles it...I've been debating back and forth whether to go to Hawaii w. just Darryl and I in Sept. I'm going to the Hale Koa (sp)? website right now. :)
I am so glad you said that Cathy. 4 years ago when Joe was doing a rotation in Hawaii I went and visited him, pregnant with Gabriella, and I just didn't have a good feeling about living there. I loved the vacation of it, but I couldn't picture myself with a new baby and living in Hawaii. So, obviously we choose Washington, and as I was flying to Hawaii I was wondering if we made the right decision. I mean, who passes up living in Hawaii. But, I was reminded again, that I love Hawaii as a vacation spot and not a permanent address. Maybe if the opportunity presents itself again for 1 or 2 years, we'll take it, but 5 was out of the question! So thanks for helping me feel extra better about our decision to be in beautiful Washington.
And Jen, we're going on a cruise to Alaska with my parents and two sisters and their husbands! No kids again...for 10 days! I might just die!
Wow, looks like a great trip. We are leaving our daughter next week for the first time and I'm a little nervous. Looking forward to time away and alone with my husband of course, but still nervous! Glad to hear of someone else who can relate!
I am so jealous you two got that alone time together, but then again, you were probably jealous of me that I got alone time with your girls. I guess we're even! I hope one day you feel comfortable leaving your kiddos with me because I would love it! It was so fun seeing all of you!
I'm just JEALOUS! I would LOVE a vacation with my husband! The thought of leaving my kids for a few days doesn't sound too scary when there isn't a chance it will happen.
And I'm jealous you got to go to Arizona!
We love, loved seeing yo uand having the girls here. My girls thought is was so great, especially Kobi. I hope we get more memories like that. I am so glad your trip was fun, and I love the picture of you and Joe. I am so sad we didn't get to see you the last couple of days, and get to say good-bye. May will be here soon enough and we are excited to get to spend that time with you guys. We love you
What a fantastic vacation! You lucky ducks. I am so glad it was so relaxing and refreshing. I am glad you are back to your girls too :). (and to your blog--I missed you while you were gone!)
What a wonderful vacation. It sounded so relaxing and almost surreal. So nice that you got to do that and that your girls did so well and loved being with their cousins, grandparents, and aunts. Lucky girls to be so loved. I think I am more envious of your next vacation though. A trip with two of your sisters, their spouses and yours. That sounds so fun! Two great trips in a year. Glad to have you back blogging again!
What a blast. I'm always excited for my vacations alone with Chris!!! We are counting down till July for ours! I'm glad you had so much fun.
I'm so jealous!!
Oh- I'm sooo jealous. Ty and I have never been and now that we live in the Caribbean I doubt we'll go anytime soon. He's more interested in heading to South America for some crazy reason (our temple is in Dom. Republic- I now need not only a recommend but a passport!) I'm so glad you had fun- it sounds amazing!!
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