The 1st week of June

My vacation home - Laie, HI

Everyone told me.  They said I was going to love it.  They said I was going to want to move there.  They said the 6 hour plane ride with 3 children and an infant on my lap would be worth it.  They said I wouldn't want to go home.

And they were right.  Our 7 bedroom house was great.  It slept all 25 of us with room for more.  But our vacation was so much more than our house with the awesome views.

I figured you could probably pitch a tent in the rain and still love your Hawaii vacation.  The humidity there is something fierce.  Your hair, your clothes, your towels, and your food all start to look and taste like dirty salt water.  And sometimes, the tourists get caught in flash floods and get their purses stolen.  But as the locals say and wave - hang loose.

And that is what I think everyone falls in love with.  The spirit of the place is so relaxed and chill.  Everyone walks around with beach hair.  Most eating establishments offer old picnic tables in the parking lot for your dining enjoyment.  Most houses are small and need new paint jobs but why even bother when the views from your windows look like this:

We ran around all week chasing each other from one beach to another.  Stopping off in between for shaved ice and a butter roll from Ted's bakery.  It was a schedule and itinerary I could get used to.  I would take the sand in the crevasses, the sun burns, and the expensive groceries.  It really is the Pacific Ocean's playground.  Jace and I could take a break from worrying about the new house we just purchased - that is in need of a serious overhaul.  We could stop scouring the Pottery barn clearance sales.  Stop worring about the septic tank under the paved road.  Maybe we could forgo the hobby farm and Jace would be content with the wild chickens that prance around the island.

Because God did all that work for us.  The sunsets.  The turquoise water.  The green mountains and the green grass and flowers.  Hawaii is truly the most beautiful place I've ever seen.  Like I said - a tent would be more than enough.  I was so glad we decided to do Hawaii with all of our family.  Amazing memories.  It was hard to to come home and check back into reality.  I'm still kind of in mourning.

I'm already saving my pennies for next year.