Hawaii

Hawaii was awesome. We had a great time. We got to Maui late Saturday night and had the entire week there. We left the following Saturday at 9 pm. It was a full week of activities. So here we go:

Sunday - We went to church in Lahaina and then went and planned our week's worth of activities at the hotel. Then we drove up to Napili Beach and snorkeled and read. It was relaxing. Every hour felt like 10. I'm not used to that much relaxing. Then we went out to eat and to bed early thanks to jet lag. We had an awesome hotel on Kaanapali beach in a nice resort.

Monday - We woke up early and went on a kayaking/snorkeling trip. It was awesome. It was so nice to be on the ocean in the sun. We saw lots of cool fish and a coral reef that made snapping noises from the shrimp. There were also lots of whales. We saw a bunch and could hear them under the water. Then we went to lunch and layed out at the pool and went to dinner. Doesn't this sound rough? Again, every hour felt like 10. Still not used to being just me, alone. Very alone.

Tuesday - We woke up early again so Hans could go do a surfing lesson. He did great and got up a few times. I went for a long run along the coast. It was beautiful, hot, and humid. Then we went back to the hotel pool and did a refresher course on scuba since it'd been 7 years since we'd been. Then we dove in the ocean straight out from the hotel next to us. It was incredible. We saw tons of huge turtles, barracudas, eel, tons of other fish I can't name and Hans held an octopus our guide caught. It sprayed tons of dark ink stuff at the guide and then relaxed. I didn't hold it. Then we hurried to a luau in the evening. It was disappointing. But the fire dancer was impressive.

Wednesday - It was rainy. We drove up the coast to do some hiking and hiked to a really impressive blow hole. It was a little creepy since we were the only ones around, but definately worth the trip. Then we went back to the hotel for lunch and layed by the pool in the rain until the sun finally came out. We went to dinner and walked on the beach. I'm amazed at this point that I still like Hans. I haven't had this much adult interaction in a really long time.

Thursday - We woke up early and went on a boat out to Molokini crater and dove. I got really panicky at 100 feet deep and had to come up to 20 feet. We saw some sharks and tons of other cool fish. Then I sat on the boat while Hans dove again. I let my anxiety get the better of me. When we got back we went and did a timeshare thing for an hour to get 3 free dinners. Totally worth the time. And it was sunny so we were actually able to swim in the ocean without a wetsuit. It was SO nice. Thursday was by far my favorite day. Then we went back to the hotel and I ran while Hans did laundry. Sounds fair, right? Someone stole our white laundry out of the washer. I was ticked. Who would steal our underwear? Then we went to dinner and watched a movie.

Friday - We woke up really early, checked out of the hotel, and I decided to do a walk through of the 5 floors of laundry to see if our prayers were answered and I was totally surprised to find them on a different floor then we'd put them on dry in a dryer, with a dryer sheet even. And someone had even taken the time to zip up my jacket. I was happy. Then we did the drive to Hana, which is a drive I won't do again, I think. It was really scary. It's one lane freeway and you have to drive 15 miles an hour and wait for cars to run into you around the corners. I was carsick. We did stop off at tons of places and were able to do the most incredible hikes. My favorite was at Oheo Gulch into the bamboo forest. It was beautiful. I think I have pictures attached. Then we drove to Kihei for dinner and checked into our hotel.

Saturday - We woke up really early for the half-marathon. It was the hilliest course I've ever run ever. It was hard. And hot and humid. It was beautiful though. It was not my best time by quite a few minutes, but I still managed to take 10th. Hans ran the 5K. He did awesome. He ran it in 7:45 minute miles. He was extremely sore. But he also only trained with one run. Not so bad. He has more appreciation for me running faster then that for 13 plus miles. Then we went and soaked in the cold swimming pool and checked out of our hotel and spent the rest of the day on the beach until we went to the airport.

This was such a great trip. It was so strange dropping the kids off to Melanie, but I didn't get sad or miss them like I thought I would. And it was nice to want to come home and see them. I realize that 4 kids takes A LOT of time and energy. And that I do know how to relax and be alone. Mainly it made me realize that a little balance would go a long way. If I could just have 1 hour alone everyday, I could feel relaxed without having to go to Maui. Except it was wonderful to go to Maui. I felt like I got to know Hans again. And I quite like him.

The kids were excited to see us. They did great. Mia and Justin are doing a little bit of payback and we came back to a really busy week, but I'll journal that later.