R and I just returned from a week long trip to Hawaii. Yes, the flight was LONG. Yes, HA is beautiful, but in a way I hadn't expected. We went to the "big island" which is the youngest of the HA islands. We also stayed on the dry side, which was very unexpected. The whole side that we stayed on had lava flows that were only a couple of hundred years old. Couple that with the lack of rain on that side, and the terrain was, in R's words, like Mars. To me it seemed like we were tiny people walking across a giant's grill filled with lava rocks. It was vast, it was barren and it was HOT. The resort provided beautiful landscaping and watered regularly, so that part was a lot like here with the palms and pretty tropical flowers. R's company sprang for The Four Seasons. Need I really say anymore about that? When you ordered room service for 6am it wasn't there at 5:59, or 6:01. Our room was overlooking an area that was named the King's Pond. It was fed by an underwater spring, was crystal clear, and they had stocked it with every fish you might want to see from that area of the world, including a Ray. (No stinger.......Rays with stingers are not invited to The Four Seasons:))
While lying by the pool, every need was taken care of .......lunch, Mrs. Dunlap? Another drink, Mrs. Dunlap, clean your sunglasses? Spray you with our .....and I'm not kidding here, aerosol bottle of Evian water to cool you off, Mrs. Dunlap?
And the food......ahh, the food. I almost didn't get my skirt zipped on for the farewell dinner on the last night...no kidding, REALLY almost didn't.
We didn't ONLY lie around the pool, although it would have been enough. We also went ocean kayaking, took a rental car (a red convertible Mustang, I drove) to the other side of the island. It was lush and green with beautiful waterfalls and the only active volcano on the island right now. The locals said it's common for the tourist to complain about the daily rainfall...........HELLO, tropical RAINforrest! Being from FL, we expected it and were shocked by the other side.
We also spent an afternoon at the spa getting massages. All in all it was heaven except the parts spent feeling like a rotten parent because the kids weren't with us to enjoy it.
And where were the infamous DB's you might be asking yourself...at home with my Daddy and Richard's mother. A few days a piece, not at the same time, because that would, in my MIL's words "just be unseemly!" She is such a proper southern belle. She cracks me up!
Everyone survived.....even the grandparents, we are happy to report and now we are all reunited with a renewed resolve to do more things with "our people".
So, in the spirit of our newly resolved vacation inspired attitudes, we took them kayaking today. The first thing we paddled up on was an alligator which really shook Faith up, but later we saw 3 manatees, some turtles on bank logs, another alligator and lots of giant cranes and jumping fish. The kids, of course now want to kayak every weekend for the rest of their lives. Poor guys, they really need to get out more. Oh, one of the manatees surfaced unexpectedly (to us anyway, she probably knew just what she was doing) between our boats and swimming next to us. Then it was time for Daddy's "vocabulary lesson" for the day in the "Dunlap homeschool". Thankfully, I think they were all rattled, and I haven't had to answer questions on the meaning of "shit". All in all, we are doing well and hope everyone reading this is too. I am going to attach some pictures, but they will all appear at the top and I'm not in the mood to edit the blog to pull them down into their proper places.
Oh, our big news and the main reason for our newfound resolve and freedom is that Tball finally ended this weekend. Yes, we came home just in time for the last game day and we are FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, WE ARE FREE AT LAST!
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