My parents commonly say that they don't want to leave us an inheritance when they die -- they want to spend that inheritance on us while they're still alive! That means we've gotten to go on several fun trips as a family -- and I love this way of doing things! It means we get to create more memories together :)
A few years ago, shortly after our adults-only trip to Europe (amazing!! Still haven't blogged about it though . . .), my parents started discussing where our next adults-only trip would be to. After much discussion, we landed on Hawaii. My brother Tyler said that he and Anya wouldn't be able to attend because he wanted to use his vacation days for his own family (he now has five kids of his own!), but everyone else was in! Until my sis-in-law Amy unexpectedly got pregnant and was due right around the planned vacation. So it turned into a trip with my parents and sisters (and brothers-in-law)! It was a different dynamic than usual, and I missed my brothers and their wives! But we still had so much fun :)
I've been to Kauai several other times before, so many of the things we did were things I've done before -- farmers markets, beaches, Spouting Horn, Waimea Canyon. But we did a few new things like hiking the Sleeping Giant, mud-running in ATVs, and although I've done Secret Falls twice before, this is the first time I did it without incident! (First time I fell and had to get stitches and teeth extracted, second time our kayak tipped over.)
We had quite a few sicknesses during the trip, which was a bummer! Cramps, bad reactions to food and/or medication, high blood sugar due to a malfunctioning pump (all me!), and even some stitches on the last day! (For Michael, after a surfing accident.)
Nonetheless, we still had a great time chatting, relaxing, eating, playing games, and talking. For some reason, the deep talking that's usually there wasn't quite there this time . . . Guess we have to read an inspirational book like we did in Europe to get us talking more! Now we know for next time :)
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| found this tree on a morning walk and had to copy it! |
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| fun at the farmer's market |
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| cute pic, but I really hate coconut milk/water 😂 |
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We somehow missed this sign and listened to some people who told us
to go the wrong way. We ended up bushwhacking our way up the mountain
for like 45 minutes before finally getting back to the trail. Suuuuuper fun. |
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After the hike, our feet were all dirty. We were all washing our feet with
wet wipes and Rachel was busy doing something, so I started wiping hers.
She said something like, "you're being like Jesus!" (and she was so sincere,
not joking around) |
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| we got jojo's shave ice twice on the trip :D |
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| amazing views up Waimea Canyon! Seriously breathtaking. |
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| we had Polihale Beach all to ourselves. It was such a perfect evening. |
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| trying to tan our blindingly white legs. It resulted in a MAJOR BURN 😠|
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We spent an hour (all of us) just hanging out in the ocean at Hanalei Bay.
The water was perfect! |
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| kayaking to Secret Falls |
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| holy yum. SUCH GOOD FOOD. |
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| before the mud . . . |
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| . . . and after! It was ca-razy! |
We were soooooo grateful to Russ's mom, dad, Lacey, and Ian for all watching Ada during our trip (mostly Mom). It was so nice to be able to have some time to not worry at all about taking care of a kiddo, while also knowing she was in perfect hands. Mom told us that while we were gone, she was mostly trying to distract Ada from us -- not focusing too much on the fact that we were gone. But on the last day, she let Ada think about us and talk about us more; she pulled down our FHE magnets that have pictures of mine and Russ's faces on them, and Ada kissed the magnets! I still can't get over how cute I think that is :) And of course, right on up til we left, Ada was cranky, and it only took about an hour after getting home for her to be cranky again, but she was a perfect angel for Granny B. Haha kids. (She's not always cranky, but something about those transitions made her extra cranky!) But despite the crankiness, we were still sooo happy to see our cute girl after a week of being away :)
And of course we were also grateful to my parents for taking us on such a wonderful vacation! We just have the best family (all of them!) ever, and I'm so grateful :)
Always remember that it's a good sign if she is cranky with you! She pulls herself together when she is with others. But when she is with her parents whom she trusts she can let herself go and open up bottled emotions. Either that or you're just a bad mother. (I'm kidding of course! There is a reason why kids always behave better when they're not home!)
ReplyDeleteI think your parents' idea is great!