Hawaiian Left-Overs

We've been home for several days now and are attempting to settle back into a routine. The weather has helped us transition nicely as the rains stopped the day we got home. The weekend was sunny and near 60, even. Our local parks are not an option for the kids and I right now, as the flood waters covered all of them. So, if we want outdoor play, it's the backyard or a drive up to Snoqualmie Ridge where the word "flood" is not in their vocabulary. Actually, the kids are very much enjoying the sandbox with their new toys they got in Hawaii to play with. And with fewer hours of light, we don't get out nearly as much. This is the time of year when we spend our mornings at the indoor playground and going to classes at the community center.
Now--to finish up with Hawaii. I'm throwing in the pictures from our last 3 days in this post. We relaxed, ate rice and beans every night for dinner to save money, played on the beach and stayed close to the condo most of the time. Daddy did spend an afternoon by himself at Pipeline while the kids and I napped. He had a lot of fun watching surfers and waves. Monday morning, Tadd and Ezra walked down to the Alii beach just down from our condo where the Vans Triple Crown surf competition was getting ready to start. They saw Bethany Hamilton get in the water and paddle out with her one arm just as strong as all the other girls with both arms. When Ezra came back, he looked at me with a sad face and said "she have only one arm, mommy".
On Tuesday we were all set to enjoy our last full day. We had plans for a lunch out at Breakers after all the rice and beans we'd consumed at the condo. Red meat--here we come! Then we were going to head to Pipeline again so that the kids and I could see those gorgeous waves. But, halfway through my burger and fries my itchy eyes started to swell and I felt like my throat was closing. Instead of watching waves, I got to watch the walls of a doctor's office. I received a steroid shot and a prescription for Prednazone (I'm quite certain this is NOT how you spell that). Praise the Lord the reaction was stopped and we were only at the doctor's office for 35 minutes or so. I was drugged up on Benedryl and Prednazone for the remainder of the trip. We don't know what caused the reaction since I did not eat anything out of the ordinary and I do not have any known food allergies--so I now get to make an appointment with an allergist--yah!
Wednesday we played on the beach until the last second, cleaned up our stuff, enjoyed Maui Mike's chicken in Wahiwa (thanks John Tysor for the recommendation!) and drove to the airport. Vacations are always hard to say good-bye to, and especially so when you're leaving Hawaii and heading home to a possible flood. But what a gift this vacation was. An unexpected surprise that we fully enjoyed! AND--the flood stopped 2 or 3 blocks from our house. We have so much to be thankful for!

Strutting her stuff.

Enjoying one last walk on the beach under the almost-full moon our last night in Haleiwa.

Our neighbors two doors down. The husband and wife are both surfers (from Banff, Canada of all places) and come to Hawaii pretty much every year to surf. He is a helicopter pilot for heli-skiing in the winter and they contract out to aid fire fighters in the summer. Hmmm...could our family seem any more boring after meeting them? It was nice to have a family with kids around to share toys and an understanding smile when kids are running around minus diapers in the outdoor shower!

Ezra's new little friend. They enjoyed playing together for the most part--and fought like a 3 year old and an almost 3-year old the rest of the time :)

This is the only family picture we had taken the whole time. We had it taken just before we went out for lunch at Breaker's and I became a swollen mess : )

Miss Cheesy enjoying Hawaii and the camera.

A beautiful wave at Pipeline. Tadd went and spent an afternoon watching the surfers and taking pictures.

This was our condo building. You can see that they were re-roofing the whole time we were there. The noise just became background after a time. Our room is the fourth from the left--behind the trees.

Caroline loved to run in and out of the waves. She often got knocked down, sucked back in or washed in the face with water. Most of the time she just laughed and enjoyed all the excitement.

Ezra fell in love with "gobble juice" (guava juice) on the plane ride over to Hawaii and consumed many cans and cups of it during the vacation. It was mommy and daddy's favorite drink as well.
...And that's all for the vacation posts. Be ready for more boring daily activities from here on out : )