And We're Back

Well, back to reality. And boy, what a reality it was too. I will save that story for another day but man oh man, I didn't get much respite from being away.

As I stated previously, this was a fantastic vacation. Two things made it really special (three actually; the first being the spirit of Hawaii). One, we went with other families, which was awesome as the other families were not just super cool, but the kids went off and played. The second thing is that this is was our first vacation where the kids were pretty much self sufficient. Meaning, they could play in the pool without supervision. They went to the game room by themselves. They even fetched stuff in our room without any help (I think they relished the independence of being able to ride the elevators by themselves). It allowed the Wife and I some time to hang out, relax, read, etc. It was very cool.

I posted these three pictures because they captured the Kids's at their best. Generally speaking the Boy is particularly cautious and risk adverse but he really opened it up (for him) on this trip. Here he is surfing with our good friend Mark. He did awesome, too: he stood up on his second try, which is much better than his old man. Both the Boy and the Girl went snorkeling with me on our last day. The Girl bailed quickly, despite the fact that she is a MUCH stronger swimmer (I forget with her at times that she's only six), but The Boy hung tough with me for quite some time. And lastly, they both jumped off a fairly gnarly cliff. It was something I never would have tried, but they gave it a whirl. Funny how one jump can do wonders for a little Boy's confidence.

And so, Hawaii is a wrap. BUt I'll say this: so long as we can afford it and as long as we live in California, I would love to make this an annual trip. SOmething about the Aloha spirit of that place.

Lastly: before I forget, and I've been woefully negligent the past few weeks, but THANK YOU to everyone who has give to my Livestrong campaign: Amy and Bruce, Andrew Baird, Sue and Saul, Marcey Lieberman, Jill and Adam and all the rest. THANK YOU.