Hawaii!

The bag Grandma MacDonald brought home from her Hawaiian vacation years ago made it's return with us!

We've been back from Hawaii for almost three weeks now. And yet? I still wake up most mornings dreaming of the sound of the waves from the beach and thinking about how much I want to go snorkeling again.

It was one of the best vacations ever. And that's coming from the girl who went to Europe less than a year ago.

We were a little cautious in our trek. I wasn't sure what to expect with the blood clots and the leg issues. But all in all? It worked out wonderfully. Flying caused no problems. Not a one. I sat on the aisle, went to the bathroom every hour or so and moved around, stretched, wiggled, even watched movies and didn't feel too stressed. Going over there was definitely more anxiety but once we were on the ground in Honolulu I didn't give it another thought. The extra blood thinner did it's job and we were on vacation!

Our first full day on the island we drove up to the North Shore and found Turtle Bay. Angela and I rented snorkels and rain be damned, jumped into the Pacific! It was a bay protected by a jut of rocks and feeling confident Jaws couldn't reach us easily, we taught ourselves to snorkel. It was seriously one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. In fact, some day, I want to go scuba diving now! We snorkeled for hours, we gawked at the fish, chased the bright yellow one around the ocean floor to see where he'd go next, and just floated. The only downside? A week of incredible sunburn on my hands. But...I learned where to apply extra sunscreen next time!

The following day we headed to Pearl Harbor where we ended up walking over six miles. Not bad for a day's work but that night I experienced the wrath of the blood clots. A swollen leg and foot, a sandal that no longer fit, and panic. But, my awesome family got me back to our lovely hotel room and I slept all night just fine. We cancelled our trip to Diamondhead to go hiking the next day and I'm pretty sure I was the only one who was bummed about that. Instead we rented beach chairs and umbrellas and spent all day right in front of our hotel. A day we'd repeat several times it was that perfect.

The view from our hotel room balcony

On the trip we also saw humpback whales, a sea turtle, ate shave ice, had fresh Hawaiian fish, experienced poi, learned to hula dance, and learned to make leis. We golfed and went on a morning cruise, watched the sun rise and set almost every day, and counted six rainbows in one afternoon.

Seriously. Best vacation ever.

The week was so great that there are plans to go back. There are plans to try some of that hiking we (okay, I) missed out on. To play more golf. To see more whales. To snorkel along other reefs. To eat more pineapple and shave ice. To enjoy more of the beautiful island.

Mahalo, Oahu. Mahalo.