Aloha

I am so glad you can be a part of our Hawaiian adventure.
Enjoy! --Kristine

Friday, July 29, 2011

Aloha

[ah loh' hah] - Love, greetings, goodbye, pity, compassion, mercy, affection, farewell ; spirit of love, affection, kindness. As in: Aloha wau iĆ¢ `oe (I love you); Aloha `oe (Farewell to you).


I love that the word aloha sums up all of the things I need to say in three perfect syllables. First, farewell to Hawaii and our connections here. Secondly, hello again to our California home. Lastly, having time away from life's typical stresses and distractions has been a potent reminder about what really matters. It turns out that my learnings on this front can be distilled down to "love, affection and kindness."


We decided to spend this week doing our typical activities, rather that attempting to cram a bunch of new adventures into our last days of leisure. That means we ditched our lingering plans to go to the children's discovery center and to take the kids for a horse ride at the ranch. Instead last weekend we took a trip with Brenda and her children to Bellows Beach on the Air Force Base (about 20 minutes away from where we live). You need a military-associated person to take you there and the guards take the checkpoint security seriously. 


With constraints on the number of people who have access plus the inherent tidiness of military caretakers, Bellows Beach is one of the most pristine places we've visited in Hawaii. Big waves made for some great boogie boarding. The kids joined a gang of others digging huge holes in the sand. All of this meant we were blissfully wiped out by lunch time and thrilled to pass the grilled chicken stand just after we left the base. You gotta stop for enormous bar-b-ques on the side of the road, especially when all of the locals are doing it.


Bellows Beach = perfection
Even the bathrooms were tidy.

Keira, Kelsey, Brenda, Alice, Tag, Benji and some shark bait in a hot pink rash guard 


Besides the departure preparations this week we're trying to make sure we swim in the ocean every day. It seems like the best use of dwindling time. We're also starting to say our goodbyes. Gregg's family left for the mainland yesterday, so we made plenty of time for some final play sessions in the yard. Alice and Benji had their last trip with me to the YMCA this morning and all of their caregivers were sad to see them go. Tomorrow morning is their final gymnastics class, and they will go to "Parent's Night Out" in the evening so Tag and I can have one last date night. I'm looking forward to three romantic hours at Haleiwa Joe's in Kaneohe. Saturday morning we'll hang out with Brenda and her family at the beach. Then we have some babysitting help lined up for Saturday afternoon during the critical "get shit crammed in bags" hours. I'm envisioning having a sunrise swim on Sunday before we leave for the airport. I'll need to say a heartfelt goodbye to the lanikai (heavenly sea). 



Goodbye! I'll miss you terribly!
You have really cool toys and I appreciate you letting me steal them on occasion.


I love you.
You make me want to be a six year old girl.
Don't leave me here with just Alice for entertainment.


So at this point I suppose it is time to sign off from the Hula Press. Mahalo for being a part of my Hawaii experience. Without your love and support for my personal blogging experiment I never would have remembered to bring my camera for most of the previously covered content. While sabbatical journalism is a rigorous pursuit, I suggest you all try your hand at it sooner rather than later. It will change your life. 


Aloha!  

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