Family

Kailani Enjoying the Guppies, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

We were in Hawaii on vacation for two weeks, returning last night. Having been raised in Hawaii, our vacations in the Islands rarely feel like vacations. The family obligations frequently take over and this time it was no different…but it was special.

We spent four days at Bellows AFS relaxing on the beach and enjoying our time together. Samantha packed the remaining days with fun activities, doing more in a week than most people do in a month. For me, the best part of the vacation was watching the kids and their cousins play and interact together. They played basketball, miniature golf, and board games; they went to yoga and go-carting; they visited the Arizona Memorial, drove around the island, told jokes in the car, and played practical jokes on each other; and they went boogie boarding and built sand castles on the beach. On the last night, they played charades for three hours. I was responsible for creating the list of topics. The game started out with mundane subjects such as animals and movie titles. After a few dozen rounds, I decided to spice things up with topics as “wet fart,” “French kissing,” and “stepping in dog poop.” They had me rolling on the floor laughing. While growing up, my kids rarely saw their cousins. However, watching them together in Hawaii, one would never know this.

Sadly, my sister in-law’s brother passed away and the funeral service was held during our stay. Sherman served his country proudly in the US Marine Corps and his community as a police officer. While I didn’t know Sherman, it was nice to get to know him through the lives he touched during his time on earth. It was also nice to meet and get to know my sister in-law’s other siblings and their spouses. The circumstances for our meeting were unfortunate, but I am grateful for it. Our families and extended families are spread across the states, so opportunities to meet each other are rare.

Our time in Hawaii was incredible. Like all families, we had a few moments of intra-family friction, but overall, it was a great vacation. I’m already thinking we need to do it again…

Here are a few more photos from our trip.