Yo

Wow. Okay, so THAT was a busy time.

There was the two weeks in Hawaii--and then we got back there was the workpileup + ChildFPSReport + ChildMacbethRehearsals/Performances + Husbandworktrip + ParentsGoneCoverage + Shows + PersonalStuff. And I discovered that in the two weeks I was gone, my boss had announced his retirement and 3 of our top people had all changed jobs...and yeah. My brain exploded everywhere, and it wasn't pretty.

But you don't want to hear about that stuff, because it's probably too close to what's going on with you, right? You want to hear Hawaii Highlights?

I...um...don't really have pictures. We were all relaxing and enjoying the moment too much to take pictures, believe it or not! But it was all about hanging out in the warmth and doing stuff in the ocean. We lived in bathing suits all the time. Child and I joked that we perpetually had sand in our EYEBROWS. We snorkeled about 7 times, in various places, and that is just amazing. We all are becoming snorkeling freaks! We saw the caldera of an active volcano, and a coffee farm in Kona, and lots and lots of lava and black sand and white sand and green sand and all colors of coral. But the highlight of this trip, really, was the animal life we saw and/or experienced.

Animals we encountered or witnessed:

--Humpback whales: they were migrating, and at any time you could see pods moving across the ocean from our hotel on the Big Island. Spouts and breaches!

--Dolphins: our hotel (the amazing Hilton Waikoloa) has trained dolphins ON the resort, in a lagoon that happened to be right under our balcony. So we'd go out at night or in the morning and watch the dolphins swimming, leaping, and playing. It was SO FREAKING COOL.

--Sea Turtles: Hubby and I had an extremely close encounter with a huge turtle in the ocean, when we were snorkeling a ways out from the beach. We were holding hands, and he pulled up short and *squealed*, I swear. I looked up, and there was a turtle right in front of my face that was almost as big as him! We swam behind it for a little while. In the hotel they also had 6 or 7 turtles that liked to hang out in the lagoon, and they didn't even take notice of people (or move to avoid them). Child accidentally smacked one in the face when she was swimming. ;)

--Seahorses: Child really really wanted to go to the seahorse farm she saw a brochure for, so of course we did. They raise seahorses as pets so they won't be taken from the wild. We all had a seahorse curl around our fingers.

--Tropical birds: Child had her picture taken with a parrot--it was meant to be on her hand, but it used its beak to climb right up on top of her head. Twice. There were some funny pics in there of her reacting...

--Eels: Man, these things are even creepier live in the ocean than they are in aquariums. They kind of make me shudder. But still, cool to see.

--Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of tropical fish, while snorkeling. Every kind you can imagine, pretty much. Child even saw a little octopus!

--Hawaiian monk seals: Okay, this one was in the Honolulu aquarium. Cheating. Still, Child had read a book about them, so she was thrilled.

--Chickens and roosters: are everywhere on Oahu, running wild. EVERYWHERE.

--Wild goats

--Marmots

The animals turned out to be the focus of the trip! Well, aside from the sun and the ocean.

Hope you're staying warm where you are! (It was 6 degrees F here this morning, but I am still basking in the memory of Hawaiian sun.)

Aloha!