Hawaii

Maui, Hawaii

as a family - 

unbelievable feat.

I think that James has found his calling in life - 

he would make a really great "beach bum."

He loved the ocean.

He loved the sand.

He loved the fact that there was no homework.

He loved the fact that there were no chores.

Everyday was just a pure delight,

of swimming with the fish, and rolling in the sand (literally).

This beautiful garden was just outside of our hotel balcony.

The beauties within the garden . . . belong to us!

My morning strolls along the beach with Erik,

were relaxing, and long overdue.

It allowed me to take a deep breath, find myself again,

and even catch the moon.

Even though, they spent plenty of time

stressing over homework, and trying to keep 

caught up with it, 

the girls had a great time.

Joseph shows off this really cool banyan tree.

It took up a whole block - just the one tree -

it just keeps setting down roots,

and growing.

James was in heaven, within this tree! 

He loved climbing all over it.

Forget buying a swing set,

just plant a banyan tree.

Even Jalen Andrew was adventurous on the tree -

the same cannot be said about the ocean.

It took me almost a full week to

baby step him, to the water's edge.

The boys are showing off a piece of an old fort,

made entirely out of huge blocks of coral.

The Hawaiian Shaved Ice was definitely a treat.

We meant to stop and get some more

before leaving Hawaii,

but in the rush of packing, we forgot.

I'm still craving it!

James was really wound up this particular evening,

and the only way we could get him to settle down 

was to have him pose for pictures.

My boys!  How I love these handsome men!

What a great picture this turned out to be, 

with Farmor and Grandpa,

and all the grandkids.

And here's the reason we went to Hawaii in the first place . . . 

Thank you, Arlin & Jannicke, 

for the experience,

and for the time to spend with each other.

Again . . . the men of my life!

Our Hawaiian Beauty - Christine.

Our sand angel - Rebekah.

The girls . . . AND the wind.

Sometimes hanging out on the beach 

is just too exhausting!

At least for Jalen Andrew.

Highlights of the Trip:

• James had some great breakthroughs.  On the first night, he told me that he felt overwhelmed, being with the whole extended family.  Describing how he felt - was HUGE!  So, he and I went back to our hotel room, and he just relaxed in the tub, and was able to settle in to the new environment without the stress of everyone else being around.  There were actually quite a few times when he was able to express to me how he was feeling. 
• Joseph conquered a great fear of flying in an airplane.  He did really well, and even sort of enjoyed the flight.  I conquered my fear of having James on an airplane.  In both cases, it actually went really well, thanks to all of the role playing, and talking through the procedure before hand.
• Christine experienced Hawaii.  She would love to go back, and really experience the culture and daily life of the islands.  We did attend a luau, which was a lot of fun to watch and participate in, but she wants to experience HAWAII, not just the tourist parts of it.
• Jalen Andrew conquered his fear of the ocean.  Seriously, it took the entire trip, to warm him up to getting into the waves.  He was afraid of being swept away ( a reasonable fear), and so he would play in the sand, as far away from the ocean as he could.  Each day, I would entice him a little closer, by having him place a symbolic toy in a "safe place" on the beach, and then I would gradually challenge his boundaries of safety.  One day, we floated the toy down a gully that I created from his "safe place" then down to the ocean; we got the toy (and Jalen Andrew) right to the water's edge, but then he retreated back to higher ground.  When we went to Baby Beach, where there weren't any waves, Jalen Andrew let me carry him around in the water.  On our last day there, Jalen Andrew actually let me carry him into the water, put a snorkeling mask on him, and he swam with me under the water, and was able to see some tropical fish.
• Rebekah got to go snorkeling, not just on Baby Beach, with the rest of us, but to another island with her Dad, and aunts and uncles.  She loved that, and was able to see some really neat fish and coral.
• We got to spend a beautiful time with Erik's family, whom we love, but don't get to see all that often.
• Erik was able to relax!

Funny Little Things:

• Jalen Andrew was so thrilled with MR. BANANA near the boys bathroom, at the luau, that poor Erik had to keep taking Jalen Andrew over and over again to the bathroom.
• When we were visiting a little park dedicated to the many different cultural influences in Hawaii, we had just said out loud, "Don't step in there, it's water," when James stepped right into the floating garden, and lost his flip-flop.  We tried to find the flip-flop, really we did, but it either sunk to the bottom, or floated quickly away in the large garden.  He visited the rest of the park with just one flip-flop.