Hawaii redux

Four years ago, shortly before I left Denver to resume a vagabonding life, my family took a trip to Hawaii together that was so beautiful that for months afterward I got teary just thinking about it. Maybe because I must be one of the luckiest people on the planet, this Thanksgiving found us in the exact same rental house in Kailua (Oahu) that we stayed in four years ago. Family vacation Take II.

This is my sweetly chaotic reunion with the fam after more than a year on ice. It has been completely wonderful, even if I'm a little more prone right now to getting overwhelmed by so many people and so much going on all at once after all those months of relatively quiet predictability at Pole.

In some ways it feels like no time has passed since we were last here together. But then I look at the kiddos and realize how different things are now with them. Four years past--and having 6-to-12 year-olds as part of our crew, which is fundamentally different than being on a trip with a troupe of 2-to-8 year-olds--makes for a new experience, for sure. So still sweet, though. And getting focused time with my brother and his wife (a way-too rare occurence) is always special, and seeing the familiar family dynamics in action, and, and, and--

Anyway, some shots from the first half of our time here....

The first thing the kids wanted to do as soon as we got to the house, even though dusk was falling:

Niece R is loving repeatedly marveling at how hopelessly pale I am, and we took this pic on day one as a "guess who's been at the South Pole for the past year" joke. In my defense, my sister (on the left) is also very fair. I guess not as ghostly white as I am at the moment, though neither of us will ever have the gift of turning instantly golden brown as R (second from left) did the moment we got here. Oh, and this picture apparently proves that I (next down the line) have chicken legs, to boot. Oh, well. (For the record, I HAVE gotten SOME color since this picture was taken.)

Nephew E's trip so far: Play in sand till covered head to toe. Jump in ocean to rinse. Repeat.

One night we all went into Honolulu for Chinese food and a U of Hawaii women's volleyball match (against U of Santa Barbara), which is obviously THE thing to do around here.

But then everyone got right back into the ocean.

Or in trees.

Or sand.

And the adults who are not senior citizens (or suffering from an unfortunately timed sprained ankle--sorry, bro-in-law!) took a surfing lesson in Haleiwa.

Okay. Enough for now. One more Hawaii post to come, as the days continue to fly by WAY too fast.