House at beach

Welcome to beautiful Kailua, Hawai'i! 

My mom is calling the style of the rental house "beach shabby," and it's true, it's a little worse for the humidity and wear on the inside, but hey!: it sleeps all 11 of us.... 

...and how could you say anything negative with a view out the living room window like this one?:

So this is what we're calling our backyard for this week on Oahu:

And the kids are LOVING the beach, though they're having a hard time embracing the fact that there is sand EVERYWHERE, including in places they didn't know they had. I love the little kiddo footprints next to the adult ones.

And they love the water, with the amazingness of Kailua beach making up for the fact that we're on the windier side of the island. My dad's friends who steered us toward this spot said that it was the "calmer" side of the island, which my mom interpreted to mean "less windy," though it turns out they meant "less crowded." I don't really care; I'll take it all...