we snuck off...to the BIG ISLAND!!!

It was early January.  Snow was flying.  The sharp frigid air was simply unbearable.  It was so cold you just wanted nothing but to stay under your electric blanket all day.  That was when the inspiration came.  We had to escape...had TO GET OUTTA DODGE...and once more we decided to gravitate to the warmth and beauty of our beloved Hawaii.  This time we were going to try a different island...The Big Island. 

It was with a little nervous energy that I booked our trip to that island.  It's really different than Maui.  The landscape is more harsh.  It's known for having rocky hard to get to beaches.  It's got the big volcanoes.  Oh and then news came of eruptions, tsunamis, earthquakes and radiation.  We almost changed our plans...many times, but we decided to brave it and I'm really glad we did.  Change is good. 

We got our toes ready.

 

Packed and planned and did the dreaded travel day.

And then it came into view...the beautiful blue against the harsh black lava landscape.

We made it...and no one got sick!!

And this was our sweet next day morning reward...paradise.  Glorious sunshine.  Birds singing soft and sweet.  Palm trees shaking their leaves.  It was glorious.

You would think with all God's goodness right in front of you it would be easy to relax.  To exhale and just enjoy every second.  BUT we were wound as tight as ever and it took us several days to finally get into our groove. 

For some reason we put pressure on ourselves when we vacation.  It's a BIG deal for us to go to Hawaii.  It's expensive and we had no idea what to do first.  We didn't know where anything was and I had dropped the ball with having a plan.  Usually I'm on it, but for some reason this time I was a little clueless.

They call it the Big Island for a reason. It's really big!  And really spread out.  There's a lot of driving between places and we were over our heads a bit.  Didn't help that I was pmsing...goodness!  And Honey had a ton of stuff going on inside his world.  We were a little off.  It took some time.

But we eventually started letting go.  We started to not care if we did this or that.  Started to not fuse over sticky sunscreen and gravely sand in uncomfortable places, and it was only then that the fun began and we actually started to flourish.  I took a LOT of pictures girls.  Hope you're ready to go to the Big Island with us:)

Have a blessed day.