I'm going to Hawaii!!!!!

I am leaving for Hawaii in 2 days!! Actually, 1 1/2- even better! I am going with my parents to visit my sister-in-law while my brother is deployed in Iraq. He is in a relatively safe area this time around, and he has been known to complain of boredom- a complaint for which we are very thankful! Still, we pray for his safety, and, well, if we have to go all the way to Hawaii to support his dear wife...that's a sacrifice we're willing to make! Hee hee!!

As I grew up in a military home, I call Hawaii 'home' as much as any other place. My dad was stationed there when I was ages 3-6 and again when I was 9-12. Of course, as a child, I LOVED it there! We lived 1/4 mile from the beach (it was practically across the street from our school) and it was sunny all year 'round! One of our favorite beaches was Bellows and we loved taking a drive to the North Shore. I'm excited to go back to the International Market Place- basically an outdoor swap meet. My memories are spending a torch-lit evening walking around with the family, the smell of sea-salt and smoke in the air!

My brother and sister-in-law attend the same church we went to when we lived there, and I'm curious as to who may still be there that I will remember. And there's the key to this trip...

How will things be the same or different from the way I remember things???? After all, I was a kid, and I saw things from a child's eye!

I'm sooo looking forward to this trip, but...I really hate leaving my family for so long!! (One whole week) But, my husband wants me to go, and even told me to when I expressed my doubts about it!

Everyone is making jokes about how he'll survive the week with all the kids, but I know better than that! He's a great dad, and even though he's incredibly busy as a pastor to a growing church, he knows his children! I'm not even a little worried about the kids' welfare (although my mother's heart is breaking at the thought of being away from them)- what I feel bad about is taking up all his time this week!

But I've been working my tail off to get everything ready that I could to make things a bit easier for him. Meals are in the freezer, church clothes are already laid out, all laundry and housework is done so that there's not too much for him to do in those areas, etc. I've got a couple of ladies that my children know very well who will come over a couple days so that my man can go in to the church to check up on things there. And, of course, he has the van so they're not housebound all week! The kids are looking forward to having him around all week to play and wrestle (I'm not much for wrestling!), and so far they don't seem overly sad that I'm leaving- they just want to go with me! Too bad they can't have it both ways!

Well, I doubt I'll be around for the next week or so, so...

Aloha 'oe!