My husband and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this year and decided to take a big trip to mark the milestone. We’d been tossing around ideas for a while but kept coming back to the idea of Hawaii. It has been far too long since our family has been to Hawaii. I say that because Jason’s family is from Hawaii and we had been going fairly often at the beginning of our marriage. Life gets busy and you add some kids to the mix, and trips and vacations sometimes get set based on where you lay your head currently and what your calendar holds. Anyway, we thought this was the year to head back for a little Aloha and to make it all the more special, we thought why not enjoy our visit over Christmas and ring in the New Year while we were at it! The big change for this trip aside from the kids being old enough to really remember it all, was our decision to check out Kauai and Maui. We normally head to Oahu where most of the family resides and while we would miss catching up with them, we thought it would be interesting to see what wonders the other islands held. Some good friends who have fallen in love with Hawaii in recent years were making a trip there again and would be celebrating their 25th anniversary wedding anniversary January 2nd. With two big anniversaries to commemorate it sounded like we’d be able to score some free slices of chocolate macadamia nut pie or maybe a glass or two of pineapple champagne!! It was set–we’d combine forces and have ourselves a big adventure!

I spent a lot of time packing and unpacking camera bags while we were gone. Man, keeping cameras clean on vacation is a lot of work!!  On and off of beaches, horses, boats, in and out of rain showers, hiking up and down muddy trails, snorkeling with underwater cases–it takes some preparation and clean up! I captured lots of pictures and video as we explored the islands. I also decided way ahead of time that I would wait to post most of it until we got back. Maybe it’s me or my age, but it’s hard for me to really enjoy a trip if I’m tied to my computer or phone editing and updating.  Aside from backing up my media cards and sending some “proof of life” shots to family, I just enjoyed our time together and captured some of the fun. You’ll all have to make do with my #latergrams and #theposthadtowait follow ups.

Well, we are back and it’s been fun going through everything. I’m making a few short videos combining the footage and adding some labels (more to help my memory than anything). I hope they help us remember all the ono food, wonderful music, inspiring sunrises, fragrant breezes, silky sand under our toes, crazy adventures, but mostly, I hope these videos help us remember the feeling of “aloha” that pervaded it all. That feeling that is so hard to put into words–many greater souls before me have tried. I’ll just say for me it’s a kind of calmness that settles in my spirit and all is good. Enjoy!