Leaving Hawaii was hard on us all, Jacob the most. Nobody was ready to leave, none of us were anxious to get home. I think we could have easily stayed a few more days. It went too fast, we enjoyed every minute. The sunshine, the warmth, the scenery, the water, the food, it was all so amazing. God's amazing beauty and creation in its finest was soaked in all around us.We awoke to another perfect sunshiny day. Mark took the boys down to the restaurant for breakfast while Jayden and I finished packing. We all laid in lawn chairs around the pool until 11. I tired to stay in the shade. I didn't want to burn and I felt I had enough sun on my skin. My shoulders and back got pretty red the last couple days. Jake swam the entire time. We said goodbye to our hotel and went for a short drive north to where we could look out over a cliff onto surfers and snorkelers. We ate lunch at the fish market, a favorite place of our family. While eating, they brought in the days fresh catch. It was so cool to watch them transfer fish from a cooler into a cart and wheel it into the store. It doesn't get any fresher than that.
We headed to Mom and Dad's where we unloaded a few things before heading to the beach. Jake had a favorite beach that we visited the first day and the last. It had a section of rock where critters lived, and the boys found fish, crabs, and even shrimp. We sat on the beach reading books, tanning, and just relaxing. taking in the last of our ocean day. I would miss the sun, sand, water, warmth, view, fresh fruit. The boys played in the sand, building sand castles and creations. Jake even made a hole and managed to bury himself up to his waist. Luke enjoyed catching little fish and making friends with native kids. Mark and I took a last stroll along the beach hand in hand. Back at Mom and Dad's we cleaned up and had to put on our jeans. It just didn't feel right and I rolled my jeans up past my ankles. Peepaw grilled us burgers. he is the best burger griller and can make a simple burger excellent. We sat on the edge of a wall over the beach and watched the sun go down. We had enjoyed our time in Hawaii and it was coming to a close. We said our goodbyes, loaded the car and headed for the airport. Jake was very emotional. He didn't want to leave. He wanted so badly to stay with Grandma and Grandpa who would stay another week. He was sad to leave, it was all so wonderful here. We were all quiet as we reflected on our week and took in the view on the way to the airport. It was amazing as we had the sunset slowly creeping under the horizon. There was a glimmer and the ocean was visible as we drove in between light and dark. It was a pretty drive and we could look out for most of the drive and see the moon reflecting on the ocean. We checked our car in at 8 and flew out at 10:30PM. We hadn't been in air condition the entire trip and Jayden and I froze on the airplane. We were all given a tiny blanket and we had packed our travel pillows. We all attempted to sleep. It was not easy, We arrived in Phoenix at 6:30AM with a 3 hour flight. I felt like a sick person, kind of how you feel when you come out of surgery and cannot stay awake. My eyes were heavy and didn't want to open. I sat in the airport chairs dozing in and out of sleep. Finally it was time for our plane to board, along with 3 other planes. I had never been in an airport where 4 planes were boarding within 10 minutes of each other in the same small area. Our plane was boarding next two 2 others only being separated by ropes. It was crazy chaos. Our plane was delayed a half hour or more for some electrical issue, then our 3 hour flight to Iowa was another 3 hours of dozing and trying to read. The boys were happily playing their electronic truck and airplane simulator games. I had to make them put them away so they would sleep a little. We were in Iowa around 2, and home by 4. Mark was so tired driving home. I felt terrible tired on the way home and while unpacking at home. It was good to be home, yet exhausting, and sad it was all over. We were so grateful to my parents for inviting us to enjoy a little bit of paradise.
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