Oahu

We've been back from our vacation in Oahu for five days now and I haven't posted on it yet because it still looms too large in my mind to sum up in a blog entry.  But I will try because, as life moves on, I know from experience that I am less and less likely to write about it at all and that would be a shame.  So, in busy mom fashion, here is a list:

• Remy did great on the flight to Hawaii! I even got to sleep a little which I wasn't expecting.
• We got to see the sunrise that first morning from the shuttle to the car rental.  It was a beautiful pastel sunrise with light bouncing off giant cumulus clouds.
• The humidity was dismaying the first couple of hours...that's what desert living will do to you! But by 10 in the morning I was actually loving the warm, velvety feel of the air.
• We were the first to arrive at the vacation rentals and the property manager let us in early ("I know how hard it is to travel with a baby!") We relaxed on the back porch while she finished drying towels and arranging everything for our stay. Her hospitality was such a blessing.
• The houses (the family was spread out in two adjacent homes) were amazing - state of the art appliances, beautiful wood floors and cabinets, great art by local artists, distinctive furniture pieces...the beauty of this place is inside as well as out. 
• Flowers and fruit and mystery plants everywhere you look. Makes you want to take up botany!
• Ross surfed! Briefly but, I am sure, majestically. Unfortunately I missed it or I would have a picture to share. 
• Remy's top three favorite things: beach rocks, waves, outdoor showers. 
• One day Grandma Connie offered to babysit Remy and we hiked with the rest of the Bates family a mile up a beautiful paved trail to Waimea falls where several scenes of Lost were filmed.  Ross swam and I snapped pictures. Pretty awesome.  
• Fabulous beaches abound in Hawaii but my favorite was Shark's Cove.  It has a large area of lava encrusted tide pools that are warm and full of fish and crabs with a nice sandy bottom. We found  a shallow spot to let Remy splash around in and he loved it. 
• Everyone talks about how rustic Haleiwa is so I was DELIGHTED to find it had a McDonald's. I kid you not.  A BigMac on Hawaii is a  match made in heaven. 

Okay, tomorrow is the day of the big move for Mommo and Poppo so we have some errands to run but I will add more vacation highlights when I can!