Mai iloko mai

That which is within matters

I have said it before, but the culture in Hawaii soothes my soul, warms my heart, and completes me.

Everything about it, but most importantly the simplicity of life. The appreciation for life in all forms.

Home is where the heart is, and my heart is here. I am at such ease when I arrive.

There really are no words to truly define it, other than genuine happiness. I am sure, having fresh fruit at my finger tips, helps. I love waking up in the morning to see how many avocados have dropped, grabbing some limes and whatever else I want or need.

Anyway, this trip is a bit different. Typically my parents are not at the house when we are there, so we just do our own thing. I LOVE spending time with them, and vacationing with them. In fact most of my best vacations have been with them. So it isnt like that whole "gahhhh my parents are here". For me, it is more of a "Yaaaaayyeeeeeee". But that doesnt change the fact that our schedule does change a bit, as well as the kids. When there isnt other people around, you come and go, and do as you please. When you are sharing a place with someone, you dont want to leave them out. This goes for them as well. So it is this whole.. "we are thinking about doing this today, want to join?" Then there is hum ho, "Well, we were thinking about doing this"... and both parties dont want to not do what the other person is doing for whatever reason. Partially because they want to do what the other party is doing, and partially.. they dont want the other party to feel like they dont want to hang with them. It is a fine and obscure balance one must maintain when vacation with other people.

We usually have no formal agedna when we vacation. We know of a few things we want to do, and the rest is just whatever. Each trip we go to the warm pond nearly every day. It is like going home and getting in the hot tub. Only better. So, we visit this place as often as possible. This is also Jaxson's favorite place, and a place where he doesnt get cold. He is super tiny, so this is huge for us!

I am the planner, as far as we are going to do this, and this, and this. My mom is the same way. Phil is not, and is more go with the flow. Which is funny, because at home he is the planner, and I am the go with the flow person. We switch roles when on vacation. This trip I intend on seeing Waipio Valley (paying to go down in there.. tho paying someone pains me.. it is the safest option), hike into Shipman's Beach, and Kiholo Bay. Outside of that, I have no major plans. Ok, I have my mother/daughter suprise date day with my mom. But, as far as my family goes.. that is it.

First things first... get rid of the crappy mini-van! I call into the Dollar in Hilo to check their inventory. Unfortunatley.. they do not have any SUV's and are not planning on any returns today. They suggest just coming by when we are in town.

I had hoped to go in town and go shopping, but seeing how there was no prize SUV waiting... we decided to simply go into Pahoa and hit up Malama Market and Longs. One of the perks of my mom being there, is that we didnt have to take the kids.

Additionally, before we arrived I had done quite a bit of Amazon shopping. Bless Marcie and Jim's hearts for letting me ship box upon box to them. I almost bought a surf board, but Phil talked me out of it. Anyway, I had bought RC cars for the boys, activity books, crayons, beach stuff, extra towels, pillows, fans... yeah..... the entire store.

Basically I have a problem.. which is called shopping. That being said, all of the stuff I bought was useful to the house. Plus I also bought a croquet set. So with all the other items I bought, there was plenty for the boys to do. As a new day and really the first day to play with their items.. I knew Grandma and Papa would have an easy and delightful time with them.

After grocery shopping, we decided to head over to warm pool. It was raining on and off, and there just isnt much to do sometimes when it is raining. Plenty to do outside.. but not much to do inside.

Once we returned home, I decided I would just fancy myself with sitting outside.. watching the rain. In Oregon, I hate the rain... it drains me. But in Pahoa, it is like rolling out the welcome home mat. I suppose in Oregon you cant really sit outside and enjoy the rain, where as here in Hawaii you can. Ultimately it doesnt really stop you from doing too much.

The following day, we decided we would head into town. It was still crummy weather. So what do you do when it is raining.. go shopping. Something I am quite good at. We first stopped at Prince Kuhio shopping center. I always end up going into Ross. It is different than home. You can always find some cool Hawaiian stuff there. Plus... I am always looking for new sheets and towels. It is of course the perfect place to do that.

Once I wrapped up there buying completely random crap I didnt need. We headed to Dollar to see about switching out this crappy mini. When we pulled in, we stopped in the designated Dollar parking spots.. one small SUV. No idea what it was.. but it wasnt this god awful mini-van. It basically looked like a very werid car on steroids.

Sure enough it was available, and after filling out the paperwork needed. We had keys to our new ride! Hooray! Once we got inside of it, it not only felt newer and looked newer. It drove newer. Over all the SUV or perhaps CUV was a nice little ride, which was far more economical for all the driving we do.

We decided to head across town to CostsULess (like Waremart/Winco/Costco combo). I had been in there before.. but Phil had not. We spent a good amount of time buying various food items, a fan (we need a lot of those), and tiki torches (when in Rome..). After that, we were not far from Hilo Farmers Market, so we figured we should stop in there next. Unfortunately, we spaced out the fact it was not the day for the expansive market where Filthy Farm Girl would be there. Just the small one with all the produce. None of which we needed currently.

We turned down Bayfront, and that is when the thunder started to rumble and in the distance you saw lightening. The thunder rumbled so loudly, it shook the car. I have been in my fair share of storms.. and this was loud. I loved it!

Ultimately, we decided with food in the car, and a storm on the horizon.. it was time to head home. So we did just that. The remainder of the day was spent with stormy weather that encouraged a nap and lots of reading. It was perfect!

We established that evening that the weather was supposed to remain slightly lousy. So we figured a trip across to the other side would be ideal. We were all looking forward to some sun!