I Love You, California!

It is so nice to be back home I can't even tell you! The sad part is, though, that Will left again tonight for work for the week, so we pretty much just quick unpacked and then repacked him for the week. Just us girls again! Adeline is happy to be back with the kitties!

While the better part of me was so sad to be leaving Hawai`i, I desperately wanted to get back home. I can't lie, this was a hard trip. It was more work than vacation. BUT, it was so wonderful to see our friends, meet new babies, and revisit a couple of our favorite places. It was also a good reminder of just how special of a place Hawai`i is, and I still have to pinch myself to realize that we actually got to live there for four years. How lucky are we?! I tell this little wahine almost every day about how she was born in Hawai`i. It feels like a home away from home for me and I hope it will for her, too. Unfortunately it probably won't be very soon, but I can't wait to go back and visit again . . . and again . . . and again. Luckily our flight wasn't terribly early so we had a "leisurely" morning around the hotel, which was actually just us trying to wrangle Adeline while we got things packed up and ready to go. Here you can see me trying my best to keep A...

Today we tried our best to enjoy our last day on O`ahu. We got in a little beach time and even got to enjoy some Ono poke on the beach while Adeline napped! Later in the afternoon we went to Boho Mexican restaurant, which didn't go so well, but there sure was a beautiful sky to end the day.

Today was the beginning of official vacation - no more work for Will! However Adeline was still in her mood and the weather was kind of crummy so we didn't enjoy our beach activities as much as we would have liked. Oh well; thank goodness we'll be back again! Here are some highlights! Not so sure about walking on the sand!

Adeline has been in a little bit of a mood lately. Just suuuuper fussy and whiney. According to "Wonder Weeks" she's going through a developmental leap and there is a thunderbolt over this week, which means she may be extra fussy according to them, and I think they are right! Yesterday was a tough day as it was raining and Will was gone for most of the day. I tried taking Adeline to the aquarium but she had zero interest. We did have a nice casual O`hana Award celebration with many of our friends at the Maui Brewing Company and Adeline had so much fun with them. It was refreshing after having one of those days! The original plan for the night had been a BBQ at Kaimana, but with a 100% chance of rain threatening, the gathering was moved indoors which was a good thing because it POURED rain all afternoon, evening, and night. Of course we got zero pictures from the gathering, but that means we had fun, right?! This morning Will ran off to a meeting but then we met up wit...

The main reason for us traveling to Hawai`i was that TerViva was having an event related to the O`hana Award that they had received a couple of years ago. The organization that gave them the grant which allowed us to move to Hawai`i in the first place gave TerViva a separate grant (The O`hana Award) for a special project, allowing them to make cattle feed from the pongamia seeds and feed it to cattle belonging to a local ranching company on O`ahu. After being fed the pongamia cattle feed for a couple of months the cattle were turned in to burger and other cuts of meat (the vegetarian in me is crying right now, but this is so exciting for TerViva and cattle ranchers alike!). Local ranchers and those who supported the project along the way were invited to a special event at Kualoa Ranch to talk story and enjoy delicious food. Three local chefs were brought in to create special dishes with the meat and served through food stations. Adeline and I didn't get to go since it was quite a w...

The weather started turning today so we really didn't do too much. We did however enjoy yummy brunch at Koko Head Cafe. Later in the evening we walked down to Maui Brewing Company for an early dinner. Adeline was loving the live music and the musician was loving her. He even incorporated her name in to the lyrics on one of the songs!

Finally  we get to take Adeline back to her homeland! I am so proud that she was born in Hawai`i and I hope that one day she will be, too. Maybe even by some miracle we can live there again! Now, don't get me wrong, the flight was not great. She slept less than an hour while strapped to me in my Ergo, swooshing around the galley, and most of the time that she was awake she took over Will's seat, so he was walking and standing around the plane. I'm not sure when we'll make a long haul like this again, but we made it, and she did ok. When the plane started coming in for a landing over Honolulu my heart was full and I really felt like I was back home. Remind me why we ever left?! And what was most surprising is that Adeline was so energized when we arrived that she stayed awake all the way to 6pm Hawai`i time, which is 9pm in Oakland. We got to our hotel around three, and we quick put down the bags and hit the beach. It was such a beautiful day and it was a great way to s...