Aloha 'Oe

There are a whole range of feelings you go through when you come home from a vacation.  Maybe you feel like you've been gone too long, or the trip didn't turn out as fun as you expected.  Perhaps you are anxious to get back to a regular routine, or people/projects are waiting for you to get back.  Possibly, you've all been in too close quarters for too long, and you need some space from each other.  Coming home from this vacation was none of those.  In fact, I don't think anybody wanted to come home at all.  It is fairly miraculous that with this many people together on a trip, all having to work out activities, meals, naps, babysitting, date nights, shopping trips, etc., and all with various and sundry "personnel" combinations, there have been no fights, no disappointments, no injuries (!), and only a few minor meltdowns (nobody's perfect). :)  On the contrary, this trip has been so perfect it's hard to believe we actually pulled it off.  So much great time together, so many fun activities, and so many priceless memories -- everybody should get to come on a family vacation like this.  It's not just that we're in Maui either (although that certainly helps).  I am so blessed to have such an amazing (extended) family -- we could go just about anywhere and do just about anything, and just being together we would have a blast.

That's probably enough waxing philosophical for the time being. Because today was the last day, we all got together for breakfast in Amy and Scott's room and brought all the food we had left. It was quite a production in the kitchen, and aside from me usurping egg duty from Brett, everything went very smoothly. Maybe we'll open our own short order kitchen/comedy hour sometime. :) After breakfast we finished packing, checked out, piled into the cars and headed to. . .the Sugar Cane Train! Ironically, this is the first time that we have all gone together as a group. The really neat thing about this time on the Train was that Uncle Terry (the conductor), with whom we are practically on a first name basis, spent a lot of extra time on our car telling us some very cool stories that are not part of the regular script. At the half-way point he jumped off and picked some neat native fruit for us to try, and he told us the story of the origin of the "Shaka" (the Hang Loose sign).


After the train, we had a nice little road trip to Kihei -- a quiet area around the island that is one of Grandpa Ed's favorite places to stay on Maui. We stopped at a McDonald's for bathroom breaks and the girls ventured to a little craft market next door. Then it was on to Kahului for more shopping. I stayed in the car with the boys, and although it wasn't a hot day, it wasn't very cool either. Joshua was especially uncomfortable, so we used his blanket and constructed a makeshift lean-to over his car seat.


Our flight out didn't leave until 9:50 pm, so with plenty of time still to kill, our next stop was the Queen Ka'ahumanu Center -- basically a giant mall not far from the Kahului Airport. We did a lap or so looking for the children's play area, but no luck. Apparently one is under construction -- we'll have to wait until next time to play there. Even though there were plenty of shops to browse, we really didn't spend much time in them. In the center of the mall on the ground floor is a large statue of Queen Ka'ahumanu by a nice pool, and the kids all congregated to look for fish. Grandma-ma was right there handing out pennies for the kids to make wishes. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Grandma-ma or the kids!


After dinner at the food court it was finally time to make our way to the airport. The guys dropped off the women and children at the terminal and then we proceeded to turn in the cars. The terminal is not particularly comfortable, but there was enough space for the kids to sit, or read, or wander a little. And of course there were enough adults to rotate around as well. Between games, laps, and DVD players, we had everyone covered.


Finally, we gathered the kids and the carry-ons, and boarded the plane. Because the flight was so late at night, we counted on everyone sleeping most of the time. Sleeping on a plane is not the most comfortable, but that didn't seem to get in the way.


According to Wikipedia, Aloha 'Oe was written by Queen Liliʻuokalani after watching a farewell embrace between Colonel James Boyd and a young Hawaiian ranch girl. One of the verses is goes like this:

Sweet memories come back to me
Bringing fresh remembrances
Of the past
Dearest one, yes, you are mine own
From you, true love shall never depart
I still can't believe that we have been so blessed to spend so much time in this beautiful, magical place. Mom and Dad have pulled out all the stops to make this an amazing vacation for all of us. Being with my family is my favorite way to spend my time, and this time together has been absolutely perfect. Hopefully we can take a little piece of paradise with us.


And so, aloha 'oe, until we meet again.