Best thing hands down about the Big Island… not the beaches or the palm trees.  Nope, though they are nice and all.   The very best most wonderful thing about the Big Island is my family being together again.  How often do I get to spend a week in paradise with my grown kids who lead very busy lives???  Well, this is a first in the last few years as they pursued their college degrees–both are now college grads, Hallelujah!!!–and Hannah got married to Mike and gave us the magnificent Mia.  How time flies by!  With Thom and I moving between Seattle, NYC, Shanghai and back to Seattle and the kids’  busy schedules, we have only connected at the holidays, which are hectic and action-packed.

This week the biggest decisions are:  pool or beach?  Pina Colada or Wine?  Yep, that’s pretty much it.  I had Facebooked that there was no one more in need of a vacation than me.  My daughter countered that she was much more deserving than me, because not only did she work all day but then started Mom duty at night capped off with baby Mia doing her business while taking her bath.  Okay, she wins.  Hands down.

Getting to Hawaii from Boise and Seattle was no mean feat but after James graduated Sunday from Seattle University, we all took off on Monday, starting with Mia running us around the airport with her newly found walking skills.  She was a joy on the flight, taking two naps and playing with all the other babies on the flight.  After quaffing free Mai Tai’s (adults only)–thanks Alaska for the free booze–we found our new home for the next week in Kona, otherwise known as the sunny side of the Big Island.  With water views from every window of the condo and everyone with their own bed/bath, we were ready  to start relaxing.  A workaholic, A Type for sure, I haven’t disconnected from work on a vacation in years.  This week I unpinned my work email tile from my start screen and ignored the need to check in.  They’ll manage without me and maybe even appreciate all I do even more with me not doing it.  Maybe.  In the meantime, I’m enjoying trying very hard NOT to think about work and concentrate on my lovely family and pool time, which Mia enjoys very much.  Glad to see she is taking to the water and will probably be a great swimmer like her Mom.

So far we have walked to the snorkeling beach from our place a few times and had a close encounter with sea turtles, which I like from afar but really, really don’t like touching me in the surf.  Icky!!  They are large and have snapping, sharp teeth which I don’t want to encounter personally.  I swear they were attracted to my sassy red toes–note to self, next time go for beige vs. red for the pedi if going to be in an ocean with animals who can chew.  Thom said I screamed loud enough to be a tsnumai warning signal, which is probably a useful skill here on an island where those things happen.  I think being called a “siren” is a good thing.  Right?

Tomorrow we are off to a new beach in Waimea and later this week we will be zip lining down mountains and across waterfalls.  That should be a good tale to tell!  Aloha!