aloha and renovations

so the last post was long, but apparently not long enough. can you believe i have actually had real people (a.k.a. not just bloggers) comment on the fact that my blog is a bit out of date? please. you have no idea.

let's see. in the last post i mentioned that our floors had flooded. well, true to engineered-hardwood form, they indeed had to gut my first floor and replace all the hardwoods. what that means is that while our little family took its first vacation, worker men visited my home and wreaked havoc. yep. there is a fine layer of dust covering every inch. i returned home to every piece of furniture piled in the center of my living room. but you should see my floors. courtesy of the nice folks at state farm, i have hardwoods that are my DREAM floors. i just want to stand around and look at them. but because of the "renovation" i haven't had a computer until now.

BUT. before today, here are the things that happened.

we went on vacation. dennis's first trip to Hawaii, and to any beach other than the black sea. i desperately wanted to blog about it before it happened, but i had the feeling that someone might break into the house because the whole world would know we were out of town (somehow, it was FINE to give our code to the floor men). so, yes, we were on vacation.

after 17 hours of travel, we landed on Maui, and big D commenced snapping photos of everything in sight. jon and i have been to hawaii three times now, and somehow, the highway to ka'anapali beach is not as enthralling to us as it was to him. he thought it was BEAUTIFUL...and it is. we are SO lucky to have been able to have the week of our lives in paradise with our family.

highlights: (1) dennis had surf lessons w/ the most BEAUTIFUL girl in the world. seriously. she got out of her Maui Surfer Girls van and all of us dropped our jaws. he got up after about 15 minutes. he was then promptly stung by a jellyfish. melissa (aka the goddess) told him to tee-tee on himself. he said, "NOOOOO." and then he made her hike back to her van to get vinegar. i'm pretty sure he thought we were trying to kill him.

(2) we had the most beautiful boat ride in the world. we cruised around Lanai (the home of the Dole pineapple plantation in days past), and right as we thought it was over, about 100 dolphins leapt out of the water and started spinning for us. i screamed like a little kid and clapped my hands and apparently talked like they were my children. dennis was BLOWN AWAY. we all agreed that the trip was the BEST.

(3) my husband surprised me by renting out the gazebo where we were married and having dinner catered in. how great is he? it was so special to sit in the spot where we promised to love each other forever.

(4) i got to teach my son how to snorkel. and then, once he had the hang of it, and once i, (aka fatty mcfatterson) had grown tired, i hiked the beach, found a perch, and watched my son paddle above the reef. it occurred to me that probably at no time in recent remembrance had someone just watched Dennis. just let him do whatever and made sure he was safe. and i was so happy to be a mommy. mommies are the ones who, despite the beating sun, and their freckling skin, keep watch on their babies. and i feel like i might have just joined the league.

don't get me wrong. the next day, in a flight of fancy, i sent Sam and Dennis down to the beach with the promise that they would see giant turtles while snorkeling. and i enjoyed about an hour of blissful solitude.

so, we're home. and i have pretty floors. and my freckles have almost run together to make a tan. and it's on to the next big thing. i'm almost scared to ask :)