I was gonna try my hardest not to make this little mini vacation into a 3-parter or anything, but I'm afraid it's just going to have to be!  It wasn't even THAT long....we were only gone Tuesday night through Friday evening, but there are just too many goodies for one blog post!

   For the first couple of days, we stayed at a lake house with friends near the coast.  And let me tell you.....this is one of those places that leaves an ache in your gut that you know you just simply HAVE to return to one day.  It's name was "Loon Lake" and if you know anything about Anne of Green Gables, then you know she would've approved.

   Its raw natural beauty was simply breathtaking and I could not get done exclaiming over it.  I only realized what a broken record I'd become when my 3-year-old started exclaiming, "It's SO BEAUTIFUL here!" over and over. :)  Hey, if she somehow manages to absorb a love for Jesus and the outdoors through this wild life, my job will be well done.




 We spent most of our time lounging around and talking, playing games, eating good food, and soaking in the beauty all around.  We've been running around like headless chickens all summer, so it was just what the doctor ordered.  But the next time I head out there (and trust me, there will be a next time) I'm taking a BOAT. Or kayak. Or floatie.  Anything to get me out on that lake!

   Deer seemed to be roaming all over the place, venturing near the house and seemingly unfazed by the high-pitched shrieks of excited children.  Even small spotted fawns seemed perfectly at ease in our close proximity.  It was as if we'd stepped right into that magical forest in Bambi where all of the woodland creatures break into song.  It was almost that magical.




    And let's talk for a minute about how good it felt to see this guy relax for once!  Jimminy Cricket's...he's been racing around like a Kenyon marathoner with work and his myriad of other responsibilities, and I just love to see him slow down, even if it's just for a day or two.   He did have to return home to squeeze in a day of work in the midst of the trip, but he let the girls and I keep right on vacationing, even without him.  We were sure happy to see him when he came back to join us though! It certainly wasn't the same without him.

 

   We're back from our mini vacation, and I wish I could say we are completely relaxed and rested and rejuvenated, but...that is just not the case.  We got back friday night and spent Saturday at our church's Heritage Day and then Sunday was busy as usual, and here we are on Monday, still trying to recover.

   The pickup still needs to be unloaded of some things, the laundry is not caught up, I'm canning pizza sauce today and continuing (sort of) to potty train, and the girls seem intent on devouring hidden packs of gum and coloring themselves green with markers, and so you know.....life goes on.

   The catch-22 of vacations is that they are really awesome but they are also a lot of work.  But I guess that applies mostly to vacations with children.  Because I think of our trip to Hawaii and I sigh melodramatically and get lost in wistful nostalgia of how EASY and SIMPLE everything was.

   But then the beauty of vacation with children is that you're not missing them every 15 minutes and wishing they could be there to experience what you're experiencing because, they are!  And so that is work but it is wonderful, and it is tiring, but it is so very rewarding.

I don't have time to blog about it now because of aforementioned pizza sauce canning, and children trying to out-do each other in a competition to tear the house apart, and the only reason I'm writing this little blurb is because they are taking a little mid-afternoon bath.  Oh did I mention they decided not to nap today??!

So I will just leave you with a few shots from Instagram.




Tune in later (on a less crazy, hectic, frazzled day) for more of our camping/coast adventure!

   I kinda feel like these Hawaii posts could drag on forever (so.many.pictures!) and I know how short my attention span can be, so for the sake of all of you, dear readers, I will attempt to wrap things up.  As difficult as that may be.

   We ate at some amazing places on the island, and like I mentioned earlier we skipped the fancy restaurant thing and ate at stands, shrimp trucks, and hole-in-the-wall places and let me tell you....amazing food.  So don't just a book by its cover, or a bbq corn stand by it's cheesy photo-op sign.

  SO....if you ever find yourself on Oahu, here are some places you simply MUST hit up!

1. Kahuku Grill and Seven Brothers Burgers
   Both owned by a family with seven sons, hence the name.  Some of the sons run them now, and AMAZING food!  Cool surfing atmosphere, amazing food, etc.  Check it out.


2.  Corn-on-the cob stands.
   This baby came slathered in butter, mayo, Cajun seasonings, parmesan cheese, and probably some other things I can't remember.  It was INCREDIBLE.  I need another one.

3. Leonard's Bakery
  Best doughnut I've had in my entire life.  Pretty sure anyway.  Forgive me, Kalona Bakery and Golden Delight, for I have sinned.


4. Shaved ice and frozen yogurt, smoothies, etc.
  I'm not even gonna name places here because they're all over and some of the most popular places weren't even my favorite, so just shop around, if you will and discover all the island has to offer.


 I don't even have pictures of some of the other amazing places like Opal Thai and that one Korean BBQ place.....oh well like I said we need to wrap this up so if you ever visit Oahu and wanna know the goods, hit me up.


   As mentioned earlier the first half of our fourth was spent feeling patriotic at Pearl Harbor.  After that we spent the rest of the day at Turtle Bay, where they had food vendors, free concerts, fireworks, and (of course) a beautiful beach.  I think this one may go down in the books as the best 4th EVER.









                        

   Hopefully this will be my last and final Florida installment, and then we can get on to bigger and better things! Well, different things anyway.

   The last part of Florida was spent with my immediate family (Dad Mom, and siblings).  It was so fun to have everyone together in one place, which is becoming a rarity even now with only two of us married, and I can't even imagine hoe difficult it will be to get everyone together when all 7 of us kids are married and having children of our own! We'd have to rent a gym or something to even be able to all fit in one building.  Anyways.

   One of my fondest memories of trips to Florida with my family growing up were the inevitable trips to the beach in search of shark's teeth.  Sometimes we would even go before the sun came up!  If you've never dug through sand and shells and tasted the salt water spray in your face in search of the tiny treasures, then you are missing out!




We had just been to the beach the evening before, and it was rather cool