Last week we were on fall break. Most schools in Arizona give a full week for this break which is very nice. It falls during what can be the last blast of summer, and so no one minds getting out of town for a week to come back to our delightful end-of-year temperatures. Like most everyone, we haven’t gone to a far-away vacation destination since 2019, so we did it up big and went to Hawaii, the island of Oahu (that is where Honolulu and Pearl Harbor are, as well as the famous surf beaches, and where Jurassic Park was filmed). It seemed like a safe choice with the health protocols they have to keep COVID from spreading on the islands. The plane ride was 6 hours and flight there was during the daytime so I got quite a bit done on Christmas Basket from Threadwork Primitives. Even the flight attendant commented on my progress!
I had a lot of time to stitch the first mornings we were there. My elementary age kids needed to do their online school from the hotel room. With the time difference (school started at 5AM!) that made for early mornings hanging out in the room, watching the sunrise, planning the day, and stitching! I started Star of Wonder from Just Nan. These small band samplers are chock full of stitches, which make them fun and satisfying to work. Here is how much I got done in 3 sessions, in the requisite “vacation stitching spot” pose!:
Our flight back was overnight and we all slept so no more stitching was accomplished. But we had a great time. We did some hiking and a lot of beach-going and snorkeling. Here are some pictures if you care to see what we did.
I love snorkeling and it’s not something we have a chance to do very often. We went to 5 sites. Most were quite good. We even saw some Hawaiian green sea turtles! But my favorite fish to spot was probably the famous humuhumunukunukuapua’a (it is also called the reef triggerfish but the Hawaiian name is much more fun to say! Try it! Say: hoo moo hoo moo noo koo noo koo ah poo ah ah).
Now we are back and I must buckle down to get something, (anything!) finished this month. And I will make some plans for finishing off the year productively, and some plans for 2022. Can it be already that time?
Wow, what an amazing place, lucky you.
Oh Mary! wOw! Just amazing! It is a dream, and most likely will remain that, of mine to go to Hawaii some day. Thank you for sharing your lovely pictures. Just gorgeous!! What memories you have given your children.
I hope your dream can come true some day! Hawaii is a wonderful place to visit! There is so much variety and such beautiful balmy weather. It is a lot of work to travel with the kids but so worth it! Especially as they are getting bigger now and we have plenty of hands to help carry everything!
So glad that you and your entire family got to visit Hawaii, Mary! Your photos are lovely, but it’s very true that they can’t possibly show the true beauty of the islands when you visit in person. We were in Maui and Kawaii in 2017 for our 40th anniversary. Beautiful, but lots of rain and mud as you say 🙂 Not sure I would visit again as it is SUCH a long trip coming from the East Coast–it would be quicker for us to fly to Europe 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
We’ve been fortunate enough to go to Maui and Kauai too! Each island is so beautiful and unique we’ve found. I would go back to Kauai if I could pick just one. And that is just what I was saying to my parents about the distance too! It would be a far longer trip to Europe from here! We can even have a direct flight from Phoenix which is so convenient!
What a great trip, the photos look lovely. Nice to get some stitching done too, even if it doesn’t match the beautiful sunshine!
I’m thinking about my 2022 plans too!