Straight Back From Paradise

The family (sans Jonathan) at a very pretty falls.

Two weeks in Paradise and good old Yakima is starting to look pretty old.

My mother left for Hawaii on the 6th of July, Jacob and I left the 11th and Jonathan rendezvoused with us on the 13th. We had much by the way of great tropical fun. (The following will be an abridged synopses of our Hawaiian adventure, for more critical news skip to the last paragraph.)

We spent the first couple of days at an Army hotel on Schofeild Barracks. Since my father had classes all day (the real reason we went to Hawaii) we did our own thing during the day and did family activities after he got out of class. The second day we were in residence we took a spectacular hike up to a waterfall. The trail had a good incline, and it was fairly muddy, but the vegetation was gorgeous and the waterfall itself was spectacular (featured above in the lovely partial-family portrait). On the way down, maybe 20 minutes from the car as the ground started to level out once more, my mother slipped and fell on a particularly sinister patch of mud. The next 7 hours (from 7 pm to 2 am) were spent admiring the inner workings of the Tripler military hospital. Turns out my mother (as is her great personal luck) probably broke the only bone in the human body that happens to rot when fractured... That was a bit of a dampener. Her follow up appointment last Monday determined she needs an MRI to be sure if its broken or not, along with deciding if she tore up several of the tendons in her wrist, but that may not get done until Germany.

The next day brought us to the beach, we moved to PARC (which is an acronym for some long unmemorable name having to do with some important Hawaiian and the Army). We stayed in a cute mint green bungalow right off the ocean and bummed in the water until my dear dad arrived with Jonathan. Then we mucked around in the water some more. Wednesday brought about more mucking.

Jacob and I getting ready to fire Jonathan into the next wave, Bellows AFB

Thursday we packed up and shipped over to the more luscious windward side of the island to Bellows AF resort. The living quarters were not quite so quaint--Also they were infested with ANTS!!! Which I quickly remedied with copious amounts of RAID!!!--but were still enjoyable. The Beach at Bellows is gentler and a bit more pleasant than the steeper and rockier PARC. There followed more mucking.

Friday we enjoyed lunch with my father at the NEX (Naval Exchange) the navy monstrosity of a PX/Commissary complex. We explored and stocked up on foods. Then of course more beach play.

Saturday we rose early and rushed to the rumored home of Oahu's best pancakes, one Kimo and Boots. I will admit, the infamous macadamia nut syrup was pretty tasty. Then we roused my mother (who had passed on the breakfast party) and headed to the ginormous market in the Aloha Bowl. Much shopping ensued. A quick 200 quid later the females in my family were appreciating the experience markedly more than those of the Y chromosome. So we remedied this by attending a movie.

Sunday morning brought on the dolphin adventure at the Sea Life Park. A very cool experience, which I recommend, everyone should experience the wonders of a dolphin kiss. The boys then trundled off to play paintball. We passed the latter part of the evening with mini golf.

Hot and sweaty, but triumphant!

Monday afternoon we snorkeled in the great Haunama Bay. Tuesday my mother and I ventured out to the Dole Plantation and dutifully tackled the largest maze in the world. By the end sweat was dripping down our backs but we finished in a modest hour and 10 minutes. Wednesday was Jonathan's last day, and he wanted more beach time. We stopped by the most interesting store (which possessed only 2 walls...) and acquired a new snapping bright blue set of toe shoes. Then on to the beach! Sadly Jonathan left us the next morning.

Thursday morning began Jacob and I's last day, and it began at 3:30 am. The happy captain on the phone assured us that dawn was the very best time to see sharks you see. By 6:00 we were 3 miles off shore clambering down into a cage teetering around in shark infested waters. Such a cool experience!  There were so many sharks. We purchased a DVD documenting this adventure and it is quite possible I will end up uploading it. My brave mother helpfully chummed the water from the boat side, she does not make a good sailor. Afterward we slept off the early morning. Then it was on to the temple and the distribution center and a quick spin around BYUH.

Jacob the umbrella wielding ham

Friday morning I went running on the picturesque beaches of Bellows one last time. We left paradise reluctantly, though with an armload of new and [mostly] happy memories. All in all it was a very good vacation before we all head off different places for an age or two.

Jonathan the umbrella wielding ham

Now skipping forward to today, I had the Fine Needle Aspiration biopsy on my thyroid. It was unpleasant, I'm not even going to lie, but it wasn't horribly painful. Oddly enough, the radiologist was LDS, and he'd served his mission many a year before in Taiwan. He was a cool guy, he wrote down all of his areas on a handy sticky note along with his number and name, and obtained my mom's email with the desire to stay in contact and find out how it goes for me 'oer yonder. Preliminary results came back cancer free, and though there are a more thorough batch of tests to be accomplished, this is good news.