Lessons Learned in Paradise

Memorial Day is often considered the official kick-off to summer, and Hubby and I took that kick-off quite seriously by heading to Hawaii over Memorial Day weekend. We spent a week celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary by taking a vacation, sans kiddos, to the Four Seasons on the Big Island . I could blog on and on about what an amazing trip we had, how wonderful it was to travel without children, how refreshing it felt to sleep until our hearts' content each day and nap at random, how splendid the perfect temperatures were, how gorgeous the resort was, and how tasty the food (and beverages) were. But, rather than creating feelings of envy in the minds of my readers, I'll just share with you a few lessons that we learned on the trip.
Lesson # 1... when your server walks up to your breakfast table and says, 'Would you like to try our fresh-squeezed juice of the day? It's a watermelon and apple combination.' What she means is, 'Would you like to pay $16 for two small glasses of juice?'

At breakfast on day one, still blissfully unaware

of the staggering cost of those pretty glasses of juice.

Lesson #2... placing a couple of Ambien that you intend to take before getting on the red-eye flight home in the same bottle as your daily medication is not a good idea. Mistakenly ingesting said-Ambien before embarking on a  40 mile car trip to a full day zip-lining excursion is an even worse idea and may lead your wife to want to murder you as you experience Ambien-induced psychosis. There's a reason you are supposed to go to sleep after taking those things!

My not-so-fresh-face hubby

after his pharmaceutical mishap. 

Lesson #3... despite having never taken a full week's vacation, the week will pass far too quickly. No matter how hard you try to savor each day, each hour, each moment, you will still look up and wonder where the time went. Before you know it, you will be hit in the face with reality. In the real world there are jobs to do, appointments to keep, chores to do, lawns to mow, clothes to wash, and schedules to maintain.

Our final hours in paradise.

So, cherish this time, soak up the memories, but also remember that it is this love that you have for your one and only that created this life that awaits you. A whole summer lies ahead with babies to snuggle, stories to read, games to play, trips to take, and even greater memories to make.