Aloha!

Well, sadly I have no pictures to accompany this post (I'll explain why in a minute). But Pete and I just got back from 5 wonderful days in Hawaii! What a dream! I had to keep reminding myself that it was ok to not be productive and to just lay on the beach, take naps and watch tv. Definitely not the life that I am used to! But it was a much needed vacation for me and a well deserved trip for the medical school grad! My sweet mom flew down from Seattle to watch the kids while we were gone, did our laundry, my sewing, and probably spoiled the kids rotten : ) One of the highlights of the trip was hiking the Olomana trail on the East side of Oahu. A very non-touristy hike with varying terrain, rock climbing (not requiring gear) and breath-taking, 360 degree views. Absolutely amazing! We also did a ton of snorkeling and swimming, seeing sea turtles, crabs and every kind of fish you can imagine.
On our last day there as we went out snorkeling on the west side (apparently a sketchy part of the island), someone stole our rental car along with everything we brought, including our wallets, phones, clothing... everything. We wouldn't be going back to our hotel so had all of our luggage in the trunk. Needless to say it was a CRAZY few hours following that. We called the police, cancelled our credit cards, were all ready to go home with nothing but our swimming suits and snorkeling gear, then remembered our iPhones could be tracked down through Mobile Me. So we had my brother locate the phones then tell the police the approximate coordinates, who were then able to find the car! Our prayers were answered! It was seriously a miracle, the police said its very rare to find a stolen car that quickly (2 hours after it was stolen). The thief wasn't found, but I hope he was greatly disappointed after he looked through our stuff. A poor student couple doesn't have too much to offer. Sucker! He stole our cash (about $60), my watch (not a nice one), our camera and our food. Thankfully he left our phones which were by far our most prized possessions. The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii gave us $100, $30 in Starbucks gift cards, 3 t-shirts and a couple carry-on bags to help us get home, then Enterprise filled up our gas for free since we didn't have time to before we returned the car. Everyone was so nice and helpful, we almost came out ahead! I had told Pete that that vacation was going to be the calm before the storm with us having to start packing and getting ready for the move when we got home, but apparently the storm decided to come early. But overall a fantastic trip! We'll just try to forget about the last 6 hours : )