HaysDays

Chevy Chase has his "Vegas Vacation" and "European Vacation" - but he's got nothin' on our Hawaii Vacation! LOVE those movies - and thank goodness only the beginning of our trip started out like his (picture this in the original "Vacation": Clark Griswold backing out of the garage and the luggage getting ripped off the top of the car or poor Aunt Edna being tied to the roof!).  Thank goodness no one died on our trip!!

Our trip last month to Hawaii started off a little rough - all thanks to Mother Nature! This was mid-March when the snow decided to settle in over North Texas. It took us two and a half hours to get to the airport - and we almost didn't make our American Airlines flight (imagine the tense moments in the car on the way to the airprot!!). Well - we made it with minutes to spare.. and lucky we did -  or we wouldn't have been able to sit on the tarmac for almost 6 hours before we took off on an 8 hour flight!! UGH 

I had plenty of food and drinks for Emmy - and for me since I am pregnant - but lots of the other passengers were complaining about no beverage service. After about 3 hours - American served drinks - making the group of seniors who needed liquid for their meds - very happy!! We had continuous coverage of the Storm and I did a couple of phoners from the plane with Clarice, Baron and Eagar. Of course Eagar asked the question of the day, "Heather, we know you are waiting to be de-iced and they are finally serving beverages - but really - what's the mood on the plane?? How are you and Jeff?" insert laughter here!! Yes, we've all had our moments where we wonder if the vacation will be worth the getting there... and in this case YES!!

Check out this picture. It tells exactly how fabulous the trip was. This is a shot of Emmy from the beach at our hotel - the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.

One word to describe it - UNBELIEVABLE. We had a view of Diamond Head and the ocean - and every morning we went for walks on the property where Emmy got to reach in the ponds for the fish and feed the birds with wildlife experts. There are also some penguins who live in a great area at the hotel - they are SO cute.

And the newly revised lagoon is gorgeous. The hotel spent $15 million to dredge out the salt water area next to the hotel - and refill it with brackish water. I have great pics of Emmy on a surf board in the lagoon - that I promise to upload soon!

But meantime - check out this family photo. It was also taken at the Hilton Hawaiian Village... What a great keepsake! 

Every day was wonderful - We ate breakfast every morning looking out out the ocean - SO peaceful! Then we hopped in the car - and Jeff headed to the North Shore. He rented a 12' long board and hit the waves at Sunset. He's really good - and it was fun to watch him.  He also surfed with some dear friends of mine - Randy has surfed the Pipeline for 50 years - so he showed Jeff the best/safest places to go.

I also got to visit with my former Miss Hawaii USA pageant director and see some old friends at Chaminade. It was a great trip - loved seeing my Island Ohana - and especially loved seeing Emmy's face light up every moment she was in the ocean. What a thrill!!

Since the trip - I have had SO many people ask how it went (lots of people heard the phone interview I did from the plane while stuck on the tarmac!) - and while that was a bit challenging - once we got to Honolulu - it was all worth it. So thanks for the emails and calls about the LONG plane trip - but if I had it to do all over again - I definitely would.

This was our big vacation of the year - Have you ever been to Hawaii?? I'd love to hear your stories!  Aloha!!    :)