ARTEMIS ADVENTURES: hawaii....i totally get it, now

our Hula girl wants to learn the hula dance. Watch out world!

I have no idea why, but, whenever someone would tell me that they were going to Hawaii for vacation, I would think, ehhh, that's ok, but, I'm pretty sure is is nothing like going to the Bahamas, or Honduras, or Bolivia, (fill in the blanks here). Just plain not that exciting in my mind.

It's true, Hawaii is nothing like any of those places I mentioned, and really, the places can't fairly be compared.....it's just that I GET IT! I GET the reason everyone and their dog goes there! It is spectacular, and warm and sunny, and relaxing right down to the core. There were NO bugs, delicious raw fish and the fruit was AMAZING. Who could ask for more?

It was the perfect place for us to go at the end of this Missoula winter.

Jeff and I got a chance to snorkel a few times while we were there and it measured as the favorite activity (although digging holes in the sand was a close second!). We got to swim with a sea turtle just off the beach we were staying. It was so relaxing to look over and see Jeff drifting next to me bouyant in the sea water, then glance down to this beautiful turtle that looked like he was flying in slow motion arms steering his direction.

I realize looking at someone else's vacation photos are a bit like watching paint dry, but if you are interested, here are a few select from our trip....I took about 4 million so paring it down to this amount was so difficult for me!

Astrid got her OWN seat on the plane for the first time!

Our feet on the first day. Montana white.

I loved this huge tank! It was incredible!

Paia, Hawaii

Astrid looking cool with her friends in her "Jackie O's"

Kaanapali Beach

I convinced my friend Tami to run a 10k while we were there! It was her first race ever, and she finished looking strong! She has caught the bug with two more races on her calendar coming up soon! Half marathons even! I'm so proud of this woman!

The cabanas where we planted ourselves for about 4 days straight!

I could just nibble on these curious little fingers!

I totally forgot how I liked to "dig holes to China". I was the catalyst for three HUGE holes we dug on the beach. It was so satisfying....but I didn't get to China!

PB&J on the beach with a side of sand.

This little gal was soooo cool! Astrid adored and still talks about 15 year old Raven ALL THE TIME! We became friends, then we became facebook friends so Astrid and I can keep tabs on her.

This monk seal was not as shy as the rest of the species! This seal came in leisurly in the late morning and stayed on the beach all day like this! A BIG higlight of our trip.