Our first night back at Lake Mead
After we returned from the quick trip to Portland for Thanksgiving, I feel like we really hit our stride. It felt good to be back in Spurge (the RV), it was nice to be leaving Vegas and getting out in open space again. We got to spend time in some places we were really excited about (Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Sedona) but didn’t feel too rushed or frantic. We stuck around Phoenix for a while to see several friends in the area.
Hoover Dam 
Grand Canyon 
Sunshine in Sedona
What didn’t feel right was returning to Vegas. And even leaving the RV to fly somewhere felt strange. We were just settling back in, we were seeing new places, and then we had to backtrack into a big city.
The shops at the Venetian
But it wasn’t for too long. We left Spurge behind in the economy parking lot and flew from Vegas halfway across the Pacific to the beautiful Hawaiian islands.
We spent almost a week on Maui and were blessed with warm, sunny weather. Everyday we swam in the ocean, played in the sand, and saw lots of wildlife and a few friends. The girls became mermaids in the ocean, learned to boogie board, and flourished in the sunshine and fresh air.
We hopped over to Oahu, where we were joined by Kendall’s parents (Dude and Babe) for the week.
We stayed in a sweet home in Kailua that had a pool, hot tub, outdoor shower, and was on a canal a few blocks from the beach. The girls loved the pool and spent lots of time swimming, and even learned to dive in from the sides.
The living room 
The backyard
The rain came on and off which was delightful to hear on the roof at night. Christmas Day we had a big storm that knocked out power for most of the day and reportedly dumped 1-2” of rain per hour, at it’s peak! It was wild to watch from safe and warm inside the house. And by the evening, the storm lifted, and we ate Christmas dinner on the patio outside.
We traversed the island, stopping for shave ice, beaches, turtles in the sand, big waves, rum distilling tours, meals, and vistas. We tried surfing, went snorkeling, visited the Iolani Palace and Pearl Harbor, and explored an island where we hadn’t spent much time before. We so miss having regular time with Dude and Babe in Portland, that it was nice to have a long chunk of time to catch-up, play, and visit.
After Dude and Babe returned to the mainland, we had two more days in Waikiki and spent time exploring the west coast of the island, eating at some fun spots in the city, and meeting up with friends.
As is often the way at the end of year, we also spent some time talking as a family about what we want more of and less of in our lives in 2020. A big theme that emerged was continuing to slow down. While our pace of life has decreased dramatically from where it was this time last year, we all still feel there is a ways to go.
We’re going to spend more days in one place before moving on. We’re going to slow down how fast we eat, and how much we try to do in a day. We’re going to keep focusing on slowing down our food (eating local and cooking more) and how much “work” we commit (or plan) to do.
And in slowing down, I hope it allows us to be more present with what is, to reduce how much we use busy-ness to distract us from the emotions, the wonder, the unfolding, that is the present moment.
