Big Island trip/Happy New Year!

Kevin and I recently attended a non-wedding on the Big Island of Hawaii. Without going into details or revealing the parties involved, let me say that the bride and her family handled the situation with grace and generosity. The groom's parents were also very gracious and made a difficult situation easier.

The wedding had been called off the previous weekend but all the travel arrangements were in place so the entire party assembled on the Big Island for a few relaxing days in the sun. We had a lot of fun and saw just a small part of the island. It's definitely a study in contrasting landscapes! We stayed near an old lava flow so the surrounding area was just barren rock. But the small islands of green (that were built up with resorts) made up for it. The beach we went to most of the time was absolutely beautiful and one of the best beaches I've been to.

I had to throw this photo of Kevin in here...he was trying to sleep on the flight over and decided to rig up his eye mask to keep his head from lolling forward. Notice how the strap of the eye mask is wrapped around the headrest on the seat of the plane...it worked...kind of. But I couldn't stop giggling so he eventually removed it. I ruin all his fun! This is early morning on that beach I mentioned...no one was around...very quiet. What was I doing so early in the morning on a beach you ask? Why, taking Kevin to the beach park so I could have the car and he could fish! I sat there and read and caught up on my blog (previous post was written in that park) then I went to a starbucks and did some shopping at a some nice shops near there. Same park later that day...beautiful trees...hard to imagine that only 200 yards away back up the drive is a black rocky expanse as far as the eye can see.

This park was full of turtles all over the place. This is the part of the beach we spent most of our time in...fine sand, secluded spot, great swimming. I loved it. The girl who's wedding had been called off spent a lot of time there also, just relaxing and contemplating the sudden changes she was facing. She said she was so glad she came if only to rest on a beach like this and be able to think without the pressures of everyday life. I agreed!

Ok, back to the way most of the rest of the world spends it's December...brrrr! This shot was taken by Polina's mom Elena during the winter last year...love this shot of these trees in a park near St Petersburg. I want to make it into a poster or something. I hope my readers are having a good winter! Happy New Year!