I'm allergic to paradise!

Aloooooooooooooooooooha!

Ahhhhh - the weather was beautiful - the pineapple was amazing - the relaxation was needed - the company was fabulous - the beach was beautiful - and my allergies flared up so bad I couldn't breathe! It took a day and a half for me to be full-on miserable, but despite the itchy throat, coughing and sinus pressure, I pushed through and enjoyed it as much as possible!

*We got to Oahu on Saturday evening and enjoyed what we call the Hawaiian Denny's - Zippy's to be exact. It was great food - and we were the ONLY white people there.
*Sunday we found a married student ward (at BYU-HI) and attended their Fast and Testimony Sacrament Meeting. It'd be hard for me to get used to the interactive testimonies - everyone that stood gave a greeting and the audience responded - ALOHA! It was a great meeting with a lot of diversity - and I was able to really enjoy it as I watched everyone else deal with their children and know that my 4 kids were at church with a babysitter. Ah the simple things!
After church we took a leisure drive around the island. It's beautiful - absolutely beautiful!
*Monday we went to a water park - LOTS of fun - LOTS of re-application of sunscreen - and on the way back to the condo we visited the Dole plantation. Did you know you can grow your own pineapple??? Pretty cool to learn that in just 20 months (if you keep it warm) you could have your very own pineapple! Can you believe it takes that long???
*Tuesday we spent the entire day at the Polynesian Cultural Center - we decided this was our big splurge and we got the biggest package deal which meant we had our own tour guide with us the entire day. It was amazing to be there. I went to Hawaii when I was 6 and throughout the day I realized that most of my scattered memories of Hawaii were made there at the PCC. Kinda wild!
*Wednesday we walked the entire stadium swap meet & found some fun souvenirs for ourselves and our children. Then we went to the beach. That evening we attended a session at the temple.
*Thursday I got my first ever round of golf in - I'm pathetic and probably won't be getting a season pass, but it was fun despite the extreme heat. We went to the beach again and had dinner overlooking the ocean at Turtle Bay Resort.
*Friday we checked out and drove to Honolulu. We went to Pearl Harbor - what a great experience. That evening we walked the street shops at Waikiki and ate at the Cheesecake factory (highly recommend it!). Then got on a late night plane and {tried} to sleep all night home. We arrived an hour early due to a medical emergency and got home around 5 a.m.

So - we're back with lots of fabulous memories and desires to return. I'm still dealing with the effects of allergies and wonder if there's a way to prevent that next time - cuz it's just not fair if I'm allergic to paradise!