Brian John: Aloha Hawaii!

Well, I would like to say that I was upset that my parents ditched me and took off to Hawaii... however, it did qualify as one of those once-in-a-lifetime trips you just can't say "no" to and more importantly I got to spend a full 8 days with my grandma and Papa John, which is better than any trip in the world!

Please note that the the cheesy Hawaii shirts are an Etherington tradition. Dad was in Hawaii when he was a wee lad (younger than me) and was photographed wearing a 'Hawaii '78' shirt, so it is only appropriate that he purchase a Hawaii 11 shirt!

First stop on the Hawaii tour - Maui! This is a picturesque view of their hotel

Getting to Hawaii wasn't nearly as fun as being in Hawaii. Mom and Dad's plane hit something on take-off in Toronto and the windshield cracked and then got progressively worse... so much so the pilot had to make an emergency landing in Chicago.

Of course, landing in Chicago meant a serious delay - which meant they would miss their connecting flight in LA - which meant they would lose a full day in Hawaii - which meant no Road to Hana - and which ultimately meant mom was very upset. Especially after she called the travel agent and found another flight that Air Canada could have put them on that would have gotten them there same day, but of course the agents chose not to provide this option to them. Mom might have pointed this out in a direct fashion to the AC agent who then may have threatened to call security on her.... but that is a story for another day :)

What is important is that they made it to Maui safely and all of the tension was easily remedied with a few delicious mai tai cocktails!

Besides having tropical rum cocktails with Dad, Mom's favourite activity while in Maui - surfing!

Mom & Dad's surf instructor was a guy named Taylor. And he was the epitome of the perfect surfer dude. If Taylor was to put a captions on these surfing pics of mom and dad, it would go something like this:

Gidget, up on your first try, wicked dude.

" Like braa, great form. Next lesson - riding the hollow. No waves no glory`

Of course surfing in shark-infested waters apparently wasn't enough of an adventure for mom. So, she decided to take a turn at cliff jumping.

In the picture above you can see her at the top of the cliff. I believe her inner monologue at the precise moment this picture was taken went something like this..."ummm 30 feet suddenly seems REALLY high... hey, do I see rocks down there... people actually do jump off this thing right?... wait, then why am I the only one up here?... would I want Beej doing this?.. I am not seriously considering this right?"

After a minute or two of internal struggle, her inner monologue eventually decided to "Screw it. Just jump and enjoy the ride down!"

And there she goes!

Or to quote Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption "I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'"

After an all-to-brief but fun-filled stay in Maui, mom and dad were then off to the Big Island!

As you can see, the views were outstanding!

Also a plethora of wild life

Dad likes waves. A lot. We don't question why, we just accept he likes to spend a portion of his vacation filming waves, talking about waves and taking pics of waves.

Now, combine Pacific ocean waves with a shoreline of never-ending gorgeous black lava rock and Dad was in pure wave heaven. Mom found her own little piece of heaven in her super swanky Four Seasons hotel room... as it had... ...an outdoor lava rock shower!!

AWESOME!

A close second to the outdoor shower for mom was this 25 meter lap pool! Mom may have even let out a little gasp upon going to the exercise facility and happening upon this pool for the first time

Every morning mom would wake up and run to the lap pool before breakfast. She even convinced dad to join her most mornings! However, the best morning swim workout was when mom accidentally crashed an Ironman swim training session. For fun, the coach gave mom the same training workout as one of the coach's Ironman trainees. And for those of you that know mom, she managed to keep up for EVERY excruciating lap. Take THAT ironman - yeah what-eva!

While on the Big Island there were lots of great activities planned every night - including this awesome beach party and marshmallow roast. What was NOT planned, however, were all of the celebrity sighting at our hotel. David Swimmer, whatever, Heather Locklar, whatever - BUT Jack Wagner - AWESOME!!!! The Frisco Jones people! General Hospital - hello!! Mom was so excited! Dad was not.

Btw - Frisco looks exactly the same as he did in his heyday in the 80`s.

Dad bought this shirt while in Hawaii (he also bout Beej an identical matching shirt). For all of those who will be at our house next summer, consider yourself warned.

Mom and dad always maximize their time together regardless of where they are.... although it is much more fun while in Hawaii!

There were also some very competitive games of bean bag toss with Aunt Nycki and Uncle Paul. After a few games, dad told mom not to quit her day job... as bean bag toss is certainly NOT one of her strengths. Mom`s excuse - she didn`t drink enough before attempting to play :)

Mom however was good at this sport... which I`m certain has an actual name, but she never bothered to ask... instead simply called `standing on surfboard while balancing and paddling`

Dad tried his best...

But may not have taken to it as well as mom :)

What better way to see the Big Island then by helicopter!!

As per Exhibit A - stunning waterfall... perhaps a BIT too close to accommodate rotating propellers though...

While she is giving the thumbs up, the pilot reminded mom a bit too much of Taylor the surf coach unfortunately. A little too casual and relaxed for mom`s liking... especially when he wanted to show us the the monk seals on the beach or the massive valleys and had a habit of randomly jerking the helicopter every time he turned his head... to which mom wanted to say `look with your head, NOT the helicopter!` (those of you who are Clueless fans would appreciate that quote)

But these views were all worth it!

One afternoon was spent on a catamaran. The boat was called Sea Smoke and was the fastest sailboat in the world for 7 years

Dad and Uncle Paul went snorkeling - and instead of searching for tropical fish, they both came back with golf balls!

Mom opted out of this activity as she isn`t a big fan of snorkeling or more specifically fish. As you can see from this pic, her priorities on the boat that afternoon were elsewhere. Nice cold beer... mmmmm