Aloha

Bright and early New Year's Day AJ, Luci, and I flew to Hawaii so that AJ could attend the Pacific Symposium for Biocomputing. (Jonas stayed with Grandpa and Grandma in Bremen.) We booked a couple extra days so that we could explore the island too. We had a great time, although the 5 hour time change proved to be a bit harder on our 8 month old than we had anticipated, which in turn was a bit hard on us. Most days we woke around 4am with the baby, and waited eagerly for the coffee shop to open before heading out for adventures, which included- hiking around the volcano summit, visiting Kona coffee plantations and organic macadamian farms, wandering around ranch towns, and enjoying beautiful scenery.

The conference was held at a luxury resort, which felt far to upper crust for us. The grounds were immaculate and there was every amenity you could want, but there was always a price-often a price so ridiculous we could only laugh. So, we enjoyed the views and the fancy room, but left the resort for most meals and whenever we needed to buy anything. (Water was $5 a bottle!) Resort living is not for me. We've loved our trips to far off places staying in hostels and little pensions or even tents. I dont need someone to lay out my towel for me at the pool for heaven's sake. (I do scrub my own floors you know.) At least I can say I actually know how the other half live now!

For more photos of the trip, click here, or go to web albums

We arrived home after taking the red-eye flight on Tuesday to a very dreary Indianapolis, but were so excited to be reunited with Jonas, we didnt mind. We're all catching up with each other and on sleep!