Hawaii, part 3.

There were some highlights from the last few days on Oahu with the kids. While the girls love the swimming pool, they are not too fond of the ocean. So it was with some apprehension that Jen and Jeff signed the 5 of us up for parasailing on Friday. Jan would love to parasail, but we have to find one that doesn't involve riding a boat to get to the parasailing spot. Jen and I had been parasailing before, she when she was 10 on the Big Island, and then both of us went on Lake Shasta 15 or more years ago. In classic Disneyland language, both were "A" tickets. That's what we kept telling the girls--it will be calm, serene and breathtakingly beautiful. Friday, however, happened to be an extremely windy day all over Oahu, and that changed the nature of the parasailing to at least a "C" ticket. This was a parasailing company that sent people up in pairs, and it may be because of the prevailing winds. We were the last in line, and we watched the wind send the parachute careening across the sky whenever it was feeling playful. This was not good for Jolie, who doesn't like heights and usually has to be coaxed by Jeff to try anything new. In another life, Jeslyn would be the explorer and Jolie would write about her sister's adventures. It was determined that Jeff would go up with both girls, and that they would travel downwind to try to lessen the wind's influence. So Jen and I went up together, and it was more fun than the last time, while being a little more tense also. There were a couple of times when it really felt like the chute was going to corkscrew. It's a tradition that toward the end of the ride, the boat stops and lets the chute settle down and the riders get wet, and sometimes dunked. So when that happened, we hit the water, the boat started, we went up a couple of feet, the wind decided she wasn't done with us yet, dunked us again and we got dragged for what seemed like 2 miles--probably about 10 feet. Watching that also didn't do much for Jolie's confidence. Their turn came, Jeff was stationed between them and they took off. Jeslyn's face looked like she had just heard her doctor had put her on an ice cream diet. Jolie's face reflected that, if she had known exactly how long the ride would be, she would have been counting down the seconds--with her eyes closed. They got pushed around a bit, got dunked, and then were reeled in. Jolies face on landing was a mix of fear and relief, Jeslyn was big smiles and thumbs up--probably knowing that picture-taking was involved. Her first words were, "I want to do that again." I can't remember if Jolie spoke until we docked, except to answer questions about her condition. I was really proud of her parents for taking time to validate both girls on the trip in, and to the car. They especially thanked Jolie for trying, knowing how much she didn't want to do it. Jolie rode with us to our next stop, and when I described the events to Jan, Jolie just said, "It just goes to show that people are different, even in the same family." Not better or worse, just different. And she's OK with that. More importantly, her parents are OK with that. I'm proud of both my grandgirls, and really proud of her parents for embracing their differences and not trying to turn one into the other. Just as we all wish Jolie enjoyed the thrill stuff as much as her sister, it would sometimes be nice if her sister emulated her desire to please and stay out of trouble!!
We then went to "Made in Hawaii," a swap-meet like trade show featuring items that were--made in Hawaii. One footnote to the day was that was Admissions Day--the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood. As such there were demonstrations by a small group of native Hawaiians, who want Hawaii to become sovereign again. There was some irony in the fact that there would a couple of booths that sold items that catered to this desire--ironic in that if the demonstrators got their wishes, no one would need to buy the shirts that expressed that desire.

Sunday morning had one semi-comic incident that was somewhat related to the whole "Hawaii for Hawaiians," theme. We were at breakfast at Lulu's on Waikiki. It was crowded and the wait staff was hard pressed to keep up. We were waiting to order, and our server was literally running around the restaurant trying to keep everyone happy. As it turned out, the table next to us had a couple that got tired of waiting, got up to leave and was very vocal in expressing their displeasure. What followed was an exchange that served as entertainment for the rest of us.
Waiter: "I'm sorry you aren't my only table. I have 6 tables to wait on."
Man: "We've been waiting forever."
Waiter: "Sorry again," (as he was ripping up their check--not sure if they had drinks, or a meal, and he was upset because they stiffed him)
Man: "We should be a priority--we LIVE here."
Waiter: "All the more reason for you to be understanding." (Implying a reality to the concept of the "aloha spirit").
He kept yelling at their backs as they departed. Then he would confide in us since we were next to that table, were a party of six whose orders hadn't even been taken, and seemed none the worse for wear. I found myself wondering if the man was angry because the wait might make him late for church!! Our meals were finally ordered, delivered and consumed, the bill arrived and we discovered that we hadn't been charged for our drinks. Since juices were $4 each, and coffee was also involved it was a significant amount. I was thinking that many would have quickly paid and left before the oversight was discovered, saying the waiter deserved to pay for his mistake. We held the check, pointed it out to him, and let him make the decision. We, too, were facing a deadline--we were a few minutes from checkout time at our hotel, and he finally came back and said, "Never mind, but thank you for your honesty." I left thinking that, if we WERE locals and ate there often, we would have had a better chance of getting him to listen about spiritual things than the dressed-for-church couple that stormed out earlier.

So we got on our plane to Maui, and the kids are flying home later today. Right now, this ranks as our best vacation ever, for many reasons. Not the least of these reasons is knowing I'm not flying home to go back to work. I realized yesterday I've been more relaxed than on any previous vacation, probably for that reason. I am most richly blessed.