11 months...

Sorry this one is closer to 12 months than 11 months, but since JJ hasn't turned one yet it still counts...

Sara and I just flew in from Hawaii today and boy are my arms tired! Not really a joke, Sara's bags were heavy! I managed to get Sara and I down to one bag to save on bag check fees, but not without a fight. I had my neurology conference in Honolulu and of course Sara had to go with me to make sure I actually went. I only had conferences on Sunday and Monday, but we flew out last Thursday to get a couple extra days in. Last time we went we didn't get to see everything so we took a guided tour of the island. Started off toward Diamond Head and then spent a few minutes at Hanauma Bay, which is the big snorkling area. Winded our way up toward North Shore, stopping to see sea turtles resting on the beach, a macadamian nut farm, a Buddha shrine, and a horse ranch. Our last stop was the Dole Plantation and the pineapple ice cream alone was worth the trip. I wanted to go through the maze, but unfortunately there wasn't time. Fact of the day: It takes 18-20 months for a plant to produce a pineapple. The tour was well done and I recommend it for anyone who goes to Oahu.

My conference took up most of Sunday and Monday - giving Sara time to shop and hang out on the beach, though lots of clouds. Tuesday and early Wednesday were the hottest/sunniest days and we spent a good deal of those days on the beach or in the ocean. The rest of the time we wandered Waikiki pointing out all the people on the street who were obviously neurologists (I like to think I wasn't that obvious - though Sara disagreed).

Not all of the vacation went well as Sara got food poisoning on Saturday and I subsequently got food poisoning the morning that we left. Fact #2: Vomit bags are impressively waterproof and quite resilient to repeated blasts. Fortunately Sara recovered well over a day or so, and I'm slowly getting there.

We landed Thursday AM around 0930 and as we're walking to pick up our bags we hear Chase yelling about the airplanes outside and JJ's "Oooooh." Not sure he knew what to think at first but then he smiled and ran to Sara.

JJ stayed with Steve and Phyllis while we were gone. I was impressed that Sara didn't cry when we left, but you could tell she was missing him toward the end of the trip (and I was too). We stayed in close touch and everytime we heard him on the phone he was yelling and having fun (usually with Chase) so we knew he was ok. Cubbie stayed with my dad and other than taking up most of the bed it sounded like things went well there as well.

JJ had his one year pictures taken a couple weeks ago and we just got the pics in the mail. I was instructed not to post them yet, so I'll get some up as soon as I'm allowed. Next post will be after JJ turns 1, can't believe how quickly the past year went by.