The Scribner Family: Hawaiian Vacation

*disclaimer - this would have been posted last week but I couldn't get blogger to upload my pictures. I tried several times thinking it was bloggers problem but apparently it was a problem with Chrome. So sorry this is so late.
I know I am so behind on blog posts, but I am going to try and recover here. I am going to start with a few pictures from Chad's and my trip to Hawaii. We have had this plan in the works for over a year. We knew we wanted to spend our 10 year wedding anniversary in Hawaii, and started planning accordingly. Even though it isn't official until August, we thought April was a better time to go. The weather was perfect and it wasn't too touristy yet. We had a bit of a rough start with a flight delay and that turned into a whole new flight change that led us from Omaha, to Newark, to Honolulu. Needless to say the 12.5 hours flight was not that much fun, but we made it to Hawaii and only 5 hours later than we hoped. When we landed we round out that our luggage hadn't made it and that they were "searching" for it. It made us fairly uneasy and hoped that it didn't me we wouldn't get it during our stay. Luckily it came late the next night. We stayed at the Halekulani hotel and it was *amazing*! The best hotel we have stayed at hands down. We had slippers, robes and all the bathroom necessities, plus the perks of having our bed turned down and bottled water always waiting at our bedside. They left us little gifts at night and even surprised us with champagne when we checked in. I left my glasses on the dresser and they left me an eye glass cleaning cloth. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to be waited on like that. It was exactly the break I needed! At meals, people pulled out my chair and put my napkin on my lap for me! Amazing! The weather was so beautiful. We ate almost every meal outside, usually with an ocean view. Chad and I had a great time reconnecting, talking and laughing without any interruptions or other time constraints. We started our mornings with a buffet breakfast at the hotel that included a ton of fresh fruit, an omelet bar, pastries, pancakes, french toast, waffles, sausage, hash browns and much much more. Then we usually spent the rest of the morning laying pool side, reading, or swimming in the ocean or pool. I was able to read two books and start another one which I haven't done in a long time. We would spend the afternoon walking around the shopping areas, or heading to other destinations. Then we would get ready for dinner and head out for the evening. Our dinners were always amazing but our favorite was a place called Michel's. We had a great view of the ocean and were able to see the sun set as we ate. We were treated so well by the staff and they gave us a bunch of extras. The food was fabulous but the entertainment was equally as good. They had a latin guitar player that played almost any song you could think of. We took notice when he played "rainbow connection" and then he continued to play songs by the Beatles, songs from musicals and even current hits. It was a great distraction from the fact that the airlines had lost our luggage and Chad had to wear a crazy outfit to try and meet the business casual attire required for dinner. They celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a complimentary dessert that was amazing. The other highlight of the trip, especially for me, was swimming with the dolphins. It was such a surreal experience. The way they are trained and their ability to follow all the commands really made them seem human. They were so gentle and cautious around us and did anything the trainer said. Their skin was so soft and smooth and it was just so interesting been that close to such a large mammal. We actually got to swim in deep water with them and do tricks. We got to put on snorkel masks to watch them under water. I am so glad we did it. It is an experience I will never forget. We took the hike up diamond head one morning and met a nice Australian/British couple on their honeymoon and enjoyed our conversation with them. The best part of the trip was just being able to relax, enjoy the weather, enjoy each other with no interruptions or time constraints. It was so nice to be able to get away and remember all the good times from the last 10 years. We are especially grateful to both sets of grandparents who graciously watched our boys for us to make this trip possible. Without them, we would never be able to go. We thank you for allowing us to keep our marriage strong by giving us some time to reconnect. We love you! Here are some pictures of our time.