Canyonlands

This week Debbie will turn 60. That is a significant birthday and deserves a big celebration. Anyone who knows Debbie knows there are a few things she really loves - two of those things are her family and Hawaii. The celebration we planned involves both of those things and is epic on a scale befitting the occasion. Our plan began 18 months ago when we were visiting Glacier with Blake and Debbie. When we had a moment alone with Blake we pitched him on the idea of a family trip to Hawaii for Debbie’s birthday - the twist was that it would be a surprise. It took a lot of planning, but we pulled it off. We booked the rooms and flights in January 2023. Blake told Debbie the two of them were going to Hawaii for her birthday, but she had no idea the rest of us would be coming too. We codenamed our project Canyonlands to help avoid blowing the surprise. We had a few close calls, but no one blew it. When Debbie and Blake left for Hawaii on Sunday she had no idea what was coming. 

The rest of us left for Hawaii on Monday morning. It was not ideal to leave on a week-long vacation days after moving into our new home, but we really had no other choice. After the craziness of the past few days, some forced rest and relaxation is not the worst thing in the world. 

Alison and I flew with Kristin, Skylee, and Anna. We parked our car at Kristin’s house (since the epoxy on our garage floor is still drying). Kristin didn’t tell her girls where we were going because they definitely would have blown the surprise. So we got another mini surprise this morning when we showed up and got to tell them they were coming to Hawaii with their family today. They were so freaking excited. 

They did great on the flights. We didn’t have a particularly good flight itinerary. We flew to Seattle and had a four-hour layover. Fortunately, there was a nice, albeit smelly kids' play area that kept Anna entertained. 

Jake, Meg, Bret, and Calvin arrived before us. They went to Costco and picked up a Costco sheet cake and a lighter. Once we arrived we checked into our room at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club Kings’ Land Waikoloa. We set up the cake, added 60 candles, and then called the front desk to ask them to call Blake and Debbie and tell them to come to our room for a birthday surprise. We all waited impatiently for Blake and Debbie to arrive. As they walked in we all jumped out and yelled surprise and began singing Happy Birthday. It was so much fun. Debbie was surprised and blew out all 60 candles. Then we all enjoyed cake and talked about how this trip came to be. By the time we were done, we were all exhausted from our long travel day so we called it a night.