Was in Hawaii for a week. We rented a house on the beach with Andrew's sisters and we all converged from the mainland to meet, eat, and sleep there. This time more restful than the last. I think it was the house—it's open airiness, it's seasidedness. The complete sense of detachment from all-consuming work. At times we napped in the hammock strung between the beams of the shoreside gazebo. We slept long, ate meals under the eave of the deck, and let the morning and evening breezes cool us. We ate out a lot, too:

Uncle's
Boots & Kimos
Akasaka
Haleiwa Joe's at Haiku Gardens
Kirin
Leonard's—Leonard's again and again

And we snorkeled. We woke super early to slip in before the cut off at Hanauma Bay and went again the next morning to Shark's Cove. Energetic little and big fish all around, everywhere you look. You stop swimming and let yourself float and they swim right with you. We floated for hours, watching humuhumus and moorish idols in pairs, awkward little cow fish grazing on the reef, parrot fish, a defensive eel, the tiniest little black fish with one white spot in the middle—uncountable others.

This mixed with family time, which was also excellent.

I've been there two times before and each time unsmitten. This time seemed like paradise.