To be clear: I hate boats. I discovered that 15 years ago when I went sailing off the coast of Australia and nearly lost it over the railing. I had similar issues on a sightseeing boat in Alaska, and on a semi-sub in Aruba, and on a snorkelling ship in Hawaii 12 years ago…ugh.

So yeah, I hate boats. But I love my children, and my children wanted to see whales, so I sucked it up and booked us on a whale watching cruise. It was crazy windy, and even Brayden wanted to hide in the cabin for most of the trip instead of standing out on deck, but persevering in the wind paid off: a baby humpback breached multiple times right in front of us! I’ve been on other whale watching trips, and I’ve seen whales’ tails come out of the water, but I’d never seen a full breach before. Very cool.

None of us really wants to go home tomorrow (especially when we see the weather forecast…groan). The kids may have missed a few days of school, but they’ve definitely gotten an education here. Justin seems fascinated by the Hawaiian language and is much better than any of us at figuring out how to pronounce street names and remembering to say “aloha” and “mahalo” rather than “goodbye” and “thank you.” And Brayden absorbs facts like a sponge — he still wants to learn more about the Mighty Mo and all the animals we saw at the zoo. He even claims this vacation is better than the one to Disneyland, which is really saying something.

Aloha!