Just two weeks have passed since I was in the Big Island of Hawaii, but with all that’s happened, I feel as if I didn’t even go. Almost immediately after returning from vacation, my husband and I took about a day to recover from jet lag, then packed up our entire home to move from one condo to another about 5, 10 minutes away. Even though it was a small move, man, it was tiring.

However, it did turn out to be more relaxing than even Trinity anticipated — mostly because I was barred from going to Volcanoes National Park (it was vetoed by both Trinity and my sisters) and also because I didn’t have as much energy to do as much as I would have liked.

Anyway, we arrived in Hawaii on Monday, mid-afternoon. We were met at the airport, where my belly was promptly rubbed. It wasn’t even that big yet! We ended up going to eat right after our flight (good thing, because I didn’t eat anything substantial since I had a sausage egg McMuffin that morning) and ended up checking into our condo at 8:30 p.m. — just a half hour before the office closed. Whew! For my impressions of the condo we stayed at, check out my TripAdvisor review.

Why were we in Hawaii, you ask? We were there for a wedding. Check it out.

For a trip that only lasted six days, we did see quite a bit. We checked out Hapuna Beach and Kawaihae Harbor, attended a gorgeous wedding at the Fairmont Orchid, rode in an outrigger canoe, drove on Saddle Road between the volcanoes (and later mentioned to Trinity it had been named one of America’s Scariest Drives by Forbes Traveler) and visited Hilo, a few of her waterfalls and a lot of her gorgeous, lush scenery, and on our last day checked out the southern Kohala coast to visit the Bayview Coffee Farm, St. Benedict’s Painted Church and Honaunau (highly recommended by my buddy Moonie). We even ran across a Tea Party protest.

Moonie had also recommended a few eateries to us — Big Island Grill in Kona, Cafe Pesto in Kawaihae Harbor and a macnut pie anywhere — but we didn’t get a chance to try any of those spots because we were at the Fairmont Orchid most of the time. Oh well. He is adamant, however, that I get a macnut pie and says I can get it online and its that good. I don’t know y’all.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the trip. Enjoy!