Cunninghams in Hua Hin

We started our vacation by leaving at 8 A.M. full of anticipation and hope for the things to come. We arrived in Hua Hin with black clouds hovering over us. After checking in to the hotel we went to one of the outdoor cafes by the pool and the skies opened up. There we sat, having our first "vacation meal" in the pouring rain. We were, of course, under an umbrella-ed table, but we were not dry! We were determined, however, not to let the rain spoil our vacation. We were going to that pool and the only thing that would stop us would be bolts of lightening. It never came to that. After, a few hours, the rain stopped and we were able to start the process of relaxing. Yes, relaxing is a process and it usually takes a day or two of vacationing to really start to relax. There we were, starting to let go of the high paced and difficult year we had just been through. We parked ourselves near a very cool beach-pool for the kids. This hotel had designed a kids pool with sand! They created a little beach that gradually descended into the pool. The kids could dig in the sand and build castles. When they were ready for a dip in the pool, there was no need to rinse off. In they went! It was perfect for the little ones. The hotel also had a winding pool that sort of ran the length of the hotel grounds. It was like a river flowing through pretty trees. There were bridges to swim under and little water falls to enjoy. It was a great pool. It even had a pretty impressive water slide. The slide had two nice bumps on it to create that airborne feeling. It was quite the attraction for most kids. I say most because after one innocent trip down the slide, Gracyn decided that once was one time too many. She expected it to be like a regular slide and didn't realize how fast it would go. Jack and I enjoyed a turn or two down the slide. Older kids spent hours going down the slide. Gracyn met many new friends on this trip as she always does. Her two best companions were Asia...an Australian/New Zealander born in Japan but residing in Hong Kong... makes perfect sense to us and Charlotte, a Londoner, for which everything was "totally wicked". We were thankful for the friends. Many hours were spent combing the beach for crabs with these friends.

Of course, no vacation is complete without some "Griswold family" moments. On our second day, Jack threw his back out...again...and has been unable to stand up straight since. So, we only truly got a day and a half as a "whole" family. This made for some challenging times and meant we weren't able to do everything we had hoped. I was upset, as I'm sure Jack was, that we only had 4 days together to relax and unwind and half of that was taken away. We really don't vacation as much as we'd like or are even required to take and we weren't able to have even these full 4 days. Last night after dinner, Jack could not take being out any longer, so we headed back to our hotel at 6:15 P.M. I started to feel depressed that it was just 6:15 and we were having to call it a night! Jack was hunched over like an 80 year old man and we were turning in at 6:15! Were we 80? After getting the kids settled and in bed, I decided that I needed to make a little lemonade with the basket of lemons sitting before me. I asked Jack if he minded me leaving. He didn't. I grabbed my frivilous book that I was reading (not one to teach me anything) and went to the hotel lobby. I sat by candle light and the sounds of the fountains going. I ordered a Pink Banana smoothie and sat at a beautiful table and read in peace. It sort of made up for the 6:15 bit. Even with these challenges, I'm thankful for the time we did get away. I cannot express how much we needed to do that. We could have used a whole week away, but the 4 days...even with half a disappointment...was a start in helping us to play again as a family. We were able to enjoy our kids and laugh at their child-like mannerisms. Gracyn was sad tonight to be home. She wants to live at the beach where she can be carefree and hunt for crabs.

Now we are on the the next phase of helping Jack to get his back pain taken care of before the next group of interns arrive. Prayerfully this won't be surgery worthy at this time. We know his future will require it and the flare ups are becoming more frequent. If having surgery will put us on two feet for awhile then that is what we will do. Pray for wisdom and good doctors to give Jack some real solutions. He has a degenerating L5 vertebrae and may need to have some vertebrae fused together.