Aloha!
The Loudon family has safely returned to frigid Anchorage. What a shock to leave behind the 80 degree balmy weather for the -2 that awaited us. Nonetheless we were happy to arrive home. Our 9 vacation ended up being a 10 1/2 day vacation after 36 hours of delays on our flight home. The first 24 hour delay was ok -- we checked the website from home the day before, saw the delay, and had time to make arrangments to stay at our hotel one additional day. We enjoyed our bonus day greatly -- we drove to the North Shore, got the world's greatest shave ice, and ended up finding a World Cup Professional Surfing Competition going on at Sunset Beach so we sat down, enjoyed the sand and waves, and watched some of the most amazing surfing you're likely to see in a lifetime.

The last 12 hours of delay -- not as much fun as the first 24 hours of delays. We got to the airport at 5:20 for our 7:20 p.m. flight. It was delayed until 3:00 a.m. That was a long wait at the airport with the kids -- but they were troopers.

More stories and pictures to come in future days. This pictures shows Christopher showing off his beautiful rock find at Hanauma Bay. They've been studying rocks at school, so he was particularly fascinated with the rocks of the island.