Back from an amazing vacation

M & I went to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary, and had an absolutely amazing time! Seriously, it was wonderful & we had a perfect, relaxing time. Here's what we did!

• Mountain biked down the volcano
• Canoed, kayaked, & snorkeled. Saw some lovely sea turtles.
• Played tennis. My first time in nearly 20 years.
• Hung out by the pool & at the beach
• Sunrise walks along the beach
• Yoga - the hotel offered free classes
• Water aerobics, barre class - again with the free classes. LOVED it!

We also just chilled out & spent time together, catching up on life, having happy hour, and generally enjoying life. It was the best. My parents were with the kids, and they had a great time as well. The boys love Nana & Papa time. :-)

And, in terms of our budget, we were over by $51.77, which is so close, I'll take it! Although I would not describe this as a "budget" vacation, we did have a budget & tried to stick to it by it. Here are a few ways we saved money:

• We opted to have happy hour instead of dinner every night (much cheaper, and fit with our schedule anyway), and we actively researched inexpensive deals
• Bought wine & snacks for our hotel room
• Mostly ate breakfast & lunch with groceries we purchased (we ate out once for lunch & did a smoothie for breakfast)
• Shared meals
• Reduced our activities to just one (the one M most wanted to do -  sunrise on Haleakala, followed by the mountain biking)
• Took advantage of lots of free activities at the hotel!

M surprised me by upgrading to first class on the return flight home, which is why we were very slightly over budget. It was a wonderful treat. :-) 

Here are some pictures of the fun!

Me, on one of our many sunrise hikes. . . 

Views from our lunch out. . . who can resist this amazing view?

Sunrise on the beach

Sunrise from the top of a volcano. The pictures don't do it justice - it was amazing!

The beach where we got married, ten years ago!

Now I'm back to reality, planning for two more complex international trips before the end of the year (for work), as well as getting my budget sorted out for 2016.