Retreat!!

Being a military family is tough. It's especially tough on a marriage. The military always come first no matter what, and it effects almost every aspect of our lives. Last weekend we were invited by one of the Chaplains to go to an all expense paid marriage retreat at the Hale Koa resort in Waikiki for 3 days. They offered free child care so we gratefully accepted the offer. Matt was especially excited because this meant a few free days off from work.

We had a great time, it was better than I had expected. I knew going would mean we'd have to take a few marriage classes given by the chaplains (there's a catch for everything), and I assumed it would be death by power point, but really it wasn't that bad. The classes were straight to the point, helpful, and only used a few power-point slides. They gave us lots of goodies and drinks then the rest of the day was ours to spend as we please.

The restaurants at the resort were nice, the room was cute too. Everything was paid for by the Army so we definitely took advantage of the menu's and were not shy about trying anything we desired. One of the date nights we spent roaming around downtown Waikiki, ate ice cream and window shopped. The next outing we went to a military museum, and at one point we bailed Madison out of daycare and took a nice sunset stroll on the beach as a family. Though Madison seemed to have a tough time at daycare for the first time, I think overall she had a good time too.

I hadn't realized it until we were on the way home but this little mini getaway was much needed...even if it was only a getaway to the other side of the island. We came home feeling recharged, I hope we can go to another retreat again soon.