I've been blogging...

... but it's all been in my head. Over the past week and a half I will sit down and check email and read other's blogs, but then something comes up and I don't post the post in my head. I like the idea of posting a "picture of the day" like she wants to do, but I am lazy. To find something worth taking a picture of, download it, edit it, and then post it would be as much work (if not more) as just thinking of something to say. And there's equal potential for boredom...

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Last year I attended the Beehive Bazaar and found it to be a very nice change from the frequently held local ones. This spring my sister will be one of the crafters and I'm excited to attend and see what fun new things they have. They limit the number of crafters and you have to "tryout" to get in, so you know it's good stuff!

I also wanted to wish her a Happy "big" Birthday. I would give her this piece of cake, but since she is vacationing in Mexico it will have to wait until she's back.

Happy Birthday Susan!

Do You watch?

I just finished watching tonight's episode of LOST. There are many things I wonder about, but not wanting to spoil it for those of you who aren't up to date I will put it in comments.

So, if you didn't watch tonight... don't go in to comments.

And, if you're not watching... why?

Hawaii- part 2

Our big day, by far, was Friday. After breakfast we headed for the North Shore. We had tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center and we figured there were a few places we could stop on the way.

Our first stop was at the Dole Plantation where we skipped the train ride and the "Worlds Largest Maze" (that title now belongs to a maze in Ireland), and after browsing the gift shop we all sat down to enjoy our pineapple whips. Delicious!

For many years I was under the false impression that pineapple grew in tall trees like coconut or bunches of bananas. It is not so. Someone enlightened me several years ago, but it was still a bit strange to see the pineapple in the various stages of growing up from a bush. I never would have thought something that tastes so good could start out looking like a pine cone.

Then we all piled back into the Camry and continued our trek north. We all thought the Hawaiian pine trees had interesting shapes. So unlike those around here.

Our next stop was at Turtle Beach. The volunteer that was there to keep an eye on the turtles (or most likely to guard the turtles from the tourists) said the turtles are there at that beach about 364 days of the year. So we were lucky to not be there on that one other day, and we took a few pictures.

They put up those red ropes and you can't get any closer than that. When we first got to the beach, I walked right past this turtle to take pictures of that other one. It looked like a rock. There were a couple others in the water behind us.

About a 3 minute drive from the turtles was Papa'iloa beach. It is the site of the LOST "campground". Of course they weren't filming (writer's strike and all) but we did get to take a few pictures. If you look closely, that tent in the middle is the food tent and you can see some Dharma food on the shelves. The funny thing is, this is someone's back yard.

This was the only tent that we were positive who "lived" in it- Sawyer. If you really want to feel a part of it all you can go here and find out what nickname Sawyer would give you if you were one of the survivors. Had I been a survivor of Oceanic flight 815, I would have been dubbed "Hockey Bag". I don't think Sawyer & I would have been friends.

Another stop on the way was here, one of the most famous surfing spots in the world- Banzai Pipeline. We were there a couple of weeks before the big competition. A couple of pics and back in the car.

Our last stop on the way was at the La'ie Temple. It was the day of President Hinckley's funeral so the flags were still at half-staff. The temple seemed so small compared to our local ones, but it was in a very picturesque setting. A very windy setting.

At the Polynesian Cultural Center we saw some of the island shows and this one was hilarious. They were representing the island of Tonga by showing us some drumming, and they pulled some guys from the audience to participate. This guy from Japan spoke no English so the whole show was lost in translation. I laughed until the tears rolled down my face, even the guides were laughing pretty hard and they see this everyday.

After the shows it was time for the luau and we were hungry. We watched them pull the pig from the pit then headed for the buffet.

They really pack the people in, but I never felt like it was crowded and I would definitely recommend going if you've never been before, but wear good shoes- it is an all afternoon event with quite a bit of walking (think Disneyland).

The evening show was spectacular and we were so enthralled (and exhausted) no one got any pictures. The dancers were all in more than one part of the show, so they really got a work out. I would also recommend the Delight dessert during the show- very tasty!!

More pictures to come in the conclusion- Hawaii- part 3.

Hawaii- part 1

One month ago today I arrived home from my amazing Hawaii vacation. I am ready to go back... today, tomorrow, whenever. But, since it will be at the very least a good couple of years before I make it back, you will have to humor my reminiscing.

I flew to Hawaii with my mom and sister-in-law Addie.

We were picked up at the airport by my sisters, Susan & Megan who flew out a day early (Megan is below in one of our amazing hotel rooms).

While unpacking I discovered this adorable note, hidden in my suitcase. Clay and Tyler had mentioned things they might like me to bring them as souvenirs, and this note was to let me know I didn't need to bring them anything. What kind of mom would I be if I didn't bring them something?

The five of us stopped long enough for a picture on the lanai.

This picture shows there was an incredible view of the ocean and mountains to the north of us.

And this was below our 10th floor rooms- a pool of sting rays.
There was also a pool of small sharks like this hammerhead. You could sit and eat while you watched the sharks swimming around.
The morning after we arrived we decided to jog/walk along the path that followed the lagoons. While out it started to rain and on the way back we had to stop to take pictures of this double rainbow leading to the pot of gold- our hotel. In front of the hotel you see the beach where we would go to soak up the sun! I could use some of that sun right now.

A typical breakfast consisted of this- a pineapple-coconut scone with fresh fruit and of course... a chocolate milk!

Our hopes of snorkeling in the picture-perfect lagoon (or anywhere else for that matter) were dashed when we were informed we had arrived at the peak of the jellyfish invasion. Apparently, 10 days after every full moon the jellyfish come up to shore to mate, and we had arrived on day 10. So, if you are planning on snorkeling during your Hawaii vacation look at your calendar before you go- those little moon pictures on there are good for something after all!!

We spent the day laying on the beach (I'll spare you those pictures of me!), enjoying the sun and feeling the Hawaiian breeze. It was actually a fairly stiff wind, but still surprisingly warm. When you trade 20 degree days for ones in the high 70's you don't even notice a little wind or rain! :)

The perfect ending of our first evening was eating dinner looking out over the ocean as the sun set. Does it get any better than this?

Stay tuned, Hawaii part 2 will have more pictures. Blogger seems to want to go to bed and so will I.

Weekend projects

Why do kids rooms become disaster zones? I walk in there and look around and think- where did all this stuff come from? Oh, that's right- school, birthdays, Christmas, school, church, grandparents, other people's birthday parties, school, misc. holidays, homemade crafts... oh and did I mention school?

I've seen how paper is made (thank you discovery channel), and I think our family's personally to blame for the cutting down of 10 large trees (you know, the really huge ones!) with all the papers and paper projects the kids have brought home from school. And yet they teach the kids about not over using natural resources. I'm sure eventually kids will be carrying laptops back and forth instead of books and pencils and just emailing in their homework... will they even go to school at all? I hope so.

So, I decided the biggest cause of disorder in the boys room was books and the lack of places to put them. A trip to IKEA solved the where to put them problem but I wasn't thrilled with the background of the book case, so before I attached the back I covered it with fabric that was meant to match the curtains.

Then I had to make the curtains.

Amazingly, I finished both projects and there is a semblance of order in the boys room. For the moment anyway...

they went to school today.