Enjoying the "Wild Life"

Cutest little monkeys ever

Keenan followed this turtle around - and got some great pictures. Turtles are my favorite.

Monk seal at the aquarium
Miss A LOVED it

saying hi to the little puffer fish. Miss M's "Little Buddy"

huge fish and sharks in this tank at the aquarium

Miss M holding the hermit

crab - she is still very proud of herself

me holding the same crab - also very proud of myself for not freaking out and dropping it!

Fish Kisses

cute little girls above and below!

Aunty Kay found a crab and brought it back for us to look at.
This is Miss M and a couple of her cousins.Stacy and I were laying on the beach chatting when I saw this little thing poke it's head up.

I quickly tossed my camera to Stacy to get some pictures. Later we (miss M and I) got brave enough to see if it would move. After several pokes, it got up pretty fast.
I am sure you could hear my scream all over the island as it ran sideways towards Stacy.

We also saw lots of cockroaches. I did have a couple of pictures.
(but won't share them here)
I thought of the smaller ones as the cute little friend to WALL-E.
But didn't care for the others so much.
I can do with out the roaches.

As we wake up to yet another rainy day...

I am thinking about this and wishing I was there on the beach...

oh sunny beautiful Hawaii, how I miss you

Little Grass Shack

May 17 - 22

Miss Stacy found a great little rental on line. It was fun to stay at this vacation home enjoy the country side of the island and the great back yard. The whole setting was just full of beauty. We loved all of the flowers around the house too. But we all agreed our favorite feature of the home was the huge outdoor shower. LOVED IT!! (we will just ignore the first couple of nights there - the loud party in the neighborhood, the bass booming and the dog barking...UGH!)

K and I also enjoyed star gazing at night. (It is one of the things I miss most about northern Cali.
I loved looking at the stars.) So when we are in Hawaii I always try to take in the stars as much as I can. K brought me out one night when the milky way was so close I felt like we could touch it. It truly felt like we were in a planetarium. We were gazing up at the big dipper when a shooting star shot right threw it. SO beautiful!

What else do you do on vacation...

BUT EAT!?!?!

While in Hawaii we had many wonderful meals!
here are a couple that we made.

K's famous Hawaiian Breakfast

My Mother in law introduced me to these tasty little muffins while we were in Hawaii.
She served them hot with yummy jams/preserves. Wish I had some right now with guava jelly!

(this is the only picture I could find -I am scooping them into the muffin tin)

It's a Paula Dean recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 2 sticks butter, melted
• 1/2 pint sour cream
  

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all ingredients and spoon into small, un-greased muffin tins. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

I found the recipe here

One evening after a wonderful day at the beach we sent the men off to the grocery store to get some food for dinner. This is what we had. It was SO yummy!

they also brought home a butternut squash. Stacy found a yummy recipe for fries. So good. I could go for some right now

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (2 pound) butternut squash, halved and seeded
• salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Use a sharp knife to carefully cut away the peel from the squash. Cut the squash into sticks like French fries. Arrange squash pieces on a baking sheet and season with salt.
3. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, turning the fries over halfway through baking. Fries are done when they are starting to brown on the edges and become crispy.

recipe found here

and these are just some of the meals we ate at "home"
it was just an all around yummy vacation!

Willy Wonka

Saturday Evening May 16

As we were getting ready for our trip to Hawaii I learned that my nephew and niece would be in a play. I was so hoping to be there to see it. We made it and the play was WONDERFUL! We still talk about how wonderful it was and how great all the kids were in the play. The sets, the props, the music and costumes. It was amazing to see our nephew up there on stage as Charlie Bucket. He was fabulous! And I must say our little niece was the cutest little Oompa Loompa ever!

I was also amazed at how well Miss M and A did. They had been up for a VERY long time. When the play started at 7pm Hawaii time - it was 12am Chicago time. Miss A was a trooper.

Greeted with Leis

Saturday Afternoon May 16

There is nothing better than stepping foot outside of the gate area in Hawaii. You get the first smell of island air. Then down to baggage and out to the curb to wait for your ride. I had thought ahead this time and had quick change outfits and shoes for me and the girls. It felt so good to get out of the "stuffy airplane clothes" and into fresh island wear.

K's mom picked us up at the airport and greeted us with big hugs and beautiful leis. That is the best thing - Getting a beautiful lei and warm Aloha greeting!
She even had flowers for the Harkers.

We enjoyed those leis all week!

All 7 leaving on a Jet plane

Sat Morning May 16

One of the risks of flying standby is not everyone making it on the flight. And we had 7 who were trying to get on. But we all made it on. Hawaii here we come.



The Harkers were able to sit together, and not to far from K and Miss A. Miss M and I were in the back, but had two seats by the window. Miss M was pretty fun to sit by. She had lots of things to keep her busy. Miss A slept for maybe 30 minutes total the whole flight!

But, it was a good flight and it was oh so wonderful to touch down in Honolulu!

ALOHA we are still here ; )

This is the beach we are staying by right now! so pretty and the sand is so soft. we have even seen a few turtles!!

Yes, we are still kicking it in the sun and sand. The beauty of flying stand by. But like my friend Sarah said, not too bad of a place to be stuck.

We have enjoyed lots of friends and family and food while here. And lots and lots of beaches. Oh if everyday could be a beach day...even though I don't like sand. You get kind of use to it.

Stacy and I were talking about how fun it would be to plan playgroup around here.
"which beach should we meet at today, Sharks Cove, Waimanalo, Chinaman's hat, Bellows or Kawela Beach and then maybe get some shave ice after?"

Sorry no pictures to share, (I didn't bring my cord to download them off of my camera.) So I can't show how dark the girls are getting. Miss M is looking pretty native and Miss A just wants to run around native, sans diapers !

ok, off to soak up some more sun. Miss M is ready to go back to the beach.
and keep your fingers crossed for Stacy who is yet again trying to catch a flight home! GOOD LUCK!

See you in Chicago. (IF I don't just stay here...)

ALOHA!

See Ya!

We are off to beautiful sunsets, ocean breezes, beaches, sand, tropical drinks, warm pacific ocean water, dolphins, mountains, waterfalls,rainbows, friends, family, snorkeling with the fish, a little down time and a WHOLE lot of SUN.

A L O H A!

See you in a couple weeks.

Utah

Here are our Utah pictures, just so you can see that I actually did do more than just pass kidney stones (although that and Miss A not wanting to sleep did hinder the vacation a little)

Having Fun with Cousins

We went on a Treasure Hunt
SO FUN!!!
We followed a map, found clues and Miss M found
the treasure.

Birthday Parties and Bowling

Finally Meeting up with Lynsey!
hopefully next time I see Little E, I can hold him -I didn't
want to share germs...

and yes, I would still love to go back and get some Cafe Rio...and next time I hope to visit more friends (Sorry Mariah!)
FYI, we are heading out some time in Feb. for the Draper Temple open house.

And we're back

Utah was beautiful! The fall colors on the trees in mountains were breath taking especially when those mountains were covered in snow....(sad that I left my camera behind for that trip.)

We had a great time but it's good to be back. I ate Cafe Rio as much as I could. I tried the salad every which way and I think my favorite is with no meat at all. Oh, just thinking about it makes me want one now... Can I possibly wait until February?

Here are a few pictures I did take.

at the pumpkin patch

(this picture was taken on a treasure hunt- it was for my nephews birthday)

WARNING ABOUT NEXT PICTURE!!!!

One of the very first things I did when I got to Utah was pass a HUGE kidney stone. And I took a picture of it to remind myself of how awful I felt for three weeks (plus) trying to pass the dumb thing!

I am sorry if this grosses you out - but really I did need to blog about it.

Better and more fun pictures to come!!! Promise - let me get through Miss A's big day tomorrow.