Just a Blog Post

August 22, 2016August 24, 2016Leave a comment

Hey everyone! I really don’t have much of a blog post today, but I thought I would share a little bit from the bridal shower, a little bit more from Hawaii, and a deal from Redbubble.

Last week Lauren told you about Redbubble, an online shop where you can find all sorts of items from your favorite tv shows or gamers. Great gift ideas too! Just click on the Redbubble logo below to be taken to the site.

The bridal shower for Lauren’s friend was so nice. We managed to fit everyone in my little house and had a good time together. We played a few games, ate delicious food (prepared by someone else!) and just enjoyed time spent together. I’m so glad we could do this for the bride and her family.

woodland bridal shower bride and maid of honor

I haven’t shared pictures from Hawaii for awhile now, and since summer is almost over, I thought I would get a few more pictures on here and make everyone wish they were at the beach! We spent a couple of hours out on a catamaran and got very wet and windblown, but also were able to see a couple of whales spouting! It was so nice to be out on the ocean and have time to relax.

See the spouts?!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

The Great State Of Hawaii-Part 3

May 16, 2016May 15, 201614 Comments

Happy Monday everyone! Wait! Is there such a thing?! Why do Mondays always seem to be a hard day? It’s so difficult to get back into the routine of school again, especially this close to the end. My preschoolers are definitely feeling it too! At least we can go outside and let them run off some energy. We have 3 weeks left and then we get a much needed break. Yay!!

Since I was thinking about vacation, I decided to show a few (!) more of my Hawaii pictures. I realized I hadn’t done any for awhile. I’m in the midst of some projects, but nothing is complete yet, so this will help fill the gap. Plus it’s nice to dream again!! Here is Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed them.

One of our free mornings, we decided to check out the aquarium. I decided I saw more of a variety of fish here than I did when we snorkeled, and this was much easier! I don’t remember all the names of the fish, but it’s so relaxing just to look at them and imagine the water and waves.

We probably all know these fish from Finding Nemo-Clown Fish! Did you know that Finding Dory is coming out next month? Can’t wait!

This little blue guy looked so pretty in front of the coral.

Yes, those are bright orange teeth on this fellow! I don’t think I would want to meet him underwater!

A beautiful purple sea urchin.

Jellyfish are just so cool to watch as they float in the water. Obviously, this is an Upside Down Jellyfish.

I love starfish and use them all over my house to decorate. I loved how these were all in a row.

More jellyfish!

One more! Isn’t this amazing!?

Well, hello grumpy!

I love to watch the seahorses too. The way they use their tail to hang onto the plants is so cool!

Love these guys!

They are all so pretty!

Well, I’m not so sure about these two!

This guy just stayed in one spot, upright, in the water. He would spin in slow circles around and around.

Naptime!

After the aquarium we met up with Haley and a couple of her friends for lunch at the famous Duke’s restaurant. This was named for the Duke Kahanamoku, who is famous for making the sport of surfing so popular. We had some really good food and it was fun to meet up with the kids and find out about what they had been doing too.

We even managed to get a family photo.

Do you have any vacation plans for this summer? I would love to hear where you are going! Thanks for stopping by today!

The Great State of Hawaii-Part 2

April 4, 2016April 3, 20167 Comments

Good morning! I hope you all had a good weekend! I mentioned on Saturday that I haven’t been feeling very inspired, so today is another Hawaii post. But I promise I am working on a couple of other projects to share with you next week!

Our family visited Hawaii in February and we had the opportunity to see so much of Oahu. If you would like to read Part 1, click here. It was so beautiful and the weather was divine. Our last morning we hiked Diamond Head. It was rainy and windy in the early morning, but as you can see, it was nice once we started out.

Diamond Head was once a volcano. It erupted and left the crater behind, which you can see very clearly on this hike. In 1908, the trail was built as part of the Oahu coastal defense system. This huge pulley system was used to help haul some of the equipment and building materials up to the top.

The trail is 0.8 miles from the trailhead to the summit, going up 560 feet from the crater floor. It is steep and pretty strenuous.

What a view! We made it to the very top! This is looking straight down below one of the bunkers which was built into the side of the mountain.

The lighthouse was built in 1917. Aren’t the grounds around it beautiful?

Looking back at Waikiki, you can see for miles. You can see why this was the perfect spot for the defense system. See the marina? Our hotel was right across the street from there.

The walk down was much easier. 🙂 We just finished walking through a lighted tunnel which is 225 long and includes some very steep stairs.

Can you see the trail and the little ants, I mean, people?

Ahh! The reward for a hike well done! Hawaiian shaved ice! This one had coconut, pineapple and strawberry flavors. Yum!

This was so worth the effort! There were a few times I wondered if I could make it, but then I would look around and see all these others who were doing it and knew I could too. It was a great way to spend part of our last day in Oahu! Hope you enjoyed the hike!

The Great State of Hawaii-Part One

March 28, 2016March 27, 20166 Comments

Did everyone have a wonderful spring break, if you had one in your area? Mine was good, but I didn’t get as much done as I would have liked. But I did have time to relax and spend time with my girls (see zoo post here).

I know a lot of folks went to the beach or somewhere else nice for vacation. We stayed home, but we did go to Hawaii last month! This was our first time going. A lot of people couldn’t believe we had never gone before since we live in Ca. But now we can say we have! I realized I hadn’t shared any pictures with you, so I thought this would be a good time. I will have to do several posts, since I took llloootttss of pictures! We stacked a lot of activities into 6 days! I thought I would just share pictures of the beach where we spent our time and some of the wonderful things we saw there.

I have had traveling to Hawaii on my ‘bucket list’ for a very long time. What finally prompted us to go was Haley. She is part of the theater group at her junior college. She found out in the fall that they would be traveling to a theater festival that takes place each year. This year would be Hawaii. How could I not go?! I told here there was no way she would get to go to Hawaii and I hadn’t gone yet! So as soon as we found out where the festival would be held, we made our reservations.We made them through Travelosity and it included our flight and hotel. Such an easy way to travel. We also purchased a GoOahu Card through SmartDestinations.com. Best purchase ever! They have this card for many different cities, so be sure to check it out if you are traveling. By the way, I am not affiliated with these agencies, I just thought they were really good deals.

Okay. So on to the pictures! This is the beach were we spent most of our time. It was across the street from our hotel. The little piece of water you see to the left if a man-made lagoon. It belonged to one of the hotels and was a great place for kids. Straight ahead is a cove, so the water was great to go swimming in.