Nature Magic

While walking the dogs...

Notice the extreem concentration!

Beach Day with a Kite and Seaweed!

What we do on the beach.

Today there was not much beach to speak of.

Texas beaches are not your exotic white-sand-clear-water-beach!

This is the first time though, that I come here and there is seaweed all the way to the water's edge.

Some days are better than others as far as Texas beach conditions are concerned.

That said, we still appreciate a beach day.

It didn't stop the kids from having fun body surfing, flying a kite, 

feeding the seagulls peanut butter sandwiches, 

digging in the sand, creating weird sand castles and jumping the waves... 

And it didn't stop me from walking along the beach and taking lots of pictures.

And it didn't stop Chloe from smelling dead fish, rolling in dead fish, chasing birds, 

getting all wet and sandy and from smelling like dead fish!

And it didn't stop Missy from rolling over on her back offering her belly to any neighboring 

strangers willing to scratch her sandy belly!

*****

In case you are wondering, no we do not have an extra dog!

Missy is a little pooch, Amelie is dog sitting this summer. 

Her first little paying job!

Annie

It was barely a week after we got home from Hawaii that I picked up 

sweet Annie Johnson at the airport!

Her family has decided to move here at the end of the summer - Yeah... a dream come true!

We thought it would help Annie to make friends with the girls from our church congregation to attend girls camp with them.

So this brave and very courageous 14 year old, just did that! 

And had a wonderful time, and yes she surely made friends!

Amelie dumped a huge box of confetti, from the second floor, 

on her and chloe, as she walked through our front door! 

( Even though they cleaned it up, I still found a few stragglers here and there for weeks after!)

At Walmart shopping for last mn camping stuff for Annie

More Summer Happenings

So I am a little way behind on my blogging!

Yep, I've been busy living!

We've had some awesome moments this summer and I want to record them all!

Now that things have settled down a little, I am going to catch up as fast as I can.

So bare with me!

I'll get it all caught up, it's just gonna take me a little while! :)

Home Again

As much as I love vacations and travel, I also like coming home.

SO, here we are, back on the plane; an amazing invention!

Have I mentioned that I love flying, I always have.

I find it so thrilling.

The feeling of taking off, going above the clouds. 

Being between Heaven and Earth.

You can be anywhere in the world in a mater of hours, in what would otherwise take days.

I love the excitement of discovering new places and also, I love going to old cherished places too.

Places where loved ones, family & friends reside.

And where part of my life was spent.

Going home was a long long long retour.

We got on 4 planes.

We left Monday morning Hawaii time and arrived Tuesday morning Houston time.

Honolulu to LA, to Seattle, to Minneapolis to Houston.

Crazy, I know.

 But Happy to be Home!

Our Last Day

Today was our last full day in Hawaii. We did what Mike wanted to do!

He didn't get much rest with all the places we had to see, the snorkeling to do and things to discover.

I pretty much chose where to go, when, almost this whole trip.

So I said to Mike: 

"This is your day, I will do what you want and not complain or suggest something else"... 

It was hard at times to keep my mouth shut!

So what did we do? You ask?

We slept in.

We ate lunch at our place. 

Packed.

Did laundry.

We did nothing relaxed until 3pm. 

We left our place to take a stroll on Waikiki beach, took a little dip in the water.

We watched the parade and had dinner watching the Sunset.

Yep, that was it. 

It was nice and romantic...

 An Asian couple were taking wedding pictures on Waikiki Beach. 

I guess it's a popular wedding spot!

 Mike, being nice. If you can't tell this is his 'are-you-done-taking-pictures-yet-because-i-am?' face.

People lock up their surf boards right by the beach! 

Some of these were HUGE!

And the Sunset was lovely.

Waikiki Parade

Our last full day in Oahu.

A lot of school bands, Judo clubs, hula dancers and asian groups were part of the parade.

Waikiki Beach

We only spent one afternoon on Waikiki beach.

The pictures are bad because Mike's phone had the protective case on up side down. 

It was covering the camera!

Kinda crowded.

It was hard to find a spot in the shade.

We actually put our snorkel gear on and went far where there was a little coral and fish.

But we are so used to snorkeling, when on any beach that's what we want to do.

We just have to see what is under the sea...

But here there was not mush to see. 

Visibility was not good - kinda like these photos...

Return to Hanauma Bay

This time we got there after 7pm.

The crowds were gone & the water calmer than the first time.

A much more pleasant swim.

We were also able to get across the other side of the coral reef.

Past the waves at a distance in the pictures.

It was great!.

At one point a bigger wave caught us by surprise.

We were surrounded by froth & bubbles, it was so amazing!

It felt so good. 

Like being in a giant bottle of my favorite bubbly drink - Izze, that is - you know right when you open it and the bubbles go up to the top!

*****

Can you tell I've not had much sleep last night? (2 hours to be exact!)

My Brother and wife are here visiting from France. 

They just arrived here last night at 1 am! 

I'm so excited! 

I will tell all about it, but first I have to bring this blog up to date!

Another Great thing happening this Summer!

*****

Sandy Beach - One Last Time

What a good looking guy! :)

Notice Mike taking a little nap?

He was kinda tired of me walking up and down the beach just taking pictures.

As I approached, him I noticed a wave getting pretty close to his foot.

 I told him "You might want to move."

He said "Na, I'm fine."

With a few seconds. A big wave totally got him and our stuff soaked!

I grabbed what I could, our shoes and bag before they got washed out into the ocean.

It was kinda funny!

He had to hit the showers and get rid of all the sand in his swimsuit!

Ha ha!

Moral of the story.

Listen to the wife.

She is usually right.

Honolulu Farmers Market

Saturday Morning we went to the farmers market.

We got a couple of hats, souvenir/gifts for the kids, and some delicious local flavored balsamic vinegar!

Those samples were so good! 

They kept giving us bread to sample more and more.

Which proved to be very good buisness for them!

We bought 4 bottles!

We had them shipped to our house.

The Polynesian Culture Center

We were able to meet one of Justine's friend to purchase tickets at 50% off the regular price.

They can be very pricey but it is a worthwhile experience!

Justine worked here for a couple of months last semester.

We had a wonderful time. 

We were there from 1pm till 10pm enjoying the many activities, shows, cultures and foods.

We got an ambassador tour, but will next time get regular admission so 

we can enjoy more of the shows, and we will be there right when it opens.

We only saw 2 shows with our tour guide :(

If I had known... Next time.

Their Web Site Here

Favorites:

Samoa show- the coconut guy - S O   F U N N Y

The Hawaiian Journey Movie - M O V I N G  &  B E A U T I F U L

The Ambassador Prime Rib buffet dinner - D E L I C I O U S

The Evening Show - Ha Breath of Life - A W E S O M E 

Strolling with my man among the villages and sharing it all with him - P R I C E L E S S

Coconut Mild Extracted by hand!
This was the best show of them all. This sweet guy was hilarious!

Man Spear Throwing. The women had a turn too!

All the different island villages paraded. My favorite was Tahiti shown below.

Here was the Hawaiian Journey Movie.