Belated Birthday Post

It's just a month late, but Happy Birthday to Kade, who turned 37 this year!!  (can you tell that I was running short on candles and had to get creative??)

Everyone pitches in to blow out the candles!

Kickin' it Hawaiian Style

Hawaii.  Yes.  Kade and I got to go to Hawaii.  Just the two of us (thanks to our dear, dear friends, the Romneys).

We got to wake up to this view every morning.

Sigh.

Lucky for us, we had built in tour guides, the Owen Family.  They picked us up and took us around the island.  That day was wet and stormy, but still beautiful and fun!!  They took us to the beach where Lost was filmed...pretty cool, huh?  Sadly, because of the weather, we couldn't see the outline of the mountains seen in so many of the Lost scenes.

I was informed by our fabulous tour guide that this was Sawyer's tree in Lost.

Ben and Kade playing in the sand.  Boys will be boys.

As we walked down the beach, we noticed a seal swimming in the water.  We followed it until it came up on the beach.  Turns out it was a Monk Seal (an endangered species)...

...and it decided to take a nap right next to his buddy the Sea Turtle.

It was like a double rainbow....

...but better, and without needing to be on drugs.

How do you make yourself feel less guilty about ditching your kids and dumping them on your friends for a week??  You hit the gift shop...many times.

I think XXXXXXXXXXL is a bit too big for Kade

Kade and I went out one day to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Leis and a waterfall.  It is Hawaii!!

We took a morning to hike up Diamond Head.  There were some pretty nice views of the ocean!

And some pretty nice views of some hot and sweaty Roundys.

Panoramic view of the ocean

Panoramic view of the crater

One morning I was all alone while Kade was off to a meeting.  I couldn't bear the thought of rotting in the hotel while there was an amazing island to explore.  So, I rented a car and headed out for an adventure.

I found the Blow Hole.  Pretty cool when a good wave hit it!!

Now this is the life.  Just me, some sand, and a beautiful view on Sandy Beach.

And when in Hawaii, you are guaranteed to see plenty of rainbows!

We spent a fun-filled evening with the Owens and the Browns.  First, we headed up to Pali Point....

...where it was very windy.

We girls had to keep our hair from going crazy

Then we headed off to Haleiwa Joes for some romancing in the gazebo and some delicious food.

We girls needed some Gal Pal time so we ditched the guys one day to have our own kind of fun.

First stop was to Chinaman's Hat to try it on for size:

Just the three of us

Next, it was off to Lanikai Beach to enjoy the sunshine and the lack of children bugging us for food and entertainment.

Julie, me and Krystal

Someone snuck a picture of me as I was wading through the water.  Seriously, it was beautiful!

Lunch was breakfast.  French toast with Mac Nut sauce.  Mmmmmm.

After delicious food, we stopped to take a car-ride tour of Pearl Harbor.

We saw some pretty tropical fish

And some beautiful flowers

While sitting on the beach at Hickam, Julie and I spotted a submarine coming in to the harbor.  Not something you see everyday.

We hiked up to Manoa Falls with the Browns.  Lucky for us, we ran into some acquaintances just leaving who suggested buying water shoes.  Glad we did...'cause it was m-u-d-d-y!

Posing under the Banyan trees

A view of the falls along the trail.

Manoa Falls

Now this is a rain forest!!

This picture does little to show just how muddy we were.  I was getting mud out of my toe nails for weeks.

Saying goodbye to our sweet little Fiat.  He was zippy and got us around the island!

A storming rolling in from the ocean on the North Shore

And what better way to end our trip to Hawaii than with a little Thai food experience.