Weekend

 It was chilly yesterday when I was sleeping - even after I closed the window! And then even chillier last night. Slept all day - ended up on call and still able to fall asleep at 11:00 PM! The night before really did kick my butt! Tucked Ralph in his bed when I went to bed - after all, he has a pillow there and his blanket.....after getting up to let him out at about 12:30 AM it was even chillier - he jumped on the bed after we went back to bed and I could feel him shivering.

Got the phone call about 4:30 AM which was ok....cause I just knew there wouldn't be any traffic cause it was Saturday AM right....yeah, after I hit the freeway and all the traffic even at that time in the AM I remembered it was Friday and not Saturday.

Nice to have a weekend off with hubby (his weekend is Friday and Saturday - so now I really am messed up cause kept thinking today was Saturday!). Weather is chillier so we went and got our first pallet of pellets and stacked them in the garage,,,,which then reminded us that we had not gotten the stove cleaned and serviced this year. Made the phone call and really got worried when the guy said he had gotten 15 calls - but have an appt. for next Wednesday morning so not too bad since next week is supposed to be cooler!

Got the truck washed and the truck and car filled up.

Went to Alden Lane and spent $$ on soil supplements for our garden so we can get it all prepped, plant the cover crop, and hopefully do better next year! So came home and we unloaded 10 huge bags of soil stuff and 2 very heavy 50 lb bags of gypsum....

Aren't these the cutest things? These were at Alden Lane.....

Then we went to a movie. I don't think we have been to a movie since August!!! Which is no big deal for me but amazing for hubby! Saw Captain Phillips - and yes, we knew the outcome, but it was very good and kept attention because you were "living" it with him rather than just reading about it or hearing about it on the news. What his family must have gone thru - I just can't imagine.

Was going to come home and walk the dog but his cousin was here and we told him he needed to play with his cousin cause I wanted to get into my sweats and slippers - I am starting to feel a little sleepy now!!

Tomorrow we will go to a swim meet - yup, fall meets - and hear all about our oldest GS's first Science Camp - a week away from home! And hopefully find out what he wants for his birthday next month!

Winding It All Up (or Down)

In no particular order because the system is acting up.....these were all from the last two days of our stay. Checked out of Aulani Saturday morning, and spent Saturday night in Waikiki

 Makua and Kila....a children's story....beautiful art

 Father Damion

 I can well believe that spirits live here....this is on the Na Pali lookout....and area of important but very bloody history

 our last sunset on Oahu....on our way to a wonderful (HA!) dinner....I let hubs chose and so he chose a buffet in the Royal Hawaiian Center....beware of places that do not list prices....no alcohol because they were "renewing their liquor liscence and it takes a month to do so"....very small choices....the hot food wasn't....the cold food wasn't.....the only good thing to fill up on were the mini desserts.....we were seated alone in the very far back corner of the place (we were also the only white couple there)....underneath the speaker that was BLARING music the whole time. And this wonderful repast? Yeah, $48 PER PERSON....

 For my grandson!

 Do I need to say anything about this? I didn't think so....

 Sunset as seen from the plane

 Island pride

 Down near the docks

 What can I say - speaks to me!

 Love the name of this place!

The Duke....

 Saved my money and went to Hawaii planning to buy this Wave necklace (well, not this exact one, a less expensive version). I could buy it in CA from the same chain store....but I wanted to get it in Hawaii

The wonderful sales clerk showed me so many beautiful things - including jewelry made from antique mother of pearl gambling ships - and then she showed me this Waterfall....oh my.....which to buy????? I could not make up my mind!!!! So I can home with neither one!

 This house was near our hotel. The yard and roof covered with pigeons....and the inside was filled with bird cages too. Wonder if they just loved birds or if they raise them to eat?

 Our 2d day on the island we saw a rainbow....the day before we leave, another rainbow...

Surfing at Waikiki.....movies are made of this stuff!

Boring Knitting Stuff

I am so frustrated with a project - something that everyone has said is easy and fun.....I just cant get it! And cant even find any tutorials online to help out. So it is set aside for right now.... but cant be for too long cause it is a Christmas present (cant say much more because I don't know if the recipient reads my blog!).

So  back to work on my Halloween socks altho I am tempted to stop and make a teddy bear.....but since I am on a flow with the sock....and maybe I could possibly (bwahhhahaha) get it done for this Halloween...

Now I am getting the bug to do a sweater. Yeah, me, make another sweater. A cardigan. But every time I find a pattern I like - I cant/wont/shouldn't afford the yarn!!! (see the AGATA pattern at www.knitty.com as an example of one that I love - but the yarn would cost between $200 - $300!!!)

Sigh.....

Wednesday and Thursday

 This is a quote at the Bishop Museum that I loved!

 Sunset from the A'ma A'ma restaurant at Aulani

 ditto

 Ok - the food was good - and expensive - but honestly not nearly as expensive as I expected. The wine was very expensive - but since it all has to be imported....I trusted the waitress on this choice - a deep sea fish called Machong - Ma Chon - something like that. It came out and I though oh wow - that is a huge piece of fish....yup....ate every bite of it! It was sooooooo good.  We split a dessert and I cannot believe that I did not get a photo of it. We ordered a guava/apple tart with ice cream. And we received a plate that was this huge mound of sticky, fluffy, pink stuff. COTTON CANDY! You lifted that off, and underneath was this little 3" -4" tart with maybe a large teaspoon of ice cream on it. Bleh.  So I let husband have that while I ate the cotton candy!

Thursday we decided to go to the Bishop Museum instead of the Polynesian Cultural Center. Didn't want to tie up a whole day. Anyway - there are about 5 buildings to explore, and really only one of them was worth it. The ports memorabilia was really only a short hall lined with some photos; the other building was going to have an interactive Lego thing in it - on the floor upstairs was a display about all the cultures that make up the islands....well, it was 98% Japanese - only a tiny bit islanders, and only 2 items about the Portugese. It was interesting but not what I expected. The last building was the science building, but almost 3/4 of the displays had signs on them that they were not working. So we spent a lot of time walking around things that were total waste....

 This is a refuse pot - throw your trash in this! And those white things??? Human teeth!

 Hey Lukie DUKIE - this is for you!

 I love this diamond bracelet - a gift for Queen Emma - years ago yet still looks modern

 Beautiful handcarving

Reading about the history of the Bishop Museum was also interesting - http://www.bishopmuseum.org/aboutus/

Isnt this display beautiful? Thought I wrote down the artist's name but apparently I did not....

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Forgot to take photos of the most beautiful handmade purses in the gift shop - I drooled, but couldn't convince myself to spend $275!!!

Tuesday

(Well, I am on call tonight which might be a good thing....I am enjoying a grilled tomato and cheese sandwich AFTER I heated up the wrong burner which partially melted the butter container and a sandwich bag....and dropped my - unopened thank goodness - mini can of Coke....So I will get another update on the Hawaii trip here)

Hubs played golf so I putzed around and headed to the beach. He was there shortly after I was! Said it went quickly cause he got to play alone.

 Can you see the person standing next to the kayak? Long sleeved and leggings?? So many of the Japanese would be completely covered head to toes - even the little kids would have hoodies on. But the American Japanese did not dress this way - the girls all wore cute little bikinis....

 This is hub after he plated golf!

 Goofy meets Goofy

 So we ran an errand to Target and came back and the weather had changed! It was raining! But you know what - you are wet anyway so you might as well be wet all over!

 But the adult only pool is cool to start with, so we left there and went to the awesome spa where we warmed up before we headed upstairs when it seemed it wasn't going to break soon, cause that wind got a little chilly

 Random beach shots.....

 So, no plans for dinner .... the plan is to go to the Olele room and nosh on appetizers. Before that happened - right after we showered and got dressed - we heard this odd sound....took us seconds to realize it was the fire alarm (we realized it just before the verbal announcement came on). We figured out where the stairs were - and, due to our CERT training! -- we took off down them thanking the stars that we were only on the 9th floor! Got to the groundfloor not sure where we were but found our way to the bathrooms for hubs - came out and started wandering around trying to find the 'gathering place' we were told to go to - when we say everyone headed back inside. So we stopped and asked someone and they said within minutes the all clear had sounded (guess it doesn't go into the stairwells cause we never heard it!) and that some little one had pulled the fire alarm!

So, we were dressed and all so we went ahead and headed to dinner where this is one of the glasses of wine I had! HAPPY HOUR! Drinks are lower priced as well as some of the food. So we had some crazy good nachos and then some chicken wings that hubs said were good - I am not a fan of chicken wings and these were spicy - and listened to the music (there was live entertainment there every night)

 I forget what Olele means - but there are signs everywhere to teach you the Hawaiian language.....and just in case you didn't know that this piece of furniture was, I thought I would show you....

Found this on the wall of the 3d floor. Does it look familiar? I showed a photo of a real rock from the Waimea Valley.

Forgot to show you these goodies we snacked on - proves this is a Disney Resort! Over priced and so-so tasting, but definitely decorative!

The rest of Monday (if my computer allows me!)

Because I didn't go snorkeling this trip (I really need to invest in some prescription goggles) this was the only turtle I got to see.

The North Shore is interesting. You travel thru a lot of agricultural area to get there. And as you are driving along you pass some breathtaking obviously uber-expensive homes.....right across the street from shacks!
This was where the majority of the shrimp trucks were....and the only place we saw selling pineapple and coconuts (to eat and drink)...

Wanted to stop to see the birthing stones but the guidebook said it was an unpaved road and by the time we got there it was pouring .... so didn't really want to deal with mud. Went back to the hotel and went swimming because it wasn't raining there!

Also had lunch at Jamesons By The Sea again. I had the best salad and the worst clam chowder I have ever had. Hub had a portugese sausage soup and a ham sandwich - he said both were good.

Monday in Paradise AKA Hawaii

 Went to the beach for awhile - the water colder than I remember, but still warmer than CA Pacific Ocean!

 Another cook hot tub!

 If I wasn't reading on the beach I was knitting - didn't get as much done on the socks as I hoped!

 Decided to drive to the North Shore

 Yup - gas in Hawaii is expensive! But they thank you for spending that money!

 Saw lots of horses up there

 Tsunami warning

 No clue - but still pretty

 Didn't know they had sheep here!

 So we decided to go into the Waimea Valley. Had no idea what it was. Kind of historic, kinda botanical gardens (yes, I took lots of flower photos but pared them down for here). Took the audio tour which was supposed to take up to all these interesting stops on the 3/4 mile walk to the waterfalls. Well, some of the historical markers we couldn't find - what turquoise flowers? Turn which way at the plant with yellow and white flowers??? No plant like that.....so I think we probably took at least a mile to get there as we wondered around - but still missed stops 34 - 40 which is sad cause I guess one of those was the lei flower garden....

 WHAT??????!!!!!!

 Hmm, same chickens as on Kauai

 A giant checkerboard game

 Doesn't it look like it is doing a shaka?

 Supposed to be able to swim in these waters. They are supposed to be very healing. But with the rains in the hills around us, the water was very rough from this very full waterfall so no swimming today

 Looks to me like this flower is sticking its tongue out at us!

For some reason the computer is acting up, so will have to complete Monday at a later time!