34 and counting....

Celebrating another birthday here in paradise - this time mine!  I have a friend who says that each year is such a blessing - we are alive & should never back away from stating that it's our birthday.  So - yes, my birthday was yesterday!  I woke up and just wanted to spend the morning reading.  Simple pleasure.  I was trying to finish the 2nd book in the Hunger Games - so I let the kiddos enjoy the Wii for a time before I came down to get the morning going.

While I was getting ready, the children decided to put the trampoline and sprinkler to good use!

And Acie - the crazy dog! - stood under that trampoline and playfully gulped at the water.  The children thought she was hilarious, and the dog thought the sprinkler much too entertaining.  They were a great group to watch that morning for some time!

 Look at this boy!  Ready to turn 7 next week - looking so grown up and strong!

And this boy is just all fun and playful character!....

We drove into Honolulu and picked up Bryson at the airport - yeah, for the perfect birthday present!  We ran a little late, as driving along the highway from the North Shore, it's only a 2 lane highway and I was behind a pair of tourists on scooters, and I spent about 5 miles going 30 miles an hour.  It was so hard to keep my patience when I just wanted to get around them and get to the airport!  I couldn't call and tell Bryson that we were running late, because unfortunately the day we were at the beach, my phone was in a bag by the water and it ended up getting wet.  I think the second time the phone gets wet - the luck runs out.  After the waterfall and now the beach, the phone was not making a comeback in the rice container.

After getting a new phone, we stopped at an outdoor part of the mall for a Hula show.  However, it was so slow in starting and we realized we'd see another Hula show at the Polynesian Culture Center for the Bryson's birthdays.  Instead we realized we were all really hungry & so we ventured off to find something to eat.  We were in the heart of Waikiki - a really nice street, which reminds me of 5th Avenue in NYC....and there tucked back in a building was a place I'd heard about and thought we should try.  Duke's.  However the wait was for 30 minutes!  Hungry people have a hard time waiting that long!

Instead, I looked at the menu for a place just upstairs - Hula Grill (we couldn't get away from Hula!) and so we walked up and realized we could get right in.  And we still got to sit out on a balcony and have a fabulous view of the ocean - one of my requirements of a place to eat!

Thankfully the waiter had the great sense to put the chidren's food order through first - and Jacob dove into his hamburger as if he had never eaten!  When these boys hit the teen years we are going to have a huge food bill - they eat so often right now, I can't imagine them eating even more!   

I had wanted something seafood - and the waiter recommended Seafood Chowder.  I wondered why a soup would cost so much & I was really hestitant to try it...however, it was hands down one of the best dishes I have ever had!  The picture below doesn't even begin to show how large it was...it was about the same width as a large dinner plate and really deep.  I loved the lobster tail and the huge shrimp tucked throughout the chowder - and then the combination of coconut milk and cilantro was divine!  I was so full from the chowder that when the waiter showed up with a huge piece of chocolate ice cream cake - the children were happy to have more than their fair share of bites.  What an incredible meal it was!

Bryson asked me today (Sunday) if I had a great birthday - and I told him yes and no.  Yes, because I was able to spend it with my family.  The kiddos played happily in the morning so I could read my book, and I think overall we were all pleasant with each other during the day.  No - because I realize that turning older means more things that I start to think of that I want to do, and realize how fast time is going.  It's a bitter-sweet moment when you look at life & realize how fast time really does go.  I jokingly told Bryson that this is my last year before I probably hit mid-mid life crisis.  I said that I wonder when we hit 35 if we'll feel that we are hitting that final mark before things start sliding toward 40 and then everything gets really caught up in the whirlwind of life, family and all the many events that will all start to slide together.

I'm thankful for life.  I'm thankful to celebrate birthdays.  As that means that I am here.  I'm able to take a breath each day and live in the moments that have been granted to me.  For that, I have received many birthday wishes granted over the years.  Health.  Happiness.  Memories.  Fun.  Experiences.  All this and more come together to make the goodness and richness of my life.

Happy Day!