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!  

5.6.7

 I thought that the 5th, 6th & 7th of July were low-key days.  In some ways - that is true.  But when I started to download the pictures, I realized that even down days require photos :)

We are lucky to celebrate a lot of July birthdays while we are here - the first being Papa Lord's birthday on the 5th.  The kids and I woke up, and while they were being somewhat quiet...I realized if we got out of the house than perhaps Papa & Nana could sleep in a bit...so off we went to Ted's Bakery to pick up some treats.  I didn't get a photo of our goodies - but their homemade doughnuts are lighter than air and taste so divine!  We got a set for breakfast and then remembered that Papa likes pies for his birthday - but since they didn't have Banana Cream pie - we went for the local favorite of Chocolate Haupia pie.   It did not disappoint!

After our breakfast we did some jobs around the house - I kept saying that I could clean on my own during the next few days, however it was amazing how fast everything got done with everyone helping out.  Papa even fixed the bike tire on a bike that Madeleine has been waiting to ride here...yeah!

We then went over to BYU Hawaii campus to see it...because believe it or not, we didn't even go on campus the last time we were here visiting.  We kept meaning to...but other things sort of won out.  This time - we were determined to go!  It's a small campus, but has a very genuine charm to it.  It reminds me a lot of BYU Idaho (still Rick's College in my mind), but even smaller.  We wandered around the Aloha Center, mainly in the Bookstore area -but they didn't have the chocolate covered cinnamon bears that both other bookstores have!  They didn't even have chewing gum!  However-  they did have some flashlights that I scooped up to try and surprise Bugaboo for his birthday - but I have a feeling the surprise was ruined when I left them out on the counter.

After our lunch, which included the Chocolate Pie (yummy!) - we had a quiet afternoon.  The boys & Papa played the Wii, while I did some computer time, Madeleine read and rode her bike & Nana rested up for the plane ride back.  It was a nice & quiet afternoon :) 

We drove into Honolulu - by way of the Pali Highway and lookout.  The lookout lets you see out over the 985 foot cliffs of the Koolau Mountain Range.  It's really one of the best views of O'ahu!  It was here, that in 1795 King Kamehameha and his warriors defeated the O'ahu armies by sending them over the steep, forested cliffs and claiming the victory which united all the Hawaiian Islands.   

                                                      

{not my best picture - but this is the highest point up from the lookout.  My small lens on the camera isn't working, so I only have my extra long zoom lens.  Not great for regular shots I need to take!}

I took these pictures just a few steps down from the van where there was an opening in the trees to catch just a part of the view of what you see from the terrace where the lookout is.  It really is breathtaking - in pictures yes, but even moreso in person!

                                           

I was hoping we'd all get out to get to see the view - but this little one fell asleep on our drive.  He was so tired from all the fun since we arrived!  . 

However, while we waited Bryson Jr. (he didn't want to walk out with the others) watched the chickens that run EVERYWHERE around here!  I know the state bird is not the chicken - but it should be.  There are so many chickens....on the beach, at the side of the road, in parking lots, grass....wherever you are, you most likely will find a chicken!  

Which always leads to the joke....'Why did the chicken cross the road?'

Madeleine was our photographer for the little outing out to the lookout.  She had my point & shoot and did a rather good job.  It doesn't get the view that much....but what a nice picture of Nana & Papa! :)

And she said that some nice lady walked by and offered to take one of Madeleine with them....

We drove into Honolulu to eat a birthday dinner for Papa before they needed to check in.  The problem with this - is that I was going on my memory of where we were supposed to do, and I put an address into the GPS of where I thought we were going, only to realize it was for another shopping area.  So, I really just drove us around in a circle for about a half-hour, until we found where we were going.  It was a nice dinner looking out at the harbor - but suddenly we were little more than an hour for when a flight needed to be caught, and so off we zoomed!  Lesson learned - plan for an extra 1/2 hour into the days' activity.  Or don't get lost!

We are so glad they were able to come out and enjoy part of our vacation with us!  We are so lucky to have such incredible family! It made for a very enjoyable long-weekend.  We look forward to more time with them while we are in Salt Lake, and hope that one day we can maybe come back to Hawaii again....and that Bryson would get to join us for that time!

The following day - the 6th - became our recuperation day.  We lounged around the house, or the kids played outside with the neighborhood kids.  I loved checking on them through the front door and seeing this sight.....

Then Bryson realized I was watching and tried to hide!  

And quickly decided to become the disappearing boy!

Later that evening, we had an after-dinner walk with Acie the dog.  I'm having a love -dislike relationship with the dog!  The kids are so attentive to her....even in the middle of a meal, that it's hard to keep them focused!  And, she stands at the door whining while we try to eat our food.  However, they are so happy to have a friend that they get to take care of while we are here.  So - in the end I suppose it's enough of a like that I can manage while we are here, and be grateful we don't have a dog in our own life that we have to take care of all the time!

Birds of Paradise.  I have always loved these flowers!

We walked down to Temple Beach - straight down the boulevard from the temple.  It was very windy on the beach - the waves were much more choppy and full of white-caps than usual.  However, a beach is a beach....and there was still some fun!

The next day our skin was not feeling quite so red and tender....so ventured back to Malaekahana Beach.  Madeleine continues to be helpful...sometimes a bit too helpful according to her brothers :)  But overall, they love the attention that she dotes on them!  

Bryon enjoying a quiet moment of solitude...creating his own little Zen moment.

We got back and had a quiet afternoon....until I heard the kiddos playing outside.  And shrieks of laughter.  I walked outside to find that they had created a car wash in the parking lot....

Which I thought was funny - but water is expensive here.  So the neighbor nicely suggested that they put the water up on the grass so that it could provide entertainment and provide watering for the lawn.  Ahhhh - the grown-up way of looking at things is so practical at times, right?!

And that is why the kids sleep SO deep and peacefully at night.....so much running around and fun is had during the day!  And yes, this is a bear that he sleeps with.  1 of 3 actually - but the one that made the cut to come on the trip.  It's his black bear that we got in Yellowstone last summer, and he will curl up with it each night.  I love his rough and tumble nature...and yet at heart, this little guy has the softest heart!

p.s. I was thankful they were sleeping so well - as I have become completey engrossed in the Hunger Games trilogy.  I stayed up this night reading and reading until I had finished the 2nd book.  I can't get over these books - they are hauntingly amazing!  Here I come Book 3....maybe I should try to finish it before Bryson comes into town - that way my nose won't be in a book when we finally get to have him around!