Hawaiian Flowers at the Honolulu Zoo

Here are a few fabulous looking flowers I snapped some pics of at the Honolulu Zoo.

Don't ask me what they are because I don't know.

Weekend Warrior Update

Okay..so I'm a little delayed in updating over the weekend. It was a bit crazy busy! Nick ran to Lowe's and got pieces to complete our big empty closet! YAY! He had it all put together and installed in one day! It's nice to finally have a place to put everything....and not have to run downstairs to the old bedroom to get it!A place for everything and everything in it's place!

Nick even put the kids to work and had them using Q-Tips to clean the drywall dust and sawdust out of the new cabinet doors.... paid them with a bowl of chips! Ha Ha
And Mom W., today you will be glad to know that Nick installed 7, count them, 7 smoke alarms all over the house! I think we're covered! I had to mention that just for you! Now you may sleep easy! It's late, I'm tired......out.

Playgroup at the Beach!

Today we had playgroup at beautiful Kailua Beach!

The water was a beautiful blue...

the skies, however, a hazy VOG!

(that's volcanic fog)

Addison ~ Lil' Richie ~ Big John ~ Wyatt

Wyatt & Addison

We tried to take a cute pic with their heads together, but everyone was sleepy and all Wyatt wanted to do was rub Addison's head!

Big Island Pictures by McKenzie

Nick and McKenzie arrived back on Oahu safely tonight and are home and exhausted! McKenzie was very excited to show me her pictures! And I understand why... I was so amazed at some of the pictures she took, I just had to show you all her great skill! I think we might have a future photographer on our hands! What 10 year old takes pictures like this?!? Melissa...look out! You may have some competition some day!!!

The above picture is at Rainbow Falls.

Black Sand Beach above and below!

Hello! How awesome is this picture..but wait, my favorite one is yet to come!Below is the volcano...Group Picture

A flower that is supposed to look like the lava shooting out of the volcano.

I am having issues downloading my favorite picture of a heart shaped rock. For some reason it keeps rotating to the right, and it just won't behave. Once I get it figured out, I will post it!

I think she did a great job taking some of these pics!!!!!

Honolulu Zoo

A few of my friends and I went to the zoo with our kids this morning down in Honolulu. It was a hot and sunny day...but we all had a blast!

We started our day with the elephants! The trainers were working with them so we got to watch them do all their little tricks like skip on one foot, spin in circles, kneel, bow, wave to us with their trunks (so cute!)...

Then it was on to the alligators...and I was able to snap a shot of two very curious creatures behind some bamboo railings...

(Trevor & Hudson)

Addison was quite the trooper all morning, she did snooze from time to time...I guess the animals weren't all that interesting to her.

Around the corner were giraffes and rhinos...they weren't too social! Trevor just liked climbing the rocks around the look out and jumping off!

Then my little monkey got to mingle with a monkey. He followed him around the viewing area.

And of course, we had to climb on the giraffes back! That was a must! (don't worry, it was not real) It was hard to get a good picture as the boys were rarely still long enough to take one anyways...plus, you know how Trevor gets when I aim the camera anywhere near him! "NO PICTURES!!!"

The lions at this zoo are apparently getting old, as a sign on their cage read something along the lines of "lions are getting old, we are letting them live out their last days as happy as they can"...we decided it was the hospice area for lions. They just lay there. (sad)

The boys took a moment to press a penny with a design on it. Trevor chose the frog image, and cranked the bar and watched his shiny penny get smushed into a flat oval. Then he and Hudson posed with their pennies....but I think Trevor was more into Vogue-ing?!

KEIKI (Children's) ZOO

The kids got to go in the keiki petting zoo and as you can see, Addison was wide awake for this part! The boys went straight for the tunnel to the mini aquarium of Koi fish! There was an area in the middle where they could pop up and look out!

Even Addison watched the fish swim by...

Then it was on to the goats! Trevor followed them around a while, and then when it was time to come out, the goats tried to follow HIM out!

Then of course we had to sanitize!!!!!

I always thought it was funny to have a COW at a zoo...maybe that's just my Iowa farmgirl coming out! But I just had to take a picture anyways, like everyone else!!! ha ha

Trevor has decided he knows how to read, and there was this big plastic cow there that looked like it was used to demonstrate how to milk a cow...only this one was missing some important parts for that....anyways, here is a quick clip of Trevor telling me about the sign around the Cows neck:

Finally, we were back at the flamingos where we started our day. And it was time to head home!

This picture was taken only minutes after we arrived home.

Final Day on the Big Island Trip

Day 3 of Big Island Trip

• Akaka Falls
  
  
• Rainbow Falls & Naha Stone
  
  
• Imiloa Astronomy Center
  
  
• State Park
  
  
• Big Island Candies
  
  

Laughing Videos

Here is a quick video of Trevor trying to make Addison giggle...



And here is another clip just a few minutes later where Trevor REALLY got her giggling!
And of course, he was in his underwear...as usual!

Big Bathroom Reveal

First off, I'll update you on Nick andKenzie on the Big Island. Nick called quick at lunch yesterday and said they were having a good time! It was such an early morning for everyone that he said the kids were pretty worn out even by noon, but after talking to him later at night when they were getting ready for lights out, the kids had obviously gotten a second wind!

Nick is rooming with a few boys in the hotel room and said he had a couple of good kids! I think that was one thing he was worried about, being stuck with some routy boys....but he lucked out and got some good ones!!!

They did a lot of sightseeing but not too many pictures, and he was not able to send me any via email, so we may have to wait until Wednesday to get them up here for you all to see. I'm anxious to see everything as well!

So Day 1 for us back on the home island was a day of 'trying' to clean up the house. Sunday night was a rat race trying to get everyone packed and to bed at a decent time...needless to say, McKenzie didn't get to bed until WELL after her usual bedtime...(sigh)

So yesterday afternoon, Trevor and Addison and I went to Alaina's house to bring her a flower cupcake bouquet....and take a dip in Andrew's new pool!

It was quite a pool! The boys had a GREAT time! Addi even dipped her toes in the water, which, by the way, was like a warm bath, since the sun had been so hot that day! WooHoooo!

She mostly enjoyed trying out Andrew's walker (which isn't being used much anymore since he's been walking!)

After a little while in the sun, Addison had drifted off to sleep for a quick nap on the way home, and we got home, had supper, and headed to bed.

Now, on to the bathroom! Mother's Day was very productive! Nick had previously sealed all the grout a few days before, so McKenzie took Addison off my hands, and Nick and I double teamed the paint job!

• Finished Priming
• First Coat
• Second Coat

• Re-do the frame on the mirror

(for those of you who didn't hear the story, Nick custom made a frame for the mirror, and on the last screw, the clamp he used to hold the mirror to the frame must have been too tight, and it cracked the corner off the mirror...oops! 7 years bad luck!)

But he redeamed himself and went and purchased a glass cutter and just fixed that problem!

• Attach knobs to the cabinets
• Hook up light fixture
• install electical outlet
  

• Install hand towel hanger

• Install double towel rack!
  

So even though it wasn't much of a 'put my feet up and relax day'...I did get a finished bathroom, so I'm not complaining!!!

Day 2 Big Island Field Trip

Today's Big Island Field Trip Itenerary

• Punaluu Black Sand Beach
  


• Sightseeing at Volcano National Park
  


• Hilo Hawaiian Hotel

Day 1 Big Island Trip

Today's Itenerary for McKenzie's 4th grade 'Field Trip' to the Big Island includes:

• Ellison Onizuka Space Museum


• West Hawaii Exploration Center



• Spencer Beach



• Pu'ukohola Heiau
  
• Pu'uhonua O Honaunau - Place of Refuge
  
• King Kamehameha Hotel
  
• Kailua Kona Town
  

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Wish we could be home to celebrate with you and tell you how much you mean to us!

Hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

What's better then a flower bouquet?
A Flower Cupcake Bouquet!

Traveler Palms Will Travel

Today on our first day of the weekend, we started off by traveling up and over to Millilani to dig up some Traveler Palms we found on craigslist.com!
Yes, another great deal on craigslist.com

The guy had already started digging them up for us by the time we got there, so it only took a few minutes for Nick to finish up the digging and load them up in the truck!

As soon as we got home, we (meaning Nick, mostly) grabbed our shovels and started digging these new Traveler Palms some new homes. We thought they'd be great along the fence between our neighbor. His yard is too perfect, and we don't want to look at it anymore! (Just kidding... well, sort of!)

Then we had this tree shown below that has sprouted some offspring beside it, so I asked Nick if he would dig them up and spread them along the front side of the neighbors fence....

HERE IS BEFORE...

AND AFTER...

There are now a total of 4 little trees along our front side fence. We'll see if they grow now! I promised to water them often!

Oh, also accomplished today was the frame for the mirror for the upstairs bathroom. We are hoping to get some painting done up there tomorrow, so check back for pictures tomorrow!