My random thoughts

So our first set of visitors have left. The house feels very empty...

The kids are sad- back to workbook routines and chores....

We were livin- High on the Hog
eating at restaurants and going to all the touristy sights .

The boys had a great time with their cousins.

7 boys and one little girl.

It was so sweet to see all the fellas find a gentle side. They were so sweet and gentle with their little cousin. They played ring-around- the -rosies and peek-a-boo. They would catch crabs to bring to her-- just to hear her squeal with delight.

She's a tough cookie- so I think that helped. She is a rough and tumble little gal.

Photography is so interesting.

We took these pictures one- after the other...

All the pictures came out this way- their family photo's bright and blue...

and ours darker. It was a cloudy afternoon.... but I think it is the clothes that we were wearing too. That the blues and white in their shirts brings out the blues of the sky and ocean..

So... I'll just have to go back to the swap meet. :0)

My boys have had those aloha shirts for three years so I am justifying a splurge for new ones. ( I just bought my oldest a new shirt and passed the others down one son.) Plus- I love this pattern my sister-in-law found and they had a nice woman's top in the same print (and girls dresses- but I don't need that.)

If you ever come to Oahu and you are going to buy matching aloha wear and souvenirs to take home you should plan to go to the Swap Meet down by the Aloha Stadium. (open Wed & Saturdays)

It's all the same trinkets and doo-dads...

same tiki statues and quality of aloha shirts but you'll pay a few bucks less per item. ( And it's one stop shopping so you don't have to spend your precious beach time combing the shops looking for shark teeth pendant necklaces for the boys and shell pendant necklaces for you.)

Also- they also have great prices on Hawaii T-shirts (about $3/shirt) so you can buy one for all your friends back home and really rub it in their faces that you were in Hawaii for vacation.

Actually- let me just plant the seed now.

Anyone wanting to come to Hawaii next summer?

Faculty and staff here like to rent out their townhouses when we go on vacation... going rate is about $150/day for a 4 bedroom townhouse. A short 3 min drive to a great boogie boarding beach and just a few doors down from my bestest friends CRASH and Martha.

If you've always wanted to visit Hawaii but the thought of hotel prices and cost of eating out every meal on top of air-fare make it feel out of your vacation range, you should think about renting someones townhouse.

Especially- if you have kids. There's a great park in our complex with basketball court and play ground. (Okay- if you've read my blog for any amount of time... you've seen the pictures.)

Anyway- I am not sure how I got off on that tangent.

I think I am just stalling--- I have some serious house work to do.

Some Summer Fun

Our Trip to Kauai- was alot of fun.

First the promised photo of the boys and their "Steps" Hair cuts.

The night before our trip- ALL the boys took clippers to each others heads and made "steps". We had talked about Mohawks.. but thought about all the family photo's we were going to be taking... and compromised with this.

Pretty wacky.

But Great Cousin Bonding!

This was taken at the hotel pool side bar & grill... great food! I think we ate there every day! (At least once.)

The pool was lots of fun too. The kids just wanted to spend all day- every day there. Two slides and it was shaped like a lazy river with even a rock cave to explore.

My in laws thought it would be fun to go four wheeling to see the sites of the island. It was a very clever way to pull the kids from the pool to learn a little about the island.

We split our group into two days. The first day 3 adults took 3 kids while 3 other adults stayed home with 3 big kids and two babies. The next day 3 different adults took the last 3 big kids while the first group relaxed at the pool with the 2 babies.

BRILLIANT!

I had never been four-wheeling and felt too nervous behind the wheel... so I wimped out and asked the Guide to drive me and my son #2 on the guided tour. It turned out great.

Yes... I lost some "Cool Aunt" points by wimping out.

{Darn Nephews}

But we had WAY MORE FUN! We were in back of the pack and had to stop and close gates behind the tour and pick up litter... but then he would HAUL it through the trail to catch up with the main group.