Archive for » July, 2014 «

Aloha everybody! From the Island of Maui.

We have just wrapped up our visit to the Big Island of Hawaii. I loved how peaceful,

Mountain road near Kona


tranquil,

Beach inside the Mauna Lani Resort


and laid-back this island is.

Laid-back Cat at the Kona Coffee Plantation

My husband and I had visited the Big Island about 15 years ago before we had kids, and it was only for 3 days. So, this was practically our first time on the island of Hawai’i.

Surrounded by the island’s beauty, my index finger got a great deal of workout clicking away on my Nikon camera, and I flooded my memory card with new pictures.

I tried really hard to filter and re-filter my pictures, but I am afraid that I still ended up with too many of them to show you. Well, you might enjoy these:

Lava field trail to the beach in the Mauna Lani Resort.

Lava field trail

Ancient Fish Pond in the Mauna Lani Resort.

Fish Pond

A very large puffer fish. The Big Island offers some of the best snorkeling of all the Hawaiian islands.

Puffer fish

Big Island often has beautiful sunsets.

Sunset

Some romantic soul made good use of the black sand beach. She probably said yes…

Black sand beach

Kealakekua Bay, A.K.A. Captain Cook’s Monument.

Beautiful waters of the B.I.

Coconuts galore.

Coconuts trees

Red sugar cane.

Sugar Cane

These red bananas fascinated me. I had never seen bananas in this color before.

Red Bananas?

Great news! Next time your doctor tells you to eat more fruit and vegetable, go home and drink more coffee! As it turned out, the coffee beans aren’t beans at all. They are fruits of these trees!

100% Kona Coffee

Hibiscus flowers bloomed everywhere.

Hawaiian flower

Big Island’ alarm clock.

Handsome rooster

Glorious sunset.

Sunset

Come back soon, I will share more pictures from the Hilo side of the Big Island.

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“Ma-Meey!” my 13 year-old rushed into the family room, with the baby trailing closely behind. They both held a piece of paper in their hands.

I looked up at the kids and eyed them with deliberate suspicion.

Whenever my teen calls me “Ma-Meey (her version of mommy)”, I instinctively knew that she wanted something from me. And that something is going to cost a good deal of money.

“What do you want?” me, defiant to the teen’s attempt at endearment.

“Umm…” recognizing her failed charm, she pointed at the 10-year-old and whispered, “YOU tell her.”

The baby shook her head, and repeatedly pointed back at the ring leader.

How bad is this going to be?!!

“What is it? Spit it out.” I ordered.

“We have decided to be Elsa and Anna for Halloween this year. And we are going to make our own costumes this year.” 13-year-old stated.

I do not know my children well. I have no idea why they would be thinking about Halloween just after 4th of July!

“Okay….” me, “Frozen is so popular this year, I am sure around Halloween time, there will be lots of Elsa and Anna costumes.”

“But we want to make our own. And we need you to give us money to buy stuff.” teen. The baby was nodding wildly with a big purposeful smile.

“How much money do you want?” me.

“We need a LOT of money.” teen, pointing to the baby again, and trying to get her to chime in on the pitch.

“Well, how much??” me.

Teen to the baby, “You tell her. And give her your puppy eye look. You are good at that.”

Baby shook her head again.

Teen gave up on her useless little sister, and turned to me, “How much do you think it would cost?”

“Well, I can buy a nice Halloween costume for around $30 dollars. Since you will make your own, it should be much cheaper. But I will still give you $30.” me.

“We need $150 dollars.” teen gave this outrageous budget with a straight face, then quickly add, “Per person! We need $150 per person.”

“Here is our budget.” both kids handed me their pieces of paper.

Elsa and Anna budget list


Ha, ha, ha, I had a good laugh. This pair of Elsa and Anna was crazy.

“How about you just wait until Oct. I will buy you nice Elsa and Anna costumes. It will save you a lot of trouble, and save me a whole bunch of money.” me, trying not to keep laughing.

Hubby sat between us this whole time, and wisely kept to himself.

“No! The Elsa and Anna costumes we wanted online cost $2,000! So, we decided to make our own.” teen.

“Are guys getting married in these costumes?! $2,000 dollars. I am not going to give you $150 a piece. You don’t even know how to sew. I will give you each $30 a piece for your project. If you need more, you will have to use your own piggy bank money!” me.

The kids appeared shocked and saddened by my final verdict.

Well, that late afternoon, the kids came home with their dad from a local fabric store with this.

Elsa - fabric


Da-deey came to their rescue.

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