WHEW! That was some vacation!

We left for Honolulu Monday Jan. 14th, arriving on the ship around 5pm. It was a whirlwind of activity from that point on. I have included a few photos for you to look at, the first one is interesting, I am scared to death of heights! But was convinced by our tour guide at the botanical gardens to climb a coconut tree and pick a coconut:




Many films were shot in Hawaii, Jurassic park had a scene where the dinosaur egg was discovered lying at the bottom of the tree, here is Steve standing in that spot:



We had so much fun, the tour guide at the botanical gardens stopped on an old railroad trestle, here is a view from the top looking down into an area used for the show "Fantasy Island" where the little guy used to shout, "Da Plane, Da Plane!"




Here is the bottom of the same garden, notice the tree leaning over the water in the first picture is here, too:




The islands have a chicken 'problem'. They run around like dogs and cats:



Here's a picture of the ship:



Centerpiece from the dinner our family had together in one of the ship restaurants:




This is Steve's Family, Ty and Michelle Wirdrip, Michelle is the ex-wife of Steve's brother, Mike, she gifted us with 2 of the sweetest boys in the world! I love her, the nicest kindest girl you'd ever meet, her hubby Ty is a keeper, too:



This is Mike on the left, and Levi on the right, I love his name, he is a great boy, not at all like most young men, all cocky and rude, he is a real good person, I loved talking to him, I wish they lived closer so I could spend time with them:




This is Darrin and Jodee, they are Dale's children, I enjoyed them immensely. Jodee is a very happy personality, Darrin is rather quiet, a little on the shy side, but very personable and polite, they are an amazing addition to our family, I am so happy I got to meet them!




I have photos of Nick, Sami and Dale at dinner, but their eyes were all messed up, they look drunk or high, so I will show you photos of them from our deck gatherings, where we'd meet to have a mai tai or a drink before dinner or just for fun:

Nick on the right, Darrin on the left. Nick is such a sweet, innocent soul.....I am so glad I got to know him, he stole my heart the first time I laid eyes on him, what a little charmer!




This one is Sami, Steve's mom, her husband Dale and Steve:



Steve in his hawaiian shirt, I was surprised that he picked one out, and then wore it, we did a Luau, of course, when in ROME, you know:



We did the ocean center, here is a green and a red star fish, I could have spent half the day there:




Steve and I had our photo taken together a lot, we enjoyed that, we don't have a lot of photos of us together:












We toured a chocolate factory The chocolate grows on pods on a tree, the owner showed us how they cut it in half, took the seeds, dried it and made it into chocolate:










I have a ton more but I am not sure that Blogger will let me add any more, so will stop here for now, it feels good to be home, but I would do this again in a New York minute...........Thank you again, Sami!

ALOHA HAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, come Sunday morning, I am off on a plane to Phoenix to see my friends Wendy and Cynthia. Monday morning we join a group of 14 others to fly to Honolulu where we will board a cruise ship, sailing along to visit all the islands for 7 days.

I'll try to get photos and share them upon our return.

A Fun Time was Had By All

Karen has a tradition where the kids open one gift Christmas Eve, it is Christmas Jammies. They are then ready in the morning for pictures:




Noah was looking at Olivia opening her gifts, it seemed like she got so much more, but his Transformers were quite pricey. I felt bad, but he didn't seem to mind, the shouts and screams could be heard quite aways away:



Here is one of Isaac and Miss O, it is so cute:



Here she is with her head on his leg, she loves him so much!



Miss O loved her Hello Kitty Hat and gloves, they suit her:



In this one she looks tired to me:


Noah loves the holidays, but he sure can hide from the camera!



Karen, Jen and Wendy (sitting in that order) got together at our house for wine and cheese ball, we had fun! The dip sitting there is to die for!


Last one, the computer hard drive quit, Steve and Isaac took a run to get a new one, while they were installing, their supervisers were close at hand to direct, offer input, criticism and keep them on target. They can easily get distracted if Noah and Olivia didn't keep on top of them, you just can't get good help these days!!!: