I'm So Sad

I'm so so sad because nobody comments on my blog lately. I know you're out there... At least I think you're out there. Hello? Hello? Is anybody out there? Don't you know I live for comments???

Joey's New Friend

Our condo's back yard attaches to the back yard of an assisted-living facility (which is probably why it's REALLY peaceful and quiet here). We often see the ol' folks walking around.This old gentleman pushes his walker outside every day. He is very cute, all slumped forward over the walker. We've watched him walk for four months now, and finally yesterday, Joey went out and talked to him.

Now they are good buddies. The man's name is Mike and he sits on the bench looking at our back lanai and waits for Joey to come out. He is 85 years old and he used to work for NASA so he tells Joey wonderful stories.

They are so cute together that I couldn't resist taking their picture. I thought neither one would notice, but Joey said they both did and Mike told him to smile at the camera, your mother's taking our picture. To which Joey said, "Figures."

Hiking Sleeping Giant

We three musketeers went hiking up one of the Sleeping Giant trails.

Joey snapped a pic of me.

The pictures are kind of backwards, because this is the view from where we hiked to, up the mountain.

This looks over the area called the Wailua houselots.

Me and Joey on the bridge.

Mike and I on the mountain.

The beginning of the trail goes along a pasture

where these friendly horses live.

It was a beautiful day. We had a great time making memories.

Random Stuff

Not a lot of exciting stuff going on lately, so I'll just post some random pictures. Here's Joey with his friends Tyrus and Micah.

Sometimes the rain here comes down REALLY hard, I mean in buckets. I tried to get a picture of it but it doesn't do it justice.

These are fruits called rombutan and lychee. The red hairy ones are the rombutan. They both have white fruit inside that tastes very similar, sort of like plain sugar... very sweet with no "fruity" flavor, just sugary.

And now, the world's greatest, cutest, smartest and all-around BEST grandchildren, in random order:

Andrew

Megan

Ashlyn

Rachel

Craig & Jaylynn

Happy First of July!

Friday evening we went to the Pacific Missle Range Facility on the west side of the island for an Independence Day celebration. It was tons of fun!
The party was held on the beach, which was a little different than the other beaches we've been on here. This beach had no trees, only a huge expanse of smooth sand leading for miles in either direction. It was pretty breathtaking.
After eating food from the carnival-type booths, we watched the sun set.

If you look closely, you can see the island of Niihau in the distance.

After the sunset, we watched a cool fireworks show, followed by a program put on by a group of Hawaiian drummers. They were awesome. The group was all women and they did a tribal-type drum show, dancing as they drummed. They were super buff.

After the drummers, there was a live band that played 70s and 80s music. I had such a great time dancing!

The actual 4th of July celebration will be tomorrow in Lihue, so we get to celebrate twice.

I Missed the Sharks!

Once again, I did not have my camera with me. I really need to learn to take the camera EVERYWHERE I go because there's always something amazing going on here. Anyway, Thursday Mike, Joey and I went to Salt Pond Beach to swim and relax. It was a beautiful day and we were walking along the reef. I was just trying to keep myself from falling on the rocks; I was really concentrating on watching my feet when Joey and Mike suddenly started yelling, "Look! Look!" I turned around just in time to catch a glimpse of something in the water before it disappeared.

Joey, Mike and virtually everyone else on the beach saw an adult shark about 11 feet long with its baby swimming along side it. They were swimming right along the reef about 10 feet from where Joey was walking.

I TOTALLY MISSED IT!