A quick trip to Anchorage

I was able to stop in Anchorage on the way home from Hawaii and got to see my brother and the family and my sweet friend Danielle. It was so nice being able to catch up with Josh, Erin and Danielle and to love on baby Natalee and Chance for a little bit. It was way too quick but I hope I can make it back up there this summer.

Hawaii day ???????

My attempt at blogging after each day in Hawaii failed. I was too distracted by sun, sand and surf to be bothered with blogging from my iphone. We had a number of adventures during the week we spent in Kauai. We saw the canyone, rode along the coast of Kapa'a, ate our way through Kauai, visited spouting horn, took photos of a waterfall, drove through quaint little neighborhoods and shopped at a number of the local markets. It was a relaxing week and I'm definitely ready for spring break.

Hawaii day 4

Today we drove up to Waimai canyon. It was tge perfect day for a drive and the view from the top of the canyon was breathtaking.
Along the way we stopped at a beach where we found a washed up hammerhead shark. I think it was the best part of Amys day.
After the canyon we stopped at Glass beach for beach combing. The beach was made up of tiny pieces if glass from an old recycling center. I was able to find a ton of good treasures.

Hawaii day 3

Today we hung around Kapaa for the morning and did some shopping. I took an afternoon swim ten we headed north to hanalei bay.
The drive was beautiful! Kauai is so green and lush! We stopped at a few beaches for pictures and beach combing then had dinner at one of the local restaurants.
I've been enjoying all the fresh fruit I cam get here. My favorites so far have been the pineapple and the apple bananas.

Having a great time in Hawaii!!

Amy and I are having a great tine in Hawaii! The weather is beautiful, the food is delicious and the town we are staying in is very laid back. Yesterday we ate breakfast at Ono's. I had a banana, macadamia nut, coconut pancake with coconut syrup. It tasted just as good as it sounds!
We also went to a market and picked up a few gifts, drove south and explored Poi Pu beach and stopped at spouting horn for some touristy pictures.
We ended our day with happy hour at WaHoo an dinner at Olympic Cafe. I think I could get used to the Island life. 

Birthday retreat

This year I chose to celebrate my birthday out at the Shrine of St. Therese. I had an overnighter with about 12 of my wonderful lady friends. The Shrine is naturally a peaceful place with no cell phone or internet service so we were "forced" to leave the worries of our daily life behind for a night.

Two of my friends took over the planning so I could simply come out and enjoy myself. They had a ton of fun "sleep over" activities planned including making our own pizzas, painting each others nails, playing games and looking through trashy magazines.  My favorite (and most meaningful) activity was decorating wine glasses. They brought out wine glasses and paint and everyone decorated a glass for me. I now have enough wine glasses to last a lifetime (unless Stephenie gets her hands on them ;-) ) and each one reminds me of the amazing girlfriends who are a part of my life.  What a wonderful way to celebrate another year of LIFE!

Happy birthday, Dr. Suess!!

Many of our primary classes celebrated Dr. Suess's birthday on Friday. It was a way for the school to celebrate reading and acknowledge an creative man who understood the importance of reading with children. The activities ranged from making green eggs & ham for breakfast, creating crazy Dr. Suess hats or reading one of the many quirky Dr. Suess books. The kids all had a great time and it was so fun to see all the creative activities.