Hanauma Bay Natural Preserve

Last week, we went to Hawaii to visit my brother and his family. I hadn't seen him in a couple years. He and his wife have had two kids since then and this was the only time due to his and my hubby's work schedules. The next chance would be perhaps a year away. I had saved up all my earned miles and cashed them in for us to go. Since the kids were in school, my younger daughter took care of them (she still lives at home and knows everything about them.) About fifteen years ago, my hubby and I were together away from the kids for a night and this would be the first time that we would be away longer from out kids without one of us being home. It was kinda stressful but I knew that she could handle it. My older brother and his son live two houses away and they were great "plan b's" in case something happened.

We enjoyed visiting with them and loved hanging out after their daughters went to bed. I helped rear my brother after my parents died and to be able to have an adult relationship with him now is awesome! He's been in the Navy after leaving home over a decade or so ago. I loved seeing him being a dad. His wife is so much like I am. It's hard to believe that she's younger than my older daughter. That was the best part of our trip. The extra adventurous and scenic stuff was just lagniappe.

While we were there, on one day, we went to a bay and snorkeled for hours. I could have done it all day long! I didn't realize how cold the water was though as I'm used to the brown warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It was brrrr...cold at first! Being able to look down and see something in the water was awesome! Of course, we can't see anything below in our waters either. Seeing fish and the fact that they were colorful was mesmorizing. I just floated on top of the water looking down enjoying the wonderful sights of coral, fish and other sealife. I felt like a dog. You know how a dog sniffs something and then follows it a while and then continues not paying attention to where he started or finishes...that's what I did. I did snorkel with someone and would lift my head to make sure they were close as we meandered through the water. My hubby or my sister-in-law stayed close or vice-versa as we ventured out further and further. One time, a huge wave broke near my hubby and the (really salty) saltwater practically drowned him. After that, he was done, lol! We watched our nieces as my brother and SIL snorked for a while. Then my SIL and I went back out. Such a great day! I loved it!! My SIL (who lives at the bay/farm) gave me an underwater camera last Christmas and it came in very very handy!!!

This is the bay from the top of the mountain.


I saw one turtle...such a graceful swimmer!


Me.










Hubby from a distance.




One thing I didn't realize is that as you snorkel, the waves make the water move and therefore you move along with them. So as I was watching the fish, a wave would push me forward toward the fish and at the same time, the fish would also be moving with the waves. It was a rocking kind of action as you floated/swam.

Rain at the Farm

I've been away from home the last couple of weeks or so. My family and I went to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's farm for several days and then my hubby and I went to Hawaii (which I'll post about very soon.) We always enjoy spending time with them (they are the ones who also have a place at the bay where we visit a lot as well.) We just love spending time with them wherever they are. The fact that my brother-in-law loves to work outside and has a tractor, RTV, and a giant ZTR mower is just part of my kiddo's reason to go there. I love my sister-in-law's cooking (I always come back heavier than when I left) along with catching up on their lives and the great family gossip. My hubby loves to dove hunt there as well as work cutting down trees and hanging out with them as well. I wish they lived closer because the four and half hour trip one way sometimes seems so long (especially on the way back.)

When we recently visited, the area (and part of the state of Texas) was in the midst of many wildfires. This particular area had only had rain once back in June and the time before that was um....they can't remember...months. We go walking each morning to walk the dogs and check out the area.




The cracks in the ground were huge!


The second day we were there, while we (I mean, 'they') were resting after having worked many hours, it started to rain! We were all really happy! The kids loved playing outside!! The pic of my older son shows his big smile as he lost his other front tooth on the way there!




Of course, the rain had to bring others 'out of the woodwork' as well! Apparently, the scorpions were enjoying the cool rain as well...ugh!


We celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday while we were there! He's one of those guys who have everything so it's difficult buying for him. We got him a large fishing net this year. I think he liked it. As we were leaving, I stopped and took a picture of the cotton field down the road from where they live. It looked so much better before being drenched by the rain...but I love seeing fields of stuff growing. It has those things along the sides to catch boll weevils (or to make sure there are none in the area, rather.) 'Boll weevils feed on and reproduce in cotton. In fact, cotton is the only cultivated host in which reproduction is known to occur. Both the feeding and reproduction processes damage bolls on the cotton plant ultimately reducing quality and the amount of cotton lint available for harvest.'

My guys -

A couple weeks ago, my hubby and sons were outside mowing grass, trimming bushes and tree limbs and working all day! It was really hot too! In fact, they drank the first two glasses of water immediately so I just brought out a whole pitcher of ice water for them! Seeing them taking a break on the porch made me smile! And, I was happy that I was doing 'inside' things instead of being outside sweating and working, lol!

A little remodeling...

I live in the house I grew up in. I initially moved into it around 40 years ago, moved out a little over a decade later and then moved back in a couple years ago. Before it was used as a house, it was an old store. In the last decade, it had been leveled a couple times so the sheetrock had been broken or cracked in many places. We finally decided to get it all fixed a few weeks ago. After all the work was finished (repairing cracks and then texturing many walls,) we needed to repaint as well. It had been exciting and stressful at the same time because of having to move all the furniture and have kids sleep in different places! But, now that everything is done, I love it!!

I forgot to take the 'before' pictures but had some as the cracks/damaged areas were 'cleaned out' and before they were repaired. Here are some areas:

living room












kitchen






bathroom



The other rooms that were done weren't extraordinary so I didn't even bother with the pics. We hired a contractor to come do all the sheetrock work and my brother painted most of the rooms afterwards. We did a little here and there as well. We caulked a lot first as well. My daughter picked out the blue color for the bathroom and painted it herself. Interestingly enough, my first grader turned out to be a great caulker...so we had him do a whole lot!! Actually, he begged to do it and, of course, we couldn't say no! He had this little tool and did excellent work! This last picture also shows the texturing before it was repainted. The guy textured most of the rooms he worked on too.

School Again!

It's that time of year! My kids started school last week!

My first grader dreaded school all summer long but seemed excited on the first day.


My preschooler is attending the same school three days a week as well (in the mornings.) He was extremely excited to be able to go as he's been sitting in the back seat watching us drop off and pick up his brother for three years already!



Speaking of transporting kiddos to school, I've been bringing one of my kids back and forth to school now every day during the school year since 1990. I mean, not a year has gone by that I didn't have a kid in school during that time. Of course, I'll be continuing to do that for another decade or so until one of the boys gets his license...that'll make 30 plus years that I will be bringing a kid back and forth to school!

Recently, my mother-in-law has been getting weaker and a hospital bed has been moved into her room to make it easier for her to get in/out of bed (as well as safety reasons.) It's incredible that just around two and a half years ago, she was diagnosed with having Alzheimers.

This is a pic of her and her husband around WWII.


And this is her now...sleeping hard at 4pm while my kids played (happily and not quietly) for 45 minutes as she slept.


As much as I love this place that cares for her, she'll be there for 4 more months and then we'll move her to a nursing home, thereby applying for assistance (and can then quit paying so much out of pocket.) She's incontinent and unable to walk so she spends most of her time in her wheelchair or in her bed, sleeping. It's amazing that it costs appr. $140. a day to care for her...so almost half of that cost comes from us children as her savings was used up last year. I miss her words, her thoughts, her expressions and her personality. While I can catch a glimpse here and there of her happiness or anger, she's like an empty void of a person. I really miss who she was. As she slowly moves on....I look to my own kids (big and old) to see the future.

While we were sitting there playing at her place, I took this pic of my first grader and myself. It's a raw pic (no make-up, barely brushed my hair, lol!) but it's real. (I keep trying to reduce the size of the picture but it wasn't working...sorry.)

Library trips

This summer, we started going to the library. I hadn't really taken advantage of borrowing books, even with my older daughters, and it a branch of the library was relatively close. So when the summer reading program started after the school year ended, I signed my kiddos up. I have been really good at keeping up with reading with my older son each night. Since he can now read books, I read one to him and he reads one to me (of course, his book is much shorter and on his level.) I love doing this and it's definitely saving me money! I want to continue doing this, even during the school year, and my kiddo has looked forward to choosing his books each night to read. Last week when we went there, my older son asked if he could go over and read to his brother. I said sure. I sneaked over and took this picture before they looked over. It was so cute watching him whisper the words to his brother...

Gators!!!

My older son LOVES alligators! He has been watching "Swamp People" on the History Channel and pretends to catch alligators all the time. I had heard about a place near a bayou that may have had alligators so we went there to eat. Lo and Behold, as soon as we got there, we spotted an alligator!!!


While we would have preferred to see a bigger one (like the huge ones on the show,) we were still happy to see a 'gator in the wild swimming in the bayou.


We saw four alligators altogether!


The place we went was actually a restaurant and boat dock. It was cool seeing all the wildlife in the bayou. There are two alligators in this picture. It was so fun watching the water waiting for a head to poke up!


And....we were so close! We fed our leftover fries to the turtles (the alligators didn't seem interested) but what the turtles didn't get, the perch (fish) certainly ate quickly!!


There was a cool cypress tree across the water (hard to see actually) but it added to the magnificent scenery!

Aging and Winnie the Pooh

I had an interesting week. On Thursday, I went with my friend (who is almost 73 years old) to a Red Hat luncheon. What is that exactly? Well, it's where older women gather to eat and talk to each other and they meet once a month. They tend to wear red hats (or something red in their hair) and/or dark purple clothing. I remember buying my MIL a book many years ago titled "When I am old, I will wear purple." I supposed that has something to do with that. I am not old but can attend (but wear pink or lavender.) My friend thought it would be nice...and it was. It was a small group and there were eight of us altogether. The lady who sat beside me was also there for her first time so I didn't feel as 'new.' She said that she and her husband stayed home alone a lot and she wanted to expand her group of friends. She just sounded a little lonely. The conversations varied at this gathering. Across the table, my friend discussed with the lady next to her the recent dates with a friend of hers. My friend (whose husband died four years ago) hasn't really connected with anybody but this new person to whom she referred might be an option (or just a friend to go places with once in a while.) Another older lady mentioned the recent movie, Bridesmaids. I loved the movie but was a little embarrassed and was surprised that she also loved it (and understood so much of it.) BTW, it's a blunt movie involving friendships, sex and relationships. I think I'll go again just because they were nice women to be around and it'd increase my circle of friends.

On Friday, which was also my birthday (I'm now 45,) this same friend of mine and another mutual friend (who will be turning 60) took me out! We went to a nice lunch at a place I've never been with great food and we browsed a few shops in the same area. Afterwards we went to a movie (we all three go to movies regularly so this was a great excuse to go again.) It was a very nice afternoon.

Of course, I was feeling a bit 'old' after these experiences. I was excited that my son wanted to go see Winnie the Pooh at the movie theater. Winnie the Pooh was my favorite show when I was little. I thought of my own teddy bear as Winnie as well. My grandmother (who I only saw a few times in my life) apparently gave it to me when I was 2 years old. It was my favorite stuffed toy growing up. My brother would hide it all the time and I'd find it in the most curious places (hanging over the top of the door, in a closet, under a pillow) and it turned into a fun game of hide and seek. When my first daughter was young, she also played with it. By that time, most of the fur was rubbed off and it was missing an eye. It was kind of a velveteen bear because it was well loved. This is a pic of her and my bear (probably about 23 years ago.)


So, we went to see the movie yesterday. I felt like a kid again. I caught myself smiling so much during the movie. I noticed my older son sitting on the edge of his seat moving to the beat of a song...and at one point, during a chase, my younger son said "Run faster!" to the character running! It was a very fun experience that brought me back to my childhood. No longer did I feel old but felt like I did when my parents were alive, when I watched The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights with my brother and when life was simple...and good! Feeling old, young, it didn't matter anymore...I was feeling happy!

Galveston

We've been making daytrips lately while enjoying school being out for the summer. One of our favorite places to go is Galveston. I invited a friend to go with us (she always says 'yes' to invitations and, because she has a few boys that have already grown up, she's not scared off by my boys!) The boys love riding the ferry across the bay to the island. We stood in the front of the ferry feeling the wind on our faces...it didn't seem as hot that way...and watched for dolphins. We saw about five! Interestingly, on this day, probably because there were so many people because it was summer, when dolphins were spotted, you could hear the 'ooh' or 'awww' or some other noises depicting excitement! It was awesome to hear and experience.

We arrived shortly after lunch so we went to a restaurant along the wharf near the port. I let S pick the place and it was really nice. Of course, I ate shrimp, my favorite! ( I asked S to take this picture.)



C, my preschooler, was so happy that the lobster tank was right across from our table and visited there many times!



Right outside the window at our table was the Elissa, one of those ships you can tour. It was awesome to see such scenery! Beyond it were dry docks where ships and drilling rigs were being rebuilt. I loved watching the seagulls flying around as well as the fish nearby (their mouths were obove the water searching for food.)



After lunch, we went next door to see a short film on The Great Storm, the 1900 hurricane that devestated the city. It was amazing! I didn't know how much effort it took to build the seawall that still exists as well as the city having to raise itself up to 13 foot in some places in order to survive future hurricanes. Walking along the stores on The Strand (an area where there are shops nearby) would have been less stressful without kids so we moved on to the beach to enjoy the afternoon stress-free.

We brought along digging toys and the boys had a great time. S found two little crabs and found many tiny shrimp that were left after waves returned to the Gulf.



S loved running through the waves! C felt comfortable splashing water on himself. Behind him stands the Hotel Galvez (which celebrates it's 100th anniversary this year.)



All in all...it was a really nice day.

Horse Riding

I have limited horse riding experience. I rode on one a few days in a row while in a Girl Scout day camp when I was younger. Our neighbor had one in the backyard next to ours at one point and my friend and I would ride it bareback off and on one summer. My most recent experience horseback riding was while I was on a trip across the country. We had stopped in western New Mexico somewhere in the mountains and found a place that would take us riding for the day. We had a guide who wore chaps, carried a weapon and drank water from a stream. After about six hours riding up and down mountains (where my extremely afraid of heights self didn't look 'down' but rather 'up' so as to not be afraid,) we ended ended it tired and very sore! My hubby and I actually had bruises on our behinds afterwards! My daughters (who were about 10 and 15 at the time) loved it though!!

So, when we heard about a local horse camp, we signed up our kindergartener. He absolutely loved it and wore his own steel-toed work boots and cowboy hat there every day! He enjoyed his five days worth and thought he went really fast! He rode Gabby, a pregnant horse, who loved to be talked to (even though he couldn't fathom telling her how pretty or fast she was so he stayed quiet) and was gentle. On the first day, he said he learned to 'steer' the horse and how to 'stop.' It was cute listening to his experiences each day. On the fifth day, we watched for about an hour as he rode his horse around in a covered area. It smelled like horses and the earth. It made me want to be a kid again...and ride!

Here's my kiddo riding.


As we were walking, we went through some stables and saw a very tired cat sleeping. Couldn't resist taking a picture. There were cats everywhere too!

Tap, tap, tap...

When I was pregnant with my first child, my mother told me that if I had a girl, she'd put her in dance classes. Well, I had a girl. By the time she were about five, my mother and I were at an art and crafts fair where we saw a local dance company perform. The kids were totally cute and I signed my daughter up for classes. My mother had taken ballet as a child (apparently, my grandmother taught ballet and was a dancer.) I never went...not sure whether it was that we didn't have the money or that I enjoyed making mud pies and climbing trees too much to think about anything else. My mother never saw a recital as she passed away that September (as my daughter was in kindergarten and her first full year of dance.)

My daughter ended up loving dance and took it until she graduated high school and then took classes in college (before her life fell apart.) She also helped teach classes for the place as well. Fast forward four or five years, she is still a great dancer and wants to return to college (and dance) eventually.

Recently, I bought tap shoes for my kindergartener (who will be going to first grade soon.) I thought it'd be a great idea for him to learn to tap...and a great way for the two of them to dance together. They've had a few dance lessons and he seems to really love them! I took a pic of her a couple of days ago...


...and a pic of them practicing their tap. From a distance, I heard lots of words I didn't understand like slap, spank and shuffle...and I sneaked in to take a picture. What a lovely afternoon.