I Love You, California!

Today was the first Bears vs. Packers game of the season. It ended on a better note for the Packers, but we still had fun watching the game, even at 7am! However, Ava had a hard time staying awake.

For an early birthday celebration Will planned a new adventure for us. We went on a snorkeling adventure with a water sports company in Hawaii Kai, right on the marina. The boat took us out onto Maunalua Bay on the Southeast end of Oahu. Just past the bay is what is referred to as a turtle cleaning station. It's an area in the ocean with a large reef about thirty feet below the surface of the ocean. Here many turtles come to rest and eat. There are also many large schools of reef fish that come to the area as well. The fish eat the algae off the turtles, hence, a turtle cleaning station. We got to snorkel with at least four turtles (sometimes it's hard to know if you see the same one twice or its a different one, but I saw four in one eye shot, so there were at least four!). At one point I couldn't see anyone around me, and it was just me and a turtle swimming through the ocean - so cool! As Will described, it was a boat ride with a "twist." The twist is that in a...

After a busy week we really needed a beach day. We love that our local beach, Kaimana Beach, is just a short drive away, less than ten minutes. Once there, we can lay by the ocean, people watch, swim, and  snorkel with turtles! On our trip today we saw one turtle. Will got pretty close to it! View of the beach from our chairs. Lovely beach in the city!

Will spent the last two nights in Maui for a conference with the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers. He made some contacts and learned a few things about planting that will be useful for him. Look at the fruits that were there! Buddha's Hand citrus, used for limoncello and other lemon flavoring. And then there's the spectacular views he had during the conference. Who gets to attend conferences at golf courses on Maui, anyway? Oh yeah, hubby. Will came back on Sunday and then had a meeting for the Energy Excelerator on the North Shore to attend. I tagged along because afterward there was a family BBQ. The meeting and BBQ was at Sunset Ranch. One of the Excelerator employees is friends with the owner. Below you'll see why it deserves its name of Sunset Ranch! Windfarm on the North Shore. Gorgeous sunset. This picture doesn't even begin to do it, but you get the idea! This week Terviva people are coming to town so it's going to be a very bu...

NFL football has begun! And now that we are in Hawai'i the games are even earlier than when we were in Cali! This morning's Bears game was at 7am. Needless to say, we caved and bought the NFL Sunday Ticket online streaming so that we wouldn't have to be at a bar week after week at 6:30am. This way we can stay in our jammies and enjoy the games at home! We even got cups for the occasion! After a disappointing morning for hubbies, it was time to do a little gardening! Yesterday we went to Lowes to get supplies and today we worked on putting our railing boxes together. We still have to decide where the herbs will go, we want them to be nice and sunny, but they are all set! I haven't posted any pictures of the outside of our cottage yet since there has still been remodeling construction. However, it is getting close to finished and now with our flowers things are starting to come together outside! Eventually we will have garage doors on the carpor...

One of our favorite things to do during the week has become the Tuesday night market at Kapiolani Community College (KCC). KCC is about a twenty minute walk from our house and has wonderful vendors to get you everything you need for the week. There are a couple of farm stands, a flower stand, and a bakery stand. In addition, there are several restaurants that set up stands; restaurants that serve poke, Indian food, Thai food, burgers, wood fire pizza, and the most incredible ice cream that you will ever have. The entire recipe is from local ingredients! Think amazing flavors like local vanilla, strawberry, banana, Kona coffee, mint chip, chocolate, yum! We have even eaten it twice in one week; once at the Tuesday night market and again at the Saturday morning market. We know Jerry, the owner, by name, and have even had the pleasure to help him taste test a new chocolate waffle cone he is working on perfecting. The market also features live music and a fun, relaxed atmosphere, which is ...

There are countless hikes on Oahu and all throughout the Hawaiian islands that will land you at the pool of a waterfall. There is a great waterfall in Waimea Valley on Oahu that we have been to and enjoy, but it is more of a walk than a hike. I was in the mood for getting muddy and go exploring in the jungle, so we decided to hike Maunawili Falls, a well traveled hiking path that is entirely jungle and entirely muddy. Within this three mile round-trip hike there are three places in which you cross the stream that is fed by the waterfall, and at the end you can jump into the pool if you dare. I was slightly disappointed as the pool was pretty small, so there wasn't any room for swimming around since people were taking turns jumping into the pool the whole time. It was still an adventurous hike and Will took a few turns at jumping into the waterfall's pool. The hike started out dry; it hadn't rained in the valley for a couple days, but when we were about twenty minutes from t...