Where is the sun?

Hoping for more sunny days soon, but will always love the view of our mountain. Fresh snow in May! Now if only the rain would stop...

Hawaii, Part 2

Before anymore time passes, I figured I better get the rest of those Oahu photos on our blog. It has been a very rainy month (going on 20 plus days of rain here in Snoqualmie) so it is a good time to post these photos and remember warm, sunny days! I loved spending the end of the day on our beach. It was so great to listen to the surf and when it got really dark, we discovered lots of little crabs emerging from the sand.

We spent one day at the Polynesian Cultural Center in the northern part of the island. I'm glad we made this trip cuz we all had a good time. Millie got to catch a catfish, got several tattoos and even learned how to play a few new island games....


After we left the PCC, we went in search of the famous Giovanni's shrimp truck. It may not look pretty, but they cook some very delicious shrimp out of this truck. In fact, it is one of the most famous shrimp trucks on the entire island. I highly recommend it!

Millie loves shrimp, too!

...and we can't leave Hawaii without eating some of their shave ice.

The hardest part was deciding on which flavors we wanted!

Mike doing some boogie boarding.

Millie went floating around the bottom of the waterfall at Waimea Valley. The water was SO cold!

Relaxing in our cottage at the end of a very wonderful, amazing holiday! We'll definitely be back again.

Our new gadget

Here's Mike keeping up with his correspondence on our "new" Remington Rand Model 17 typewriter-circa 1938. Millie did not even have any idea of what a typewriter is; she kept calling it the "big calculator."

Oahu, Hawaii-Part 1

We spent 2 amazing, beautiful, sunny weeks in Hawaii earlier this month. We stayed at Barber's Point Navy cottages on the SW side of Oahu. The cottages were so close to the ocean. At night the surf was sometimes so loud we had to shut the door . We could not have found a better location for 2 weeks of relaxing. The photo above is our cottage and you can see it was a pretty short walk to the beach.

Our view from the front "lanai." Millie loved the sand and water and we went swimming almost everyday. We would wake up in the morning, put on our bathing suit, then spend the day collecting sea glass, playing, swimming and ended the day with a BBQ on our grill.

The beach was called White Plains and was really popular with surfers and locals. Millie and I loved jumping over the waves and spent many hours in the water.

On our second day, we drove a few miles up the road to check out Ko Olina Lagoons. What a beautiful place!

Millie and Papa at the end of another beautiful day. You can just barely see Waikiki and Diamond Head off in the distance.

Today we headed out to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. I know Millie's favorite was the train ride.

Getting lost in the hedge maze at the Dole Plantation.

...and how lucky were we to wake up one morning and see this sleeping animal on our beach!

This is a monk seal and they are not normally found in Oahu, but if they do show up, it is normally at this beach. He is very much alive, just very sleepy! Later in the morning, the beach lifeguards put up signs and posts around the seal to protect him. They are critically endangered and it is a federal crime to even approach them...We found that out after we took the photo.....

Germaine's Luau tonight! Even though this is a big tourist outing, it was a great show. The food was excellent, the performers were really good and all seemed to be having fun and admission price included 3 free drinks each.


I have lots more photos of our trip, so stay tuned for more later!
Here's to hoping the sun arrives back in Washington, it has been raining for over a week now!! Maybe Hawaii can share it's sunshine with us, too.

March

So it has been a loooong time since our last update. In the meantime, Mike has returned from Iraq and we have been so happy to have him back home. The best part is that he does not have to work for the next few months and it on a very long holiday. Here we are in Hood River, OR in front of one of the tallest waterfalls I have seen in a very long time. We spent a few days in Oregon while Mike returned his equipment, etc at work.

Millie and her Papa...

Even though it was only in the 50s and 60s, the hotel had a great "heated" pool outside and Millie and I got in some swimming practice before our trip to Oahu.

Warming up in the hot tub...

Millie posing along the river bank. Looks like she is a natural in front of the camera!

All is going well in school for Millie too. Today she was the special Star student and got to sit in a special sparkle chair, wear and crown and talk about her family and some of her favorite things...

What a happy kid...

Millie and Mike in front of the new power tools. Stay tuned for Oahu photos!

Spring is in the Air...

...and I hope it is here to stay.


We had about 2 mths of winter this year and then it just seemed to fade into Spring. I'm not used to Spring arriving so early (our first year in Snoqualmie we still had sleet in June!) But today was just one of those beautiful, get outside and enjoy every moment day! And we did....we were joined by lots of other neighborhood kids at the park today and spent over 2 hrs playing, riding bikes and meeting friends.

We took our camera out and snapped our favorite Spring sights around the house. Millie liked these purple flowers the best. They are growing all along the border next to our driveway.

Usually our daffodils are the first things to flower, but this year the other flowers and trees have bloomed first. Looks like it won't be long before they open up!

The cherry tree has made an early appearance, as well.


Even the shadiest spot in our backyard corner has a blooming bush, though it will be a few days before they fully open.


Millie and Deli posing in front of our empty garden plot.

You know it is a nice, warm day in the sun when the cat is passed out in the grass. He is normally huddled in the house these days, but even he could not resist a nap outside.

My view from the front porch. We always get some great afternoon sun in the front yard. It is really difficult to see, but way off in the distance you can see the mountains with a bit of snow on top.

A good way to end our day today was getting some ice-cream at McDonald's. Hopefully this amazing weather continues and my next post is not about a crazy snowstorm....

January

I suddenly realized that I took almost no photos last month. We are so looking forward to Mike returning and have been sticking close to home and enjoying the amazing, warm, sunny weather here. But have left the camera in our camera bag. Although I do have some cute photos to share. The above photo is of Millie enjoying a favorite meal for dinner. She can easily eat 3 drumsticks!

The two of us enjoying some tv time before dinner.

Here we are just 5 minutes later, but Millie is ready for bed and I'm off to read her a story.

We have been having the warmest winter ever! January and February have not brought us snow, but instead blooming flowers and budding trees and bushes. I've never had a spring arrive so early. So this winter, we had to drive 35 minutes up the highway to seek out some winter fun. The snowfall has been pretty low at the ski slopes, but at least there was enough to go sledding and even build a tiny snow family.

RIght now it is currently 67 degrees (in the sun) and I'm sitting outside soaking up some Vitamin D.