hawaii trip day 3

Our adventure started with driving up to the Dole Plantation and taking a train ride.  We also bought some gifts for our family here, yummy.  I thought they were going to have a ton of pineapples to taste, but instead sold pineapples to take home.  I guess if I lived in another part of the US that would be a great gift, but in LA taking home a pineapple everyone might think that we just bought it at the store.  Actually we were surprised to see the pineapples cheaper at the airport.  Unfortunately there was no pineapple tastings, only a small piece offered to us after the train ride.

The train ride was not exactly what we expected, we thought it was going to be a great history tour of pineapples in Hawaii, and see them in working farm.  Instead it was a easy ride around with very little detail given on the train ride =(  But I guess Bryant was with us, this ride would have been perfect.  I did get to buy a really good cup of Kona coffee there!!

Then we drove up to the coast all the way north to Sunset Beach, then head back south to North Shore.  We got off at Pupukea Beach Park were we saw some snorkelers and decided to walk down the cliffs.  Walking down the cliffs in flip flops is a lot harder than surfers make it look, especially when you are afraid of heights like moi.  When we got to the water, it was very very cold!!!  I was not expecting that, everyone seemed to be in the water all the time and no one seemed cold.  No to say that we didn't stay very long and decided to drive to North Shore. 

This sign is the replica of a larger one that is on the highway.  When we passed it I was going to have Phil stop so that I can take a picture, but there was a cop behind him.  So I was really happy to see this little sign!

The North Shore is a really cute town with tons of shops.  I really wanted to go shopping but Phil was on a mission to eat a typical Hawaiian dish, more on that later.  I was really happy that the North Shore reminded me of most of the other small town in Hawaii.  Phil on the other hand was really surprised that it was not at all like they showed on the TV cable show. He was expecting a mall, I think?

Here is Phil very happy to finally get to eat his dish.  It turns out that the reason we couldn't find it was because it was breakfast dish.  We decided to save money on this trip and only eat out for dinners.  Usually I love to eat out for breakfast, since it is my favorite meal of the day, but I knew that eating out for dinner would mean we would get to do more exciting things.  This dish by the way has a fried egg, sausage patty, and rice, I know it sounds more like a heart attack.  I was surprised Phil wanted to eat it because he doesn't like fried eggs. But he liked it.

Then it was off the cruise dinner and dancing.  Phil bought this upgraded package because it was suppose to include steak and lobster, but it was not steak, I am not sure exactly what type of meat we were eating.  Also, because we were running late to catch the bus to get on the boat, we didn't have time to change, and you know me, I love getting dressed up so it was no fun for me to be on a nice dinner cruise in flip flops and shorts =(   The hula dancing girls were great, but then they had other dinner guest stand up and dance the macarena, which was not the type of dancing we were going to be doing. 

We still had a great view and a great time!!

It was actually really good, normally when desserts look this good they taste really bad.

hawaii...day 1 & 2

These are just a few of the photos from our Hawaii vacation...we had four fun filled days in O'ahu.  Our first stop was Duke's for dinner.  I know we have one in Huntington Beach, and I didn't want to eat at any restaurants we have back home, but there is something so different eating at this Duke's. At Dukes we had just finished eating such a great meal, and then it started to pour.  We "lucked" because we didn't have reservations our seats were not on the edge of the but closer to the inside of the restaurant.  When it started to pour, everyone in the good seats got wet and we stayed dried, so we decided to stay longer and have dessert!!

Then the next day was driving around the southeast island to Kaneohe.  On the way we stopped and decided to walk around. We thought we were only walking up the side of the hill.  Instead we had to walk up and over two hills before we could get to the lighthouse.  Since I am afraid of heights, we didn't make it all the way. I was okay until we got to the second hill, which was too steep and facing the water. We ended up walking all the way to the lighthouse, where Phil is pointing to. Good thing we took our running shoes because I don't know how everyone was doing the hike in flip flops, it ended up being more than just a stroll.

 It was such a beautiful part of the island that the President and his family were also staying there.  We didn't know where he was staying until we saw his motor cage drive by as we were eating hamburgers in a small market on the side of the road.  It happened too fast for me to grab my camera.

For dinner we went to Germaine's Luau on west side of the island.  Apparently Disney is putting the new resort on this side of the island.  We had a great meal and entertainment.  We also met new friends Gloria and Carlos who live in Diamond Bar. What a small world.  

More tomorrow...

Memorial Weekend...

It started on Thursday evening...we went to Legends to watch some basketball game. Surprisingly, Bryant yells, and screams could not be heard over everyone else cheering and yelling over the game. People were really surprised how great he was behaving at a sports bar, I guess they really could not hear him.

On Friday, Bryant spent the day with my dad and the twins. After work Phil and I went and picked him up. We went out for dinner with my parents and the boys to a local Italian restaurant in Downey.

Saturday we had breakfast at Chuck's near the pier. I wanted a beach view but it was crowded so we had to sit inside. The mimosas were still good inside, which is a good thing. It seemed that they have the same highchairs my parents had for me when I was Bryant's age. Check out those metal highchairs...Then we went to LA Marathon Expo to check out some really good deals on running stuff. Bryant had quite a fever while we were walking around so we decided to stop at Kaiser and make sure he was okay. He did have a fever, but he was okay. We also found out that he is 21 lbs. We would have guessed way more. He is quite heavy. We were suppose to go to a going away party for our friends Beth and Cheston before they leave Cali for Colorado, but with Bryant having a fever, we were scared he would be contagious or get worse. Sorry Beth for not going!!

On Sunday Bryant got much better, and didn't have a high fever anymore. We met up with Edgar, Laura, Carlos and Sofia at the San Diego Zoo. Again we missed mass, but it would not have been possible to attend mass and still make it to San Diego. Originally we were suppose to go to the Padres game , but we weren't able to the get tickets, so we decided on the Zoo. It was perfect, because we have been wanting to go to the zoo!! Although it wasn't perfect for Phil since we didn't take our stroller he had to carry Bryant around.

You can see the elephant behind Phil and Bryant.

Then on Monday, we had breakfast on 2nd street and went to the beach. Yes, we walked to both breakfast and the beach, since it was only .5 mile away, but we walked up the coast towards downtown Long Beach. We walked all the way to the Long Beach Museum of Art, which made it about 6 miles round trip walk. Yes, I am trying to lose the baby weight. (What is up with my hair, Phil should have said something before he took my picture!! Got to love the ocean breeze.)

7 year itch...

Wow, time flies by fast when you are having fun.  I can't believe we have been married for 7 years, and I still haven't finished scrapbooking our pictures from our "reception".  

We decided to have some R&R time in Palm Springs.  Bryant was of course so sad to see us leave.... It makes me wonder if he will be like us and oh so excited to leave for college...

Although we had a late start, we still got to Palm Spring around 3pm.  We decided to go to the River for some ice-cream and walk around.  I don't know what possessed Phil but he really wanted to take a picture with the hog.

We went out for dinner at Falls restaurant.  We had been recommended there by the locals; because of they had great martinis and steaks.  It was a perfect combo for the two of us.  The martinis were great, they put dry ice into the drink to make it smoky, it was so alluring that Phil even had one with me.  We had their baked oysters as an appetizer, and it was delicious. 

However, once we were about to eat dinner Phil was about to order his steak when he asked the waiter what he recommended.  The waiter said that the lamb was the best.  Phil went against his want of steak and order the lamb.  I should have done the same, because the lamb was perfect, although my steak was also superb.