Author Archives: Reb

Waikiki Aquarium

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Okay hawaii. So far I am digging it here but you have GOT to step it up when it comes to the only aquarium on Oahu!  I knew before coming that it was small, but it’s not small it’s tiny! Do NOT come with visions of Monterey Bay Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium or Shedd Aquarium in your mind (three of the best I’ve been to!)

One thing you can’t fault is the location, right on the water at the east end of Waikiki. Parking is a little crazy, we parked in our favorite cheapo military lot and meandered through Waikiki. It’s about a mile and a half walk and not too bad if you stop for lunch. Which we didn’t do because none of us could agree so we ended up at the aquarium hot and crabby. Fun times!

On with it!

 

 

What is wrong with this boy? Seriously, he can not take a normal picture anymore.

 

And since the posts have been so snorkel heavy I’ll just try to throw some of my favorite fish into a collage so you don’t have to scroll past them. Sorry, I love me some fish!

 

See that wasn’t so bad. So yeah the aquarium is small but they have some of the most beautiful display tanks I’ve ever seen, huge clams, a carpet anemone that was 2 feet wide, a mangrove tank, a tank outside, really beautiful.

 

 

 

The kiddos held some hermit crabs and pet some urchins, touch tanks are always a big hit.
The clam propagation tank outside. Some seriously stunning clams in there. They also have their coral growing tank outside as well. Really cool and makes me want to volunteer so I can play, too!

Walking right out of the aquarium you are right at the seawall along the water, tried again and again to get a good splash but I kept missing it…

 

 

 

 

So out we walked onto the breakwater where Omar (jr.) ended up getting soaked by a wave. Whoops!

 

 

 

 

 

So aquarium, nice but probably an hour tops for most people. There is a discount if you are a local and the tour includes a talking speaker tour dealy to give you details about all of the exhibits.  Make it part of your day in Waikiki and walk around (it’s also right near the zoo so you can make it a twofer).

 

Somebody has a new toy!

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And no, it’s not this guy…

It’s this guy:

 

Spain was super strict about riding motorcycles and would not allow you to get a Spanish motorcycle license unless you’d had your US motorcycle endorsement for two years, which Omar hadn’t. So first chance he got, time to get a bike. This bike was a ridiculously good deal after searching craigslist and the local bike shops for weeks.  It’s a Harley Night Rod and it is in perfect shape. The previous owner babied it.

So while I have been a scaredy baby and haven’t hopped on the back yet, Mckenna LOVES it!

First ride!

 

 

 

While I am glad Mckenna feels comfortable (a little TOO comfortable, Omar says she forgets to hold on sometimes!) The little one and I will hang out in the garage. At least until Omar is feeling really comfortable riding again and is ready for my extra weight on the back!

 

 

 

Also fun times shooting super reflective helmets!

Turtles!

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I totally just swam with a sea turtle!

It was amazing and I can’t wait to do it again! One off the life list!

Guess who got a new underwater camera???

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This girl!

 

My WONDERFUL husband bought me one last night and we couldn’t WAIT to take it for a spin!

So today started out a bit of a disaster.  We planned on going to Hanauma Bay for the morning after dropping the kids off at school (do you even know how awesome that is?!) but guess what? It’s closed on Tuesdays! This is something that we didn’t realize until driving there, so we decide to hit up our other favorite, Shark’s Cove on the North Shore.

Couple things about me:

I have a pretty good memory when it comes to maps.

I am stubborn as hell and don’t like to admit being wrong.

I actually LIKE getting lost/figuring how roads connect etc.

And one thing about my husband:

he highly dislikes being lost and my constant assurance that I ‘totally know where we are.’

 

Unfortunately I had left my Oahu book in the other car and we didn’t bring the GPS because we knew where we were going.  So I suggest we follow the highway around the island instead of backtracking and taking our usual central island route. I knew you could drive around the entire island but I think I may have misremembered (totally a word) quite how large the eastern half of the island is. So while the drive was beautiful, I don’t recommend doing it when you have plans and kids to pick up at 2!

Anyways, a couple snaps from our scenic drive:

 

 

Thank GOD we had an awesome snorkeling day, trust me we needed it!

Shark’s Cove was great, we saw a TON of stuff and I put my new camera to use.

 

I put all of my fish photos here to try and track everything we’ve seen and to help anyone who needs a hand with fish identification!

 

Love this place!

 

Why I Can Never Be An Extreme Couponer (besides the fact that I am lazy)

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I read LOTS of blogs and a few of them like to post pictures of their crazy shopping trip where they bought $100 worth of stuff for $10. Which is fantastic, I would love to be able to get $100 worth of groceries for so little money. The problem is they are usually buying $100 worth of crap. No real food, just weird combinations of stuff.

I love to use coupons, but I learned very early on that I can only use coupons for stuff that I am already planning on buying. I have no loyalty when it comes to toothpaste, for instance, so I’ll use a coupon to buy the cheapest one. Buying something that you don’t normally buy or use just because you have a coupon doesn’t make sense. (Well it does for the company putting out the coupon!)

But really? My biggest issue with it is the insane consumption of stuff. Many of these couponers find coupons that are worth more than the actual product and buy 8 or 10 of that item so they get overage, basically taking extra money off the bill.  I get the theory, buy this stuff for free and get money off other stuff you are buying.  But it’s just so wasteful! Just how many bottles of vitamins or air fresheners do you need?

I am really to the point now where I am trying to stop buying stuff just for the sake of buying it. All of that stuff just ends up in a landfill and didn’t need to be purchased in the first place. I know I may sound like a ranting crazy person but I just wish people would look at all of this stuff they are buying and realize that they need very little of it.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to research compost bins.

 

Finally! A REAL Dog Park!

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So, we have one happy puppy after finally getting him to the dog park on base.

Our yard is pretty tiny and there isn’t much room for him to run.  So we try to get him up to the park at least every other day to run and get some energy out.

Always on the bottom of the dog pile. What a baby. Don’t worry, he loves every minute of it!

 

 

 

 

I wish I had taken a better picture of the dog park itself, it’s nice and big and has a separate fenced in area for smaller dogs. Bowser is just happy he can run and run and run.

 

Even happy to share his water bottle with a friend!

 

 

And at the end of an hour he is tired and ready to nap for hours. Perfect!

(Dog Park is located on Radford Drive near Doris Miller subdivision, next to the golf course.)