Tag Archives: beach

Restored

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I think that everyone’s idea of Hawaii is living beachside all day every day. I wish. Unfortunately life gets in the way and I go WEEKS without going to the beach. It’s pretty sad I know. I was born and raised in California so I love all things beach and ocean related. It’s a crime to not enjoy what I have minutes from my front door.
After a hectic week and weekend, I was once again driving my daughter all around island. This time to sell Girl Scout cookies for her troop. It was ALLLLLLL the way out in Kapolei (silly it’s only 25 min from my house but feels so far… aaahhh island life) and I didn’t want to drive home then back out again in a few hours to pick her up. I am a champion time waster and was going to hit up Costco and Target and get some lunch.

After dropping her with her troop I went to check out Costco, pure madness on a Sunday afternoon.

I decided to get something to eat and find someplace to eat it. Commence drive around randomly to find beach access. I pulled up satellite Google Maps on my phone and started driving through the industrial area looking for beach access. You HAVE to allow beach access in Hawaii. Finally, I spot surf!

 
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There is nothing like having a beach all to yourself.

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It was exactly what I needed. Hot sand, super loud crashing waves and a big ass coke to drink.
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I couldn’t have picked a better way to spend my afternoon. This was way better than Target therapy!
Lots of pretty tidepools to explore although Hawaii tidepools are pretty tame compared to California. I saw a bunch of tiny gobies and convict tangs and some really pretty feather dusters (my first time seeing these in the wild actually!)
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It was a reminder to myself that I have to stop taking all this awesomeness around me for granted. An hour on the beach recharged me. (Plus I have to be able to post beach pictures in March to annoy all of my cold climate friends)
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Another Boring Beach Day

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Good ol’ Ko’olina Lagoon. Can’t beat this beach for great weather and calm water. While my sister was hear we had a run of rainy weather up on the north shore and windward side of the island, where the best beaches happen to be! We ended up heading out west to lagoon 4 for some snorkeling and sun. The snorkeling isn’t terrible, I went out once and saw a decent variety considering the lagoons are manmade. The last time we were here a turtle had snuck in but we weren’t so lucky this time. All in all, you really can’t go wrong at too many beaches in Hawaii…

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Mckenna and her aunty Steph. These two were having way too much fun out there.DSCF1460a

 

And apparently getting a good shot of your feet while you are floating is difficult because I had about 20 bloopers on my camera… Mckenna did manage to catch a cute pic of her footsies.DSCF1469a

 

I don’t think he was grumpy? Not that I remember anyways…. tired and ready to go home though.
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Also! We were getting ready to pack up when this woman came over freaking out, she had been sitting next to us with some friends and had left a little while before. Apparently she took off her rings when putting sunscreen on her kids and set them on the blanket (!!!) When they left her friend shook the blanket off while packing up not knowing the rings were on it. The lady was FRANTICALLY looking for them so a bunch of us starting to help sift sand. We finally convinced her to talk to one of the marina staff which she did and they were able to find someone that had a metal detector to come help her and for us to stop (I guess what we were doing was possibly making it worse) We left before the guy got there so I don’t know what happened but I hope she found her rings! Anyways, that is my PSA for the day, leave your rings at home if you don’t want to get sunscreen on them!

Christmas Photo Shoot

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I think pretty much everyone has gotten our Christmas cards so I can share some of the pictures I took. The kids did GREAT for me (especially Mckenna, she does love a photo shoot) and Omar only took minimal yelling at to keep in line! I love, love, love these pictures.

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Sorry, I win for cutest kids on the planet!

Birthday Girl!

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Yay, it’s my birthday!

So I had no plans for my day, was just hanging out at home, but my mom would hear none of that!

She told me to get my booty outta the house and get some alone time in at the beach. I hemmed and hawed but finally got into gear and was off.

All I have to say is: Thanks, Mom. Genius plan.

 

I also stopped to grab myself some birthday lunch (T-dragon roll for the win). All in all not a bad birthday if I do say so myself.

 

Came home to some surprises left on my doorstep! Nothing like flowers to make a girl feel a little better about getting older!

From my darling husband. Man I love me some tulips! They are just starting to open and are beautiful.

Also got some sweets:

 

 

Mckenna was confused by the box. It said on the side: ‘contents may disappear after opening’.

From my mom I got some fabulously fragrant lilies.

 

Every time I have fresh flowers in my house I ask myself why I don’t have fresh flowers more often. (And then of course realize it’s because they are way too expensive!)

So even though it just ended up being me and the kids for my birthday, it was a pretty good day. Looking forward to next year when I’ll have my husband home to celebrate with.

Kaneohe Bay – Pyramid Rock Beach

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One of the first things you learn when you move to Oahu is how the island is divided. Down the center of the island runs a mountain range (gotta love all that volcanic activity!). The north eastern side of the divide is the windward side, it gets all of the winds and moisture. The southwestern side (where we live) is the leeward side, not as cool and much drier. This becomes very apparent when you go from one side to another. I LOVE the windward side! It is so lush and green and every time I see it I feel like I am in Jurassic Park (because it was filmed here!)

 

 

 

This is the tunnel that cuts through the mountains, it is fairly new and is much easier than having to drive all the way around or over! And when you pop out of the tunnel this is what greets you:

 

The hills all have those distinct ridges due to erosion, all of the rain has carved the rock.

 

 

 

We were looking for someplace to snorkel over on the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay but there wasn’t really anything suitable so we headed to Pyramid Rock Beach. It was a beautiful breezy day but the surf was really rough and we were advised by the lifeguard to stay shallow and keep our kids close.

 

 

Yes, I know it is all beach and ocean pictures all the time but seriously, this has been my life! We have spent a disgusting amount of time at the beach, but isn’t that what you are supposed to do when you live in Hawaii?

 

 

My gorgeous girl. This was the only picture I have where she isn’t posing like she’s trying out for America’s Next Top Model.

 

 

Oh this boy, he melts my heart.

 

 

Pyramid Rock, I wanted to go see if we could hike up the stairs but as you can see it’s REALLY far away and I am incredibly lazy. I bet the view from up there is great! 

 

 

 

Super crowded beach, I don’t know how we deal with the masses of people. Seriously though, I love going to beaches on base.

 

 

 

 

 

We also stalked a crab… cutest thing ever.

 

 

And the weirdo dog that was happy as hell to eat the leftover ice from the ice chest. Also please ignore my dirt back yard. My gardening stuff isn’t here yet, give me a couple of months and it will be beautiful!

 

Mother’s Day Weekend Recap

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We had a fun weekend, took the dog to the beach, went to feria in Jerez, then out to dinner for Mother’s Day at Blanca Paloma, aka my happy place.

My kidlets were threatened that they better be on their best behavior so I could enjoy my favorite dinner, the beautiful day, and the sunshine. They did great, iPods and Nintendo DS’s helped.

 

Me and crazy pants. He demanded a silly photo.

The salad of my dreams. Fresh mozzarella, fresh pesto, sun-dried tomatoes. So, so good. I also had some bruchetta with tomato, provolone and feta.  No pictures of that because it was inhaled.

Happy Mom’s Day to me! I swear I don’t always have bitch face!

On our way out, the beach was PACKED when we got there and empty by the time we left. It was a beautiful day!

On Saturday a friend of mine and I took our boxers to the beach. This whole area is under water at high tide but at low tide there is a TON of room for them to run.  Swimming isn’t allowed so it stays empty and we can let the dogs run and they don’t bother anyone.

 

Bowser decided to cool off and get into the water. He’s never done this before, but once he realized how much it cooled him off he didn’t want to get out!  I don’t even know if he can swim! We’ll have to see this summer!

All three puppies! Bowser loves his buddies!

In the amount of time that we were there (maybe an hour total walking) I got sunburned! This Spanish sun is NO JOKE!