Surf's Up!!!!!!!!!!

For the past week, we've been having really big waves -- 30-40 feet! All the state-owned beaches on the Kona Coast have been closed, so I haven't been able to get close enough to take any decent pictures or videos, but I can easily see the crashing waves from my house. This weekend, it dawned on me that Sophie's dog beach isn't a state beach, so we took a chance...

It was way too risky to walk all the way down to our regular beach, so I filmed this from the cliff above. Sophie stayed safely in the truck and kept a watchful eye on me. 

When I pan to the left, watch the point in the background. ((The dog beach is that cove between the distant point and where I'm standing.))

Aloha y'all!

Megan and Shannon and the Helicopter

These crazy girls actually CHOSE a "doorless" helicopter for their trip around the lava and waterfalls near Hilo.

This is the lava flow that all the news has been talking about:

Climbing Mauna Kea

On New Year's Day, we drove up to watch the sunset from Mauna Kea. The very top was closed because of high winds. We climbed the cinder cone (Pu'u Kalepeamoa) at the visitor's center with a few dozen other brave souls. It was about 40 degrees with 80+ MPH winds. We were dressed for the cold, but nothing could have prepared us for the wind. Barbara and I clung to each other for fear of being blown off the top of the peak. I have Never. Been. So. Cold.

Dana and Barbara climbing the cinder cone:

Here we are at the top of the cinder cone (about 10,000 feet elevation). We were all dressed like homeless people wrapped in blankets. That tiny dot in the sky is the full moon:

Barbara and Dana holding on to each other for dear life:

Megan and Shannon anchored against rocks for safety:

Steve - the only one brave enough to let go:

Megan's hair tells the tale of the wind. That's Shannon doing her Miley Cyrus impersonation.

Sunset views from the top. Yes, that's the full moon at the top of the picture:

We will never forget this New Year's Day. We are all happy to be alive.

New Year's Eve

Once again, Barbara, Steve, Megan, and Shannon were here for their annual New Year's visit. We had New Year's Eve dinner here at home and watched the neighbors shoot off fireworks. It's the Wild Wild West here on New Year's Eve!

Between Christmas and New Year's Eve, this is what we see at Costco:

EVERY cart except mine is loaded for bare:

We had a lovely dinner with a few good friends, and most of us were in bed before midnight. 

Steve C, Donna, Megan, Barbara, Steve S, and Dana

Barbara and Steve

Dana and Barbara

Happy Birthday, Sophie

Saturday the 13th was Sophie's 2nd birthday.

Her California cousins -- Hannah, McKenna, and Walter --  sent her indestructible dog toys, which she promptly destroyed. This made her VERY happy.

This toy:                                                 Quickly became this:

The rope toy presented more of a challenge.
Instructions for playing with a rope toy...

Step 1: Grasp rope with teeth

Step 2: Get a firm grasp with hands

Step 3: Begin pulling...

Step 4: KEEP pulling!

SUCCESS: Notice tiny thread between teeth.

Mele Kalikimaka!!!

It's Christmas time again and I am miraculously ahead of the curve! I have already finished my decorations and shopping, and I'm doing my best to get Christmas cards to everyone.

This year, I went with a small tree and a tropical theme...

In the front yard, we have vacationing penguins enjoying the wonderful Hawaii weather...

Mele Kalikimaka!

Tenting for Termites

I now live in the tropics. Bugs love the tropics. Termites are bugs. Ergo...

Was it a Halloween prank? Did the circus come to town? I'm sure very few people were even curious, as these tents are a common sight. Everyone here gets termites sooner or later.

It took a week to pack up the house, move out for two days, and then move everything back. And by everything, I mean:

• Anything edible from the kitchen and pantry, and also anything from the bathroom that might ever be ingested - toothpaste, medications, cough syrup, even aspirin..., and all the dog/fish/bird food.
• All my lanai plants. Apparently the gas is very hard on orchids in particular.
• I have huge flower pots that serve as fish ponds on both the upper and lower lanais. I had to relocate the fish to a makeshift pond far away from the house. They did not go willingly.

Sophie spent two days at Paws having fun. Except for all the commotion of the packing and unpacking, she wasn't bothered by this at all. I spent the one night at the Royal Kona trying not to worry about a thing. Here was the view from my room:

Aloha y'all!