It's March ALREADY????

February was truly a short month, and I managed to go the whole month without updating you on the adventures of Dana and Sophie!

Thank you everyone who sent birthday cards and presents! Sophie and I quickly reached our bliss point with all the chocolate and other yummy goodies! For Valentine's Day, we celebrated with all things red... Sophie's California Cousins, Hannah and McKenna, sent her this new favorite toy:



On the household front, the bad news is that the old washing machine I inherited finally died. The good news is that my plans to remodel my laundry room / pantry are now at the top of my To Do list! A propane plumber comes this week to hook up both the laundry and kitchen for gas, and then I'll put in new commercial shelving and the new washer and gas dryer. Yay! The kitchen remodel might have to wait until next year, but I'll be one step closer to cooking with gas!

 

It looks as if I'll be in San Jose the first week of April. I just paid for my ticket, so this time there's no taking it back. I have to work at Thermo all week, but I'll find time to see a few friends and catch a Sharks game.

Aloha y'all!

Baby Gecko

Look who was peeking out at me from one of my giant hibiscus this morning...

Megan and Shannon do Hawaii

Megan and Shannon

Meeting Sophie

Waiting for midnight on NYE

Swimming with dolphins

Paddleboarding

Up close with manta rays

(Megan took these underwater photos with her new GoPro camera.)



Ah... this is living...

Happy New Year!

Barbara, Steve, Megan, and Megan's friend Shannon came to celebrate the New Year. Sophie LOVED the two teenaged girls!
We stayed home on New Year's Eve and celebrated with Donna and Steve from across the street. As expected, the neighborhood put on a fireworks show for us. Most of us managed to stay up until midnight (we had to wake the girls for the toast).

Barbara, Megan, and Steve...


Sophie the Photobomber...


Megan with the Ali'i Drive Macaw...


If you've ever wondered what the habitat of two 16-year old girls looks like...


It's a very scary place. I recommend entering only when absolutely necessary.

Tonight, Megan and Steve go night snorkeling with the manta rays! Barbara and I plan to watch from the hotel bar.

Aloha y'all!

Jen and Donna and Manta Rays, oh MY!

Jen and Donna came for a week in mid December.



They snorkeled every day...



Donna was very serious about her snorkeling and convinced us to go snorkeling at night with manta rays. Jen and I were both a little resistant, but it was SO MUCH FUN!

We donned wet suits and rode on a catamaran with 25 other adventurers out to a spot near the Sheraton where the underwater lights attract krill which in turn attract the rays. There were more rays than we could count and they were HUGE. Our boat crew said rays can get to 16 feet across. Some of the ones we saw SEEMED that large but probably weren't. Donna took these pictures:







Aloha y'all!

Turkey Day

Sophie and I chilled out at home on Thanksgiving Day. We observed my usual TDay morning rituals - watching the Macy's Parade in bed and then the National Dog Show while cooking all the yummy standards.

Mr Turkey Before


Mr Turkey After


Sophie Watching the Dog Show


We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Aloha!

Beth's Visit

Beth was here last week, and we all had a ton-o-fun. Sophie fell in love with Beth and demanded Beth's full attention every chance she got.

Beth and I visited many beaches - white sand, black sand, green sand. We played in some really rough waves and took many tumbles in the surf. On one of those tumbles, I lost my prescription sunglasses and enlisted the aid of Strange Men Wearing Goggles. Much to my surprise, the glasses were found! We dumped an amazing amount of sand out of our suits after that adventure. Three days later, I was still digging sand out of my bellybutton.

We saw turtles. LOTS of turtles.



We watched foolish young people jump 50 feet off the old pier at South Point. We were not the LEAST bit tempted to try it ourselves. The wind must have been 50 miles an hour that day. We returned with much dust in our eyes and ears.

We walked a few miles along the old fish ponds - sometimes on sand and sometimes on sharp lava. Along the way, we debated over the need for the "No Nudity" signs that we saw along this path.



We went to the Kona Cultural Festival at Keauhou and tasted many local coffees, ate mystery food, and rubbed elbows with a packed crowd.

We had the mandatory shave ice on Ali'i Drive. Beth insists that this giant pile of sweetened ice before her is only a "medium".



It was the total tourist adventure.

Aloha y'all!