Honolulu Historic District Walking Tour

After we got the "all clear" signal on Friday (tsunami warning over), we started off on a walking tour of the Honolulu historic district. As we were heading towards the historic district from our hotel, we saw a building surrounded by lights, cameras and multiple trucks and vans. Based on what we saw, we assumed they were filming a small portion of Hawaii Five-O; since it sounds neat, we're sticking with that theory.Lottie has an easy walk and a great view. However, it's a bit more tiring for Amy.Our first stop was The Cathedral of St. Andrew. The inside of the church was very European since the Hawaiian monarch King Kamehameha IV was influenced by the grandeur of the Church of England. The French-Gothic structure was shipped in pieces from England and was reassembled in Honolulu.The stained glass windows were really beautiful. In the photo below can you see Jesus on the surf board?We next walked by Washington Place, formerly the governor's residence. The Greek revival-style home got its name from the U.S. ambassador who once stayed there and told so many stories about President George Washington that people started calling the home Washington Place. We did have time to pose for a quick picture.Our next stop was the Hawaii state capitol. It's an interesting looking building containing a lot of symbolism related to Hawaii. From a distance the building is supposed to look like an island supported by palm tree shaped pillars.Inside the House of Representatives chamber, the large wall hanging represents a Hawaiian warrior's shield.In this picture, the walls on either side are supposed to represent the sides of a volcano. See them? The two cone shaped chambers house the legislative bodies and in the inner courtyard is a 600,000-tile mosaic of the sea.As we headed out the back, we got a picture of the girls with Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last queen. What a good looking crew!Here's a picture of Iolani Palace, one of two royal palaces. The other one is in Kona on the Big Island.We next had to stop and get a picture of us with King Kamehameha I. He was the king who united the Hawaiian islands under a single ruler.If you've ever watched Hawaii Five-O, you've seen this picture. Honestly, it was smaller in person that it appears on TV. This is Aliiolani Hale, the "House of Heavenly Kings", which houses the State Judiciary Building. Originally planned as a palace, it is the site of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by prominent sugar planters who established a provisional government.After lots of walking, talking and picture taking, we arrived at the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch. It was delicious! We even got to eat in a train car to Adam's delight.Now for the walk back to the Hale Koa. Did someone say NAP?

Tsunami Breakfast!

Late Thursday night we got an announcement over the hotel intercom that there had been a significant earthquake off the coast of Japan; a tsunami wave was expected to hit the Hawaiian Islands in the early hours of Friday morning. The hotel said we would have a "vertical evacuation." Well - we woke up and were trying to decide: 1) what is a vertical evacuation? and 2) do we need to pack our things to get ready to leave?

I went down to the hotel lobby and learned that a vertical evacuation meant the lower floors (1-3) would be moved to a higher level. Since we were on the 4th floor, we didn't need to do anything but stay put. We went back to sleep - at least for a while.

We were asked to stay in our rooms until the local authorities gave the "all clear" signal or lowered the emergency status from a warning to a watch. Since the warning was still in place on Friday morning, we had a tsunami breakfast on the balcony of our room.

Adam and Lottie are enjoying a variety of "goodies."
I'm trying to find the right kind of "fish" for Lottie.
We had a "breakfast with a view" and were ready to head out soon after the warning was lifted. There was little to no damage in our area with only six foot waves.

Oahu - Day 2

On Thursday afternoon an Air Force jazz band played at the Hale Koa. They were really good, and we enjoyed their music. No, you're not seeing double; the trumpet and trombone players are twins.After listening to the band, we went for a walk around the area. In a park near the hotel, Adam and Lottie decided to climb a banyan tree. Miss Daredevil, Lottie, is leading the way! Further down the street we got to see double rainbows in the distance. I hope you're able to see both of them in the picture.We walked by the military museum. They had tanks and guns on display in the front. Adam and Lottie enjoyed playing on the guns.
As we walked further downtown, we stopped to hear a live Hawaiian band. The band and hula dancer were good - at least by my standards.While we were listening to the music, Adam and Lottie got to make friends with some visiting Japanese.We had another busy but fun day on Oahu!

Ohau - day 1

We (Amy, Adam, Lottie, Rosie and Bob) arrived in Honolulu on Wednesday, 09-MAR, and went straight to our hotel, the Hale Koa. The Hale Koa is a hotel for active and retired military and DOD families. We tagged along with Amy, Adam and Lottie. We're sorry Chris wasn't able to join us, but thanks, Chris, for making our stay possible. The Hale Koa is a very nice hotel. Here's a picture of the wing we stayed in.Also, the plaque describing what Hale Koa means and the funding for the hotel is interesting.Since we arrived in Honolulu at about 4:15 pm Hawaii time, on our regular time it was getting close to bed time for all of us - especially Adam and Lottie. However, we did manage to stay up until a decent hour. The next morning we were all ready for breakfast. Lottie enjoyed her bacon; she's a "meat-a-saurus."
Adam was getting his knife ready to cut a strawberry - which were delicious.
Lottie is becoming a "photo-bug" and enjoys taking pictures. Here's a good picture she took of Amy.
While the gang took an afternoon nap, Rosie and I enjoyed walking around the hotel grounds. The flowers were outstanding.
Here I am standing under a banyan tree. You could actually walk through the roots of the tree.
We also walked down the beach from the Hale Koa. Looking back we got a great shot of Diamond Head.
We had a fun and relaxing first day. Don't miss the next episode - the Tsunami Breakfast!

March Visit To Dickinson

Gram Rosie (aka Gam, Gammy, Dam) flew to Houston to babysit while Karen had a busy weekend as coordinator for a local bike race.

Logan and Kayleigh had been invited to their first birthday party for a neighbor boy. The party was held at a water park. After lunch of pizza, the kids enjoyed black iced cupcakes. Logan enjoyed his cupcake while Kayleigh decided to wear hers. Since Gram got in the water with the kids, there are no water park pictures. However, both the kids enjoyed the water slide but weren’t too happy with the rather brisk “lazy river”.

Bapa drove down on Sunday after having run the Little Rock half marathon on Sunday morning.

On Monday we all went to the Houston Zoo.

Karen loves to watch her kids.

Logan and Gram fit inside the root system of one of the trees.

Logan and Kayleigh watch the huge fish. Are they dreaming of the ones that they’ll catch with Bapa?

Children are allowed to brush the goats at the petting zoo. Logan multitasks by brushing this goat as they walk across the paddock.

Kayleigh is armed with a brush and is looking for her first victim…er customer. Isn't this one of the best groomed goats you’ve ever seen?

Both Kayleigh and Logan made music on the African drums.

Bapa helped Logan ride the merry go round while Gram helps Kayleigh hold on.

Back home in Dickinson, Gram enjoys reading to Logan and Kayleigh.

We had a great visit in Dickinson before we left for Hawaii on Wednesday.

Garvan Gardens Spring Flowers

On Saturday, 26-FEB, we celebrated everyone's birthday but Bob's with breakfast at the Colonial Pancake and Waffle House in Hot Springs with Wayne and Delma Jensen. Afterwards we went to Garvan Woodland Gardens to look at daffodils. We weren't disappointed. The daffodils were beautiful. The tulips were up but only a few were in bloom.

Here are some pictures of the daffodils.Here we are posing in the daffodils.
Here are daffodils with Lake Hamilton in the background.A few hardy tulips were up. Here's a "hardy guy"--or gal.
We also saw some red and white camellia still in bloom.
The hyacinth were also colorful.
We'll be returning soon to see the tulips. Hopefully they'll be as beautiful as they typically are.

SNOW!

On Wednesday, 09-FEB, we got about 6" of snow in Hot Springs Village, AR. This is the second significant snowfall we've had this year and the 5th measurable snowfall in 2011 - very unusual for Arkansas. Our local weatherman said the average yearly snowfall is 2.5"; we're well ahead of average.

We got out and shoveled the driveway after the snow had stopped. Rosie's working on the snow. We quickly noted that our HSV driveway is MUCH bigger than our driveway back in West Chester, OH.The view down the street was beautiful.Our little Japanese lantern in the front was covered with snow.The view out the back onto Isabella golf course was really pretty also.The birds were really busy at the feeder. Food was hard to find.On Thursday morning we took Sam for a walk down the golf course. He really seems to enjoy walking in the snow. Before walking, we finished shoveling a small pile of snow in the driveway; Sam decided it was tasty. Here he is eating a chunk of "snow ice cream".The walk down the 4th hole of Isabella was really beautiful with the snow still in the trees.Sam is taking a look down the 5th hole.We saw a small deer (outlined by box) looking for something to eat.As the temperature warms, the snow is disappearing quickly. We love Arkansas snows - really beautiful but disappear quickly (usually).