Pictures from Hawaii

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Sept. 17, 2008

I can't believe it has been over 30 days since I last gave you an update of the happenings in our lives. I am really going to have to pull deep to remember way back to the first or second week of August. We spent one weekend with family to help my aunt and uncle celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary. It was great having all the family together and of course I took pictures of us all weekend and then put together a scrapbook for my aunt and uncle of the pictures.

We passed up tickets to the Bristol Fall Night Race and going to Richmond this year for the NASCAR races to opt instead to take a 7-day Cruise of the Hawaiian Islands to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary! We had friends that went to the Bristol Race and had a great time. And from what I hear, it is a good thing (due to traffic issues) that we weren't in Richmond this year!!

Which leads me to our Cruise and the details........ Words cannot express how good the time was that we had. My pictures will not do the beauty of the Islands justice as we look at them today, but they do bring back fond memories of an excellent time aboard the NCL Price of America. We had such a good time, it was hard to come home. I took over 1400 pictures that week and just got my prints back (340 of them), so I can now begin putting them in choronological order in my scrapbook. Some of the high points of the trip were the exotic tropical garden excursion, the Maui Ocean Center, the Poi'Pu Beach trip in Kuaui, the majestic mountain ranges, the clear blue waters and beautiful sunrises and sunsets every day. Each morning I found myself on the balcony of our stateroom watching the sunrise over the horizon as we pulled into another port at another exotic island for more adventures and pleasures.

On our Anniversary (Sept. 3) we attended a special Cake and Champayne Celebration for all couples celebrating an Anniversary or on their honeymoon, then we had a fantastic dinner which included for dessert, chocolate fondue for two and then a special Anniversary Cake. From there we had formal pictures taken and went to a Wedding Vow Renewal Ceremony (Hawaiian Style) and exchanged Hawaiian shell leis and vows and traditions of the Hawaiian people. It was so meaningful and special and appropriate. Earlier we made real orchid leis that we wore to an authentic Luau which included a great meal and the depiction of a traditional luau telling the story of how the early Hawaiian people came from Polynesia to settled on the islands of Hawaii. It was exceptional.

The whole trip was totally amazing and a trip of a lifetime that we will cherish for a long time to come.

(Hopefully, I will get pictures posted for you all to see, real soon!)

Until then,
We will see you on the road. We've got some trips planned in the RV for October and November!!

Look Who's FOUR already!

Well, on July 30th, Elani turned 4. Hard to believe that it has been 4 years since that little one graced us with her presence in this world. She was so tiny, but oh so precious. It is very hard to explain how a small child can take such a large spot in your heart and lives, but that is exactly what this little one has done from day 1.

She spends a lot of time with us, especially on the weekends.

We hosted a little Birthday Party for her on the 27th of July so that she could spend the day with her parents on her actual birthday.

Life just wouldn't be the same without her in our lives. It's hard to think of what our lives were like before she arrived.....

Anyway, Happy Birthday Elani - Grammy and Paway love you lots!!

Elani's Swim Lessons

For part of Elani's up-coming Birthday present, we got her 8 swim lessons at the RDV Sportsplex. She loves to be in the water and swim every chance she gets, so to be safe, we decided this would be a good investment. SHE LOVED THEM!! She started Monday, July 21st and had a lesson every day through Thursday and then again the following week - Monday through Thursday. Rudy would pick her up, give her a snack and I would meet them at the Sportsplex for the lesson. Thirty minutes of intense swimming really tired her out and made her very hungry after every lesson. She learned so much too! She has a very strong kick and loves to swim with her head in the water (if she has her goggles). Well worth the investment of our time and $$. She wasn't ready for the lessons to end.

July 18-20 Weekend Trip

This was suppose to be a nice romantic motorcycle-ride weekend away for Rudy and me, but on Friday at Noon (when we were suppose to leave) the storms rolled in and the skies got very dark, so we quickly changed plans and packed a few more clothes and loaded it in the car instead.
Needless to say, I was a little bummed, but as I was trying to make the best of the situation, I thought that at least Rudy and I were alone and we could relax and enjoy the ride and time together.
We drove to St. Augustine where we had reservations for two nights. We enjoyed relaxing times and seeing new things we hadn't visited on previous trips to this area.
Again, I am thankful that we can do things like this together and we are able to have some quiet time with just the two of us (no pictures were taken to document this trip - can you believe it?) p.s. The trip was romantic, even if we had to take the car!!

4th of July Holiday

July 1 - Tuesday - We left bright and early for the west coast of Florida to bask in the sun and catch some waves of the Gulf of Mexico in the Shark's Teeth Capitol - Venice, Florida. We arrived and got the house all settled in and groceries put away, grabbed a bite to eat and hit the sandy beaches of Manasota Beach (just around the corner from where we were staying). The afternoon was glorious bright and sunny and the water temperature was perfect at approximately 84 degrees. After finding a few Shark's teeth, shells and attaching a bucket full of sand to our bodies, we headed back to showers and some rest!!

Oh, did I forget to mention that we had Elani along with us for this trip. So when I say that we came back to the house to rest, I mean it.... She really keeps me going at the beach - She loves being in the water and when it's time to leave, we have to drag her out. Don't get me wrong, we have a blast with her and I love seeing her with so much exploration and desire to learn and see it all!

On the fourth of July we went to Venice beach and joined a large crowd of people to watch the spectacular light show of fireworks over the Gulf after enjoying a beautiful glowing sunset.

One day on our way to the Beach we saw Bobby Labonte's show car being set up so we stopped for a few pictures and Elani got a die-cast car, too. We couldn't pass this opportunity up since this is Rudy's favorite NASCAR Driver.


We stayed here until Sunday July 6th and every day was the same - get up in the morning, eat breakfast, hit the beach for a few hours and then home to rest. We visited several different beaches while in the area and even found a Sprinkler Park one afternoon for Elani to play in (as if she didn't get enough water at the beach). When we got home we brought with us one little brown girl. Elani's parents were so surprised with her change of color!! She had a blast and so did we.


Janine came and joined us on Friday for a couple of days and we watched the Coca-Cola 400 in Daytona in our lazy boy recliners eating good food and relishing in the air conditioning of the room!

What Happened to July???

Can you believe that I've let the whole month of July flash past me without a single post? So many things were going on, so many activities, fun things to do and places to be..... I've got my day timer out so I can make sure and add every detail here with pictures too. (And we didn't even go to a NASCAR race the whole month, so that can't be my excuse for not updating).