And we each went home with a souvenir from Hawaii...

One of us went home with a cool tattoo. The other went home with a wicked cold sore. I'll leave it to you to guess who went home with what.

Sophia turns 3!!!

Before I left for Hawaii I got to spend time with my goddaughter, Sophia, who turned 3. I can't believe she's 3. Steve & Heidi had a small get together for the birthday girl who got to do whatever she wanted (well, almost...)

Here come's dad with the cake

Making a Wish

Al & Genie at the birthday party

I call the next set of pictures Birthday Girl Bliss

That's right, Sophia, eat that chocolate cake.

My Goddaughter - Sophia

Van & Big Sister Sophia

Hawaii Tour - July '09

Well, I'm back and rested from the trip to Hawaii. Carolyn, my cousin from Houston, came with me. We had 2 wonderful weeks in Hawaii. Hot, humid with lots of beach. And since I gained 10 pounds from this trip, the food must have been good. See below for pics.

Shrimp Scampi

Nothing like the shrimp scampi at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. Carolyn & I loved it so much we went 3 times. Yes, I felt sorry for the guy sitting next to me on the plane.

Maui

One of the first things we did in Hawaii is take a short trip to Maui. Sheri made all the arrangements for a 3 day trip. Very nice. When we landed we headed over to the Haliimaile General Store for lunch. Ono food. We stayed in Lahaina, walked along the beach strip, ate tons of food, drove the north coast, ate at Sam Sato's, and bought manju/mochi from Home Maid Bakery. Looks like we ate a lot, huh? That's cuz we did. At least I did.

Dean

Shrimp Curry

I have no idea where this is on Maui...

Dean & Sheri

Iao Valley

Kakela Beach

For our first couple of beach outings, we went to Kakela Beach in Hauula. The beach was empty and the water was good - no strong currents. But the problem was that by 1pm, the sun would be blocked by clouds coming in . While we loved it, we needed to find an alternate beach.

Kicking back at the beach...

Beach Visitor

Love this beach!

Waimanalo Beach Park. Love it. We had our routine for this beach. We'd get up in the morning, do work on the computer (for me - grading, for Carolyn - Farm Town) then we'd head to the beach. We'd stop at the 7-11 in Waimanalo for a Super Big Gulp and snacks then head to the beach. It's a formula that worked.