Halloween

Grayson was Batman

 Tolman a Skeleton

 They were SO excited to go trick or treating...

 Before

 During

 After. We had a fun night!

Hawaii Farewell and Misc

Missing Hawaii already...  The time we spent together as a family made it all worth it.  What an incredible opportunity!  So glad we did it and I would love to spend some time there again.

Here are the boys in our room. It was a 2 bedroom with a bathroom adjoining them.  Not missing the 6 week hotel room to say the least.  Nor my limited cooking capabilities!  Nor the fact that my diaper bag with my wallet/camera got stolen in our last few days at the swap meet. :(  Thank goodness for documenting my trip via blogging and saving pictures to our computer!

Grayson and his friend Davin!  He had a brother Kael (who was Tolman's age) too.  We were neighbors at the hotel. Such a blessing! They made hotel life much more enjoyable.  Behind the boys is the courtyard area where they would play in the afternoons.  Davin's family is stationed in Hawaii and moved into their home while we were there and had us over. Sweetest family ever!

Playing on the bars at Hickam AFB.

 Haircuts and suckers at the NEX. And the amazing H3 Tunnel the boys LOVED!!

 The boys were fascinated with Hawaii's birds (especially the red crested cardinals) and the snails outside our hotel (nasty!).

 And what do you do when your time in Hawaii is running out?

 Go to the beach!!

 Bellows of course.

Shaka to Hawaiian tans, shaved ice, hikes, beach life, great family (H Fam), friends (M Fam and Kilie) and adventures!

Now on to home cooked meals, time change, and new posts from Texas!

Valley of the Temples

 Here you can find the gorgeous Byodo-In Temple. Established for the 100 year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii.  This one in Hawaii is replica of the 950+ yr old Byodo-In Temple in Japan.

Boys poising out front.

The TV shows Lost and Hawaii Five-O filmed here.

 The temple is a non-practicing Buddhist temple.  You had to take off your shoes to enter.

 Before entering you can ring a bell. The boys loved that part!

 The grounds were beautiful and home to wild peacocks, black swans and Japanese koi carp.

 Another highlight for the boys were the fish and....

Getting a souvenir penny!  In this picture Tolman's hiding it from me.

Dolphin Encounter

For our last full weekend we decided to let Grayson meet a dolphin! 

 We went to SeaLife Park, which is a small-scale SeaWorld.  Grayson and I did the Dolphin Encounter.  We took turns petting, kissing, feeding and dancing with the dolphin.

 Grayson dislikes kissing in general these days, so getting him to kiss the dolphin was a big deal!

 I had fun dancing, but nearly fell off the step! They are big!

Before we left, we saw what else the park had to offer. The highlight was their wholphin (1/4 false killer whale, 3/4 atlantic bottle-nose dolphin). There were sea turtles, manta rays and lots of fish!

The sharks were the boys' favorite. We saw some penguins as well.

Grayson and Tolman on their pirate ship playground.

 They had a great time!  We were glad we went.

Punchbowl,Tantalus & Pali

 We took a morning walk at Punchbowl, also known as The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.  It was very peaceful.  I loved the quote in the center "The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom".  It serves as a memorial to the US Armed Forces men and women of 20th-century wars, including Pearl Harbor.

View of Diamond Head from just outside Punchbowl.

These two photos were from a joy ride up Tantalus Drive (a really curvy road near Punchbowl).  The boys shared squeals of delight the whole time. You would have thought we were on a roller coaster.

 The famous Pali Lookout with a panoramic view from the Ko'olau Mountain to K Bay.

 Nearby we walked down the old Pali Rd.  During which I found Strider like this...

Up a tree hunting for Guavas!

We love scenic detours of Hawaii.