Swimming

Today was pretty low-key. Evan and I walked over to the playground at the Hale Koa, Evan followed around the gardener who had a leaf blower while I talked to Sam, my friend from work, on the phone. After I called Eggs N Things and once again after getting tired of being put on hold for five minutes and hanging up, Evan and I went back to the condo.

Jon, Evan and I decided to all go hang out at Waikiki Beach, so we wouldn't have to drive anywhere today. Evan is still scared of walking on the sand, however he will sit directly in the sand and dig in it with his sand shovel. So strange. Once we got tired of playing in the sand, we came back to the condo and went swimming in the pool here. Evan loves swimming in the pool. He gets very excited. He loves going underwater with us, and loves being tossed into the air and caught in the water. We had a great time. Unfortunately, the deck where the pool is located is in the shade, so Evan gets cold after swimming for about 15 minutes, however you can tell he wants to stay in and play longer. He'd probably play in there all day if he could!

I sat out on the Lanai for a bit and worked on my tan while reading a book called Hawaii Travelers Tales. It's a really neat book, today I read about someone who hiked through the 8 mile wide crater at Haleakala in Maui. After our nap, we all walked along the beachwalk at Waikiki Beach, picked up dinner at the Aloha Broiler in the International Marketplace food court, and now Evan and I are in the condo and Jon is at work.

I'm realizing that it's such a good thing we don't have cable at home in Cleveland. In the past week I've watched too much Bravo and E! channel, including Snoop Dogg's Father Hood, Girls Next Door (about Hugh Hefner and the Playboy bunnies) and the same episode of Project Runway about 3 different times. I can't believe how much addictive garbage is on cable tv. Unfortunately, I haven't found the Food Network yet, so I can watch Michael Symon on Iron Chef.

Enjoy the photos, including Evan helping Jon out at work!

MLK Day

I've added a couple more photos to the blog from Saturday and our hike through Manoa Falls.

This morning we woke up to the sound of a marching band, as there was the MLK parade going down the street in front of our condo. We spent some time watching the parade, Evan really enjoyed the drums. Once it was over, we went to the Honolulu Zoo. I think it is smaller than the zoo in Cleveland, though we didn't stay long enough to walk around the entire zoo, however, it did have some very neat animals that I've never seen in other zoos, and lots of them. They had several different types of turtles, crocodiles, reptiles and monkeys, all in exhibits where you could see them very well. Their Keiki Zoo (children's zoo) was nice as well. Evan also spent some time at the playground at the zoo, watching the kids and hanging out in the "tunnel". He is currently obsessed with tunnels.

After the zoo, we all napped at the condo, then walked along Waikiki Beach, watched the sunset, and picked up dinner at Giovanni Pastrami on Lewer's Street. They have some great sandwiches.

Evan and I came home, hung out, and now Evan's in bed.

This past weekend...

We were so busy and tired this weekend, that I didn't get to write more about Saturday. Jon and I had a wonderful time at dinner. It was the 8 year anniversary of when Jon proposed to me. There was a woman (the Honolulu Flower Lady) walking around the restaurant selling flowers, and she had a small bouquet of Hawaiian lavender colored roses that Jon bought for me. They are known for their unique lavender color and their beautiful scent. They are similar to the color of roses we had for our wedding.

After dinner, we walked next door to the Ocean House restaurant, to an art gallery called Kuloko Arts of Hawaii. I really enjoyed the artwork there, and bought a print of a mermaid painting by an artist named Holly Kitaura (see below). As the woman working there was talking to us, she noticed the lavender roses and we were talking about them. She then told us a beautiful story of how her husband used to buy her a live flower lei every Friday, and that now she is a widow. But that some people would ask her why he would bother buying her a live lei every Friday, since they typically die after a day or two. She said they missed the point, that it was to enjoy the beauty of the moment. After having heard she was a widow, it made her saying this even more poignant, as it seemed she meant it both in reference to the lei's as well as the time spent with her husband. Or at least that's how I interpreted it. She had a look about her that the pain I'm sure she felt over losing her husband had been worth it for the memories she has of him, she looked so happy telling the story. Anyhow, my eyes started to well-up with tears, and Jon told her I was about to cry. After she finished packing the print for us, she came around the counter and told me I have a sweet spirit and that she wanted to get some of that to rub off on her, and gave me a big hug. It was all just very sweet.