Michael and I on our long flight…bored.
My Mom at Pearl Harbor. This one was for my cousin, who was a Navy guy.
View from our drive on Oahu
Michael enjoying our Big Island House View.
Our house view from rooftop patio.
Random Bamboo (I think) on one of our hikes.
Here I am at the bottom of a steaming crater, wearing my Razorback Red Friday before the game.Michael and I are back from our vacation!! It was a much needed vacation and we are slowly getting back into the swing of things. We will soon do a day by day or activity by activity post soon. I took over 1000 pictures. Yikes!! So that will be taking me days to go through. So, hopefully next week you can see our Hawaii trip. As a random teaser, I was outside last night and looking at the stars. I was so disappointed in the night sky here in Fayetteville compared to the view we had on our rooftop deck at our house on the Big Island. Here is a picture one morning, when I was up before sunrise. It was common for us to be up before 6:00AM, which is lunchtime our time. So, just before the sun light peered over the horizon I took a few star pictures on a very long exposure time. Check it out and be patient Hawaii photos on our their way.
Michael and I went to my hometown last weekend to see the Fort Smith Airshow. I always loved going to it as a kid. My family’s business backs up to the airport giving us amazing views minus the crowds of people. Saturday was the Arkansas game…a win!! So, we went down Saturday and watched the game. At halftime, my mom and I went out to the shop and left the boys to the game. We turned on the radio and watched the planes. After the game was over my Dad and Michael came and joined us. Just in time to see the Thunderbirds perform!! My favorite act! My Dad put us up on the roof of the shop to watch. They always fly low and right over the shop, so of course it made it way more fun and a little scary. I love being up high watching, because you can tell what direction they are coming as they circle the city. I think Michael enjoyed the view up there too. It was his first Fort Smith Airshow. Here was some of the 500 pictures I got. Continuous shooting is an awesome tool!!! Click to make bigger.
So, my bestie is going to be having her second child (A BOY!!!) in the next few months. I am really excited to be an Auntie to yet another Slack baby!!! She currently has an adorable little girl, who is super energetic and fun. I see them almost daily on Skype, since they don’t leave near us. I am her Aunt Jen and she is my cute little niece. I am getting really excited because I get to go see them on a vacation we have coming up.
Since she is pregnant and had a kid I find us talking a lot about baby stuff. I am an idiot when it comes to supplies like strollers and car seats. Veronica usually has to explain items to me, which is hilarious. I think I knew more about strollers when I was 16 then I do now. The other day she told me she found the coolest stroller ever. It was a crazy double stroller, because she will have two kids. I thought it was cool. I showed it to Michael, who didn’t understand. Oh well. Maybe someday he will get excited about “cool” strollers. Maybe I am just excited about it because I know in the not too distant future I will get to see my niece and baby bump nephew!!!
Michael is excited about seeing everyone too. We are hoping Skye loves Michael and me. Last time I visited it took her a day to get used to me. Every time she looked at me she would cry. I have been worried she will be scared of us, even though we see each other daily. Our Skype sessions are always interesting, I see an hour of my friend and maybe 5 minutes of the crazy child who steps into the camera for a quick hi and bouces away. She is very active, but that’s what makes her so fun!
I hope they are ready for my presents!!! I have been collecting things for a few months. Some for new baby and some for Skye, and some for mommy. I do this all the time and mail things to her, but for awhile now I have been collecting and keeping them for my suitcase. I can’t wait to see them and have a vacation!!!
When Michael and I were in New York City a few weekends back we did a ton of things. We did so much walking. When we arrived Friday morning it was pouring down rain. We had a terrible cab driver who complained the entire way into the city with Michael about our drop off points. We had to pick up Michael’s friend at work, and then go to his place. He works about 4 blocks from his apartment and the cab driver did not want to drive us the extra 4 blocks. What did he think we were going to do walk 4 blocks in the pouring down rain with luggage? Oh NO. If you don’t know this…Cab drivers cannot kick you out. It is their job to take you 2 stops. We got the two stops we wanted but it was a big fight and he did not get a good tip at all. We almost didn’t tip him, since he was so hateful. Since it was raining when we arrived, we went to get lunch and then back to the apartment for a quick nap before having to go downtown.
If you saw our preview…you saw that we went to the new 9/11 Memorial. I don’t know how to put that place into words. It was a wonderful dedication to a horrible situation. It was raining on us while we were there, but it didn’t stop us from walking around for over an hour. Here are some pictures. I wish it could have been a little sunnier.
After the Memorial and walking around, where I saw three giant rats. Yucky! We went to dinner at this place called Ninja New York. It was a fun setup, but the food definitely wasn’t the greatest. We had a magic show at our table and that was probably the best part from the table. Peggy and I would argue the best part of the entire restaurant was the bathrooms. The ladies bathroom had heated seats and a little surprise. It was hilarious to listen as someone went in for the first time. Peggy and I went back for seconds. The night continued at a cute bar where we hung out until we got too sleepy.
The next day we walked around the entire city. Well the midtown, time square part. We did a little shopping before we headed to the Mad Hatter for some Razorback football! The Mad Hatter is the Arkansas Alumni hang out spot in NYC. The game sucked but that’s okay. Michael and Zack went from the game to a few bars, while Peggy and I went back to her place to hang out.
On Sunday, our last full day, Michael and I went to Central Park, MoMA, shopped, and Zarkana. It was a busy last day for us. The park was a fun place for us to eat breakfast and people watch. The MoMA was fun and interesting. Shopping was fabulous! Zarkana, Cirque Du Soleil show, was awesome! I love those shows. It was Michael’s first Cirque show ever. I think it did not disappoint him. Peggy went with us to the show and it was a fun date night for all of us. I am so glad we went to NYC, it was a much needed little mini vacation.
