Updates

Sam went to the optometrist, and we learned he can benefit from glasses. Getting him to wear them is a whole different story.

Grace decided she needed more facial piercings. I told Grace I would not sign any paperwork that would allow her to get more holes in her face. Michael doesn't share the same disdain for facial piercing as I do, so she got him to sign the papers and take her to the shop. She brought a support team with her. 

Appa is still alive and kicking. Also, probably pretty abused, as evidenced.

I created my magnus opus. I may have to be buried with these mittens. 

Michael has been volunteering a lot, including at the Dia de los Muertos celebration at Jump. He enjoyed passing out sweet bread and being a part of the event.

We took the little boys to the mall when we dropped Grace off for work. They were over the moon to ride the train that drives around the top floor of the mall. It was well worth the ten dollars!

We also took the little boys to the Discovery Center. The adults enjoyed the dinosaurs and Legos as much as the little guys did. 

 

Halloween

 To start the Halloween festivies, I headed to Ontario to take part in Amy's annual Bunco game. Becca, my friend Brittany, and I joined her party and had a great time. I even won a stuffed Halloween cat. I got wildly excited and squished my prize the entire drive home.

Meanwhile Grace had taken over our house to have her own party. She decorated before all of her ruffians came over and Michael took a picture before the chaos began.

When I got home at 11pm, the party was still going! At that point, we loaded teens up in the van and dropped them off at various homes, hopefully the correct ones.

On actual Halloween Grace and her friends dressed up as characters from the Fantastic Mr. Fox, and went door to door begging for candy.

Somehow we didn't get a picture of Sam, but he dressed up as a rapper and went door to door as well, after carving his pumpkin.

Ethan and Bailey joined Michael and I for dinner and pumpkin carving. We were thinking of setting up a fire pit in the front yard, and giving candy from there, but alas I lost the fight to a migraine, so we sat around quietly hanging out. It was so sweet of them to come over to celebrate Halloween and my birthday.

The teens finally came home with their pounds of candy. Despite having so much candy, they didn't even share. I might have to sneak some!

It was pretty nice Halloween, overall. I missed having Libby around, but I am enjoying the times I have most of my kids around. It's getting rarer and rarer.

Homeward Bound and Ensenada

We left Hawaii, ready to return home. We still had many days aboard the ship, but it was pointing the right direction. We had all loved our adventure, but by day 11 we all wanted to just be home. Unfortunately, we still had five days before we got there.

We entertained ourselves on the ship, and tried to enjoy the journey home. We played a few rounds of mini golf.

Krys spent every ship day attending Hula classes. The last full day at sea the Hula dancers put on a performance. We all took ourselves (even the poor motion sick Becca) to the theater for the big show. There was dancing, there was music from the ukulele classes and there were a couple impolite people making comments such as "Nobody puts Baby in the corner". Thankfully, we were not overheard.  Krys really enjoyed presenting her new dances while wearing the crown and leis she had made. When I say we were ready to get home, it applies to everyone but Krys. I wasn't sure we would be able to pry her off the cruise ship. She has found her happiest of all places.

The next day we made our final stop in Ensenada, Mexico. We piled off the ship, loaded onto a slightly sketchy van, and headed into the city. The van even took us downtown, despite Becca's fear of kidnapping. The driver did try to pressure us to shop at a specific jewelry store, but we graciously declined, and went freely on our way. We then walked over to a Starbucks in search of free WiFi, so we could use our phones in Mexico.

I like to call this pictures "White Women in Mexico Starbucks". We found internet, got a couple phones to work, grabbed some coffee and enjoyed being on land.

We then headed to a couple of pharmacies, in search of more motion sickness pills for Becca. Despite, being told we could buy any medication in Mexico, we struck out looking for her prescription. I did find this sign, which I thought was excellent advertising. 

Alas, despite the excellent signs, we didn't find the medicine we needed. So then we walked to Wal-Mart.

I enjoyed the art along the way. Others were focusing on trash and roving dogs, but they are spoil sports.

 We eventually reached Wal-Mart. Yes, the third Wal-Mart of the trip, this one being the international version. I feel so well traveled. The Mexico version looked a lot like the American version, with a lot more guards, and a lot more weapons on the security guards. Wal-Mart was not a high point of Mexico. After stocking up on medication and new headphones, we left the armed guards behind. 

We headed back to the touristy sections, and enjoyed some fish tacos and churros. We bought a few souvenirs, I paid sixty cents to use a public bathroom, which was money excellently spent, crossed a cute bridge, and then headed back to the ship.

Thirty-six hours later, we found ourselves arriving back on the Mainland.

Watching the Golden Gate bridge come into focus through the fog brought us joy and relief. We grabbed our bags, exited the ship, powerwalked to the parking garage and started the drive home. Sometimes the best part of vacation is the relief of heading home. We got to Boise in time to hug babies before they went to bed. 

That night, I climbed into bed with a sweet sense of belonging. I'm so glad we went on this trip, I'm so glad we went to Hawaii, I'm so grateful to have a three week break from being a parent, I am so grateful for the opportunity. I'm also so glad to be home and don't feel the need to do a long cruise again.

Honolulu-Last Day on the Islands

We hopped off the ship, grabbed a taxi, and headed out to visit Pearl Harbor. The ride cost four times what a lyft cost. One of the seatbelts wouldn't buckle, the driver barely acknowledged us, and the ride caused us all to be motion sick. We decided taxis are not the way to go, but we did arrive safely.

We spent several hours at Pearl Harbor. I walked away deeply saddened. At what point is humanity going to stop throwing away the lives of our boys to settle political matters? Visiting the mass grave of victims of war left me with more questions than answers. Wars have been fought for millennia, but do we have to keep doing it? I'm not questioning the necessity of the US entering WWII, I was just left questioning why societies offer our youth as a sacrifice to their need for more power. 

The memorial is beautiful and important. It's also gut wrenching.

We were able to visit the USS Arizona. Standing in the memorial I watched people snap pictures and exclaim over the bits of the ship still visible in the water. All I could think was we are standing on the grave of  almost 2000 teenagers. Those poor babies and their poor families. 

We left the memorial, a little more knowledgeable, and a lot more solemn.

We headed back to the ship to grab lunch and maybe a quick nap.

After eating, a couple members of our party wanted to go back out. This led all of us to manning up and donning our swimsuits.

We ordered a lyft and headed to Waikiki. Alexis wanted to stop at the Lego store for some mini figures and Becca headed across the street to the famous beach. 

I did pause to snap a picture of this mosaic in the mall. Look at that beautiful chicken! After our quick stop at the worlds largest outdoor mall to visit the Lego store, the rest of us crossed the street and ended up here.

The beach and park were stunning. I'm used to parks being along rivers or maybe even a pond. My Idaho brain found it almost implausible that a public park was along the beach!

We did a little swimming, but the beach was rocky and the sand a little rough. The further out into the water, though, the smoother the sand, and you could wade out forever before the water got deep. We had a lot of fun just swimming and reading.

I, of course, took more pictures of plant life. Banyan trees are amazing!

And of course, more chickens. There aren't as many chickens in Honolulu as we saw on the other islands, but there were still around.

After heading back to the ship to rinse off the beach, we walked down to a luau that we had purchased tickets for.

We made leis and leaf head bands, played with rhythm instruments, learned a couple dance steps, and then we ate. The food was amazing. The fruit was tender, the roll was soft (and also purple inside), and the dessert was amazing. We ate our fill and then sat back and watched the show.

It was very hard to get good pictures of the show, but it was beautiful. Watching professionals hula is amazing, add a Hawaiian sunset in the background, and you have an ideal evening.

The show ended with a fire dance, and we slowly headed back to the ship. We were exhausted, but happy.

We found two little ducks hiding in a stairwell on our way to our room, and Alexis set them out so a child could find them.

We then crawled into our ever-loving chicken filled beds and slept the sleep of the exhausted.

Kauai

Before heading to Kauai we learned a little about the island. For many years it was home to  endangered jungle fowl. In 1992 a hurricane came down the middle of the island, leaving mass destruction behind. The entire island was without power for three months, and rebuilding took years. During that time, people were not very concerned about their backyard chickens and many disappeared. Turns out the chickens were living wild and breeding with the jungle fowl. Now the island is covered with chicken/jungle fowl hybrids that are protected, as it's impossible to determine which is which. Warning: there a lot of chicken pictures coming up.

The day dawned, we woke up, got our stuff together and quickly caught the shuttle to another car rental desk. Twenty minutes later we were driving around the most scenic place I have ever been. And it was full of little chickens. We just spent the day enjoying the sights.

He was waiting for everyone to get off the ship

Hard to see, but at least a dozen chickens running around the field during a soccer game.

A stop for coffee, shave ice, and bathroom. Plus chickens.


We did not feed the chickens


The views were awe inspiring. Several movies have been filmed on this island. No surprise there.


The lighthouse was closed, but we still enjoyed the view.


And I took a picture of something besides chickens. These are Nae Nae Geese, and they only live in Hawaii. See, not chickens.


The drive home was breathtaking.





We stopped at a gorgeous beach. The waves were too rough for swimming but the surfers seemed pretty happy.







We had a little time before we needed to head back to the ship. and we had a car, so once again we headed to Walmart.

Walmart chickens

Second Walmart of the trip. My mouth is smiling but my eyes show the real story. My soul has died, and Walmart is holding the weapon.

We returned the car and headed back to the ship to rest. Three days of non stop tourism was exhausting, and we still had one day to go.