Last Day of School Munchie Bag
Yay, it’s finally here! The last day of school! (We’re in Year-round School and no I don’t like it) Like I said in the last post, I think I’m more excited than the kids. Even with the Summer days busy, it’s still more relaxed than when school is in session.
We’re leaving for Cedar City to visit with family after school today. The kids always want snacks in the car, even though it’s only about a 4 hour drive. I thought I’d start out our first day of Summer with snacks for the kids.
And a promise for a fun filled Summer. The message has the food items incorporated in it. Kind of like those candy bar messages. (You can click on any of the pictures to make them larger).
I placed all the treats in a bag, tied the bag to the bottle of water then tied the message on the front.
Here they are all ready to go, waiting for the kids to come home from school and beg to be able to eat the snacks now, before we even get to the car.
I’m linking to:
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
Look At Me Party at Fun To Craft
Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design
All Things Domestic at Crazy Domestic
Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple
Friday Fun Finds at Kojo Designs
Great Idea Day at Infarrantly Creative
Filed under Children, Travel | Comments (6)
More Souvenirs?
How about a couple more ways to display those vacation souvenirs?
I love vintage postcards. Real or reprodutions. When I found these reproduction postcards I had to have them. Our main floor bathroom already had a beachy theme so they fit right in. I had the gates already attached to the wall and just attached the postcards to the gates with small clothespins.
Here’s a close-up of one of the postcards.
And here’s a look at the whole area. The small picture is of our kids during a trip to Florida a few years ago.
I had to get this shell ball.
It’s actually an ornament, but it looks perfect just sitting on the mantel.
These kukui nut leis were given to us as we entered the luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
They look perfect in our black, white and tan master bath.
Well, I think that’s it for displaying our vacations souvenirs. All very inexpensive things that fit easily into our existing decor. And a wonderful reminder of our 30th Anniversary getaway.
Have a Beautiful Weekend!
I’m linking to:
Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming
DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff
Beach Categorically Crafting Show at Someday Crafts
Filed under Decorating, Travel | Comments (6)Another Way To Display A Souvenir
We were at this cute little shop on the North Shore of Oahu when I saw this vintage bicycle tag. As soon as I saw it I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I think the price tag said $2.89.
I’ve had this frame forever. I love the cork mat. Someday I’ll show you my frame stash, it’s kind of scary. But I do keep it contained, because I’m organized that way.
It wasn’t the right color, so I went straight for the black spray paint. I wanted the color behind the tag to be black also, so instead of using scrapbook paper I decided to just paint it too.
I sanded the frame to rough it up a bit.
And sanded again to rough it up even more.
Then I roughed up the backing by sanding the heck out of it. It didn’t want to be roughed up.
I put it back together, but left the glass out. I liked the way it looked better without it.
And a close up.
I used Liquid Nails to attach the tag the the back of the frame. Mostly because that’s what I had on hand and I couldn’t get the E6000 tube open. Doesn’t it look great?
This was the inspiration for framing the tag. I’m collecting items for Ammon’s room update. The One Way sign has been in his room for years and it’s staying. I want to make 2 more of the subway signs, maybe New York and Utah.
Doesn’t the tag look perfect with them? I really love it! It took less than an hour. I love instant gratification too.
Another souvenir displayed a way I love. I hope Ammon loves it too.
I’m linking to:
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Thrifty Thursday at Bloggeritaville
Look At Me Party at Fun To Craft
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Remodelaholics Anonymous Meeting at Remodelaholic
Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints On The Fridge
Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Saturday Is Crafty Day at Along For The Ride
Sundae Scoop Party at I Heart Naptime
Craft Schooling Sunday at Creative Jewish Mom
Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming
DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff
It’s So Very Creative at It’s So Very Cheri
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch
Market Yourself Monday at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff
Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios
Filed under Decorating, Travel | Comments (22)Displaying Vacation Souvenirs
Do you come home from trips with arm fulls of things? Do they get put behind closet doors or tucked away in drawers? Usually when we go on a trip we don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on souvenirs, but I want to remember my special time away from home with a memento or two from our vacation. So I get pretty picky about what I bring home and try not to spend a lot of money. Some of the things I bring home are free and those are the things that usually have the most memories attached to them. But how do you display these treasures from a memorable trip? Here’s what I decided to do with some of our souvenirs from Oahu.
This is how we brought the sand and shells home in our carry-on. And just for some info, we were questioned about what beaches we got the sand from. That was a little scary. I thought they were going to keep my sand. Next time I’ll put it in my checked baggage. She did laugh at the coconut shell I had wrapped up in a bag though.
I love old bottles and have too many to count, so I knew they would be the perfect thing to use to diplay my treasures.
First I sifted the sand through a piece of screen to get out the small pieces of bark and leaves.
Then I filled the other 2 bottles the same way.
I have dozens of these little tags, so I just tied some string on them and labeled them with the contents of the bottles.
Then I tied them on the appropriate bottles. I didn’t know shells were so hard to find on Oahu. That’s okay, that makes them more special because hubby was even digging in the sand helping me find them.
I also picked up the vintage looking postcard there. It’s an old depiction of Waikiki Beach (where we stayed). I bought the shell in the front from a little shop on the North Shore (much bigger than the ones I found).
I’ll keep this display through the Summer.
And then I’ll move it to the bookcases with other vacation mementos. Of course, to bring it front and center again next Summer. The other shells and coral in the cheese crate were found by my boys in Florida.
How do you display your vacation souvenirs?
I’m linking to:
Spotlight Yourself at It’s So Very Cheri
Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family
Summer Categorically Crafting Show at Someday Crafts
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design
Show and Share Day at Just A Girl
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple
Hookin Up at House of Hepworths
Tips and Tricks Tuesday at The Brambleberry Cottage
Home and Family Friday at Home Is Where My Story Begins
Remodelaholics Anonymous Meeting at Remodelaholic
Friday Fun Finds at Kojo Designs
Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff
Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple
Countdown To Summer Party at Domestically Speaking
Mantel Vignette Party at The Stories of A 2 Z
Beach Categorically Crafting Show at Someday Crafts
Filed under Decorating, Travel | Comments (23)Hawaii- Last Day
We’ve had a great time, but I’ve missed the kids and it’s time to get back to reality. Our flight didn’t leave till 10:15 pm so we had plenty of time for more sight seeing, shopping and eating. Our hotel had some amazing shops in it so I had to start there. I bought a few things I’d had my eye on and couldn’t leave Hawaii without buying.
Then we said goodbye to our room. The bottom balcony on the right.
So long to our beach.
And the pool.
And we were on our way to Salt Lake City. Isn’t this sign funny? I didn’t know you could drive to Salt Lake from Hawaii.
We stopped at a wonderful, historic town on the North Shore called Hale’iwa. Of course I had to do some shopping and check out the awesome vintage vehicles.
And very colorful ones.
And incredible art displays. This is what Ammon said when he saw this picture, What? The Mona Lisa on a surfboard? I don’t get it! I don’t really get it either, but it’s pretty cool.
And we couldn’t leave without a Shave Ice with ice cream on the botton.
We got the Hawaiian, which is coconut, banana and pineapple. So huge and yummy.
Our next stop was the Dole Plantation. We tooks a train ride to see where and how the pineapple are planted and harvested.
Cute little pineapple.
And more little pineapples. We bought a pineapple whip, which is pineapple ice cream with pieces of pineapple. Oh, so good.
Then we headed back to Waikiki and walked through the Queen Kapiolani Garden.
This flower covered gazebo was in the center of the garden. Do you know I only saw 2 bugs in 8 days in Hawaii? How is that fair, perfect weather and no bugs?
We flew all night and didn’t sleep much at all. I will be catching up on things that I’ve been neglecting on my blog over the next few days so please be patient with me. What a great vacation and thanks for letting me report on it. My kids really appreciated being able to see what we were doing everyday.
Filed under Travel | Comments (4)Hawaii- Day 7
I’m sorry I’ve been such an awful blogger this last week. As you can probably tell, Hubby and I have been in Hawaii for a much needed break from the norm and to celebrate our 30 years of marriage. It’s been an amazing 30 years, but with so much time spent on kids (8 of them) we needed some time to ourselves. And apparently when I have time to myself I have a hard time coming back to reality. This week I will slowly be coming back. Along with catching up the laundry, cleaning the house, running the kids around and getting some projects done, I will also be announcing the winner of the giveaway (sorry that’s taken so long), catching up on some things I should have already posted and thanking all of you awesome ladies for joining in the last We’re Organized Wednesday link party. You all rock and I will be commenting on your blogs this week. Thanks again for putting up with me and for allowing me to sway from my regular blogging for a while.
We started Memorial Day by going to the Valley of The Temples Memorial Park. It was very crowded because of celebrations and people visiting their loved ones, but was worth every minute of driving through all that traffic.
The Byodo-In Temple is a scale replica of a temple at Uji Japan that was constructed over 900 years ago.
The bell house holds a replica of the bell in Uji Japan. The bell is rung by, hitting it with the log, before one enters the Temple.
You must also take your shoes off before entering the area where the Buddha is.
The Buddha is 18 feet tall. This is a place of worship for many people.
There are koi fish in the streams and ponds surrounding the Temple.
The sunra gardens surrounding the Temple are amazing.
The bamboo are unbelievably tall. Hubby looks so small walking through them.
The grounds were so lovely and peaceful.
We ate lunch then headed off to Waimea Valley to take the hike up to the waterfall. These green things hanging from the tree are a relative of the tomato.
The valley is full of interesting plant life.
And some a little overwhelming like this plant taking over the tree.
Then we spotted our first glimpse of the falls.
This is it’s medium flow. There’s always a lifeguard or 2 on duty to tell you the rules before you can go in the water and sit under the waterfall.
Hubby on his way out to the falls.
And me relaxing for a minute on the rocks, before my hula lesson.
The lifeguards won’t allow you on the left side of the falls. It’s over 30 feet deep there.
We stayed at the falls and played in the water for about an hour then headed back down, looking at more beautiful flowers along the way.
At the entry of the Waimea Valley is a Hale o Lono. It dates back to 1470 and is very sacred. It is the only fully restored heiau (temple) dedicated to Lono, the deity of agriculture, ferility, peace and music.
We ended the day by attending the Lantern Floating Hawaii celebration.
It’s a Memorial Day tradition based on the Asian tradition of sending lighted lanterns afloat with prayers and wishes to ancestors.
They are set out at Ala Moana Park by individuals or groups. It is such a beautiful sight to see. They are all gathered out after a while to be used again next year.
Well, I guess it’s time to get some more laundry done and go through the mail. I need to catch up on my sleep too.
Filed under Travel | Comment (1)Hawaii- Day 6
You can’t come to Hawaii and not take a tour of Pearl Harbor, especially around Memorial Day. Before visiting the USS Arizona we watched a 1/2 hour movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Then we took a ferry to the USS Arizona Memorial and was able to spend about 20 minutes walking around and learning more about the ship.
There are flags of every ship that was sunk on December 7, 1941. The one in the middle is the Utah state flag for the USS Utah.
This is part of the USS Arizona.
The flag of the United States of America flying over the USS Arizona.
The names of all the men that died and are buried in the USS Arizona are on the wall in the memorial. It was very emotional and surreal being on the Memorial over the ship.
Then we took an audio walking tour of the USS Bowfin Submarine.
We were able to walk the whole length of the submarine seeing where the crew slept, ate and worked.
This is where the torpedos were loaded.
And back on deck there were other big guns for Hubby to have fun pretending to shoot. We walked around Pearl Harbor some more, learning more about the war, weapons and people that were involved.
Then we headed for Diamond Head National Park. It’s only about a .7 mile hike but it gets pretty steep at times, especially on the stairs. It took us about 25 minutes up and 15 minutes down.
The view is worth every minute of the hike. That’s the lighthouse clear down there.
Here’s the view looking toward our hotel on Waikiki Beach.
And looking toward the center of the crater.
Look at how windy it is on top of Diamond Head.
Here’s some of the steep steps as we’re going back down the trail.
And the tunnel as we’re going down.
Here’s some of the trail leading to the top or bottom, depending on which way you’re going.
After hiking and being gone all day we ate dinner at the restaurant by the pool. And then spent some time just relaxing before heading to our room.
Hey kids! We’ll be home in a couple days. We love you!
Filed under Travel | Comment (0)Hawaii- Day 5
We decided to head for the North Shore today. But first we took a detour to the Temple. The Temple is actually under construction and has been for over a year now.
We took the tour through the Visitor Center and watched a video on the area and how the Temple was built. The colors on the mural in the entry of the Visitor Center are beautiful.
One of the Sisters gave me a plumeria flower for my hair. It smells incredible.
We ate lunch, then stopped at this fruit stand for fresh fruit. We tried some Lechees. We’ve never tried them before and they were so yummy and sweet. We bought pineapple, bananas, and a coconut. She sliced the top off the coconut then stuck a straw in it. I drank most of the coconut juice, because Hubby didn’t really like it.
We stopped at many beaches along the Windward side and on the North Shore. Hukilau Beach was one of our first stops.
There were quite a few locals swimming there. You could see some little islands from the beach and a few small boats were headed out to some of them.
Our next stop was Turtle Bay. The lava formations were awesome, but a little rough to walk on.
We saw a small blow hole. The water only came all the way up once, while we were there. There were also fish and little crabs in some of the lava areas that still had water in them.
The next beach we visited was Sunset Beach. It was crazy crowded there, so we moved on. The waves were pretty awesome though.
This was my favorite beach for exploring, but not for sunbathing. It took us about 15 minutes to walk down the rocks to get to the water.
There were little coves everywhere.
Little fish and crabs were everywhere. If you were still they would come right up to you.
The water was so clear by the rocks, you could see to the bottom.
This is a view of the area as we were climbing up to leave.
Next we headed off to Waimea Beach and the cliffs. The jumpers were lined up along the big rock. Someone had just jumped in where the splash is.
This is looking towards Pupukea.
The waves here were incredible.
They were so high and would go out so quickly. There were no surfboards here, but alot of boogie boards.
There was a little cove on the other side of the jump rock. We went over there for a while and then the water started coming in so high that it would cover the whole area. I almost got hit with a big wave here.
More huge waves. The lifeguards left at 6:00pm. The last thing they said was “Jump off the cliffs at your own risk, swim at your own risk and keep the kids out of the water. If someone gets hurt, call 911.”
While we were there, 2 boats came up and anchored off shore.
We decided to stay and watch the sunset.
And more awesome waves.
It was an beautiful ending to a wonderful day.
Hawaii- Day 4
I wasn’t feeling well in the morning, so Hubby started out the day by going to a local golf course. It would have been a shame if her wasn’t able to fit in at least one round of golf while we were here. By noon I was able to eat a little and was feeling better.
We picked the worst day to go parasailing but we had already made the reservations, so off we went. The shuttle picked us up at the hotel, with 9 other guests and took us to Ala Moana Beach Park. This is Sunny, our driver’s pet bird. He hopped right onto my hand.
Then hopped up my arm and onto Hubby’s shoulder. I kept trying to get him to come back, but he likes men better.
Okay, so it was really windy and it was starting to rain a little. The captain said everything was fine, we’d just get more wet than usual. He left out drenched and cold.
Right as we are getting let out, it’s starts to pour. We could barely see because it was raining in our faces.
Do you see those clouds above us? It was raining pretty hard. That’s Diamond Head in the background.
Here we are coming in and getting pelted with rain drops.
Getting dipped. The water was actually very warm, especially because we were freezing from the rain. I’m trying to cover my mouth so I don’t taste sea water.
Just after getting dipped again for the second time. Hubby couldn’t see because of the rain.
That was so fun, even with the rain. Our whole boat was so much fun and everyone were such troopers in the rain. If you see the captain come towards you with rain gear on, be prepared for getting really wet. I know I look awful, but it was so much fun. I’m looking forward to parasailing in the warm sun next time.
After going back to the hotel to shower for the 2nd time that day, we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise for dinner. It’s a fun restaurant with good music and atmosphere.
I ordered the Coconut Shrimp and Hubby ordered the Double Double Cheeseburger.
We watched the fireworks on Waikiki Beach per Tricia from This Happy Home’s recommendation. Thanks Tricia!
And then relaxed by the pool and listened to an awesome guitarist and singer before heading to our room.
What a fun day. I think tomorrow’s the North Shore and maybe some snorkeling.
Have a Beautiful Weekend!
Filed under Travel | Comments (2)Hawaii- Day 3
You can still link to We’re Organized Wednesday here. Link any organizing tip, idea or project you’d like to share. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway too. You can enter the giveaway even if you don’t have a project to link. Thank you to all of you that have linked up so far. I promise I will visit soon, but vacationing in Hawaii has been a little distracting.
Sorry, but the time change has really messed me up on my posts and when to talk to my kids back home. Here’s some fun things we did yesterday. The tide was really far out in the morning so we were able to walk on the break. You could only see it through the waves the day before. HI KIDS!
I was having a great time on the rocks until I spotted this. And then I saw more and more and more. I got off those rocks way quicker than I got on. What is it with crabs and their little eyes? It creeps me out!
Hubby’s on the other side of the break wall standing on a sand bar. Look how shallow it still is. I’m still on the rocks here, because I haven’t seen all the crabs yet.
Fish like to hang out around the break wall. The little black ones were so cute, but we couldn’t get a picture of them because they were so fast. They would jump out of the water every few seconds.
After the beach, we drove around the island a bit. Our first stop was Hanauma Bay. We are making our way back there later this week to snorkel.
This is the Halona Blow Hole. The tide was still low so we didn’t see a big blow, only a few little spouts.
Looking from Halona Blow Hole to Makapu’u Point.
This whole area of the island reminded me of Jurassic Park.
The mountains are so steep and green.
Chinaman’s Hat .
A palm tree at the Kualoa Beach Park.
A cute little red headed bird. I have no idea what it is, but it was cute.
We finally made it to the Polynesian Cultural Center. The drive should have taken about an hour, but because of all our stops it was about 2 1/2 hours before we got there.
We started out at the Center by watching the Canoe Pageant. The islands were all represented. Above is Hawaii, below is Tonga.
This is Tahiti. They all danced traditional dances for their island.
And played traditional music. This is New Zealand.
This is Samoa. Their costumes were very colorful.
And this is Fiji. The pageant was about a half hour, then we went around to each island area for a show and information about the islands.
We took a canoe ride back to the area for the Luau. This picture is for Ammon and Zach. I knew they would appreciate seeing the Dum Dum’s bums.
Yummy Luau food! The purple food on the bottom is a sweet potato and the one on top is a roll. Also shredded pork, terayaki chicken, rice, pineapple, and salad. No, I didn’t get any poi.
Yummy, pina colada smoothie!
This one’s for Amanda. Cute guy smiling at you from a tree.
After the Luau, we saw the show Ha: Breath of Life. It was so good. I couldn’t take pictures because for some reason I couldn’t get my flash to turn off, but here’s what the stage looks like.
And before we left we had to take a picture with some interesting tiki’s.
Look kids, daddy made a new friend.
What a fun and long day. I’m surprised we made it back to the hotel without falling asleep.
Filed under Travel | Comments (2)
