A Week of Summer in Spring

This last week the weather seemed more like summer than spring. It was De-lightful!

I can't wait for summer schedule. We eat breakfast, the girls get dressed, we have worship and they spend the rest of the morning outside until lunch. Which gives me incentive to do yard work. Even if it is just weeding one flower bed.

After lunch if there is time they head back outside for a half hour or so and then it's down for naps, right during the heat of the day. I stay in and clean while they nap and after naps, you guessed it back outside they go. I love it. The house stays a bit cleaner. . . well not cleaner but less cluttered.

This past weekend I finally managed to make the breakfast I have been planning since mid-winter. Huevos Rancheros (recipe to follow) and Pina Coladas on the back porch. My Beloved was very happy with this choice. I'm on the look out for some umbrellas for our drinks. I am pretty sure that Party City will have them if Winco doesn't.

After breakfast and worship the girls begged to put on their swim suits and play in the sprinkler.

My Beloved just purchased a new spray nozzle with something like 7 settings so they had fun playing with that.

This is how we do a water slide!

"Oh no, slides wet!" Beloise doesn't care for being sprayed with a hose. I don't either. I'm planning on picking up a little swimming pool this weekend or next.

Ballerina's art is getting better all the time. 

This is one of the pictures she drew recently. Things at least remotely resemble what they are supposed to be.

She's also become rather creative with her block towers.

Cheater Huevos Rancheros

When I don't have much time but want a taste of Mexico to remind me of that trip we took before we had kids, this is my go to recipe. Oh how I miss the Coco Bar.

Per person:
2 eggs
1 corn tortilla
shredded cheese
salsa
fresh cilantro, if you've got it.

• Heat canola oil in a small frying pan for your corn tortillas. Place corn tortillas in hot oil for about 30 seconds per side just to warm them, give them a tasty flavor and make them a little more pliable. 
• Fry your eggs as desired in a separate pan.
• Place a warmed corn tortilla on a plate top it with some cheese, your eggs, more cheese and some salsa.

See why this is the cheater version. . .

~And So That's What She Did.

Hawaii Trip-Days 4&5 Plus Tortilla Recipe

I forgot this all important picture from the night of day 3. After Nickle came home from his day of work at the dive shop, we went to a delicious local fast foodery, L&L. When we got back to the property it had cooled off just enough for a fire. The guys built a fire while I sat and watched. . . uh supervised. After the fire was roaring Nickle grabbed his guitar and my Beloved grabbed a drum.

I will always love the memories of these little concerts we had most nights. Nickle is a fantastic musician, and he is a darn good song writer too. I'm still humming the two songs he wrote that he played for us.

Day 4

This was undoubtedly one of the "perfect vacation days". Nickle took us to a fantastic beach. To get there you have to hike through one field of lava rock, over one beautiful beach, through a second field of lava rock, before you reach the most ideal beach I have ever seen in my life.

Up till now my Beloved and I had been commenting that we weren't particularly wowed by Hawai'i. The sea turtles were awesome but nothing else was a take-your-breath-away-awesome-vacation moment. We were having a great time but that had more to do with the company than the location. That is until we came to Makalawena (w is pronounced as a v. a's as in ah).

The sand on this beach, as my Beloved said, is like walking on powdered sugar. I also attribute the less salty water to the sand being so fine. I don't know if that makes sense. It seemed to me that the water in this location was not near as salty as the other beaches we went to. My skin is a little extra sensitive to salt water.

Since you have to do some walking not many people come here. Which made it that much more relaxing. I sunbathed on the beach until I got nice and hot, before going into the water with snorkel gear.

The snorkeling at this beach is nice, there are some huge, colorful fish, and some small near translucent ones. But mostly we just relaxed and rode the waves in and out, a "sport" that Nickle invented called Listing. So relaxing!

Although one man came and asked me if they were doing? Apparently he thought they were either dead of finding pearls.

I took a few pictures on our hike back this is the first lava field we hiked over. This is not a fantastic picture of us, but I wanted you to see the desolation we hiked over to get to the beauty of the beach.

Nickle laden with our dinner and his guitar.

The first beach we hiked over

Beautiful but a little more rocky than Makalawena.

On our way back we stopped at another part of the beach that had BBQ pits. We had purchased some marinated chicken earlier and Nickle seasoned and grilled it up for us.

Apparently people come alone and arrange the coral on the lava rock to say things, like graffiti but more socially acceptable.

Just as our food was ready, the sun set.

Day 5

Nickle had a grand plan for the fifth day of our vacation. We were to go to Pololu, at the top of the island I believe, and hike down to the beach. First we had to find a beach so we could get wet.

This picture sums up the whole of our vacation. I call it "Where's The Next Beach." It seems most mornings started with the guys saying this phrase in one way or another.

My Beloved loves the water. There is one thing I can always count on when we go to the beach, he will never lay on his towel. Which means that if I don't lay his towel out, I will have a sand free towel to dry off with if I get into the water. He doesn't mind, he prefers to air dry anyway. 

We ended up dipping in at Kapuna.

There is a gorgeous hotel right on the beach there (that I didn't take a picture of). I decided that if we ever come back in a more tourist capacity that I want to stay there. The beach is beautiful, not as beautiful as Makalawena. It's easy access, so there are more people, but the sand is white and not too dirty. The water is beautiful but a little more salty than Makalwena. We swam for a bit layed in the sun, washed up in the showers and then headed on our way.

Most of our pictures turn out like this. I can't tell you how many pictures I have where I look exactly the same and my Beloved is making some terrible face. I have often taken twenty or more pictures at a time just to get one good one.

We stopped at a town called Hawi (once again w as a v). They had a great little shop there called As Hawi Turns. There were several things I wish I would have bought there. The guys went across the street to this little shop, I don't remember the name. They have a great bathroom. I realize this is a strange thing to notice but when you are using a composting toilet and showering from a garden hose you notice these things :). One wall of the bathroom was chalk board so you could sign it or write a little something if you so desired.

Nickle the Barbarian.

We made it to Pololu a little later than planned and since we were wanting to make tacos for dinner with home-made tortillas we decided not to go on much of a hike.

We went down the path a little ways and decided this is definitely a place we want to come back to with more of the day ahead of us to explore. But it will have to wait for another trip since we didn't make it back to it this time.

The view from the path is breathtaking.

We got back to the property after dark but with the help of a few lamps we had no problem making our tacos. My Beloved built a grand fire, Nickle seasoned up a beautiful slab of beef and I showed Nickle how to make home-made tortillas so that he can live a richer life :). All in all we made some delicious tacos/ burritos to complete perfect vacation day number 2.

And, so you too can have a richer life, here is my recipe:

Tortillas

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup warm water

*It is very important that your water be warm.

Mix your dry ingredients and then add your shortening once that is mixed throughout add the water and mix again. Knead it for about 4-6 minutes until it is smooth. divide into 8 even balls and cover with a towel to rest for 20 minutes. Heat a cast iron or whatever skillet on the stove over medium high heat. Roll out your tortillas till they are about 1/8 inch thick. cook them in your skillet one at a time wait for the bubbles to form and grow a bit, flip the tortilla and give it another 30 seconds to a minute longer pressing the bubbles down gently with a spatula to pass the time :). Remove from heat and let cool, only slightly, on a wire rack or if you are going to eat right away toss them in your tortilla warmer. Or onto one plate and then turn a second plate upside down on top of it to keep it warm, if you don't have a tortilla warmer.

Enjoy!

~And So That's What She Did.

Hawaii Trip-Days 1-3

Last week my beloved and I spent 9 days on the Big Island of Hawai'i. A friend of ours is currently living there on his families coffee farm. They don't yet have a house on the property. . . well not exactly, but we'll get to that.

Day 1

Aside from tearful goodbyes to my kiddos, a headache from restraining my own tears, and getting sick on the airplane, we had a nice flight.

We landed and as soon as was humanly-decently possible shed our jeans in favor of shorts.

My beautiful plumeria lei from Nickle.

After picking up a few supplies at the store, we did a little exploring before heading to the property. We stopped by a restaurant for a bite to eat before heading to a little beach spot just to check things out.

Once we got to the property My Beloved and Nickle opened up the "house"

Here is the main living area. This is, to me, so ingenious. They took a tarped carport, built wood and bamboo walls, and put a corrugated roof on it. It also has a painted wood floor. I love it.

Here is the kitchen area. A mini-fridge and a few hot burners.

The living room.

I didn't seem to get a picture of the bathroom, shower areas. Basically an outhouse and, for the shower, a hose hanging in a tree with an adjustable shower head, a garden sprayer.

When we arrived the pickers where there picking coffee so there were several one-hundred pound bags of coffee cherry laying around.

In the background you can see the outrigger where Nickle slept.

One of a million little gecko friends. I love these guys, not only because they are so cute, but also because when they are around there are fewer bugs.

Sunset from the property

I love these flowers. The first time I saw them was in Yelapa Mexico. I was delighted to find them here as well.

We had nightly concerts.

Day 2

On the second day, Nickle had to work. We stopped by the dive shop where he works in the morning and he fitted us with snorkel gear and sent us on a mission to try it out.

We had a great time. I was shocked to see a sea turtle on our first trip out.

We spent most of the day wandering the shops along Ali'i Drive and sitting on the beach wall behind the Kona Inn.

I was mesmerized by the fish in the waves.

Day 3

On the third day, Nickle had to work again, so we headed out to the Volcano. On the way we stopped at The Coffee Shack for breakfast. The food was good but the view was amazing.

These geckos are everywhere. Someone left a jelly container on the railing and this little guy was more than happy to indulge.

On our way out we also stopped at Black Sands Beach, which has another name that I can neither pronounce or spell.

Amazingly enough this site made my Beloved think it was a good idea to grab his snorkel gear out of the car and take a look under the water. I being reasonable and all decided that one of us had to survive to raise our children, so I sat on the beach and read a book. There were a few other people in the water but it looked to choppy for me.

As we walked down onto the beach we noticed some people standing around staring at something on the sand. As we got closer we saw a sign warning us not to get too close to the Green Sea Turtles that like to come up onto the beach to rest. They were so cute they would wash in on a wave using the waters momentum to propel them as far as it would. Then they would sluff themselves up onto the beach until the water either just barely touched them or didn't at all, then they shut their eyes and slept.

By the time we left there were three of them sleeping on the beach in one spot and another further down ended up on more of a rocky bed.

By the time we got to the volcano it was sprinkling a little. It was still an awesome sight.

We decided our future children should be named Rules and Regulations since I insist on keeping these things and my Beloved likes to break them. . . I'm not sure what that says about our intentions with our future children but it was a silly joke between us just the same. Oh and if we have a surprise we would name it Amendment. :) I mention this because this is probably an area he should not be in.

Aahh see fenced area this is where tourists are supposed to be :).