Tuesday, July 11, 2017

I'm Back!!! Vacation is over!!! Sad Face!!

Hello & Happy Tuesday Everyone!!
I'm back from Vacation! YAY!!
We got back late Sunday and I've
been trying to play catch up with laundry,
bills, mail..... you know... normal LIFE stuff! 😉

We had an AWESOME time, but I was actually
ready to come home... Hawaii is BEAUTIFUL!!!
But nothing beats being home! 😁

I do want to share some pictures with you...
We went to the Dole Plantation - which was so cool!
and we took the Pineapple Express train to check out the 
fields.. it's a huge place... So I've got some pictures from that...
and their gorgeous garden...
We went snorkeling, & saw some dolphins, Watched fireworks on
the beach, went to a Luau, hung out at the beach, walked down 
Waikiki beach & shopped, went to the Zoo, watched my son
get a promotion, tried out amazing shrimp from
a Shrimp truck, tried some yummy foods & just hung out!
We drove the entire Island... from one end to the other...

It truly was an amazing experience that I will never forget!
I took about 340 pictures with my camera... Hubby & youngest also
took some pictures with my camera... then my hubby had about 4000
pictures taken with the go pro camera....

Trust me when I say.. I WILL NOT be making a scrapbook with ALL
those pictures!!! LOL... I think he went a little NUTS! hahahaha

Anyway... I thought I would just share a couple of pictures with you
today, since I really don't have anything made...



This is the front of the Dole Plantation


This is the train you ride to see the plantation -
You can't just walk around it... the train is a MUST!


Some of the fruit they grow...


They have this fun plastic pineapple shape that you can go inside of
so my son took our picture!


Bird of Paradise flower


I gotta tell ya... I'm by NO means a Good Photographer!
I really am bad at photo taking.. but I actually took this shot
and it looks amazing! I even got the bee!!!


This I HAD to share with all my COFFEE Loving Friends!!!
Yup... those are Coffee Beans!!!


Us out on the boat for Snorkeling


My boys getting ready to go in....


My son getting ready to be promoted!


Because we were there to see this happen, my son was able to
have me pin his new stripes on one side while he had
his Sgt. pin the other stripes on the other side of him...
It was a HUGE honor he asked me to do this...


Time for a Luau!!!


We went to the Chief's Luau! This guys was so FUNNY!!!


These ladies dance so beautifully....


Time to head home!!!


I gotta tell you... my HAIR was a MESS the whole time
I was on the Island! Apparently I had CURLY hair!!
Normally my hair is straight! but the humidity there
made my hair wonky & curly the whole time!
So... My hair in some of my pictures were pretty scary to look at! LOL
But I didn't care because I was with my family! 😀

We spent a week on the beach in a beach cottage they had on base...
I made breakfasts, & dinners... and we only ate out for lunches...
That saved us a ton of money! We bought our food at the
commissary on base... it was the least expensive place to
shop for groceries on the Island... We were able to meet &
visit with some of my sons buddies... they came and hung out
with us at the cottage in the evenings... It was great getting to
know the guys who are there to watch my son's back!

Like I said.. I have tons of pictures.. But didn't want to overwhelm
you with all of them.. these are just some highlights... I have
pictures of the fireworks on the beach & pictures from
the beautiful view of our cottage.... but don't have them downloaded yet!
And my hubby has 10x's more than me, so you can image everything
we went to see & do....

I'm hoping to get around to your blogs in the next day or two...
I'll probably be leaving just 1 comment for each of you... because
there is no way I'll be able to catch up with 2 weeks of missed blogging...

I'm suppose to return to work... but I think I'll wait till next week
since we are still trying to play catch up... there is a 4 hour time
difference from where we live to where my son is.... and I've been
exhausted since we got back.... maybe jet lag? Don't know for sure...
I'm just happy to be home & I have all the wonderful memories
of our time there visiting with him...


Mahalo for stopping by!
Have a beautiful day!!

Theresa

22 comments:

Blue6366 said...

Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. Congratulations on your son's promotion and what an honor to be there and help pin on his stripes.

Marilyn said...

Glad you and your family had a good time. Love the pictures. Congrats to your son on his promotion!

Migdalia said...

Welcome back!! I am happy to hear that you had such a wonderful time. Congrats to your son on his promotion.Thank you for sharing your wonderful pictures. I really enjoyed them. I love the coffee bean one since I am a huge coffee drinker.The flowers are really beautiful!I love the fun plastic pineapple shape you took your picture in.Super cute! Oh! I laughed so much about the hair thing..LOL You made my day! LOL
Have a wonderful day,
Migdalia
Crafting with Creative M

Beckie Williams said...

Welcome Back!! Take your time getting back into the groove of things. Yes, jet lag is real! I am so glad you all had a great time!! Love the pictures ... keep sharing them. I have my fingers crossed did you have the dole whip ice cream at the Dole Plantation?? Such yummy stuff!! I love that you were able to help change your son's bars!!

Lisa said...

Welcome home, my friend!! You've been missed!! First of all, huge congratulations to your son on his promotion!! What an amazing experience for you to witness it in person!! And how wonderful that you got to meet and hang out with the guys who have his back :) I would love to visit the Dole Plantation...love pineapples :) I'm not a coffee drinker, but how cool to see the beans growing!! Your photo of the flower and bee is stunning!! What striking colors of green and purple and yellow!! I sent a tropical bouquet to my Mom once that had a bird of paradise in it and it was the most gorgeous flower I've ever seen!! I hope you share more photos with us!! I love seeing your trip through your eyes!! Rest, relax and have a great day!! Big hugs :)

Lisa
A Mermaid's Crafts

Georgiana said...

What an amazing trip! Some day I hope to visit this beautiful island!

Nana said...

Welcome back. So happy to hear you had a wonderful family vacation. What a honor to be able to pin the stripes on your son. I would have been crying like a baby. Beautiful pictures of such a beautful place and a beautful famly.
Have a creative day.
♥ My Crafting Channel ♥
♥ Silhouette Challenges ♥
♥ My Crafting Channel Shop ♥

CA Scrapper said...

Aloha my friend!!! So happy you had a great time. You sure packed a lot of fun into your trip. How cool you were there for your sons promotion. I'm sure he was thrilled you were all there. Welcome home. It does take a while to get past the jet lag.

Leslie

Sharon said...

I'm so glad that ya'll had such a great visit with your son!!! I love the photos you shared and can't wait to see more. Take it easy!!!

Jo Williams Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrator said...

Welcome back my friend!!!! Sounds like you had an amazing vacation! Hawaii is a trip of lifetime for some, so lucky that you were able to go and visit! Your photographs are gorgeous, looks beautiful there. Glad you made some memories and best of all, got to participate in pinning your son's new stripes on him! What an honor and such a proud mommy moment! Cannot wait to hear/see more from your awesome trip! Have a wonderful day and definitely enjoy being back home!
Hugs,
Jo

Anonymous said...

Unforgettable vacation, especially the part about putting your son's new stripes on his uniform. I got to pin my son's wings on during his winging ceremony. Such an honor.

Don't worry about coming over to my blog - I give you a "bye!"

Evelyn

Karla Yungwirth said...

This sounds like an incredible holiday! How special that you got to share in your don's promotion!! Thanks so much for sharing all these wonderful pics!!

Karla Yungwirth said...

Your son's promotion!!

Sukie said...

Wow! It looks like you had a blast! I love Hawaii and the pineapple there is amazing, nothing is yummier! Congrats on your son's promotion what an honor! You and your hubby must be so proud! Thanks so much for sharing!

Beth F. said...

What an amazing vacation you had! Congratulations to your son and for you as well, being able to add his new stripes to his uniform. I can tell SO MANY new memories were made :) Of course, we are glad to see you back in the blogging world too ;)

Tracy said...

You are so right..it is always great to come back home after a holiday.
Congrats to your son, you must be so proud.
I had to chuckle at you being so excited about your great photo..I am the same way as most of my family are photographers...I am not, lol.

Sherrie K. said...

Wow, your trip sounds like so much fun! I am so glad you had a wonderful time with your son and family! Your pictures are amazing and that is one place I would love to go to someday! The photos are amazing~ I hope you get some rest and get caught up from being gone. It takes a little bit to get back in the swing of things, lol!
Have a great evening and thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a sweet comment!
Hugs,
Sherrie k

DIANA L. said...

Welcome home- I bet you didn't want to leave. I am so happy you had a great time. Congrats on your sons promotion. Thanks for sharing all those fun photos. This is the makings of a wonderful scrapbook.
Hugs Diana

Karen said...

Hi Theresa amazing pictures thanks so much for sharing them! So sorry you had to come home....but so happy you are back. You must be so proud of your son I would have been a hot mess trying to pin those stripes on...you rocked those photos! Karen

Stacey's Creative Corner said...

What an amazing trip!! Sounds like you had so much fun!! Congrats to your son on being promoted, I know you are all proud of him :) So happy you were there to see that and to pin him, I know what an honor that is and glad you got to experience it! Hugs!!

Lisa said...

The pics look amazing! So want to visit Hawaii someday! So happy you got to go and share this with your son!...

Gerda said...

Welcome back my friend!!! Congratulations to your son!!!! So happy that you and your family had a wonderful vacation!!! Thank you for sharing all these awesome photos with us!! Have a wonderful day. Hugs Gerda