Dole Plantation

Mango-less mango trees
Red pineapples are not for eating.

First time I've ever seen bananas on a tree in person.

But now that I think of it, I've also never seen a mango tree or a pineapple plant.

A big pineapple field.

I went to the Dole plantation today, a very popular tourist spot, which seems weird to me. I guess it's because I associate the word "plantation" with the word "exploitation" (of the workers). Anyway, they had a lot of tacky Dole tshirts, none of which I bought, but I did have a pineapple float, which was pineapple sherbet with pineapple juice. And then, because I wanted the pineapple-shaped souvenir bowl (because I thought it would make a nice cereal bowl), I had to eat the fresh pineapple that came in it. And by then I'd had it with pineapple. But after touring the pineapple fields on the Pineapple Express train, there I was, dutifully lining up with the rest of the tourists for my complimentary sample of pineapple on a toothpick. Yerk. After I got home, I went to McDonald's to get a cheeseburger. Did you know that *every* McDonald's value meal (even breakfast) is served with a dish of "fresh" pineapple? Well, mine is in the fridge. I'm pineappled out.

Erin somewhere on Oahu

I wish I could remember specifically where this picture was taken, but I can't. I just remember it's somewhere pretty on the SE part of Oahu.

A Drive around the Island

I went for a drive pretty much all the way around Oahu today (except for the southwest corner) and stopped at about a dozen beaches. And every beach I saw was so much prettier than Waikiki, and there was way less people there. I found a bunch of shells and beach glass at the beach in the top 2 photos, and I'm going back there this weekend for more.

Me and Miss Hawaii

Last night, I went to another hotel to watch a Hawaiian band play and Miss Hawaii 1973, Kanoe Miller, did a Hawaiian dance (hula?). She was Miss Hawaii even before I was born, so that makes her....50??? Anyway, she still looks great, and she was very nice, and she was more than happy to pose for pictures with me and my coworker. Here we are!

Waikiki Beach!

Here are some pictures I took yesterday on Waikiki Beach, about 1/4 mile from our hotel. It's really pretty, but for some reason, I thought it would look different...kind of like pictures I've seen of it from the 60's. But it's nice, and usually not too packed with people.

USS Arizona Memorial

View from the boat ride out
List of the dead
(you can open this picture up and read all of the names)

Part of the ship

Another part of the ship

The "tears of the Arizona"

I went out to the USS Arizona memorial this morning. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Arizona_Memorial.

Erin's in Hawaii

I *think* this is Diamond Head Crater
Somewhere in Hawaii

Somewhere else in Hawaii

Here I am! I flew in Saturday night. I can't believe I'm here! It's awesome but I really miss Austin and Amelia. I took these pictures from the plane as we were landing.

Fun with Mirrors

On the day before we left Wisconsin, Amelia and I were supposed to go with my mom and sister and Bailey to my cousin Alex's wedding in Door County. Amelia and I were both sick with colds, so we decided to stay back in our hotel room in Green Bay, so Amelia occupied herself with our mirrored closet.

My parents' house was built abbout 80 years ago, and they still have the original claw-footed tub in the upstairs bathroom. I had this big idea that I could get a picture of all 3 girls taking a bath together, but after the previous disasters...I mean photo shoots, I realized it wasn't going to happen, so Amelia just took her baths alone. Which was probably a good idea. With all the splashing that one kid did, it's no wonder why the my parents had water damage on the kitchen ceiling below this bathroom from when we were kids....the tub is open on all sides and Amelia splashed a ton of water everywhere...just like I know my brother and sister and I did when we were little.

America's Next Top Model, Cycle 25

I forced Amelia into posing for me by Grandma Sally's lamp, which she was happy to do because she loves playing with the beads. On ANTM, they are always harping on the models to "find the light" and I think Amelia's got it!

The Worst Idea in the World Take 3

The Worst Idea in the World Take 2

Maybe a change of location will help? Hee Hee! We had to put Sophie inside the handle so she couldn't run away!

The Worst Idea in the World

So, my mother, Sally, had this great idea to buy her 3 granddaughters matching dresses and have their picture taken at the Sears portait studio. I tried to convince her what an awful idea this would be, since none of the girls could possibly sit still, and chances are, they'd cry. My mom was fine with that, and I tried to threaten her by saying that if she wanted to do that, she'd have to take the 3 babies by herself, because I didn't want any part of this foolishness. We decided to take the pictures ourselves in the yard. It didn't go much better. I didn't get one picture of all 3 girls smiling at the same time, or even 2 girls smiling at the same time. So much fun!

A matched set

My mom and sister and I were talking one night and then we all saw this spectacle...I swear, we didn't pose them, but we grabbed our cameras and all 3 of us stood behind our matching babies and took pictures. They stayed like this, just playing, for about a half hour.

Cousins

Amelia and Sophie
Amelia and Zachary

Amelia, Ian, and Zachary

Amelia and Sophie,

fighting over an Exersaucer they are both too big for.

Amelia and Bailey

The best thing about going to Wisconsin is all the cousins that Amelia can play with. My brother Jim and his wife Shelly have 5 kids...Zachary, Austin, Randy, Ian, and Sophie ( who is 13 days older than Amelia), and my sister came from Oregon with her 9 month old daughter, Bailey. It was like one non-stop play date, the whole time we were there. I had big hopes for Amelia and Sophie, thinking that they would play together and be BFFs and stuff, but they largely ignored each other. On the other hand, Amelia and Bailey lurved each other, and played together all the time.

Off to Wisconsin!

I remember being younger (like 15) and seeing kids tethered to their parents by a leash in the mall. I used to think how horrible that was, and how I would *never* do that if I had a kid when I grew up. Things sure change when you have a toddler who wants to run everywhere and you realize that you can't keep a kung fu death grip on her at all times. So this leash masquerading as a bear backpack really came in handy during our Wisconsin trip, keeping Amelia within a 36"radius of me at all times.

Here is Amelia waiting for our flight at the San Antonio airport. She is AWESOME on planes. Sleeps a lot, and plays when she's awake...hardly cries.