HERstory: July 2008

It wasn’t in our plans but Mom was able to come out and visit me in Hawaii! We are having so much fun! So far she has been here for a week and she will be here for two more weeks. I got it okayed with my room mates, Doug and James, and my boss that Mom could stay with us at our villa in Ko Olina. It’s pretty nice because she is sharing my room and our villa is the size of a decent sized house so there is room. Plus she doesn’t have to pay a cent! That was also a reason why Mom is staying so long because she doesn’t have to pay for a place to stay, which can get pretty expensive.

Since Mom has been here, we have been able to go on many adventures, especially because she got a rental car: a cute little silver Mazda 3. :o)We have been taking a lot of walks around our neighborhood and down to the beach/lagoons and tanning out by the pool… I’ll have to show off my Hawaiian tan when I get home! Ha! Doug, Mom and I walked down to the J. W. Marriott, which is in the Ko Olina Resort, and looked at their tropical fish ponds and shark ponds. I really wanted to jump in and wrestle one of the sharks, but I figured the hotel wouldn’t be too happy with me. Ha! It has kind of sucked because we haven’t had that much sun because it has been cloudy. :o( We have gone out to lunch and dinner many times, twice to our favorite place in Waikiki: Cheeseburgers in Paradise. Yum! Doug was able to experience Cheeseburgers in Paradise with us the other night for the first time; it was so exciting! Last week Scott, my boss, Doug, my roommate, and I took Mom out snorkeling at Kahe/Electric Beach, which was her first time snorkeling in Hawaii. It was so cool because she had a sea turtle swim under her and she was the first one in our group to see it… that was her first sea turtle that she has ever swam with. It was pretty exciting! It was really cool because that day there was a pod of dolphins off the shore from where we snorkel and they pushed the fish down our way. I have never seen so many fish! We were literally swimming through their schools and were right next to fish, it was so neat! It got kind of scary because we saw some barracuda among the many schools of fish so we had to stay clear of them. I didn’t feel like losing a finger at that very moment! :o) After work on Friday, Mom and I went to the Punchbowl Cemetery. I was in awe and honored to be there. We shopped at the swap meet by the stadium on Saturday, which is always fun! Mom got to go to church with me on Sunday and went to lunch with Kay and I after church. We hung out with Ashley and her family many times and had to say goodbye to them yesterday because they were able to move back home to Boston today. Ashley’s husband A.J., got a job back home sooner than they originally planned, this was the reason why they were here in Hawaii for three months, for his work. I am bummed and will miss them. :o( We have been watching many of the movies that both Mom and I brought along. Mom, Doug and I went and saw Wall-E on Sunday and I loved it! Kids, you have to see it! It’s been a lot of fun because Doug has joined us on our many adventures and we have had so much fun! The other day Mom hung out at the beach while Doug and I snorkeled at Lagoon 2 at Ko Olina. We had a blast! It’s been nice to have Mom here because she has been cooking for me, and I have helped, so I don’t have to live on Top Raman. :o) I must say, I am very thankful for moms.