beach bbq

For the past two weeks Ryan has been doing annual training with his new Hawaii National Guard unit. It's been nice having him do it here because they didn't leave the state so he was able to come home every night. However, it also means that he hasn't had a day off in two weeks. Today they finished up, and the FRG sponsored a barbeque on the beach for the troops and their families.

There were kayak races which Ryan and a friend joined in. They won in three heats snagging them the rights to a (um...) impressive trophy.


They also had a giant blow up bouncer set up for the kids. Ava could not get enough of this.

cruisin'....

My new favorite purchase
(Thirteen Leaf Clover)

flavors of honolulu

After spending all evening yesterday and all day today listening to the live music going on down the street we decided we'd better head over to experience it in person. Flavors of Honolulu, held each summer, is a fundraiser for Abilities Unlimited which works with people with disabilities. There was a lot going on including the aforementioned live music, kiddie rides, and a lot of food from local restaurants.

fireworks and poor pitch

Every Friday night one of the hotels down on the beach puts on a fireworks show. It's quite short, and not terribly spectacular, but I happen to love fireworks of any sort. Tonight we decided to head down to check it out. Ava really liked them, and it was quite pretty with the reflection on the water.

Also going on this weekend, there is a summer festival taking place a couple blocks from our home. When we returned home this evening we could hear that they had a live band performing down there (the sound carries incredibly well making it seem as if we are right there), and the singer kept pulling people out of the audience to sing along. I'm not sure how he did it, but he picked tone deaf person after tone deaf person. It was sort of fun to listen to in a very sad way. Anyway, Ava seemed to be pleased. She started shaking her little hips like it was nobody's business.

may I offer you a seat?

The rest of the place is still in shambles, but we finally got a couch.
Hooray for craigslist!

Also, I've started a to do list:

1. learn to use that fancy digital camera of yours

what is the nature of your business?

Perhaps you'll remember the post back in March where I mentioned that our condo would be close to this flashy looking joint. We've been joking about stopping in for quite some time now, but since moving closer to it we'd been noticing signs of it being an actual restaurant rather than a cocktail bar (as the sign would have you believe). Last night we decided to take the leap, and it turns out it is a regular diner style restaurant.


There were sticky vinyl booths, a lovely pinky/purpley/brownish color scheme, and huge servings that look like this - for a kid's sized portion:


And if you are wondering about Ava's face, sadly it is not the reflection from the aforementioned pinky/purple colors surrounding us that are making it look that way (though I'm sure they don't help). She was burnt to a crisp at the beach yesterday.


After filling our bellies we decided to walk around a bit. We headed down to the Ward Warehouse which is a shopping center a few blocks away. At one end they have an open area with steps all around (ala Trolley Square for Utahns looking for a visual) and a stage set up in front. We were fortunate enough to stumble upon a group of mostly seniors learning (and then performing) different line dances!

Ava loves music and dancing so we stayed and watched for a bit. One very nice fellow kept waving at us to join in, and after they were done he came over to tell us that they get together every Tuesday night. Apparently it's free and open to anyone who wants to get their line dance on! That just made my night.

Also, apologies for the poor picture quality, but it was getting dark and I didn't want to blind any dancing seniors with the use of my flash. I'm sure you can imagine the catastrophic consequences.

our town

Ava and I had to run up to the post office today to send out a package. I decided we should make our way back home via a few streets we hadn't been on before. Here's some of what we saw.




Ava found this star sticker on the sidewalk, and had to stop to peel it up. Amazingly, it stayed stuck to her shirt for awhile.

look mom!

Some time ago my mother gave me an overwhelming amount of mostly vintage fabric that I think she feared would sit unused in piles around my home. Largely that is what's happened with the bulk of it, though I have used some bits and pieces for various small projects.

This dress however, was made from a piece she gave me that I believe to have been an extremely large and/or long wrap skirt from Mexico (please correct me if I'm wrong, mother dear). I actually made the dress sometime last year, but didn't get to wear it through the Utah winter. It's perfect, however, for Hawaii's climate so out it came! More good news: we have absolutely no room for storing unused fabric any longer, so I'm busy planning and preparing to use it all (you know, to make things we don't have room to store).

sad...

I'm glad I'm not the owner of this bicycle...um...wheel.

belated thank you

Thank you to Ambika from over at (Into) the Fray for featuring goodwiu in an etsy treasury of wardrobe_remixers. That's us...bottom center! See the full post here.