Today, Taris went to work and the rest of us hiked to the top of Diamond Head Crater. It was a great hike, but there was a lot of vog in the air. (Vog: volcanic smog) The view wasn't as great as it has in the past, but our company was still impressed.
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| Taking a break |
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| View of Honolulu/Waikiki |
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| At the top |
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| View of the trail we went on to the top |
Our first visitors of 2012 arrived today. Jim and Beejae, Taris' parents, arrived on island this afternoon and will be vacationing with us for the next 16 days. We have a very full schedule. I am so excited to have people at the house! Tourist activity here we come!
Every year, the city of Honolulu opens up city hall and creates a holiday wonderland. They sponsor a Christmas wreath contest and break out the HUGE Santa and Mrs. Clause. We thought this was a nice cap to the evening and you just can't get more holiday like than streets filled with lights and a 30 foot Christmas tree all decked out. We had a great time taking in all of the festivities.
These were some of our favorite Christmas wreaths entered in the competition:
Taris and I spent Christmas at home and alone this year. It was quiet, but a nice change of pace for us. Since it was just the two of us, I opted not to cook and we headed down to Waikiki for dinner at one of the fancy little restaurants on the strip. We ate "dinner" (at 4pm) at Wolgang Puck's Steakhouse. It was absolutely wonderful! We enjoyed the atmosphere, the company of the two of us, and of course all of the amazing food. Believe it or not, I did not take one picture of us at the restaurant. We finished in time to take a walk on the beach to watch the sun set over the ocean. It certainly was not our typical Christmas and most definately not the weather we are used to, but we both loved not having to bust out our winter coats to head outside.
For those of you that know me, you know I hate waiting to open presents...especially at Christmas. And I hate keeping secrets on what I am giving. Since we didn't have to wait for Santa Clause to visit our house, I convinced Taris that we could open our presents on Christmas Eve. We both got what we wanted and then some. The highlight was my ipod and Taris' highly requested beats by Dr. Dre. I bought us the X360 Kinnect. Which was probably the funest toy ever! Here are a few highlights from the present opening.
For Mason's birthday, everyone went to the North Pole Express (formerly Polar Express) in Grapevine. I was SO glad that I got to go too! Everyone had a great time. It was crazy cold and actually snowed the next day! There was so much to do: a train ride with Santa, a visit with Santa at the toy store, ornament making, and hot chocolate. It was such a great memory maker.
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| Mason, Kendall, and Tucker Doesn't Tucker remind you of the kid from "The Christmas Story" He finally figured out that his arms could move! |
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| Kendall would not go up to see him alone...and did not want to sit on his lap |
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| Kendall decided she could try and touch Santa |
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| Oh the many attempts at a group picture |
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| Tucker LOVES pez |
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| Rachel, Mason, Tucker, and Mike |
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| She got a Christmas bell |
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| A little more warmed up to Santa |
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| The conductor |
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| Our train car |
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| Mason made a sleigh |
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| Kendall and Alexis with the finished ornament |
