The beauty and the beach...

By now - we all know the drill...."how to put our own sunblock.."

.....well, kind of ...?!

You dont need to go to the beach to be needing it - 

no, the beautiful sun is great but also vicious...

even at the FARMER's MARKET !!

We went to check out what the locals produced

loved browsing around

especially if the locals are this colourful !!

and how beautiful are these veggies?!!

yum !

not to mention the flowers..

is it possible that things are just more beautiful on an island ???

All that browsing worked up a thirst.... so it was off to 

THIS place - which is apparently the best place for 

decisions, decisions.........

the land of CHOICES !!!

the WORK in PROGRESS

and the HAPPY CUSTOMERS !!!

HOW fun to get all these duckies in your bathtub??!!

"Can I have them mom??"

(there is one in the mail for a lucky friend and one for a relative....mmmm.....wonder who that may be??!)

We just strolled around in the town of HALEIWA...

and met the COLORFUL CROC family !

Maybe this will be us one day ...

I thought they would be seriously having second thoughts after showing them "BLUE CRUSH"...

but, it only inspired them......

so, I might go watch the PIPELINE masters one day?!

Don't think Dad still has aspirations to be the guy on the billboard - but...

ye never know, ye know...??!!

Oh, loved the local vibe around here

.....kind of felt sorry for these guys after I met so many of them still alive at this morning's market??

I hope this guy isn't one of them?? 

Just met him this morning...??!

oohhh...naughty....don't let the people at the market see this one - this is anything BUT homegrown or organic...

but if you don't get it in you own country...well, then if you're a kid... you gotta buy .....a whole LOT ...

Does Vanilla Coke make your feet grow..? 'cos I want this one !!

maybe it is just because this guy is selling them...

and we've never bought anything from a guy that looks like this !!

But it's not only the shoes that are oversized...

MAN!!!!! Is this a burger or WHAT????

This is the only turtle we saw in town....

so we decided to go hit the beach again and go look for some more...

Had to go take one big dive before time run out

the water here is amazing !!

How fun not to be in the office today !!

You get a whole new perspective down here...

But it is cool up here too !

Actually, anything is cool when you can do it with your dad !

Yep - think he agrees...

way more fun when dad joins in !

and hanging out with dad is super cool - especially HERE !!

One last paddle out... 

and time to take our stuff...

and go...

The sun has set on our vacation...

It is 1.30 am 

and Honolulu is not exactly the most glamorous airport to hang out this time of the morning...

Not often that we have to catch a plane to get to school...

but this time we made it....

18 hours later since we left our holiday home...our car parked at the school at the exact minute we usually arrive from home!!

YEAH!! 

On time for school - on the MINUTE 

(except that we were a day late?!)

Oh well - anyone noticed??? Neaaaah....

We had a great time !!!!!!

Surfing and Shopping goes together, right.....?!

or so the dragons told me....?!

They also said : "Good Morning... another beautiful day !!!"

In fact - a great day to go for SURFING LESSONS !!

So, that's what we did.... I mean...half of the crowd did....

Here they just returned from their session...

with my Monkey turned into a real ROXY chick !

I know my son and that big smile says just one thing - 

"OH MAN..... THAT WAS FUN !!!!

and the instructors were cool too !!!

but THIS is hard work ...

"You know how much this weighs, Mommy??"

but YES - Handsome also enjoyed it !

For me....

I prefer spending time with my family in the calm waters...

without the big waves....

In fact...

I can do this the W-H-O-L-E  day long.

In the lagoon...

or the KABOOM like some of us call it...

Yes - that would be ME !!!!

But who cares what you call it...

Lagoon - Kaboom

It's a great place for the family to hang out...

But the beautiful waters of the sea kept calling us back...

at least Lollipop now runs TO the water and not FROM it....

So, we spent the rest of the morning - 

everybody just doing their own thing...

I watched a little Oprah in the car just before we left, 

was about this book,

saw it in the bookshop here - mmm???

....maybe there's the answer??

Oh well - reading it anyway !

ohhhh...but SOME people are not used to THIS much laziness.....

"We can fix that Daddy...

you can be a CUP holder..."

THAT could be hard work...

as a BIG can for a LITTLE girl can take a looong time to finish..!!

and around here it does look like only SOME people get to do all the work while others just enjoy the ride....

but she did not see this coming...

You DO have to wash your own shoes an awful lot around here...?!

Talking about shoes - 

Never thought I would buy CROCS..

but I DID

and wow !!!!!....they sure are comfy !!

With the SURFING done for the day, the only thing left was to go SHOPPING ...

that's what the dragon told me to do, this morning, right? 

Surfing and Shopping goes together...

so, off we went...

HAPPY CROWD

See the BIG SMILE on MY face??

Maybe one day she will understand the fuzz about Victoria's Secret ...

that's all I could make of this face I got when I pulled out my camera in thes hope while she was waiting on me..

But then there is also the GREAT world ahead of someone who has had her FIRST personal shopping experience today...

First your dad has to give you money and explain how it 

works

(tip: if your dad is not doing this anymore, try to find a husband who will...

give you the money that is.....

by that time you would need no more explanation how it works!)

Little nerve wrecking..but the relief when the man finally puts the "princesses"  into the packet !! 

Lollipop's first transaction completely on her own...

oh, don't worry - she'll get the hang of it !

But everybody got THEIR turn

The "BACK TO SCHOOL"  list is not exactly the way it was in my days...

OH....the evil....

Why, oh why, did Eva ever take a bite out of that apple..??!

but NO TECHNOLOGY can beat the TREAT of going into BARNES & NOBLES - 

ESPECIALLY if the whole store has books in YOUR language !!

Lost them for a while, but was very happy to find them 

- even if it was on the floor...

ONLY thing we forgot about the US, is how many choices there are in ONE FOOD COURT.....

but we ended the day with dinner and a show at the pool 

and there is ALWAYS the poor sucker who volunteered to be the audience participant.

But for us... well, we all got everything we wanted or could ask for for the day..

.....except for the pink champagne I ordered and then got this !

But the day ended in fireworks 

So no one really cared.