So We Went to Hawaii Again...

...Rob got Chris a buddy pass and off we went in three separate groups. John and Chris flew to LA on Thursday and on to Honolulu Friday, where they rented a car and visited the North Shore. They climbed Temple Hill, ate at the Seasider, walked out to Goat Island, visited John's old office. Our old house from 18 years ago is torn down! John took photos of everything, and I'll try to get copies up on the blog.

Nicolle, the kids and I tried for the direct flight to Honolulu Friday morning but ended up traveling via LA, and were about 4 hours later getting there than we'd planned. Rob got off work early and came 2 hours after us. We rode the bus to Waikiki from the airport and went straight to bed. Above is the view from our hotel lanai. The next morning, John, Chris, and Rob climbed Diamond Head while Nicolle, the kids, and I went to the beach. Nicolle was working on a paper for her class so I had the babies and didn't take photos.

Colette was very impressed with her mom's beautiful beach dress and wore it Saturday while we rested back at the hotel.

We totally skipped lunch but had an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Chris practices his suave look:

John, Chris and I took the kids to the beach so Rob and Nicolle could go off on their own. It was brightly lit and beautiful. The water was warm. Sort of warm--by the end they were freezing of course.



Sand fight! This can only end badly.

John found a green inner tube abandoned on the beach. And an orange one. And two beach mats. And then we had to carry them back to the hotel along with the sandy, shivering children.

Mermaid Colette:

The next morning while Nicolle worked on her paper at the hotel, the rest of us went back to the beach.

Chris worked on his tan.

Everybody else used sunscreen.

Little clam Colette:



After showers and lunch we checked out and rode the bus around the island to Sea Life Park.


The coral tank was the most interesting and beautiful part of the park. We watched the rays and other fish.

We watched them feed the turtles.

We saw the dolphins and sea lions.




We saw a few birds as well.


Colette found a hibiscus blossom.

We rode the bus to the Ala Moana Mall for dinner, and some of us shopped while the rest waited.

The flight was not bad coming back--there were enough empty seats to stretch out and get some sleep. Even so, Chris and I were pretty useless the next day. However, John went straight back to school and Rob to work, dedicated souls that they are. I tried that last time and was grateful this time for a day to recover.

Below, feeding the rays at Sea Life Park:

The Rest of November

Mom and I decided to take a little overnight trip to Annabella to visit Cindy and fam. Michael came home from SUU (with a friend, above, in red--a cousin to our Lifferth neighbors in Springville), so we were there for his birthday party.

John and I went to our writing group at Charlotte's house. She is working on her contribution for the book about Gene. I hope she writes her own book as well. I have video of her telling a story from their adventures on a mission in Samoa--two married 19 year olds--Gene using a machete, hitting a wasps' nest, and slicing open his thumb--very funny (after the fact, of course).

John and I went to the BYU/USU basketball game. I kept missing the plays because I was too busy looking at the fans. It was sort of fun to hear them berate the refs: "Oh come on! Come ON! Ya think so? Oh really?" and so forth. John says when Uncle Bob is with him the comments from the stands are considerably more salty.

I went to The Farm with Rob and the babes. They love Tena's airplane even in the snow.

We visited the tack room with Grandpa:

and walked around the farm yard:

We went up the lane to see if the pond was frozen enough to slide on.

It was a lot of fun to watch the fish beneath ice clear as glass:


Grandpa tests the ice. Crack! Nope, not safe yet.

We walked with Grandpa up the hill to help feed the cows:


Later, John and I went with Rob, Colette, Johnathan, Betsy, and Ethan to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

Ethan liked this dinosaur which was just his size:

Here he tries on his dinosaur face (and shows his beautiful teeth).

Johnathan and Ethan check out the dinosaur foot.

Johnathan plays in the sand and water place, which is a big hit with the kids:

Massive shark:

The Utahraptor is pretty creepy:

I can't believe I took no photos of Thanksgiving. We (John, Chris, and I) ate here with Mom, Dad, Grandma Gene, Rob, Colette, and Johnathan (Nicolle flew to Ft. Worth for her mom's birthday and to help her sisters drive back with a car). John did a great job with the turkey, gravy, and stuffing; Chris did the potatoes; Mom brought salad, relish try veggies, and pumpkin pies; I did rolls, cherry pies, apple pie, lemon meringue pie, and chocolate cream pie, and whatever else. Colette set the table. When I talked to Dave he said he was disappointed that we only had seven pies for nine people, not 1:1 as we've sometimes had in the past. Oh well.

Las Vegas

John and I didn't find an open flight to Las Vegas for his conference, so we drove--it was a lot of fun to be together and only took a couple of hours more than flying would have. Or less. He was presenting with Stacy and Cat (above, on the right) on using writing in wilderness experiences. They did a good job, if trying to give too much information in a one hour forum. I liked the whole conference, which was full of skinny, weathered 'experiential educators' from the US and Canada--and I guess from other places too--John met a woman from El Salvadore--who talked about sustainability and environmental ethics. It sort of overlapped teaching, therapy, and wilderness.

Joe B's daughter Zina was there too, with a friend from Wasatch Academy. We went out to eat and wandered around a bit--below, the waterfall inside the Venetian.

Cat took a photo of John and me in front of the waterfall at the Wynn:

Here's a picture specifically for Brett (and Ethan):

My favorite of the hotel/casinos is the Venetian, with its fake sky and fake canals:

The next night after everybody else had gone home, we walked two miles south along the Strip and had the Caesar's Palace buffet:

We saw the water show at the Bellagio, and their gorgeous botanical exhibit inside, and saw the volcano erupt at the Mirage, and caught the end of the pirate show at Treasure Island, which has inexplicably changed its name (like KFC) to "TI."

But outside our window, abandoned construction, great dead hulks of darkness at night:

Yesterday before we headed back home we had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with Jordan from England 2007. It was great to see him, even though we missed Rose.

Las Vegas is just incredibly, deliberately tacky. White trash on steroids. It’s so offensive that it’s beyond comprehension—I’m stunned into silence. The polished bronze backsides of 8 or 10 dancing girls outside the front door of our hotel/casino, and people taking photos (usually of the women in their party) posing with them, for example. Why, as a woman, would you want to pose with a bunch of ladies’ butts? Is it funny or what? But I was strongly tempted to take a photo of them too, it was so obviously meant to be photographed. My feeling as an American or Westerner around the foreign tourists, is like having a dirty-minded, rich, half-drunk, out-of-control elderly relative present at a reception. “Oh my gosh, somebody put Aunt LV in the bedroom before she insults the Prime Minister. Not the bedroom where the grandkids are sleeping!” (because who knows what she’d do to them). On the other hand, the foreign tourists wouldn’t be in Las Vegas if they weren’t hoping to see her do something crazy.

There’s a lot of construction just north of the Riviera and across the street—gigantic buildings in various stages, but with no one working on them. The cranes are idle and nobody is around. It’s kind of creepy. There’s a place like that on State Street in Orem, where the exposed beams, half covered with tattered wallboard, whistle in the wind. (More or less). Ah the elections. (The end of a lightning swift neuronal pathway: stopped construction > bad economy > Wall Street sharks > Dems and Repubs both in their pockets > elect anybody it will be the same.) Do I really believe that? I voted (Democratic) this Tuesday, for Dems who in Utah County would have been indistinguishable from the Republicans. Not that a Democrat would ever win in Utah County.

To end on a happier note: Chris has loaded his entire CD "Fire in a Snowstorm" online, here. Sweet.

Vote!

So I saw this on feminist Mormon housewives today. I always feel more patriotic after I vote.