Anini

Here's a spot between Kilauea and Princeville.

Kilauea

We stopped by Kilauea Fish Market, a few minutes away from Kilauea Elementary School, where I work, to introduce Rich to their ono Ahi Wraps. The wraps are healthy AND deeelish!!! There is also a Thai-to-Go place close by that has awesome dishes.

Below is a pic near the Kilauea lighthouse lookout... Jeff saw a photo op in the reflection of a car's shiny side mirrors.

I am incredibly blessed with the most gorgeous drive to work. On the way to Kilauea and Hanalei, I pass this lovely ranch a few minutes before I take the turn to Kilauea Elementary. Its my favorite, favorite, favorite part of the drive. The ranch's soft knolls are always well-maintained and covered with verdant green grass. I often see cows grazing... I love it when I see a herd of sheep grazing near the edge of the ranch, by the road. It reminds me of the pastoral pictures in our books, especially the glow of the early morning light. Sometimes I get distracted when I pass by... I need to remember to focus on the road!

Oktoberfest

We visited Oahu twice last month. Here are some pics from our first visit, which included a trip to the Honolulu Zoo with ma and pa... and shopping at Pacific Supermarket in Waipahu! A whole aisle of coconut products!

This was the highlight of the zoo visit... a lick-happy baboon.

The latest scoops

It's been a busy August and September for us.
-Jeff gave his first public talk in the beginning of August. He did a wonderful job and we were grateful that Mom and Dad came to visit that weekend and show their support.
-I started working full-time again (see the post below for shots of one of my schools).
-Jeff constructed a wooden fence for our front yard! It was his first time building a fence from the ground up. I appreciate the privacy that the fence provides... we were getting tired of looking right into our neighbor's garage while they had karaoke parties. Now all we need is a pitbull running around the yard to make our house even more Ewa Beachy.

Runaway Taco

Here's a random story:
One morning, Jeff realized that our doggy Taco had escaped out of the garage. After checking the yard, circling the neighborhood, placing a missing dog ad on Craigslist, calling the Humane Society, and calling the local radio station to ask them to post a missing dog announcement, Jeff found our mutt. Guess where?!!! After walking around the block again, Jeff heard the jingling of his dog collar next door. Jeff found him in the neighbor's front yard-

Taco was laying on a blanket having a tea party with the neighbor's kids.

(sigh)

Green Team

In an effort to pretty-up our room, Jeff constructed this huge frame out of scrap wood and canvas. We spent about an hour painting it, using a variety of old paint that we found in the garage. The inspiration for the colors was this dog house project in a Readymade magazine. Get the instructions how to build your pooch a fancy-schmancy dog house with a garden roof by clicking here.

Back to Work!

I returned to work in August. My work time is divided between two schools on Kauai's north shore: Kilauea Elementary (about 25 minutes from home) and Hanalei Elementary (about 45 minutes from home).

Hanalei Elementary (pictured above) dates back to 1835. Its a tiny school, with less than 300 students, set against a beautiful backdrop of lush mountains which are filled waterfalls when it rains. Frequently, when I arrive at work I see a huge rainbow stretching across the sky. Pierce Brosnan's kids used to attend the school; he donated $100,000 for this playground:

Jen & Mia

Our dear friends Mia and Jen visited us recently! It was the first time for both of them to come to Kauai since they were lil kids. Highlights of their visit are posted below.

Sukiyaki is Suki-YUMMY!

Mia and Jen treated us to a delicious home-cooked dinner! They made us a healthy, gluten-free sukiyaki followed by crepes for dessert. So yummy! We could have the crepes however we wanted. I opted for strawberries, sour cream, and brown sugar... and a second crepe with Nutella, whipped cream, and chopped up macadamia nut roca. Mmmm-yummy, yummy! Then Mia gave a crash course violin lesson to Jen (who eventually went cross-eyed looking at the strings) and our friend Jessy.

Go Mia, go!

What do Mia and Harrison Ford have in common? They both stood at the edge of Kipu Falls! This hidden spot has a double water fall, surrounded by lush greenery, and was the site of the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. After a 5 minute walk along a stream, through some overgrown plants, we arrived at the top of the falls. Mia displayed her fearless, adventurous spirit by swinging off the tree rope and jumping into the pool. That's her in the picture right above this paragraph. You probably have to click on the picture to enlarge it, because she looks so tiny in this shot. Afterward, she had to climb up a tall slippery metal ladder to get back to the top. On the day that we went, a bunch of rascally boys were climbing up the tall trees like crazy monkeys. In the middle picture above, try to find the kid who climbed on a branch above the rope and started bouncing on the end of the limb.