St. Patrick's, Alicia, Whales and preparations!

Our Easter best...Happy EASTER!

So I think that when things are going well, I tend not to blog and when things start becoming stressful, I begin again. So here it is, my second blog in as many weeks. I left off last time with Richard's visit and that leads into St. Patrick's Day and our next visitor.

St. Patrick's Day began early (or Air-Lee for those of you into the Brogue) for us in Waikiki, much like last year. The girls were in already as Meg had an appointment and I drove in later to meet them by the block party. (They cornered off two streets and a parking lot to let a bunch of wild partiers take over and dance to live bands and drink. It was good times.) So the girls came and we did a bit of shopping at the Aloha Tower Marketplace and finished up by buying sunglasses and stuff from Honolua. We celebrated our new purchases with some refreshing and apropos Green Beer from Hooters in the Marketplace. (I figured Aunt Julie would be proud of us for that one.) We were also marking the commencement of beers with green stickers which were placed on the body sequentially as they were needed. (That's smart talk for we were wearing Shamrock stickers in various places.) After the Green Beer we moved over to O'Toole's and Murphy's...I know very Hawaiian of them...with our friends Bernice, Michelle, Baum, Frankie, Beth, Tori, and Tine. It was a good group to go with. We then set out to have some fun and we met up with some new friends of ours from the Marines, Taylor, Austin and Tim. We listened to the Piranha Brothers play for a while and danced in the street. (Some of us danced, 0thers attached themselves to Bernice to try to keep the crowd from being mauled by her crazy "dancing") We got into O'Toole's later and then Meg went to the Airport to pick up our new visitor, Alicia. Soon after they returned, it got a little late and we headed home to sleep.



Keeping Bernice and bystanders safe and losing my sunglasses in the process.

Alicia and Meg at St. Patty's Day in O'Toole's

Alicia came out for a week, Monday to Monday. Jocelyn left during the week to be with family for a while, so she did not get much Alicia-time. All in all, it was a very relaxing week, and I'm quite brown because of it. We took her to Waimea for Tuesday and the waves were HUGE! Some people were body surfing and it was fun to watch them get blasted by the waves or dropped from the top of a barrel. Most of all, it was good just to sit still for a while and relax after St. Patty's Day. We stopped at a place in Hale'iwa that we'd never gone to before called "Cholo's." It was good as far as Mexican goes, but I would have liked Taco Bell just as much (especially now that they sells the Kalua pork quesadillas! yum...) Wednesday we went to Cabanas, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were a blur of beaches on all sides of the Island. We went to Waikiki one day to hike to Diamond Head for sunrise again and then breakfast at Bogart's again, and then surfing! THIS TIME I STOOD UP! I was going to get trounced by a wave, but just when I thought I was going under, the board caught the wave and I stood up! I got a bit cocky though and stood still, the board started moving out from under me and I ended up walking off the backside. Oops. Anywho...I stood up and this time my nipples didn't hurt so much (wore a shirt this time...that was a plus)
Amy, Tim, Megan and Alicia after Surfing!

Saturday was a booze cruise of course. I'll spare the pictures this time...we've posted enough, but Sunday was Easter so Amy and I went to church with Bernice at St. Jude's and then we all went back to Ko'Olina Kai to have some food, lay by the pool and have an Easter Egg hunt with Michelle, her sister and her nephew baby Dylan. We got a call from Kim and Kevin while at the pool so they came and joined us with some other Navy friends and we all an Easter Egg hunt. (Amy hid eggs in CACTI!! What kind of monster am I marrying!?!) Easter night we watched a movie with Bernice and then Alicia and I played some Wii...she stunk and I ruled...although given the following day's activity, we probably shouldn't have worked the arms so much.

Only two here, but
Alicia found all of her eggs, eventually...Tim helped!

Monday we finished off the week by going to Kailua and kayaking. We left from Kailua beach and headed for a place called Flat Island which is a bird sanctuary (and there were no birds). On the way, though, we saw a couple big turtles but Megan was too slow with the camera so we didn't get a picture. The next turtle was pretty big too I guess, but it scared Meg and Alicia too much to get a good picture. After Flat Island we went toward Lani Kai and then back out to Mokulua Island. On the way to Mokulua, we saw a little baby turtle...he was so cute! The girls went ahead of Amy and I and got stuck in the reef, so they missed THE COOLEST THING EVER! (I hope that was dramatic enough) Amy and I were floating trying to wait for a baby turtle to resurface and we heard a big thumping sound. The noise got louder and softer depending on the waves, but then I had just asked what the noise was when I looked up and saw a HUGE humpback whale fluke slapping the water! INCREDIBLE! So after the waves got too big since we were in the wrong spot, we had to fight to get back into Mokulua where we relaxed for a few minutes before heading back to Kailua beach and returning the Kayaks. The girls got some shave ice and then we went to Lani Kai for about 2 hours and I slept, so I have no story for that one. Alicia left Monday night and Jocelyn came back Tuesday.

Tim, Amy, Alicia, and Meg on Mokulua

When Jocelyn came back, we were just getting ready for Big Island...which I will write about soon...so...until I've deemed enough time has gone by to write again....

WHOA! Three Months!? Sorry...

Ok, well I know I said I'd write again when I felt the urge but because so much has happened, I got a bit overwhelmed and just kept putting it off. Well, I will write about events from more recently later, but for today I will sum up my activities since Christmas.

Amy and I went home for break and got a chance to see our parents and families. I didn't get to see my siblings, but because almost everyone will be home next Christmas, it seemed ok to us. We also got a chance to see Christopher and Derek and Jake from Maine and then stop by and visit with the family Cyr before heading up to Belfast to see Amy's Dad. What we weren't counting on up there was the freak blizzard that got us stuck there overnight. Our car was covered and we had to help Amy's Dad drive to the quarry and then back again with his truck so he could dig us out and clear the road. We headed back to Rockland and spent a few more days relaxing. We did much visiting with friends and spent NewYear's in Brighton with Ame's friends from high school. They are good kids but the night didn't end that well for my stomach. I was busy introducing the young ens to my old pal Jager-bomb. A new found friend but a friend none the less.

The Girls and some Romanians

Well, after the flight home, we only had a couple of days and then it was back to the grind stone. We celebrated our little Christmas with our roommates and we all received a trip to Cirque Hawai'i from Jocelyn. It was a good time...and we met Elvis!!! (he's Romanian and hairy!)

In February, Pro Bowl came to town and with the Pro Bowl came a few of our boys. We went with a bunch of friends and got down to the field level at a few points. I got a couple pictures of Vrabel, Samuel and of course Vince Wilfork. Aside from the game, there was a small bet between Meg and I. The bet was that the Pats would win the Super Bowl and the winner got a picture of the loser in the winner's Jersey to be sent to their father. Well, here is the picture taken at Pro Bowl and I still managed to get my Patriots into the photo.

Tim and Meg in "the bet"

Big Bad Mikey V.

Samuel, Ed Reed, Vince Wilfork, Ben Rothlesberger

Assante, Lynch and Champ Bailey on the 50 yard line from the second row!

Well, after Pro Bowl, we didn't really have too too much going on. My Buddy Rich came out to visit during his February Break after he taught 5th grade. We did a ton during his visit...an absolute ton! He came in on early Saturday morning, and Saturday was a pretty chill day. Sunday, we went on Booze Cruise #9 or 10...honestly I've lost count. Every time someone comes out we go on one of these things. I love them and we always have a lot of fun. We hung out with some friends from our schools.



Jim and Tim, just two Eighth grade science teachers sharing a Mai Tai...what's wrong with that?!





Anyway...We had Monday off, so the next day we went for a hike and climbed to the top of Lahilahi, the mountain on the edge of Cabanas beach. Cabanas is one of our favorite beaches and we always wanted to climb that mountain. The view was above amazing. The two buildings are what the locals call Cabanas and the beach has a really long Hawaiian name, in fact one day recently, we saw a turtle that swam right underneath us. Is it any wonder why I love the beach?





View of Cabanas from Lahilahi






So Tuesday, Rich went to school with us and saw the girls for the first part of their day and met their kids. After that, he came to good old Wai'anae Inter. and met my golden children. They were in full show off mode. He got to meet one of my best and one of my goofiest classes. After that, Rich and I did a three hike day. We went to the Top of Diamond Head for sunrise, then to the Blowhole and saw a HUGE honu from far away, then Makapu'u lighthouse, Maunawili falls and ended the day with Pali lookout followed closely by the hot tub and KFC. haha...we had a pretty eventful day and got a lot of hiking in.



Sunrise at Diamond Head, the faint bump on the water is Maui.

Honu at the Blowhole...good thing too, since the Blowhole wasn't doing anything.

Well, Thursday we went surfing for the first time on the island. We went to Waikiki so it was a little crowded but it was a blast. I can't do it, but I had fun. I think there should be warnings on surf boards that it may rub your nipples off, but other than that, I did ok, I tried really hard, but I couldn't get standing. Amy did get up and ride once or twice and Jocelyn, the old pro did too. Rich, Meg and I tried and fell a lot. After that we bought Rich a new shirt at "The stupid factory" since the wax ruined his shirt and we went to eat at Duke's DELICIOUS!

Friday, Rich and I were supposed to go Scuba Diving, but because the dive master was sick, we went snorkeling on a Dolphin excursion, although we didn't see any dolphins. We did, however, make friends with a 6th grader on vacation from somewhere in the Mid-West and her family as well as see a small pod of humpbacks whales about 100 ft. from the boat. They were humongous and so close. We could hear them breathing. It was a great visit with an even better friend.

I can't believe it was so long ago. Well, my next update will include all of March...Including St. Patty's Day and Big Island with the Wai'anae Teachers!

Until the time arises when I can type again....