Wrapping Things Up

As my Dad's visit quickly draws to a close, we've kept ourselves busy continuing the "Palm Tour" of the island. On Sunday, my Dad and I left the kids with Brian for a few hours, and we headed downtown to Waikiki Beach for a quick look-see. We had brunch at The Cheesecake Factory (yum, yum!), and then walked down the beach front area, window shopping and people watching. My Dad was shocked at the fact that the beach was wall to wall people, and even more surprised to hear that it is even more packed during the Christmas holidays and summertime when kids are out of school and people travel more. For those of that have not been there, Waikiki is beautiful and interesting, but is definitely not the place to go for a quiet day at the beach. Relative to the number of tourists there, the beach is not very big and is in the heart of downtown and is constantly filled with thousands of people. On the other hand, this area has a lot of fun shopping and interesting people, so it just depends on what you are looking for. Along our walk we came across this tree, which sort of reminds me of something you would see in a Dr. Suess book. If you look closely, you can see many birds nesting in its branches (or are those roots?).



Yesterday we spent some time doing some Christmas shopping for the kids, and along the way, I picked up this like-new little slide off Craigs List for only $25 (what a steal!).



Needless to say, the kids LOVE it and have already gotten their $25 worth out it. Today we ran up to the Army Base and all got our flu shots, and then we headed on over to the Dole Plantation to show Grandpa Ed what was up with pineapples. He was very surprised to learn (as many people are) that pineapples do not actually grow on trees, but rather they grow on the ground. Who knew? One of the kids' favorite parts of the plantation is the fish pond. Here are my cuties feeding the fish...



So here we are, back at home for a couple hours of down time, as Grandpa Ed gets ready to head back to Sacramento tomorrow. It's been a busy week, but a fun one at that. Next on the agenda? Getting ready for Christmas. Decorating, Christmas parties, visiting Santa, wrapping gifts, lots of food....here we come!