Momof3gurlz

4 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Our power came back on a few minutes ago. You can tell when power comes back because the generator just stops running.

 

I keep meaning to ask...are your daughter's in-laws named Tim and Mary?  You mentioned at some point that they're members of the same club as us.  Tim and Mary are the only people in our neighborhood that I know of who belong to the same club.

I’m glad the power is back on there. 
The in-laws are Steve and Virginia.  If memory serves (and that’s doubtful lol), they live on Marsh Creek. I do know they overlook a marsh and part of the golf course. Steve has a huge container of golf balls he regularly finds in their yard. 

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

We got a glancing blow from Helene last night.  Wind speeds were around 40mph, which is enough to leave small branches and Spanish moss scatter around the yards and streets.  Nothing serious that I'm aware of.  We lost power around 2am and our generator kicked on.  It's located outside our bedroom wall and is easily heard.  I tried to sleep through it but gave up and turned it off hoping the electricity would be restored by the time we woke up.  It's still out and we needed coffee, so I turned the generator back on.  Having that whole house generator is a godsend around here.  Hopefully, everyone in Helene's path is safe.

You’re fortunate to have that generator! My daughter just told me her in-laws (who live in the same community you do) are without power as is the entire island.  I hope @helen haywood is doing okay.  
 

@dani negreanu I’m really enjoying your post trip report and pictures.  
 

@aussielozzie18 as always, fantastic photos!  

Adding my hopes that all our FL friends stay safe in the storm. 
I’m in PA watching my three grandsons until Sunday. My oldest had a work conference In Orlando which wrapped up yesterday afternoon. Her husband flew down last night to join her for a few days to celebrate their wedding anniversary.  She said they had heavy rain this morning, now just gusty winds but expecting more downpours tonight. Supposedly it will clear out by tomorrow afternoon.  They are toughing it out at the Four Seasons - poor them 😂. 
I’ll spend this afternoon running taxi service to and from the orthodontist, soccer practice and karate lessons.  Saturday features three different soccer games (I’m kind of hoping it rains - shhhhh).  At least they’re spread out over the day.  
I’ll drive home Monday morning, then Wednesday we leave for a road trip to Michigan 😉.  It seems like I’ve barely been home the past 4 weeks! 

11 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Dani, safe travels home to you.  I hate that you have to return to the stress.  I hope things do not escalate further. 

 

Safe travels to you, John.  I hope Helene behaves for you and doesn’t impact your drive.

I echo Mark’s sentiments for both @dani negreanu and @Ozark_Kid.  

11 hours ago, maggieq said:

@Momof3gurlz beautiful pictures.  On our long bucket list. Would love any recommendations you have on how which islands/hotels, etc 

As Firefly said, Oahu is really commercial, especially Honolulu, Waikiki and the surrounding areas. Our first six nights were at Aulani, about 30 minutes from Honolulu, and this was mostly ‘relax at the resort’ time.  We drove to the North Shore one day and to Kanapali Beach another day.  Unless you’re committed to seeing Waikiki, North Shore or Pearl Harbor, Oahu wouldn’t be my first choice.  We stayed at the Outrigger Reef in Waikiki and I would easily recommend it to anyone.  
In choosing a second island, Maui would’ve been my choice but I was concerned they haven’t fully recovered yet from the fires.  Kauai won out with the chance to see the NaPali Coast and Waimea Canyon.  It was much more unspoiled than Oahu with lush plants and greenery everywhere.  We stayed on the southern coast in Poipu at Koloa Landing.  It’s a beautiful resort with a fantastic pool and nice on-site restaurant.  Close to a couple of shopping areas and several other restaurants.  The Grand Hyatt is also nearby and looks gorgeous but I was a little overwhelmed by the size of it so we chose Koloa.  Firefly is also correct that Poipu is the sunny part of Kauai.  We had fantastic weather there.  Other passengers on our Na Pali catamaran cruise were staying in near Kapa’a on the east side and said they had mostly overcast, drizzly weather.  Poipu was about a 30 minute drive to Waimea Canyon and Port Allen/Elele where many tours depart from.  
Happy to answer any other questions you have.  

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I think a lot of big-name writers are now either cranking out books too quickly or are co-writing with other people (to get more books out quickly).  Lee Child for example now co-writes with his brother Andrew, and Andrew is supposedly doing most of the writing, even though Lee's name is biggest on the book cover.  I'm not sure how 2 people can write 1 book, but the quality seems to be dropping off.

I agree with this 💯%.  I’ve been re-reading the Harry Bosch books by Michael Connelly because I started this series close to 20 years ago.  The earlier novels are better than his more recent ones and I enjoy them just as much the 2nd time around.  At least he hasn’t started co-writing yet.  
 

2 hours ago, jmh2006 said:

Deb, I just finished The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar and now finally started The Women by Kristin Hannah, who is one of my favorite authors!  

I just loved The Women!  We’ll have to discuss 😉. 

1 hour ago, StanleyandGus said:

I’m about half way through Blood from a Stone, by Donna Leon. It’s the fourteenth in a series that Dani recommended!

 

The Saskatchewan Library Consortium has a wonderful on line resource- I have been dipping into the mysteries.

I tried reading the first one of that series and couldn’t really get into it.  Maybe I’ll give it another try.  
 

I just read that Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta books will be made into a series for Amazon Prime, starring Nicole Kidman as Kay and Jamie Lee Curtis as her sister.  Anyone else who’s read these books think Jamie Lee would make a better Dr Scarpetta?  

Also, RIP Nelson DeMille, another of my favorite authors.  I may go back and re-read his books.  

7 hours ago, Luckynana said:

 

We're expecting sun tomorrow, and I sure hope it is so!  Tomorrow is a big, sold-out HS Football game here in town, and the team will be honoring Veteran's prior to the game.  My two grandsons who are in the Marching Band, will be escorting Jim out onto the Field, along with the other Band and Football players and Cheerleaders, who will be escorting their Veteran Fathers/Grandfathers, etc. onto the Field.

Sounds like a very special day for everyone!

I did a fair amount of reading during our recent trip, mostly on those long flights.  Recently I joined a couple of book groups on that other social media site and have found some good recommendations through them.  A new to me author I discovered is S.A. Cosby. The two books I just read by him are Razorblade Tears and All The Sinners Bleed. Both are excellent mysteries.  I also just finished Grisham’s latest, The Exchange, which is a sequel to The Firm.  Sadly, this one was a real disappointment. It just dragged on and on and the ending left me 🤷🏻‍♀️. 
What’s everyone reading these days?

15 hours ago, derorim said:

 

Thanks for sharing pictures of your stay in Hawaii. They brought back wonderful memories. I'm so jealous!  You had a long trip home... did you fly in two or three segments?  We recently took a 5 hour non-stop flight and I thought it would never end.  🙂 

No, we had nonstop flights both ways from Boston.  About 11 hours going there and 9 1/2 coming home.  It was the only downside of the trip. If we ever did it again, I’d break it up with a stop in California.  

14 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Wonderful pictures.  They brought back some good memories.  Good to hear that you had a great trip.

 

The important question is, did you get some Hula Pie?

We did not!  I also didn’t try a shave ice. Andy and I are the rare breed who don’t really care for sweets 😱. 

24 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Looks like you had a great time!  Your pictures make me want to go back.  I just wish that it wasn't such a long trip from the east coast.  I agree with you about Waikiki, but we might need to spend a night or 2 there just to go to the Monkeypod Kitchen to get a Mai Tai. Did you make it to Keoki's Paradise for dinner?  It's right by the Koloa Landing resort.  We enjoyed a great meal there.  I'm glad that you had good weather for Waimea Canyon.  Most of the lookouts were clouded over for us.☹️

 

 

Yes, we had dinner at Keoki’s Paradise our last night.  It was one of our best meals and the atmosphere was perfect.  

@Sea Dog  sorry Greg, we didn’t make it to Tahiti Nui.

My pick for the best Mai Tai is the one at Monkepod, ingredients listed below. Some I tried were too fruity, while others had too much orgeat.  Maybe it was the macadamia orgeat or maybe it was the honey lilikoi foam, but either way it was a winner.  

And so we begin the long trek home.  We spent two nights in Waikiki, visiting Pearl Harbor while we were there. It was incredibly moving.  Although not unexpected, we were still taken aback by just how crowded and commercial Waikiki is.  One high end store or mall after another.  But we had a nice ocean front room at the Outrigger Reef with a balcony that felt like a cruise ship balcony 🙂.  
We then flew to Kauai which is everything I imagined Hawaii to be;  lush, green, laid back unspoiled and just gorgeous.  Our resort, Koloa Landing in Poipu, could not have been better.  We took a sunset catamaran cruise Tuesday along the NaPali coast.  All I can say is wow, wow, wow. Pictures don’t do it justice.  Waimea Canyon was also spectacular. This trip truly lived up to our expectations and I wouldn’t change a thing.  

Our last night on Oahu

You know you’re in a small airport when you see this in baggage claim 😂

Koloa Landing

our last night in Kauai 😢

3 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

Thank you all for so many well wishes. From the bottom of my heart. It is very touching and moving that so many of you took the time to reply.

 

I started to relax a bit yesterday when we left the Israeli airspace and much more when we touched down in Athens. Enough said.

 

Just completed the health questionnaire 😀

Dani, I’m just popping in to say I’m so happy to see you and DH are able to make this trip and have a long awaited reunion with your cousin.  No one is more deserving of this than you!  Bon voyage 🛳️ .

We’re having a wonderful, relaxing time here in beautiful Hawaii.  I made my first time zone mistake Sunday.  Decided to rent a pool cabana for the day so Andy could watch some NFL games on the TV inside.  I was thinking he’d like to watch the Patriots opener, but neglected to calculate the time difference so by the time we were set up in the cabana, the Pats 1:00 game was nearly over!  Oh, well. 

We have mostly been enjoying the pool and beach here at the resort. Tuesday we drove up to the North Shore for the day with the obligatory stop at the Dole Plantation then a luau for dinner. Today we’re heading to the east side of the island to a couple of beaches and lookout points.  

Mai Tai last night, topped with Lilikoi foam.  This has been the best one so far.  

2 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Do you plan to do a Live, Dave?  Would be interested in your take on Icon.  We will have another one of those “different” experiences, since we will have young kids along.

 

I need to start researching hotels in Miami.  I think the only time we sailed from there, we either flew in the day of the cruise (many, many, many years ago), or drove and parked at the port.

 

If anyone has a good recommendation, I would like to hear it.

We’ve stayed at the Aloft (which I believe is part of Marriott) in the Brickell area. It was modern and clean, large rooms and had a nice included breakfast.  Have also stayed at the Hampton Inn/Brickell which was also nice but significantly more expensive than Aloft.  

11 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

On the plane, soon ready to push off. Hopefully have our final thoughts done tonight. 

Catch you later. 

 

Wait. It’s over?! Already?!

Thank you for taking us all along on another Andrew & Lisa adventure!

What day is it? What time is it? 
We survived our long flight and made it to Hawaii. I only slept a couple of hours the night before we left, then another 2 hours during the flight which certainly didn’t help with the 6 hour time change. Needless to say, we had “dinner” at 3 pm and were both asleep before the sun set.  We’re at Aulani Resort (a Disney property), in the Ko’olina area of Oahu. Today’s going to be a relaxing pool/beach day. 

Ready to go!

Our resort is at the top lagoon. So nice of the captain to give us a preview as we landed 😉😂

First Mai Tai. It was delicious. 

20 hours ago, Keksie said:

Our balcony.  Took a looooong time for the coast guard to clear the ship..

 

As our plane was taxiing out for take-off from Logan yesterday morning, I looked out my window and spotted your ship waiting for you to board. 
Bon Voyage!

We are all packed and ready to depart for Hawaii tomorrow.  Our flight leaves at 8:00 AM out of Boston.  We’ll drive up to our daughters in Massachusetts very early and our SIL is driving us to the airport.  It’s an 11 hour nonstop flight to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines 😬.  I have plenty of books loaded onto my Kindle and we have the final season of Suits downloaded onto the iPad to watch.  
We have plenty of relaxation time planned in between exploring the island, so I’ll try to keep up here and post a few pictures as well.  
🌴☀️🍹

25 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

And jus6 like that grade 12 is starting for Owen. 
 

 

In next year’s pictures he’ll be heading off to college😲!!

15 hours ago, Luckynana said:

 

@dani negreanu  Dani, I am so sorry to hear the horrific news of those innocent hostages and their grieving families.   I pray every day for Peace for your Country.  You are in my thoughts and prayers.  🙏🙏   (((Hugs)))❤️

+ 1 @dani negreanu 🙏

I’m late to find this Live, but happy to follow along on your latest adventure.  Belated Happy 20th Anniversary to you & Lisa and bon voyage!

2 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

With a heavy heart I cancelled our Bella 02 cruise.  Reasons I won't go into but we're fine. Just isn't workable.  I was looking forward to seeing all of you especially our @dani negreanuDani.  I just hope she and her DH can sail with light hearts.  So horrible to live in limbo, in fear, like they are doing now.

 

Those of you on Bella 02 who weren't on Bella 01, you're in for a real treat.

 

I hope there will be a Bella 02 thread so all of us homebodies, or on other cruises, can keep up with all the merriment/shenanigans.

 

I'll post a short blurb on Wonder roll call.

Bonnie I’m sorry you and Jack won’t be joining Bella 2.0.  You’ll definitely be missed!

Enjoy your time with your daughter and grands.  

34 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

LOL Deb!  Not yet!!  😁

 

How many days until Hawaii?✈️

We leave early on Sept 7th, so 15 days to go.  As my Dad would’ve said “15 and a wake-up”. 

1 hour ago, Luckynana said:

 

I feed my Koi fish koi food that promotes vibrancy.  I've been feeding them this for years.  Three of my fish are in the white family, and two of them have begun to show a somewhat orangey color on parts of their body.  One of them had a black spot or two on it's body, and I thought...I guess that's a new color, appearing as small dots.  I then saw a black dot on two of my other koi.  I have 10 fish.  7 koi of various sizes, and 3 huge goldfish.  

I googled koi and black spots, and read that there could be parasites.  Oh no!!  The next day, I took a water sample to the Koi place to have it tested, and I was told it was very toxic.  I was told to empty most of the pond and refill it with water, and to come back the next day.  I did just that, and brought another water sample.  Still toxic!  I have now made 5 trips to the Koi place, and we're almost there!  Each day, the water was a little better, but not quite there yet.  I've been filling the pond all day (we can only have the hose on little more than dribbling, so it's been taking 8 hours or so each filling, so as not to stress the fish)  The woman at the store said that this should do it!  I was told not to feed the fish until this gets resolved.  The fish are pretty mad at me....they no longer swim up to me, since they've come to realize that so far, I'm only there to drain their home!!  I have one more visit to the store, with my water sample, before I can feed them again.  I was told to go back on Saturday. 🤞  I've never had this problem before, so here's hoping!!

 

Onto the next wonderful project tomorrow.  Our pool has been loosing water, and the pool guy told us what we have to do starting tomorrow.  Mark the water level.  Wait 12 hours, then mark the water level and measure how much we've lost.  Wait another 12 hours, then turn on the filter and mark the water level, keep the filter on for another 12 hours, and mark the water.......

Are you dreaming about water and water levels yet 😉😂?!