ALOHA BOUND!

The dream. It came true again.

I visited the island of Aloha for the second time in seven months. If I close my eyes I can still see the turquoise ocean transforming into a brilliant cobalt blue farther out to sea, hear the constant clucking of the wild chickens under my beach chair and smell the kalua pig roasting in the barbeque pit. If I really try hard enough I can even feel an ice cold Fire Rock Ale slipping deliciously down my throat. Refreshing!

(how was that for an annoyingly descriptive beginning, bahaha!)

But to say it started on the island is wrong, so very wrong... it all started on Sunday, June 10th at TGI Fridays...

With no food in house and staying up for 26 hours (so we could sleep on the plane), we ventured out in search of a late dinner and some drinks to hold us over. Kick starting vacation by not cooking and having a freshly made margarita is the way to go. But oh man, staying up ALL NIGHT was difficult!! Movies, steam cleaning the carpets, dance parties and yawns ensued. Too bad there isn't a picture of the dance party or the steam cleaning!

The flight on Hawaiian Airlines left from JFK, was nonstop and I know you are jealous of my 10 hours and 20 minutes of pure, pressurized cabin bliss! Knowing I normally go stir-crazy around the 4th hour into any flight I made sure to have tons of things to do including renting movies on my iPad (thanks again to my family, woo). Kyle wouldn't let me watch the movie with nudity in it though... something about kids being around and not needing to see that. If a kid can cry for 5 hours of my flight a little nudity might just calm them down. You never know.

(...space the final frontier)

This was the view for most of the trip. It was never dark because we flew into the sunrise at each time zone. The darkness was chasing us from behind, trying to force us into a restless slumber... did it work? Not until 10PM Hawaiian time (4AM EST). I escaped the Sandman that long. Whew...

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

2012: PHILLIES OPENING DAY

Today, we tell the tale of two Phillies fans. Two Phillies fans on Opening Day 2012.

It was just an ordinary Monday morning; Christine woke up for work grumbling because it was early and the sun had yet to rise. Attempting to be productive at work she arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule and booted up her computer. Four hours to go until she was released to the thrill of peanuts and cracker jacks.

Tom, on the other hand, had taken the entire day off. He arose to the sound of birds chirping, not the nasty bleeping of an alarm, knowing that work wasn't on his agenda. Reading the paper, drinking coffee and petting his basenji took up most of the morning. With baited breath, he waited for the arrival of his favorite daughter.

Finally! Freedom at last! Christine picked up her purse and keys and rushed out the door of her office building. As she sped up the highway she sang loudly in the car while cursing those who just didn't drive fast enough (for her tastes). But she made good time and picked up Tom on schedule.

Of course, as they approached the stadium exit there was an influx of cars causing traffic. Did they not know it was Daddy-Daughter Day and beer was needed STAT?! Beep! Get out of the way!

Thankfully, once a fan of age enters the stadium a Brewerytown beckons. Waiting in line, they decided to get a delicious Flying Fish brew along with a Walt Wit. The joys of good beer are clearly not lost on Tom and Christine; they understand that Miller Lite is water and anything below Yuengling is deemed undrinkable.

Taking his first sip, Tom became giddy from the foam and carbonation.

Not ready to sit down, Christine made the decision to wander around the stadium. This turned out to be a poor idea since within five minutes a giant American flag emerged on the field prompting fantastic views and photo opportunities of course. They ran up the escalator and flew to their seats just in time to see the plane flyover.

It was an incredible sight!

But OH NO!

The game was set to start in 10 minutes, and not to be outdone, Christine made a visit to another Brewerytown. She had to keep up with Tom! She had to make him proud; you know, being the favorite daughter and all. So, when prompted by Tom, she did what any young woman would do...

 

Tom is a bad influence.

There isn't a lot to say past the first few innings of the game. It was a disappointment and throughout the stadium they continued to hear, "it's going to be a long season." Well, it might just be a long season but Christine and Tom will continue eating cheesesteaks, drinking beer and booing the Phillies like real fans do.

LONGWOOD GARDENS - WARNING: THIS IS MIRANDA POST

Today felt like a relaxing Saturday (bonus: it's only Friday!) because I was off work and out exploring Longwood Gardens with my mom, sister and niece. It's the perfect time for me to visit because it's TULIP TIME and they are my ultimate favorite flowers.

This (above) is the best looking tulip I've seen and it also has a great name to go along with the jagged edges; a pirate tulip - that is clearly not the latin name.

Arr! Look at me petals, matey!

 Miranda was excited all day about the flowers which was cute because she would walk up to them, stop and exclaim, "WOWWW!!" Sometimes she said the word so forcefully it looked like she was about to topple over from it. Being able to walk up to a flower and rip the petals off was such a joy to her; even if her mother did let her kill a few plants or two.

Now, even though my mom and I were completely happy to wander around the 1,000 acres of beautiful landscaping taking skillions of pictures my sister kept pestering us to go to the children's garden. This is where little kids can go on scavenger hunts, learn about nature and, most importantly, get soaking wet in their clothes making their parents upset - Miranda was no exception to the rule. She is a lean, mean water splashing machine.

After the soaking, we didn't do much else; just wandered around chatting and chasing the baby. The nice thing about Longwood is that it's a place where you can set your own pace. We spent about 4 hours there and didn't get to a lot of things.

But that's okay because today I became a member and can go there any time I want.

-happy face-