Waimea Valley Audubon Center

I am going to beat my husband to it. He is off at a Dining In for his Squadron so I will post a few pics of what we did today. All I can say is there are moments when I love living in "Paradise".





We went out to the Waimiea Valley Audubon Center this morning/afternoon to hike up to the fall. It is by no means a hike, more of a stroll along a nicely graded paved path. And at the end is this wonderful waterfall. If the conditions are right and the lifeguards are there, you can go for a swim.ES and I had a great time swimming in the pool at the bottom of the fall. You can see us off to the left of the fall, I am wearing my pink Red Sox hat and ES is in a blue life jacket. Everyone 12 and under has to wear a life jacket and there are adult ones too if you don't feel like a strong enough swimmer to go out in the 30 feet deep water.


We sure had a great time!






Here are some sites from along the way...

I had the strangest feeling yesterday morning...

I woke up and my DH is was sleeping next to me! Shift work is over!!! Yippee... now can I go get a pedicure? :-)

Garanimals are Back

I know that being a military wife I have often wished that they made Garanimals for my husband. He has gotten so used to just throwing on his uniform, it seems he sometimes forgets how to match things. :-)

Well they are back, but not in DH's size. Wal-Mart is now carrying Garanimals for Kids. But... do I really want my kids wearing ALL one color? If you are seriously matching the animals to each other in order to coordinate than you will find your children wearing ALL one color. The bright yellow shorts are supposed to be matched with the bright yellow shirt and the navy blue shorts are to be matched with the navy blue shirts. Really do they think kids can't figure out that the same colors go together? Aren't we supposed to be teaching them how to coordinate, not look like a big blueberry?

So, in summary, I am a rebel. I bought a tiger to go with a monkey!

Costco Helping the Environment

So I finally sat down and looked at my Costco Email and it was about their Best Kept Money Saving Secrets. The one that stands out to me is the Costco.com Trade In and Recycle Program. They will actually give you cash for your old electronics. They even send you a prepaid shipping label!

Go check it out, once DH is off the Mid-Watch I am going to have to have him do something with that old XBOX in the garage and the games that no one plays! :-)

What I Learned...

As many of you know from reading Blunoz's blog, I have been sick. Well our Little One (YB) is now also sick and has conjunctivitis. Since that is highly contagious, we went to see the doctor yesterday. So here are a couple of things I learned from the doctor:

• Decongestants are proven not to work for children under the age of 6. The American Pediatric Association has been trying to get legislation passed so that the pharmaceutical companies cannot label decongestants for children under the age of 6. It was a huge accomplishment just to get them labeled for over 2.
• If your child has a fever but is acting normal, you don't need give him anything for it.

Another thing I learned today was in regards to car accidents. A few weeks ago I was in a minor car incident where another mom and I backed into each other in the preschool parking lot. She rudely filed a claim without sharing her insurance information with me, I had provided mine but expected a call from her telling me if they wanted to involve the insurance company, so I was quite surprised to receive a phone call from my insurance company telling me that a claim had been filed. Seriously, the damage was so minor to each of the bumpers and we were both backing up. What was the point? Well, the insurance company has said it was 50/50 liability. Okay, so what exactly does that mean?

This means that I will be receiving a check for 50% of my damages that I can use to fix my car or I can use it for something else and she will receive a check for 50% of her damages. So lady, thanks for the free money! I also learned that just because you drive a BMW doesn't mean that you are not at fault when it comes to an accident (and I do not drive a BMW). :-) Apparently the other mom is still contesting the results that our adjusters came to in a meeting with each other and with their managers (yes we both have the same insurance). All my adjuster can deduce is that she feels she is not at fault because she was in a BMW. Yea, well, I was in an ACURA with a back0up camera that your were not displayed it so it isn't my fault either! :-)

I am going to have a tough time not laughing when I see her at school!

Boredom

I am bored! It is 9pm on Sunday night and DH is standing the mid-watch. He leaves the house around 8:30 at night for the 1+ hour of turn over time. He works all night and comes home around 8am and grunts at us before he goes to bed for the day. He wakes up around 4 in a bleary eyed state, eats dinner with us, helps put the boys to bed and off he goes.

So now there is no adult to talk to at night or all day.

To top things off I am sick and now the Little One (YB) is sick. Ahh the fun!