Throwing things in trees

Alex and I have a new pastime. Kid watching. Fortunately, there is a playground right across the street from our house. Kids are out there in the evenings all the time without their parents, of course. For some reason we rarely see parents outside playing with their kids. Anyway, tonight was particularly interesting.

A big bully girl, got a little girl's slipper (flip flop) stuck in a plumeria tree. First, one brave little girl tries to climb the tree and shake the limbs to get the shoe to fall. All the kids are shouting, "Shake, shake, shake" in unison. It doesn't work and I'm very glad when she gets down. I didn't want to have to call 911 tonight. Then, they get the clever idea to throw other things up in the tree in order to dislodge the slipper. Nothing is working. In comes skater dude to save the day with this helmet. He throws it up several times to try to get the slipper out of the tree. Skater dude isn't so smooth with his throwing, however, as the helmet gets stuck in a neighboring tree.

Our neighbor kid then gets the brilliant idea that we have a ladder and the whole herd of kids start running over here to ask if they can borrow our ladder. Before they even get to our walkway I say, "Y'all aren't using this ladder without your parents. Go get your mom or dad and you can use the ladder." They were mad and of course no one went to ask a parent for help.

Once skater dude's helmet got stuck, most of the kids headed home. Only a faithful few were still left. Skater Dude left and I thought for sure he was going to get his dad to help him. Nope! He returned with some sort of ping pong paddle for throwing into the tree.

Kid #1 - "What goes up must come down!"
Skater Dude - "You know why?? GRAVITY!"
Smart kids.

After several throws Skater Dude managed to dislodge his helmet. yippee!

That dang slipper was still causing them trouble though.

Kid #1 - "We need a teenager to climb the tree!"
Skater dude - "I'm a preteen!"

hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....unfortunately it was getting dark and the bugs were biting so we did not see the end of the saga. Good thing slippers are so cheap here because I think someone is going to need a new pair!

Submarine Swim Day

Apparently, submarines get "swim days". Paul had one recently while the boat was off the coast of Molokai. Here is a great picture that the XO took of Paul getting ready to jump off of the top of the boat. Sounds scary to me. What's even scarier is that there is a guy with a gun keeping a look out for sharks. I think I'd rather take my chances with shark than with a sailor with a handgun! Anyway, looks like fun!

Another Shower!

The wives from the boat gave me a fabulous shower/brunch today at the Pineapple Room. It was so much fun. When I got there everyone had on white gloves. Very Southern! There were pretty plants on the table that everyone could take home as a favor. I think the rest of the restaurant was jealous of our beautiful atmosphere. We even got to have chocolate cake after brunch. YUM! I got sooooooooooo much stuff I think I am going to have to host a "help M.A. get organized" party. I don't know what to do with it all!

Newt and Ollie

No, it's not a new sitcom on NBC.

Went to Sean Hannity's Freedom Rally last night at the Honolulu Convention Center and got some autographs from Newt Gingrich and Oliver North. The rallies raise money for a scholarship fund for children of our service men and women who are killed in Iraq. Overall, the rally was a little disappointing. We thought it would be really patriotic, especially because of Memorial Day weekend, but there was no band and not even any red, white and blue balloons! Guess they try to keep their overhead low.

To make matters worse, we had to stand in line FOREVER for the autographs. Apparently the "talent" got caught in the infamous Honolulu traffic, so they were late. It was very funny that the guy in front of us was from Guntersville and the lady behind us was from Birmingham! Then, Newt complimented me on my dress so that makes up for any waiting.

It was interesting to see these guys in person. I feel like I know them from watching Fox News so much!

Our American Idol

Whew!

Glad that's over! I had my last handbell performances this morning. Thank goodness we have been practicing the same two pieces for several weeks because they take the summer off. We only had to focus on the pieces we would play today. I can be awesome at handbells if I can practice the same two pieces over and over again! :) That's how I roll.

Scholarship Ceremony

The ceremony for the Bowfin Scholarship, of which I was the Chair, was this morning. Whew! I am glad it is over. Everything went really well except that when I put on normal shoes (not flip flops) I realized that my feet are swollen! Thank goodness they were sling backs with a buckle!

One of our wives was receiving a scholarship, so a bunch of ladies came out in support. That was really nice! Thanks to Melissa for being my official photographer!

Liz receiving her certificate!

Check out my beautiful lei! It is superstition that pregnant women are not supposed to wear a closed lei. Oh well....we decided it doesn't count since I'm not Hawaiian!

Group of scholarship winners

Cheetos

I haven't had many cravings since I've been pregnant. If I do have a craving, it is fleeting. I have the thing I want once and then I don't really want it again. The other day at the grocery I decided I wanted some Cheetos.

I did not realize what a challenge that would be. Have you seen how many varieties of Cheetos there are nowadays?? I just wanted regular Cheetos like I used to have when I was little. I couldn't figure out which one that would be. I felt like an idiot at the store staring at the Cheetos. I also remember when the bags were see-through. That would have made it alot easier. There is a drawing of the Cheetos on the bag, but you still can't really tell.

They have Cheetos Puffs, Baked Cheetos (what's the point), Cheetos Crunchy, Cheetos Flamin' Hot Crunch (no thanks!), Cheetos Twisted (I'm already twisted enough, thanks), and Cheetos Puffs White Cheddar.

I finally settled on Cheetos Crunchy. I knew it wasn't the Puffs, so I figured Crunchy was the correct one. Thank goodness I was right! Now I have orange fingers! :)