Hawaii in Photos

Here's a summary of our trip:

What we left:
Our view from one of our balconies - Sunrise and Diamond Head
Diamond Head
A much better view than that rainy plane window! The view from our other balcony.
View from the beach to our hotelErika and I dipping our toes in the water the first day
The plumeria - my favorite flower
Our first excursion: Hanauma Bay, Dole Plantation and the Polynesian Cultural center
Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve - Rico's favorite place to snorkel
Diamond Head from Hanauma Bay
Just a little windblown!Dole Plantation: they had the best pineapple ice cream ever! I wanted to bring a pineapple home to everyone but we went to Dole too early in our vacation (it would have been bad by the time we made it home).
A pink pineapple
Rico being himself lol
How Kahlua Pork is made...delicious!
I give full credit to Rico for these fire shots... he is awesome with the camera at nightWe also went on a Haunted Lagoon Ride at the Polynesian Cultural Center (we weren't allowed to take pictures, sorry!) and it was awesome! By far, the best Haunted anything we've been to. They actually had people coming out of the water and grabbing our legs!Our second excursion: Circle Island Tour, a full day of driving around the island with a tour guide.
Makapu'u Lighthouse
Halona Blow Hole
We tried Star Fruit right off the plant at one of the locations where they film Lost.
Ringing the bell for good luck and prosperity at Byodo-In Temple

Chinaman's HatPali Lookout - overlooking the windward side of the islandOur 3rd excursion: Turtle Safari... kind of misleading since we didn't see any sea turtles. We got to go snorkeling again though. Poor Rico - I didn't apply the sunscreen well enough and he ended up with red stripes!
I know it's sad...we went all the way to Hawaii and ate Mexican food at La Cucaracha (the food is awesome despite the name!). What can I say... my husband is 1/2 Mexican, you can't deny the blood! Our last sunset
Overall, we walked until we had blisters on our feet and our wallets were empty. A successful trip by our measure!

What we're leaving...

Our view from the plane in Seattle...

Night out in Seattle

We had an absolutely decadent dinner at Ipanema's Brazillian Grill tonight. This was our first time ever there and it was awesome and drool-worthy! There are two major parts, the sides and the meat. The side/salad bar had an abundant assortment of fresh veggies, breads and salads served family style (it's designed so a vegetarian could visit and enjoy dinner as well) . Once we sat down with our salad plates, along came the parade of meats. I tried 7 different steak types all by myself! They come around with huge hunks of meat kabob style and slice off pieces for you to try. ::see below picture::

I've never had Filet Mignon before, but oh my heavens, it was good. I do believe it has surpassed my love of Prime Rib and Sirloin! ::wipes chin:: It's hard to believe but when I was a kid, I would rather eat hot dogs than steak. Oh the shame of it!
Oh, I tried buffalo for the first time too - it's pretty tasty! If any of my family ever visits the West Coast, we'll definitely have to take them there (hint, hint!!). After dinner, we drove to the Space Needle to take some pictures.
After the Space Needle, Rico surprised me by driving over to Alki Beach. I've never been to Alki at night but it's got a gorgeous view of the city. I don't have the patience for night photography, so most of these shots are Rico's doing.
You can see the cruise ships in port in the below pictures:Qwest Field is the blue arches on the right of the pictureSo far, this has been the best birthday week ever! Now, I have to come up with something equally as awesome for Rico's 30th in January!!! Any ideas?!

Some Fall Color

These were taken at Emerald Downs, on my way into work this morning.

I think I'm In Love...again!

Samsung was doing a promotion and gave away a whole house worth of appliances (no I didn't know about it, therefore, it was not me that won these fabulous prizes...well, that and I don't have a house to put them in!!).

This is from one of my new favorite blogs - A Year of Slow Cooking. She's the one I got my CrockPot Fried Chicken from - delish! Think of how much I could put in that thing!! Or this ::looks down:: washer & dryer. Laundry would be loads of fun!
Who says women don't like anything with cords as presents?! (I think I get this from my mom, lol)

They gave away a new stove/microwave set and a dishwasher, but they weren't as drool-worthy to me, so I'll spare you the show'n'tell.

In other news, Erika has booked the three of us a trip to El Paso in late March/early April so I can meet Theresia, Rico's grandmother. This will be my first trip to Texas (I drove through the panhandle of Texas on my way out here but that was it).

And, last but not least, 15 days til Hawaii, 6 days til my birthday and 25 days til Halloween/Mom & Bucky's Anniversary! It's a big month!