What's for Lunch

Charlie loves to get the value burger when we are out, so we decided to find out who makes the best of the cheap burgers.  For lunch I bought a Jr Bacon from Wendy's and Jack in the box, a whopper jr from Burger King and a double from Mc Donald's (all with extra pickles).  In price Mc Donald's was the cheapest at a dollar and Jack in the Box was the most expensive at $1.79.  But we wanted to see which one tasted the best.  I cut each sandwhich into 3 pieces and numbered them on Hope and Charlie's plates.  Believe it or not, Charlie and I had the exact order from best to last; Jack in the Box, Mc Donald's, Burger King then Wendy's.  Hope was the exact opposite with Wendy's as her fav., then Burger King, Mc Donald's and Jack in the Box.  The funny thing with Hope is that she had told me over a year ago that Wendy's made her favorite burger and she picked it out of 4 burgers without even knowing where they were from.  We had such a fun time with this that we are thinking about trying other foods.  Next will be cheese cake, but we would love your ideas.  

NO LIONS OR TIGERS OR BEARS!

Aiea Loop Trail was the hike of the week.  I have to say although it was a 5 mile hike, it was probably the easiest one we have done so far this time on the island.  It was a beautiful, shaded hike with little elevation, except at the end.  The forest was awesome with a wide variety of vegetation.  Along the hike there is the remains of an airplane crash.  So cool!  (But Lisa and I missed it with the camera, because we were too far ahead chit chatting about what we were going to write in our blogs!)  

Every time we hike on the island I am thankful that we don't have to worry about lions, tigers or bears, or snakes, or spiders, or ticks!  Besides the views, I think not having that in the back of my mind is my second favorite thing about hiking in Hawaii.  

If I asked Hope that might be her second thing as well, but after this hike we found out her number one choice on a hike.  MUD!!!!!  Thanks to the rain we had a pretty muddy hike.  Hope was the half way covered in mud by the time the hike was over and she loved it!

(Do to a drizzle and the threat of more rain I didn't bring my camera along, so Lisa took some extra for me and e-mailed them right away!  Thanks!  :-)  You can link to her blog for more...)

Hope trying Strawberry Guava for the first time!   She said, "it is good and bad, sweet and sour!"

I love this picture!

Better than a Helicopter Ride!

Our weekend hike to the top of the mountain!

This picture was taken near the start of the path.  If you click on the picture it should enlarge and  you might be able to see the red dirt path that winds up the ridge to the peak.

When you didn't have a vast landscape view the path led you through beautifully shaded areas.

On our way back down.  I wanted to circle it but I don't have a program right now to. But the flat area that the middle ridge goes to was the community that we parked in and started the hike.

All the kids before the hike started.  Diamond Head is in the background on the right.

This is all of us at the top of the mountain!  

Left to Right: Erik, Lisa, Even, Owen, Hope, Erika, Michelle and Charlie

We have been on some pretty amazing hikes, but we think this one is at the top of our list of favorites.  It was amazing the whole way out going through different vegitation, including many guava plants, along a ridge to the highest peak.  There were views most of the way of the the southeastern side of the island including the inside of Diamond Head, Waikiki, Hawaii Kai and the endless ocean. When you reach the top you have a panoramic view of the northeastern side, Sealife Park, Bellows, Rabbit Head Island and more.  Amazing!  It was a long 5 mile hike that, towards the end, we all wondered if it would ever end, but it was so worth it have a birds eye view of 

God's creation.  

(Check out the Hauptmann's blog for more pictures of the hike)

In a Bubble

We went to a watch the Aloha Clowns free bubble show at the Mall yesterday!  It was so much fun.  Hope and Charlie were the stars of the show!  After the show Hope told us we should have seen her face, so she reenacted it for us and it was a face of awe.

Silliness!

I was shocked one day when we were in the pool and Hope did this silly thing 

with her hair that I remember doing as a kid.  Do all girls do this with their 

hair growing up or does silliness just run in our genes?  Well anyway we call it the 

"George Washington hair due".

Go Gator II

So my mom wrote back on my last post that she wants to know the names of the 4 people at the party who were rooting for the Gators in the Championship game.  Well let me give you a little history on the subject.  My whole family are loyal UF (University of Florida Gator) fans and have been for as long as I can remember.  So I guess you can say I was born a Gator fan.  Well it was "hard" for them to swallow me marrying a FSU (Florida State University Seminoles) fan.  Just kidding they love Charlie to death, but being a Seminole fan is his only fault.  So to answer her question, Yes, last night he was one of the four rooting for the GATORS!!!!  He was even wearing orange, with Hope complementing him with blue!   He almost let me paint a gator on his head but forbade me to take any pictures.

<<< Go Gators >>>

Last night we had a great time 

watching the championship game 

at our friends house.  

An evening filled with laughs, 

great food and in the end cheers!  

Well at least 4 of us were cheering.  

What a great game! 

GO GATORS! <<<<<

Hope was having fun making silhouettes as the sun was setting.  We enjoyed an evening with shave ice on the western side of the island, but then I got so cold that Charlie bought me a hot chocolate.

End of Camp

Hope participated in a 6 week horse camp on the island and graduated today.  She really takes after me with her love of horses, but unlike me her passion is learning western riding.  Her dream right now it to be a barrel racer.  She wants to jump right in and run barrels, but she has a hard time getting Stetson, the old man, to trot.  She'll get there.  

One small step for man kind, one giant leap for Michelle

Well, one of my friends kept trying to talk me into starting a blog and I was reluctant.  Then she sent me the link to hers and I absolutely loved it!  It was so much fun reading about her family and seeing the pictures of the hike we went on with them.  The very next morning I woke up to an e-mail from my mom that she is now a "blogger"!  Coincidence???  I read my moms and she is so fluent and well written.  I was petrified. (over exaggerated)  I am not a good writer.   I enjoy photography because it tells my story with out words.  I talked to Charlie and he said it was a great idea, but he won't write it for me.  (He did, however, help me set up the format and pick the gadgets!  Thanks Handsome!)  So you all are stuck with me telling the ongoing chapters in our lives.  This will be my attempt with words in the hope that it connects our families no matter how many miles divide us.  I look forward to hearing about each of your lives as well.  

(Photo taken by Janette Constantino http://web.mac.com/jcphotostudio/JC_Photography/Home.html)