Cherry-Limeade Cupcakes

I haven't baked a thing since I've been in Alabama...until today.  I was wandering around the kitchen looking for something sweet when I caught the baking bug.  I starting looking through the pantry to see what kind of ingredients we had.  Mom's kitchen is not as "baker friendly" as mine, so my choices were limited.  I decided to make cupcakes.  But what kind?  I opened the fridge and saw some cherries.  That made me think about the cherry limeade from Sonic that I had the day before and then the light bulb went off!  Hey!  I'll make cherry limeade cupcakes!  

We were out of all purpose flour, so I had to use self-rising. (something I've never done before, but quite honestly, I think I liked it better!)  Instead of using milk in the batter I used a mixture of Sprite and juice from the cherries.  Dad brought home some fresh limes, so I could make the frosting and garnish and here's my final product!

I really needed dede p here to design my photo shoot! And a cupcake cuppy from Kim!

Close up of the frosting!

Since it was an experimental recipe, I still need to tweak it a little.  Next time I think I'll use some cherry syrup and minute maid's limeade mix to intensify the flavors in the cake.  But these little guys were DELICIOUS!  The fresh lime juice in the frosting gave them the perfect "tang" they needed to finish off the bite.  I wish there were still some left for me to eat, but uh....they're all gone!

Andrew's First Date

Today we had the privilege of watching my best friend Erin's little girl, Maggie  She was excited to come over and try out Andrew's new play set.  So they had a "play date" but from the looks of it, it seems more like a real date.  

Andrew picking Maggie up. (I'll have to teach him how to open the door for the ladies)

 Cruzin' together

Driving off into the sunset together.

When I see these pictures, I can't help but think that this could be them 14 years!  All this silly talk about Andrew's date and we didn't even ask him what he thought of the whole "dating" situation.  I think this picture pretty much sums it up!

All joking and teasing aside, Andrew and Maggie had a great time playing together.  They played outside until the mosquitoes were too much to handle and then headed indoors for some more fun.  They played really well together and it was cute listening to their little conversations.  After supper, we finished off our night with some  homemade ice cream!  Yum!

Paw-Paw's Old Man Truck

**And with this post, I'm officially caught up with my blogging..FINALLY~**
Drew: these pictures are for you.


Recently my Dad bought a '56 Ford truck that had already been restored.  One of his car buddies had it for sale and he couldn't pass on the deal.  

The inside came from a late model Lincoln continental. 

Dad's current project:  He's still working on my Granddaddy's 1941 Plymouth.  He has it painted and just needs to work on the interior.  The windshield came in yesterday.  But with us being home, he finds it hard to want to work on it!

Project Playset

On our first day back in Albertville, Andrew and I slept until NOON.  He went to bed the night before at 10:30 pm.  I had to wake him up!  Otherwise, he might have slept all day. After lunch Paw-Paw and I got busy putting together Andrew's new play set.
Step 1: lay out all the parts

Step 2: Marvel at the GINORMOUS pile of hardware.

3 and 1/2 hours later: frame complete

*short break and then back to work*

A grand total of  7 hours and here's what we got done:

Day 2: Work for 1 1/2 more hours and get a finished product.

And a happy child!

In case you were ever wondering why Chiquita sometimes doesn't love Andrew...here's why:

Poor dog.  She gets tortured from time to time. :)

Andrew loves his new playground.  We can hardly keep him off of it.  First thing out of his mouth in the morning, "Let's go swing."  He has a picnic lunch everyday at his picnic table.  So our hard work was well worth it.

*Side note: Putting together a play set like this is NOT for beginners.  My dad is a professional and it still took us 9 hours to put this thing together.  The directions were not very helpful either.  Several times, I'd read the next step to Dad and he'd say, "That's not going to work.We're going to need 2 1/2" screws."  Then we'd find a big yellow insert that reads: ADDENDUM 42: Use 2 1/2" screws.  It was so frustrating.*

Sweet Home Alabama

When we landed on Sunday night from the Big Island, we found out that there was a military flight headed to Jackson, MS on Wednesday morning.  Eek!  We had to take it because there was no telling when we'd be lucky to find another one coming so close.  I was taken by surprise.  I thought I'd have at least another week with Drew.  But, alas I did not and we had to go.  


Getting ready for the flight was CRAZY!  We had so much to do and so little time to do it in.  I had to make arrangements to fly Pepper home, which was a mess and get all of our stuff together: one large suitcase, 3 large moving boxes, a stroller, a booster seat, and 3 carry on bags.  Why so much?  Because I'm going on a 7 month trip.  The one suitcase has Andrew's entire closet in it.  One box has my clothes and toiletries in it.  One has all of my baking supplies (Yes, I need them.  How else am I going to bake?) The final box has a bunch of random stuff like the Wii, video camera, some books, and other things.  


We had to be at the terminal at 5 am on Wednesday morning.  On the military flights you are allowed 2 bags per person weighing no more than 70lbs per piece.  We knew that my boxes were heavy, but were hoping they were until the limit.  They were not.  Only one box was less than 70 lbs, which meant that Drew had to mail the other boxes to me.    When we landed, guess which box we had with us?  Not the one with my clothes!  It was the baking box!  How that stuff weighed less than my clothes, I'll never know!  The only clothes I had with me were the clothes on my back....jeans and a t-shirt.  We had to make a midnight run to walmart so I could get the essentials.


Anyway, aside from our clothing debacle, the flight was rather nice.  We were on a c-17 with no cargo, so the plane was wide open.  I brought a blow up pool float with me and that's where Andrew slept for the first 5 1/2 hours of the flight.  I spread out on the seats and slept for just as long.  It was nice.  Finally around 9 pm central time, we had arrived.  


*Notice, I left out all the sad, mushy goodbye parts because it makes me sad and I don't want to think about it.*


The bus dropped us off in the parking lot and Andrew could already see Paw-Paw's truck!  He hurried me off the bus and took off running to give Paw-Paw a big hug!  He was so excited to see them.  (Poor kid...we had only been talking about going for about 4 months now!  Guess he thought we'd never make it!)  


We spent the night in Jackson (after a trip to walmart) and headed to Birmingham to pick up Pepper at the cargo hold and meet Aunt Gracie for a quick lunch.  We finally made it to Albertville late that afternoon.  We had to stop by and see both sets of Great-Grandparents before finally making it to Granna and Paw-Paw's house around  dark.  


So, exhausted as we are...we're here!  I hope the Hawaii weather is following behind us, because it is HOT!  TOO HOT!  Hawaii spoiled me, that's for sure.
Aside from the heat and missing my hubby, it feels good to be home!  Now bring on the football! :)

Big Island

Drew and I have wanted to take a trip over to the Big Island for as long as we can remember, but for some reason it just never worked out.  We have been to both Kauai and Maui (and loved both), but always wanted to see the volcanoes.  We were quickly running out of time and I had given up on the idea of going.  


Drew sold his car and had some extra cash.  He came home from work last Tuesday and surprised me with a trip to the Big Island for the upcoming weekend!  Due to his schedule we would only be able to be there for 2 days, but I gladly jumped at the chance to go!  


Our flight was scheduled to leave Oahu around 7 pm on Friday night.  Drew just so happened to get off of work early, so I asked him to call and change our flight to an earlier one.  We wanted to land in time to go see the lava flow at night, as they won't let anyone in past 8pm.  I was busy running errands, like picking  up some travel sized toiletries so we didn't have to check a bag, when Drew called. This is 1:47 pm, mind you.  He tells me that they have one earlier flight available at 3:20; did we want it? "YES!" I said, but then started doing the math in my head. (I'm 20 min. from the condo, which is 32 min. from the airport and I still had a couple of things to throw in our bag)...Umm  we need to leave like NOW!  So I finished up at Walmart as fast as I could, hurried home to finish packing and pick up Drew.  I got back to the condo at 2:20pm, we left in a crazy rush at 2:28 pm and arrived (safely...thank you, Lord) at the airport at 3:00 on the dot....TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE OUR FLIGHT!  My adrenaline is pumping.  Drew and Andrew hop out at the curb, while I jump in the passenger seat to go park the car.  I had to exit the airport, drive all the way back around, and then wait on an excruciatingly long elevator, then run what seemed to be a half a mile through the airport to meet my boys in the security line.  *WHEW*  At 3:15 pm we made it through the security line and then ran like the family in Home Alone all the way to our gate, thinking the whole time that we had long missed our flight.  But lo, and behold when we came screeching to a halt in front of gate #25, there was a long line.  They had JUST started boarding!  It was a miracle.  Somehow, america's #1 on time airline (Hawaiian Airlines) was running late and we made it!  Other than Andrew being upset that we were on the very back row and therefore didn't have a window for him to look out of, it was a quick and painless 45 min. flight.  


When we got to the airport, we found the Avis rental car window and went to pick up our vehicle, which was supposed to be a tiny economy car.  We had plans to scale the summit of Mauna Kea, which required a 4 wheel drive vehicle.  Luckily for us, they had a brand new RED dodge 4 door truck ready to go.  With the Kama'aina rate, the upgrade cost wasn't that bad.  I think we actually got it cheaper by "upgrading" than if we had reserved a 4 wheel drive vehicle in the first place.  


Finally settled, we were on our way!  I was like a kid at Christmas; super excited!  First thing we did: EAT...I was starving.  Then we drove to KMC (Kilauea Military Camp) to check in, which is inside Volcano National Park.  Coming through the gate, I can already see steam...SEEPING FROM THE EARTH!  (I'm amazed)

When I turned off my camera, I thought to myself,  'I really should have packed my battery charger.'  I didn't think anything else of it because my battery lasts for about 3 months before I have to charge it.  


After checking in, we realized that we didn't bring our jackets and jeans.  (KMC is about 3500 ft. above sea level and it gets cold at night!  Mauna Kea is over 13,000 ft. and gets REALLY cold at night)  So we made a quick stop at the general store at the camp and picked up a sweatshirt for Andrew and fleece jackets for Drew and myself.  Next we headed out to the end of Hwy 130 to hike down to see where the lava flows into the ocean.  Due to the recent lava flow, and that guy's house being destroyed by the lava, they had to move the "safety area" waaaaay back, so all we saw was this fiery, orange glow in the distance.  Still, very cool.  It started to rain so we walked the mile back as fast as we could; Drew, with Andrew on his back.  We were soaked.  Good thing we had jackets on!  


When we got back to our apartment at KMC, it was 58 degrees outside and we were wet....and cold.  So Drew built a fire in our fireplace and we warmed up.  Andrew looked really cute in front of the fire so I reached for my camera to take a picture.....YEP, you guessed it.....my camera died!  :(  I was so upset.  Luckily I had my cell phone and even luckier, Drew had his Kodak easy share in our bag! (Thanks honey!)  Now this would normally be the part of the post where I share all kinds of really neat pictures from our trip with you, BUT that Kodak easy share is currently 5,000 miles away, so the pictures will have to wait!.

Here's a quick run down of the rest of our trip:
We spend the majority of the day on Saturday inside Volcano National Park.  We saw the crater at Kilauea (it smelled like sulfur), we walked through a rain forest and a lava tube, and drove Chain of Crater's Road all the way to the ocean.  We I really wanted to actually see the lava flowing into the ocean, but it was a 4 mile hike IN (which means a 4 mile walk out) on uneven terrain and Drew we didn't want to take Andrew on that excursion.  So we put that on our to-do list for the next time we come.  (Because we WILL go back.  There's just so much left to do)


That night was probably one of our highlights of the trip. We left KMC and drove through Hilo, where we had to make a very important stop at Big Island Candies, where I spent way too much money, but that's beside the point.  They are famous for their hibiscus truffles and since they're all gone, I'm thankful that you can order them online!  Then we headed up the Hamakua coast to visit Rainbow falls and Akaka falls.  Then we drove up to Mauna Kea for sunset.  It was breathtaking.  I mean, how many of you can say you've seen the sunset from 13,500 feet?  After sunset we drove back down to the visitor's center (9,000 feet) for a star party.  They had multiple telescopes set up for us to look through.  We saw the moon, Mars, Venus, and the rings of Saturn.  Then we even had a mini astronomy lesson, as our guide pointed out all the constellations.  The air is very clear and still at 9,000 ft.  I have never seen so many stars in all my life!  It was gorgeous...and FREE, so if you're ever on the Big Island, you have to check it out.  


Sunday, we spent most of our time in the car.  We only had 2 days and wanted to see as much of the island as possible, so we drove from KMC down to Punalu'u's black sand beach, then headed down to south point.  We at the southernmost restaurant in the U.S., and had malasadas from the southernmost bakery in the U.S.  We drove down to the southernmost tip of the U.S. and saw some crazy cliff divers.  (It makes jumping off the rock at Waimea a walk in the park!)  We wanted to walk to the green sand beach (yes, Green) but again it was quite a hike over lava rocks and I hear you had to climb down a cliff to get to it...so, next time!   From there we drove west,  to Kailua-Kona, around the northern side of the island, through ranch country, Waimea, and back down the Hamakua coast through a Eucalyptus forrest to Hilo, where we had just enough time to fill up the truck and head to the airport.  (For those of you not familiar with those areas, we basically drove around the whole island.)   


We had so much fun!  There is so much more to do on the Big Island than Oahu.  Or maybe not.  Maybe it just seemed like it since I live there and do all the touristy things all the time.  But c'mon...there's not an active volcano on Oahu!  I could spend a week in Volcano National Park alone, just hiking trails!  Like I said before we will be going back one day.  I have a whole list of things to do and I can't wait.  


I'm thankful for my husband, who took us on this trip.  It was so nice to get away as a family and spend some quality time together.  I really enjoyed it and can't wait until we can have another family vacation!

Farewell Karaoke

The ladies in our squadron gave me an aloha farewell at the Shorebird in Waikiki. (You know how I love me some Karaoke!)   Thank you ladies so much for coming.  I had a lot of fun and I hope you did too!  I love my coffee table book.  I looked at it yesterday and teared up a little....missing my Hawaii!  I love you girls! (See you in March!)


We were too busy having fun to take pictures, but I did manage to get a few.  One of which was our "Elvis" singing to Kristina.

Second and lastly, a group photo!

Sunday Brunch

A couple of weeks ago we went to Sunday Brunch at my favorite Hawaii restaurant, Haliewa Joe's.  We were invited by a few of our friends in the squadron and it was such a nice way to say goodbye.  After brunch, we all walked down to the botanical gardens for a photo op.

Andrew on the pier with restaurant in the background.

Then Kristina took some final family photos.

You might just be looking at our Christmas card!

Condo Life

Our condo was conveniently located on the first floor, so we could just walk out the door to our solar heated salt water pool!  This feature was a big hit for Andrew and that's how we spent pretty much every day...at the pool!  Sometimes we had some of our neighbors stop by and swim with us.

Some nights we had dinner by the pool!

Some nights we got out of the house; like to play cosmic or "real bowling" as Andrew calls it.

Apparently he's not happy with his result:

Chatting With Granna

After Grammy and Granddad left, we got busy, packing up our house.  We were very fortunate to rent out our house to a great military family for THREE years!  (one less thing to worry about)  During the moving week, we moved into a condo right on the beach!  It was a small one bedroom, but oh so nice to fall asleep listening to the ocean. (Except for when people drove by blowing their horns or firetruck sirens woke us up, but that's a whole other story)  Anyway, one day Andrew wanted to call and talk to Granna...

but then he got busy and had to "go do something for a minute."  He said, "Here Granna, talk to chocolate bear for a minute."  So here's chocolate bear...talking to Granna.  And for those of you wondering...YES, Granna talked back!

Submarine

On one of our last few days with our company, we went to down to Honolulu for another ride on the Atlantis Submarine.  I'll spare you all of the fish and reef pictures because you've seen them all before.  I'll skip to the pictures of the kiddos.  

Ok I lied.  I will share these two, but only because sharks are cool!

(I apologize for the quality.  I had to take this on the other side of the sub and some lady moved her head just in time for me to snap the photo.)
A little while later, we saw another one!  Two sharks on one dive...that's pretty good!

Posing with Grammy and Granddad on our cruise back to the dock.

When we got back, we tried to get some cute shots of the boys around the Hilton 

At times they weren't too thrilled.  They'd rather be looking at the fish!

(That's their tolerating smile)

Sometimes, they'd smile for me.

Andrew and Grammy by the flamingos.  (which you can't see)
Grammy and Granddad by the wedding chapel.

Drew and I recreating our engagement picture, which was taken in the same spot, only the wedding chapel wasn't there in 2004.

Later, we drove by the King Kamehameha statue, so Alex could have his picture with him.

He watched a travel channel special with Grammy before his big trip to Hawaii and that was the one thing he wanted to do: see King Kamehameha and the Palace.

Eclipse

Another highlight during Grammy and Granddad's visit was the premier of the third Twilight installment: Eclipse!  Eclipse was my favorite book of the series, so I was super excited about the movie coming out.  Drew's dad is a fan too, so he wanted to go with us.  We couldn't go at a normal time, no not us.  We had tickets at 12:04 am on opening night.  We went to the Kapolei theater closest to our house, where they had all 17 screens ready to show the flick.  They cleared out the theaters after the 7 pm showings and set up for Eclipse.  We arrived at the theater at 10:05 pm and got to go sit down right away.  Since we had two hours before the show, Drew and his dad took a nap in their seats.  I tried, but I was too excited.  Speaking of my excitement, Drew snapped this photo on the way out the door.  (Yes, I'm aware that I'm a total dork!)

Never in a million years did I think I would watch Twilight, much less read the books (twice), but I did.  I must remind you however, that Drew was the one who got me hooked! ;)

Luau #12

Also during Grammy and Granddad's visit, we went back to Paradise Cove for Luau #12!  The boys and I rode the canoe and then they went to play games.  Here they try their hand at spear throwing.  

They got tattoos. 

Andrew got a honu.

Alex chose a shark.

Here's the pig!

Daddy and Andrew watching the presentation.

Andrew and Mommy.

After the show, we took pictures with the dancers.  Here, Alex learns how to do a shaka.

Granddad wanted his picture made with the pretty hula girls.

Andrew and I had our pictures made too. 

Andrew looked like Tom Sawyer with his pants all rolled up.

The best part of the night was when the boys (Andrew and Alex) got up on stage and danced the hula!  I have a great video, but for the past 3 days I've tried to load it and failed!  You'll just have to trust me when I say that it's adorable.