Who would have thought??

This morning our toilet backed up....I was informed by my seven year old, soon to be eight in a few days, who yelled from the bathroom "the toilet is about to throw up water everywhere, pooh is going to get on the floor!"

I ran in and sure enough he was right, luckily none of the insides exploded on to the floor.

I packed the little three in to the car and headed out on a mission to find a plunger. Who would of thought it would be so hard...I mean I swear the last time I was at the store I saw one sitting right next to the toilet cleaning wand...but not today!

My first attempt was our local grocery store, where I swear I saw it before....I looked up and down the aisles...some how filling my cart with other things that I really didn't need, like the doughnut holes that were calling my name....or the large fresh strawberries that jumped into my cart, I swear I ate breakfast before I left.

Anyway $40 later, I was out the door. I called home to let Eric know I failed on my trip but got some groceries and asked him to call our upstairs neighbors to see if he could borrow their plunger, as we have had to borrow it before. He was not willing to do it. And told me on my way home before coming in to go ask her, since I would be outside anyway.

I got a little irritated and instead of coming home and borrowing the neighbors I set out on a mission, in hopes of finding one and to let Eric suffer holding his morning need to use the toilet.

I didn't go too far, but was driving really slow looking at all the stores, wondering if they carried a plunger...

scrapbook store--Probably not....

Reams cowboy gear...Um no they probably don't even use a toilet :).....

party gift shop...usually plungers aren't on the list of birthday gifts, would shoving hellium balloons down the toilet help???

another grocery store---not worth taking my kids out of the car to check....

AHHHHHHH Standard PLUMBING supply!!

Totally...Totally a plumbing store! They have to have a plunger Right?????

WRONG!!!

I walked in and looked around at all the pipes and gadgets and finally asked Noah the man at the counter, "Where are your plungers?"

"Oh we don't carry plungers believe it or not..."

"Really??" See I thought he was kidding...wouldn't you?? I mean Standard PLUMBING supply store??? What plumber doesn't need a plunger???

"Yeah we don't carry them, sorry."

"Ok thanks..."

I walked out a little dumbfounded....and determined to go find one.

Bee, as we drove away, said "that's crazy that a plumbing store doesn't have a plunger!"

"i know its like an ice cream store not having ice cream!"

"Yeah that is crazy totally like a grocery store not having food"

"Or a shoe store not having shoes!"

"Yeah that is CRAZY" and the game went on forever and she then said "I bet Home Depot has it"

"I bet you are right....."

And well we came upon a LOWEs and low and behold the plunger!! Yeah for me, mission accomplished.....and when I got home, I even was able to successfully unplug the toilet!

Moral of the story.....you can't judge a store by its name!

Waterfalls and Fireworks

This weekend was filled with adventure, mud, fun and friends.

Friday evening we picked Eric up from work and headed towards Waikiki to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Every Friday night they do a fireworks show, yes that is right every Friday night. We have been a few times, but never got pictures. The cool thing is just next to the Hawaiian Village is a little lagoon, where they let off the fireworks. (My BYU-H buddies may remember the Tahitian Lanai it had a little bar by the lagoon, though it has been replaced by a big fancy hotel--maybe I will share more about the Tahitian Lanai in another post.)

Anyway we grabbed a picnic dinner and ate on the grass and then walked around the water for a bit. The kids had fun playing in the sand and getting so wet in the water that they were "freezing." I don't think they really remember what freezing is but they did get a little cold.


We sat down on the ground and just watched the light show just above our heads. I think the noise frightened poor T-Rex a bit, and Two put her fingers in her ears. We were so close that you could feel the noise through your body. And since there are a lot of tall buildings around the noise echos off of them, it is really cool. Something totally worth doing. Cool thing is, its FREE! Parking can be tricky but it is free!

Saturday morning we woke up early and headed on a little Saturday morning adventure with our friends, the Williams. The kids really get a long well with each other, and their mom has become one of my closest friends. And one bonus is their kids love my little kids so much that its like free babysitting whenever we go out.

The hiking guide said it is for novice but I'd have to say it was a little more rugged than I had expected, a lot of up and downs, roots exposed on the path. Two barely could walk back, actually Dave was kind enough to give her a ride on his back. She was a little more worried about getting all muddy again than I think she was about walking. I had T-Rex on my back the whole time and when we finished I took him off and realized that 20 lbs is a lot of weight and that I need to personally take that much off. I was surprised at how light I felt after removing him.

It was beautiful, muddy too. Most of the hike was under the trees and towards the top, the sun graced us for a bit. Did I mention it was muddy? I don't know if it is always muddy, as we did go the morning after a really big storm.

The kids had fun swinging from the vines and then jumping from the falls. I didn't get any pictures of that, maybe I can get some from our friends. Even Two went off, I was so proud of her, and frightened at the same time as I waited for her to pop back up out of the water, seemed like forever.

My kids want to take my parents back when they come, but we might take them to the Waimea Falls instead--paved path and not all the steps and mud. Though if you are up for an adventure, or mud, sweat and most likely some tears (Bee and Two cried a lot of the way back, I think from exhaustion) I'd say do it.

We even got a chance to see some crazy guys climb super high and do flips and dives into the water.

Speaking of water, it is rather chilling to the bones at first, and well lets just say the little tiny fish like to nibble on your legs if you hold too still in the water.

We Love the PCC

We love the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center). Yesterday for Labor Day we went there, well after Eric worked from 5-1 and I locked myself in my room for a few hours while the kids drove me crazy ( but who wants to hear that, and I don't think it was a few hours, because G-man learned how to use a credit card to unlock doors--thanks Dad (their Dad)) Anyway so around 2 we headed to the other side of the island for some PCC fun!

We got there in time to see the IMAX Coral Reef, beautiful pictures, but a little too much save the world stuff, not that I am not all about saving the environment because I am most days, but sometimes I like to just watch a movie with out feeling like I need to bicycle every where and never touch anything made of plastic again. Anyway the film was pretty cool. T-Rex lasted all of maybe five minutes so Eric took him walking. Two wanted to leave half way through but I made her stick it out. Sorry those sitting behind us.

After the IMAX we went to the YUMMY Luau!! Tasty. Though after G-Man and Bee saw the Emo (cooked Pig) they swore off ever eating meat again. So instead they enjoyed the kids buffet of dinosaur chicken nuggets. I didn't explain to them that those once were live animals because I needed them to consume something. Oh and we were seated right on the front so we could enjoy the performance, and after it TWO, BEE and T-Rex danced for the audience as well.

Between the Luau and the Night show, we had free reign of the park and went around taking pictures at different places. The kids didn't want to stop taking pictures, I won't bore you with all of them.

We then got to go to the night show and we were on the front row. It was awesome being on the front row, because we could watch the dancers' expressions and notice them giggle or something when they or someone next to them goofed up a little.

It was a great end to a day that I thought was never going to end, and then ended up being awesome.

More Strawberries! Fresh Picking in Central Texas

So you live in central Texas and want to take a little road trip?
Do you want to pick fresh berries like we did??
Since we had such a great time I thought you might too.
We picked our strawberries at the
Marburger Orchard.
They do peaches later this summer as well as blackberries.
Anyway they would love to have you come
and pick from their rows and rows and rows of berries.
Check them out HERE.

And just for fun how about a few more cute pics!