OT- I'm Back

Always fancied going to Hawaii and buying some of the gorgeous fabrics, looking at their quilts- absolutely stunning.Irene (vernie)

Welcome home Sharon! Wow. your holiday sounded great - tell us more detail - so glad you and the family had such a good time together. The final school term will fly by as they say - all downhill to the Carols Service LOL

Meanwhile we have struggled on without you...... Hugs Bronnie

I also picked up another Hawaiian Quilting book and could have taken many many more. Ooooh I love that place!

I second that sentiment. A cruise is the only vacation I've ever gone on where I actually got teary-eyed when it was time to come home! So glad you had fun, Sharon.

Welcome back, Sharon! I'm so glad you had such a good time -- DH and I love cruising, too. :)

Hey, glad you're back! I'd love to take a cruise someday........maybe after I win the lottery, LOL. Seriously, they sound wonderful. Personally, I'd like to take one in the Sea of Cortez, between Baja and Mexico. I understand there is great whale watching on those cruises........

Any pics of you and DH in your nifty cruise clothes?

Good to have you back, Sharon. How I wish we could take a cruise......maybe someday.

The staff were absolutely amazing - we made some great friends among them, especially Fay (the lady pizza chef) - she finished up on the boat same day we did. We had fun teaching her all the different Aussie pizzas you can have. And DD2 made the burger chef fall over in amazement when she finished a double hamburger - I think the meat added up to about 3/4 of a pound? he said NO-ONE had ever done that before, let alone a skinny 7 year old girl!!!

Seriously though, we loved it so much we've booked next years!!

Honest Injun? The cruise was the cheapest part of our vacation - all food and accommodation included and endless sodas for just $39 for 8 days. We have calculated that for the four of us for next year 2 weeks will cost $4000 roughly. May sound expensive but when you add up hotels, food, drinks, snacks, etc it works out cheaper.

yes we do have some gorgeous photos which will be hitting yahoo photos soon but alas we did not get matching aloha shirt and dress. We really couldn't bring ourselves to do it. Although DH and DD1 did get them!

Glad to be back mary, I miss this place. A cruise is a wunnerful thing. When I will my millions of dollars in lotto I'm gonna hire a cruise ship and take y'all with me!

So glad you had such fun Sharon. I haven't been on a cruise yet but DH and I are talking about it maybe next year. We have been to Hawaii though and it was so much fun. I still haven't had time to do anything with the wonderful fabric that I got while there.

Mika

LOL I'm planning, I'm planning! The fabric however was just an impulse buy from one of the stores in the International Market Place as well as one gigantic bunch of big charm squares from (of all places) Hilo Hatties!!! - I wanted to visit one of the LQS to get some yardage but ran out of time.

Oh Bronnie! There's too much to fit into a single post! The flight over was quite good, I slept most of the 9.5 hours as did the kids. Then 2 days in Waikiki to recover from any jet lag and dag around on the beach. We did decide though to swap hotels for the post-cruise time (a good decision) as our current hotel was undergoing reno's.

We managed to discover a wonderful Ice Cream Shop (needs capitals) called the Cold Stone Creamery where they scoop the ice cream of your choice onto a marble slab, add numerous "bits" of your choosing, mix it all together and serve it up. Oh my - heaven in a cone!!

The cruise was amazing - pampering and fun and laughter. First day out we did a "pub crawl" and you'd be proud of us Bronnie, we were well behaved (well most of the time). The islands were gorgeous and the people are some of the nicest I've met anywhere.

Our time spent in Waikiki was great too - lots of visits around the Island - Hanauma Bay to swim with the fishies, Pearl Harbour, Dole Plantation, and a gazillion other things. Last day was spent at the Hawaiian Water Park. LOL!!! 2 weeks in Hawaii and THAT was the day we got sunburmed!! You should see DH's hip - he had been complaining for 2 days that his hips were really really sore (we could only imagine from bumping down the water slides. The day after we got home there is a palm sized bruise on his left hip 'round the back end. Tee Hee!!!

Only 11.5 more weeks till Christmas Vacation......

It is yummy, but not something you want to do very often if you are watching your weight! At least half a day's Weight Watcher points in one serving . But it is fun to do once in a while. Who worries a lot about calories on a cruise to Hawaii? :)

Julia in MN

What fun that would be, Sharon! I love cruising, but I've never cruised to Hawaii. DH and the two DDs went there (not a cruise) decades ago (the DDs were 3 and 1!), and we loved it, too. Did you get to the Polynesian Cultural Center? It's fabulous! :)

You're right! We'd taken the "extreme" formal night on the cruise - tux for DH and very flash clothes for moi. My problem was the top was more on the form fitting side than I wanted - and the formal night wasn't until half way through the cruise!! So for the first 6 or so days I lived on Salads (gorgeously yummy ones but salads nonetheless!) with the odd little treat. But oh my! The food options (on the cruise especially) are amazing.

We'd done the Polynesian Cultural Centre the last time we were there so we didn't go again this year. Thy are amazing though aren't they? I am totally in awe of the hula dancers - when they get those hips going ..... wow!

Ooohhhh wasn't Hilo Hatties just great?!! We went there a couple of times. I got my fabric at the big Swap Meet (flea market) at the Aloha Stadium. They have it on Sunday and Wednesday and we went both days. I didn't get to visit the LQS due to time constraints either. We were too busy exploring the island. At the swap meet I found a vendor that had fabric yardage so I got a yellow and gray print and the solid yellow and gray to match then at another vendor I picked up four packs of charm squares that I shared with my DSIL. If I ever get caught up on my current projects I really want to get that quilt made. I just have no idea what pattern I will use.

Mika

Ooooh yes they were - they even gave us two of the free mugs, after I'd said I left my voucher for one in the car!! Plus a heap of other vouchers.

D'oh! I only told them all I wanted to go to the flea market a gazillioin times - guess I'll just have to head on back, LOL.

I am dying to try hawaiian applique out of the gorgeous books I bought - my problem being my charm squares aren't as big as I wanted! LOL - the bigger ones cost more than I wanted to pay - but hang on, the Hilo Hatties ones might be the right size? Ooh it's hard to be back!