Steve and I had a wonderful time on the “Big Island” of Hawaii. We went to the Kona side and I’d recommend this island to anyone. It sincerely has it all–lush tropical forests, lava fields and volcanos, beautiful black and white beaches, a killer sunset and whales breaching in the water!

We went with Steve’s best friends from high school:

While we had a great time, we went through somber times too. The last time we were there together, our dear friends, Stu and Betsy, were with us. As you know, Betsy passed away last June. Being on the island without them was a daily reminder of how precious life really is.

Before I share more photos, if you have a Smartphone, these tips are for you! I downloaded three apps right before the trip that I fell in love with. They are Pixlromatic, Instagram and My365. Pixlromatic (my favorite) and Instagram are free photo altering and sharing applications that allow users to take a photo and apply a digital border or filter. My365 is a photo app which enables you to take a photo on you Smartphone and place it onto a calendar to share. This is an easy way to keep track of what happened each day, then add them to Becky Higgin’ Project Life books (either tactile or digital).

Notice the photo above.

Now look at it using Pixlromatic’s Sand Border and Aladin filter:

Now look at the same photo with the Vignette border:

I’m totally having so much fun with these apps. It’s a quick way to add some pizazz to your photos.

The landscape is so rich and diverse in Hawaii:

There were lava fields surrounding where we were staying. People bring white rocks from the beaches and write messages:

You’ll never believe this. We three girls were on the private beach by our condo on Valentine’s Day (the men were golfing).

I struck up a conversation with a nice man and he told me a band called “Train” was playing on the beach that night. I really didn’t know who they were but when I told my friends, they couldn’t believe it and were so excited! I guess Train is a big deal. So Valentine’s night, the men made us a yummy meal of steak and shrimp and Red Velvet Cake, then we went to the beach and laid in hammocks listening to Train. (I ended up knowing several of the songs–”Drops of Jupiter,” “Calling all Angels,” Hey Soul Sister” and “Marry Me.”) What an amazing memory on a fun night!

Kade was in charge while we were gone. I got home to happy children, a clean house, up-to-date homework and my laundry 100% finished! Yipee!

Last night Kade, Collin and their friend, Kyle, went on a very creative date:

(The cute blonde with Collin is the daughter of a friend I met through scrapbooking! The other cute blonde is Kade’s high school sweetheart. She faithfully waited for Kade while he was on his mission and they look pretty happy that he is back!)

The group went “Skittles” bowling, then came back to our house and made very creative smoothies. What is Skittles bowling you might ask? Before each turn, each group member drew a Skittle with their eyes closed. The color picked depended was how they had to bowl that turn (e.g. red=cross legged, orange=an Irish jig, purple=spin around five times, etc.). They all said they laughed so hard and had a total blast. A fun twist on bowling for sure. Collin was the high scorer and Kade the low!

Well enough about my week. I’m off to start enjoying  my weekend. Hope yours is going great!

Lisa

 

 

 

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