After I finished the last post the girls and I went for a walk. We left Steve slaving over the stove. He is such a good guy! Gotta share these photos because the sun was shining and the parents of the girls are going to want to see them…

This fountain is by the Princeville shopping center… Great with the blue sky behind.

A very nice lady stopped to take fountain photos and she took our picture. We were not exactly dressed for the photo op but I'm happy to have this picture of me and the girls together.

Seriously, don't these girls know how to pose for a picture!

Dinner was great. We had cookies after. Popcorn soon because we have just turned on Adventures in Babysitting – a classic from the 1980s.

Almost forgot… we took shadow photos:

We slept in. No, wait—the plan was to sleep in. But we went to bed before 9:00 PM and the girls were up before 6:00 AM. They were really nice and let us sleep but we were up with sun before 7:00.

It took a while to get on the road even if we did get up early. It's not exactly like herding cats, but it takes us a while to pull it together to get on the road. It's not the girls' fault, I am one of the cats to be herded.

It was much clearer today! We spent the morning in Lihue and I took this photo on the drive. We went shopping at Hilo Hattie's—THE place for Hawaiian souvenirs. And, yes, the girls opened an oyster and, yes, they are each going home with a nice pink pearl necklace. The girls and I had fun looking at just about everything while Steve went to Radio Shack for a speaker cable that we left at home. 

We were back at the condo for lunch and then we headed to Anini Beach (my first time there). When the sun was out it was nice and warm but it was really, really windy today. The girls didn't mind but I about froze.

The girls messed around a bit with the boogey board but this is not a beach for boogeying.

Note to parents: See the waves out there in the distance? That's where the shore break is. From the beach to there the water is shallow and there just aren't waves of any height even with wind gusts up to 30 mph.

The girls spent a lot of time digging in the sand.

They dug a long pit that filled with water. By the time we left the tide was rolling into their pond. On the way home we stopped for cookies (regular and gluten free) and smoothies. And now Steve is cooking dinner and the girls and I are chilling. We may do some jewelry making soon! Or not. We're sort of tired. Movie and popcorn are on the agenda for tonight. I'm hoping that we can stay awake until at least 9:30! 

We went back to the shopping center and got coconut body wash and shampoo so that we will all smell like the islands. Yummy! Then we went to the Nani Kauai Gallery. Oh my. It was sort of expensive—but wonderful! Steve and I tend to buy paintings in Hawaii. We've done it for years and never regretted a purchase. As we walked into the gallery I saw this 12" x 12" painting by Jennifer Prince and that was that.

Today is our anniversary! I didn't realize we would be in Hawaii for our 34th wedding anniversary until I was on the plane and Steve didn't remember until I said something this morning. We're not that wound up about dates but we agreed that it was an excellent excuse to buy art. 

Steve and I like to support artists. We don't have a huge house or tons of money, but we do what we can to buy original art. Some day our children will inherit what we've bought and luckily they, and their wives, share our tastes.

After lunch I went to class and was happy to see the work that the ladies had done on their blocks. I am perpetually amazed at the unlimited ways people color the same block. Some of the following are more complete than others but every one is an expression of its maker:

The next one is made to go with a specific pieced quilt. It's subtle and should be lovely when it is complete. Those light petals on the flower do show up way better than I thought they would! And the fabric for the bird is a good choice – and I wasn't sure it would be. The more I teach, the more I accept that I am not the sole arbiter of what is a good choice of fabric. I might not ever make this block but I like the way it's going. And that's true for all the rest of the blocks in the class.

Steve and the girls went to Anini Beach while I was in class. The water was clear enough that they were able to wade in. (FYI: We were advised by the natives that when the water is brown, don't go in. Sharks and bacteria. Enough said.)

The girls gathered bits of coral and some shells and played in the sand. (Note to parents, the water was less than 3' deep but they got all the way in, heads too. They are ocean swimmers!!! It was a very protected beach and they were in no danger of being swept away.) They also dug in the sand and made sand castles.

The girls dug those pits! I suspect that we'll be on the beach at least part of every day next week, rain or shine. Mostly rain. Right now we're back at the condo. Steve is cooking and the girls are journaling and we're watching Forest Gump on the ABC Family Channel. (How has Elanor never seen Forest Gump?!) .

I really do think that we are going to be busy to max every day.They don't seem to be undone by gray skies and rain. Steve and I are coming from drought-stricken Texas, rain is sort of nice. It's all good. Tomorrow is another day!

Steve and the girls got to Princeville on time – no problems traveling. The road was open! After dinner (Steve made a great pasta dish) it was early to bed. This morning,Sunday,is our first day of vacation. I still have a 4 hour class this afternoon but that's going to be fun and Steve and the girls have plans.

My class starts at noon so we went for a walk to the shopping center after breakfast. The walk skirts the golf course and the girls enjoyed it.

And they turned around for a pose. These girls are the very best at picture posing. My boys never, ever posed for a picture:

There were a few moments when we saw bits of blue sky. And then there was light rain, heavy rain, no rain. But it's warm enough that being wet in the rain is not that bad. And it is Hawaii!

It was probably good that most of the shops were closed. We're going back soon in the car to visit Island Soap and Candle. I think we need some coconut body wash. We did get some groceries… steak to grill for dinner. Food is expensive but cooking in the condo is a lot less expensive than eating out and it works better for the girls.

I know I'll be taking more feet photos. It's fun to have Steve's toes in the picture… so manly.

We're back, drying out, eating toast, the girls are working on their scrap book journals and it's not even 10:00 in the morning! But I wanted to post these photos so that the parents can see their girls. Aloha!

I'm in Hawaii! It's lovely, but very wet. In fact, Kauai has been having flash floods. You know, Hawaii is part of the US but we don't hear about Hawaii weather on the mainland unless it is spectacular. If north Kauai was in Indiana, this might make news.

There is one road around the island – except for the napali coast where there is no road. Imagine an 'O' with a bit out of it (map). Lihue, where the main airport is is sort of in the middle on the east side of the island. I'm in Princeville, around the north side, but not all the way around the island. The napali coast where the road doesn't go is past Princeville.

There have been mudslides and road washouts. Princeville is on one side of a road closure and the bulk of civilization on Kauai is on the other side. Many of the students in my class tomorrow are on the other side. We all hope that the mud is cleared soon but there is more rain in the forecast.

I wanted to share photos of the condo… It's really nice and on the grounds of a church. They built it to earn a little more revenue – what a great idea! The power was out in the condo this morning but it's back on now so I'm happy to be able to post these photos.

If you are standing where I was, above, and turn left, you see the corner of the room with the kitchen, below.

The bedroom is nice and it has a lovely Hawaiian quilt! The girls will camp out in the living room and Steve and I have the bed. We are, after all, older and less limber.

If you walk out the door in the living room, you are on our lanai. Nice! It's too wet to sit out there right now but I have hope that tomorrow will be drier.

This is the view off the lanai. Yesterday there was blue sky, but not today.

We look out over a golf course. The ocean is off in the distance which is fine. (Note to the parents of Lola and Elanor: we are in no danger of flooding. We are way uphill and there isn't a river nearby.)

I said that I'm on church grounds. This is the pastor and a friend moving the Red Cross van across the property to the shelter. I hope to go up there later to see if they can use a little help. But the weather is getting better and the forecast is improving so I'm not sure the shelter will even need to be open. Yay!

When the van moved I saw this:

Just goes to show, you'd better not be too still or you will be over-grown!

Steve and the girls come in tomorrow. If the road is still closed they have a place to stay on the other side of the road closure. In fact, they may have more to do over there. It's an adventure and we are in Hawaii. No complaints from me!

I am leaving at the crack of way before dawn on Thursday to go to Princeville, HI, which is on the north side of the island of Kauai. I'm teaching this weekend for the No Nene Quilters. On Saturday Steve, our granddaughter, Elanor, and her BFF, Lola, will join me. Steve and I will be entertaining two 9-year-old girls for the week of spring break. I know – I have a really tough life! 

I have been scrambling to get everything that needs doing, done, before I go. You may have gotten an eNewsletter today – that was on my list. I've been working on our taxes (ours, Mom's, Christy's). And, in between everything else, I've been working on the manuscript for the next book. Somewhere in there I've gotten some sewing done. I'm sharing this in the hopes that you'll forgive me for not getting more posts up lately.

For today, I just have to share this:

All I could think of was 'Glitter Pants Martha' — the way I think of 'Evening Gown Barbie.' What was she thinking? Or more to the point, what was the person who dressed her for this ad thinking? 

When I was in Australia a year or so ago, I heard of a website (that I never found) called 'leggings are not pants.' I believe that these are words for anyone over the age of 50 to keep in mind. And who amoung you would pair those gold glitter leggings with that blue shirt? Or is it just me that would never do that?

The next time I ask Steve if an outfit 1) goes together or 2) if it makes me look fat, I am going to remember this photo. A paid professional probably told Martha that she looked great in this outfit. I hate to put that much pressure on my darling husband.

So now I'm going to get back to work… 

FYI – Take a moment and look at that ad. Where do your eyes go? Where do they stay? Mine go to the blue shirt, and even when I look at other parts of the ad, they go back to the blue shirt. I would think that Macy's wants your eyes to focus more on those pots balanced in mid-air.

Why do your eyes go to the blue shirt? It is the highest contrasting object on the page, it's big, and it is dead center. When you are making quilts, keep in mind that this kind of contrast works the same way in your quilts. Used wisely, you can use this technique to make people see what you want them to see in your quilts.