July 2013 A non-photographer's photo journal - Lyon Arboretum

Our summer adventures continued this past week.  Dad was off on vacation so we got a lot of quality time as a family in.  Today I'm sharing about a our little venture to the back of the valley.   Lyon Arboretum (Visit there website HERE)

Located in the back of Manoa Valley the Arboretum is awesome. This place is a tropical rainforest garden oasis in town.  It's run by the University of Hawaii and free to the public.  There are so many pretty places to stop and lay around or have a picnic.  Today we went up after breakfast so it was nice and cool.    

Our first little walk happened right outside the visitors station.  Polaris was our leader and took us to the Young Memorial Garden.  It's so pretty with a beautiful moss covered rock way, gazebo and Lily pond.

There are so many things to see in this little pond.

Ummm...like tons of frogs.

"I count none but sunny hours"

Love this sundial.

 

After an almost walk to the bottom of the hill (mamas not to into walking all the way back up), we made our way to the other side.  We had a nice walk up to Inspiration Point.

There's path ways with lots of manicured plant life.

We saw lots of birds too.  Including wild parrots...yes in Hawaii.  I couldn't get a picture of the parrots but here's a very pretty bird that totally posed for this picture.

Jumping is a must anywhere we go.

We made it to Inspiration Point and it was pretty awesome.

After that we walked back down and everyone was ready for lunch. Lyon Arboretum is a real beautiful getaway in Honolulu city.  Well maintained and landscaped, lot's of information and totally free.

June 22, 2013 A non-photographer's photo journal - Hoomaluhia Camping Day 1

My little tribe was so happy to finally go for a weekend camping trip.  It had been a while since we packed up and camped out so we all were a little nervous and excited.  We also never been "mountain camping", I mean we live in Hawaii so when we hear camping we think "at the beach", but this place is so beautiful and special to my family.  So here is day one of us camping at Hoomaluhia State park. Set up was kinda crazy.  We had to go on Friday after everyone finished work at 5:00 but be in the gate by 6:30 when they close.  We all just made it...all sixteen of us...in the rain.  After everything got set up, dinner was eaten and a camp fire lit we all had a good nights rest ready for a beautiful morning.  And it was a beautiful morning.   This is what we saw when we woke in the morning. The Koolau maintains lit up by the golden morning sunlight.

 It then drizzled a little which made for the brightest rainbow I've ever seen.  It was amazing.

 The nice cool weather made for a lovely time to take a stroll around the camp site.  So many beautiful plants to see.  Many plants are marked with name plates which is pretty awesome.
Here's a Hala Tree and a wild Orchid growing in ferns.

Then breakfast

 We had to do something with the kiddos, so a hike down to the lake was in order.

 

Everyone (well the kids anyways) needed a "hiking stick".

I have know idea why because it was more of a walk then a hike.

 The sun was out but the air was cool.  The trail was well kept and the plants were green.  Then when came around a corner and down a hill to see this amazing sight.
The lake

We stayed a bit to explore.

 That was pretty much day one.  Nice and relaxing up until after the walk.  It was a big BMX race day so we drove back into town, picked up all the race gear, rip it up at the track, then dropped all the gear off at home and booked it back to the camp site.
Never a dull moment with us!

 

June 9, 2013 Waimea Valley (Intro to "The non-photographer's photo journal")

 Hello my awesome blog followers.

Okay so, I had a bright idea and if you know me it's one of those... "I actually had this idea awhile ago but procrastination is a too dear friend of mines" SO I'm finally doing something about it.

...What am I talking about?  Let's start at the beginning...

Once our little tribe started growing and doing more and more amazing things together, we decided we needed a good camera to capture those memories.   I know I have no idea how to work this camera to it's full potential.  I don't know what an aperture is or does...what is good lighting or not...focus...angles...blah blah blah!  Then there's editing.  Let's just say me and computers speak different languages (well technique that's true but most people can decode it and I can't so....).  I don't use Photoshop simply because I can't afford it.  SO what I'm saying is I have a nice camera, my family does amazing stuff and I like to take pictures of it.  So here it is.  The start of a non-photographer's photo journal.

Waimea Valley

This weekend we took a trip to the North Shore.  After spending some time at Waimea Bay we made our way up to the valley.  They have a whole big botanical garden leading up to the waterfall.  It's really commercial which my family really doesn't do much of, but since we had guess we shelled out the money and took the walk up.  

The greenery, sunshine and cool breeze made for a lovely time.

 Any mother knows what those droopy eyes mean.  Factoring that he was riding in a stroller and the peacefulness of the valley, nap time wasn't far off.

 There were lot's of plants and they all had name plates which were cool.  Funny but we didn't pass by a lot of native plants.  Also on the walk were some falling rocks signs and lots of stairs.

 I spy my kids.  Can you?

 Yes I'm one of those parents that let my kids explore on their own.  Granted that it's safe, they stay together  and they don't go to far.  I have a big mouth so I'm also the parent who's calling out to my kids.

 I'm a sucker for moss and ferns.  Oddly enough mushrooms too but finding them are hard.

Thought the Lauae (fern) looked cool growing out from the roots of this tree.  Also thought the roots looked liked fingers...or is it just me?

 We made it to the falls.

The sun was still shinning and the air was sweet.

I guess there has been issues because now they make everyone going in the water wear a life vest.  No one climbs and jumps off the falls anymore either.

We had a nice time and the kids had fun too.  Is it worth the price?  I don't think so.

 This valley has so much history and struggles and there really wasn't any info on any of it.  Although they did have a native garden, it was off to the side and not to many native plants were visible and marked on your journey to the main attraction.

 One more photo to end our trip.

We spotted this peacock on our way out.  WARNING peacocks attack.  We learned that the hard way sometime ago at the zoo.