Birthday/Graduation Party

This past Saturday our family celebrated my cousin's 22nd birthday and graduation from college over at his casa. His house, I can't even think of a word to describe how wonderful looking it is. My cousin alone picked each piece of furniture and paint color for the walls and basically designed the entire interior. Their home even has a 'bridge', if you want to call it that, but it's basically an area above the kitchen that leads to the bedrooms and could also count as a second living room/entertainment area. His home has about 3 'living areas' total. To put it in simpler terms, I am way jealous of what he lives in when he's home and not in college. I wish I hadn't forgotten my camera's memory card so I would've been able to share the greatness with you.

We got to the party a little early, so I stayed outside and waited for the group of people my age to start coming in, because at that moment, I was surrounded by parents, grandparents, and the rest of the 'middle-aged' folk. No one came for a while, so I decided to head upstairs to that bridge/living room area and watched some House by myself for a bit. Eventually 'my people' came, basically my cousins. Not all of them were able to make it, because some of them went to Birthday Bash at the Waikiki Shell which is a Hawaiian/Reggae concert held by a local radio station. I was planning to go, but family first, right?

Since I forgot my memory card at home, my pictures have been limited to what could fit in my camera's internal memory. Which isn't much with the setting I've had it at. For most of the night, my brother's girlfriend and I were playing with my nephew. He went around hiding his DSi, and we had the job of trying to find it.

We also had a little 'photo-shoot' in the striped bathroom.

I feel like I shouldn't be showing you all the toiletries he has, but I didn't want to have to deal with cropping the picture.

The last picture I was able to fit into my camera was a picture of my dad, and his brothers and sisters (my aunts and uncles).

The first boy from the left is my dad. I actually didn't know he was the oldest boy, but the second oldest. I guess I thought wrong... My youngest aunt was yet to be born, so she's not in the picture, obviously.

I really wish I remembered to bring my memory card because there was so much more I wish I documented. For one, my niece had the cutest outfit on with a matching headband, as she always does. She was also having so much fun climbing/sliding up and down the stairs. I also wish I was able to get the picture of the food. Halfway through the line I thought I grabbed what seemed like some good food, that is until I looked further down, then to my plate, seeing that I will completely run out of room eventually. My plate was pretty stacked. I'm sure I gained a couple of pounds. And last, his cake. His cake was delicious. It was a half-and-half of dobache (sp?) and chantilly.

I must never forget my memory card ever again. It will really decrease the amount of typing I have to do, and the amount of reading you have to do. And after all, pictures are worth a thousand words. Or maybe I just need an iPhone (and all of its cool photo apps) or just someone who can figure out why my blackberry camera is not working...

Tomorrow, shopping post. :)

The Iron Man Weekend

This past Sunday was the annual Tin Man here in Hawaii. It was also a pretty busy day for me, being out for majority of the day and only being able to take a nap for about 30 minutes before heading out again. Thank God I brought along my camera to share with you that day's adventures.

First up, the Tin Man. You might be thinking, what the hell is the Tin Man?! That's exactly what came to my mind when my brother brought up the event to me a couple of months ago. It's the brain child of four athletes who were inspired by the Ironman Triathlon on the Big Island of Hawaii. Nothing like an elite type of race, but made for any athlete who is looking for a challenge. The Tin Man is an annual event and has been held in the same area for the last 30 years. Here are a few pictures of my first experience watching the triathlon:

We started the day off bright and early, leaving at about 5:30. We missed the swimming portion of the race, but were able to catch the biking. These guys were going down hills at about 30 mph, some even on fixed gear bikes, and for those who ride fixed gears would know how hard that can be.

It was a journey back the beginning of the course to catch the running portion of the race. We were near the finish line. Hot, fit guys galore!

Unfortunately, I missed my brother on his bike. One, because he was going about 30 mph; and two, we had no idea it was him (I thought he was wearing red, he was wearing black and blue). We did see him running though.

This little bird was enjoying the race as well.

We met up with my brother at the refueling station at the finish line. We got to see the rest of the finishers, and for someone who was single, it was probably heaven. Men without their shirts, sweating, and pouring water on themselves. It was amazing. :)

Afterward, we had lunch at Koa Pancake House near the Navy Exchange. I had a strawberry crepe. We then headed to Vitamin World to read about and check out Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, a.k.a. Jesus Soap. I'll have a post about the Magic Soap soon enough.

I took a quick nap, and we headed down to Ewa Beach to check out my cousin's new home. It's a huge step up from their previous quarters. The house is going through a bit of a makeover at the moment, so it was quite empty, and the grass - brown. I loved the lighting everywhere:

They have a very open kitchen. A staircase is located to the right of this picture leading up to the rest of the rooms.

The adults were weeding out the front yard and getting rid of unnecessary plants. On the bottom half of the picture, you can see that the Hawaiian Islands are embedded into their yard. It's one of the few features they're keeping.

Their cute little dog. Its name is Mogi.

Another trip home and a quick rest, and we were back out the door to a birthday party for another cousin. This time, in Whitmore. She turned 13 that day. I wasn't able to get a picture of her because I forgot my camera inside, then I totally forgot about getting her picture afterward and it was too late. But, I did get a picture of her delicious cake. Chantilly with a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream.

Here are a few pictures of my niece and nephew. Cute kids. My nephew is a rascal, but what do you expect, right? We messed with him and told he would be a very hot interracial private school kid with the girls all over him when he's older. It was all the truth.

His sister is a cutie pie. She's always dressed in really cute, matching outfits - mostly pink or red with a matching head band. She took off the red head band she was wearing that night.

If you tell her to do "Pretty Eyes" she squints in an attempt to show them to you.

The rest of the night was spent playing with my cousins, neice, and nephew talking about our over bearing parents and wishing they could understand just a few things about being a teenager or even being a young adult.

My cousin, the mother of my niece and nephew mentioned how her mom does say all these things, but being a mother, she has learned that it's just human nature for parents to get mad. One thing we came to the conclusion of is that, our parents tell us to do these things, and if we don't, we get in trouble. But, we grew up with our parents doing this and doing that for us, that it's become a part of our own nature, that we'll have these things done for us as long as they're there. And so yes, I do appreciate what they do for us. On the other hand though, they think we don't do these things because we don't want to, or because we're trying to be bad, or something. It's one of the reasons why I really wouldn't mind leaving the island and living on my own. I'll be able to use everything my parents have taught me, and I'll be able to show them that I have been listening to them this whole time.

For example, one of my cousins is planning to head off to the Big Island to stay with her boyfriend up until school starts again. Her parents shot down her plans, or tried to, only to come to no avail. She's still going, which I understand. She's 21 years old. I'm sure by the time I turn 21, my parents would be just the same if I had a boyfriend. We'll see though, I have a little over a year until then, and three/four more years until I plan on moving out.

And that was my day. I wish I had more days like this, but with the lack of a car and friends that are too busy working or in summer school, I can only hope.