Hawaii : Pearl Harbor, USS Missouri

Happy November!! Hope y'all had a wonderful Halloween!

After visiting the

USS Bowfin

, head over to the loading area and take a bus over to the massive USS Missouri. 

This battleship, the site of the Japanese surrender during World War II, is certainly a sight to behold.

The bus ride lasts a few minutes. Oddly enough, the USS Missouri is right beside the Arizona Memorial on the water. 

The floorboards are made of teak wood, making it basically indestructible. Teak wood is rare worldwide. It is mostly produced in India, although there are endangered varieties found in the Philippines and Myanmar. 

Photo Credit to Kamikaze Images

You have to look pretty hard but do you see the fighter plane that is in the top left-hand corner? The Japanese Kamikaze pilot actually crashed into the USS Missouri on April 11, 1945, in Okinawa. There are still dents, to this day, on the starboard side of the USS Missouri.

Chillin' and chattin' in the Captain's Chair.

One of my favorite jewels on this ship was the antique or vintage items lying around. We're fans of Coca-Cola but this Pepsi-Cola dispenser held a retro vibe that I fell in love with!

The "Mighty Mo" docked at Pearl Harbor infinitely on 1992. What made it so significant to Pearl Harbor? The USS Missouri was the gathering place of American and Japanese soldiers as the Japanese chief signed "The Instrument of Formal Surrender of Japan to the Allied Powers", thus ending World War II.

Guided by a Veteran:

You won't find a lazy tour guide here! The only guides on this battleship are retired military veterans who have a passion for history and service to their country.

Time Crunch:

Try to allot a fairly sufficient amount of time to tour the battleship, maybe between 1 to 2 hours. The ship has special nooks and crannies with lots of info about the ship, military officers and history of its fights. 

USS Missouri Stars in a Movie:

Have you ever seen the movie

Battleship

? Most of it was filmed on this ship. How crazy is that!? JD and I had never seen this movie prior to the tour but we watched it on the flight back home. 

2010 Flashback : Happy Halloween Mad Scientists' Style

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween is a pretty huge event at the Adams' home (Whit's side of the family). Mom and dad think of a theme for the following year beginning the night of the present Halloween (i.e. the house was decked out like a pirate ship in 2009. that same night, they decided the next year would be a science lab). It's amazing the things they come up with... and they execute everything to a tee!

Every year, a plethora of brave (and not-so-brave) little kiddos stop by the house. We missed last year and will be missing this year too... but in honor of the Adams Family tradition, we felt it was only fitting to show you the videos we made from 2010: The Year of the Adams Mad Scientists' Lab.

Enjoy!


Get the full tour of my parents' "haunted" home here:



A few characters that stopped by, of course we offered them "brains and hearts" to eat. A few of our favorite characters were Woody & Buzz, the Sumo Girl and Optimus Prime among many others. We ran out of candy bags within the first hour of trick-or-treaters!



What would a Mad Scientists' Lab be without a bubbling, boiling pot of stew? The kids LOVED this experiment - all thanks to my genius dad. :)

 


This was the first year JD took part in the Pumpkin Carving tradition for my dad and me. We went techie-mode... 





We hate missing out on the tradition this year but we'll be thinking about all of our family as the trick-or-treaters come running out tonight. 


So, we're curious... do you have any special traditions on Halloween / the autumn season? Fall Festivals? Pumpkin patch picking? Trick-or-treating?

Hawaii : Pearl Harbor, USS Bowfin

Welcome aboard the U.S.S. Bowfin...

aka: The Pearl Harbor Avenger

From the USS Bowfin website: 

USS Bowfin (SS-287) is a fleet attack submarine that fought in the Pacific during WWII, and helped to make famous the term, “Silent Service.” Bowfin was launched on 7 December 1942, exactly one year to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was nicknamed the Pearl Harbor Avenger, so it is fitting that she is permanently homeported at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

It looks huge from these external photos, but you will learn that it is only a mirage once you get inside. 

God Bless America.

Watch your head when walking into the

entrance

exit. Yeah. We started the tour on the wrong side of the submarine. Whoops! Oh well. JD is rockin' that tour guide headset. 

The USS Bowfin is a super small submarine (I guess all submarines are tiny on the inside though). JD, being the studly tall man he is, would've never been able to work in there. I, on the other hand, strode through that submarine like a pro (being short does have it's advantages after all).

The door was half the size of JD. Would not have bode well in an emergency.

There is something I just love about these meters. They look so classy, vintage and cool. Don't you love them? Maybe I'll enlarge one of these and frame it. 

Keys to the chief's quarters.

Tour Tickets:

You can buy combo tickets for the USS Bowfin and USS Missouri. The Aviation tour is included but we didn't have time to go there.

Audio Tour:

A headset and handheld tour guide is included in the price of the package. There are two versions you can listen to - an adult and a family-friendly version. The adult version includes interviews from Bowfin veterans while the family-friendly version vividly describes historic scenes of what each part of the submarine was like when in action. I must admit, I

kind of

enjoyed listening to the family version just as much as I did the adult version.

Get the Picture:

Almost any tourist place or restaurant you visit will have a "house photographer". While most places have the typical cardboard layout, the USS Bowfin prints your photo onto the front page of a newspaper with info about the Bowfin. That alone makes the USS Bowfin a memorable experience. This is the one and only photo we would actually recommend you purchase. 

Hawaii : Waimea Valley Waterfall

The Waimea Valley Botantical Gardens are pretty extraordinary. The entrance was bland and somewhat dead, most likely due to the season, but the rest of the walk was magical. 

Like Willy Wonka Magical.

Don't forget to wear your bathing suit, as the secret of the Waimea Valley is the waterfall at the end of the gardens! Sadly, most people walked right past the abundance of beauty hidden on the trails of the gardens.

This flower reminded us of the tree tops from The Lorax.

You'll eventually walk past this sign...

And you've made it!! 

Unlike the other Hawaiian islands, Oahu only has a couple of

legally

accessible waterfalls. The Waimea Valley Waterfall is worth checking out. 

You can rent a noodle or life jacket for $2 and swim in the frigid pool over to the falls. If you're lucky, one of the lifeguards will happily paddle out to you and take your photos on his stand-up paddle board. 

The entrance fee for the Waimea Valley is $15 for adults and $7.50 for children. Some days the gardens restrict access to the swimming hole and falls. Be sure to call ahead the day of your visit to inquire about swimming conditions.

Hawaii : We Wanna Wailana

My fingers have been tinglin', ready to show you photos of our adventures in Hawaii... now that we're back home, we can!!

JD had more days off from work this year to play than he did last year. We wanted this trip to be more organic and spontaneous than last year's trip of a

luau, hula dancing

, and

swimming with dolphins

and

sharks

.

First Stop: Wailana Coffee House

These coconut pancakes are the bomb diggity. What's the white syrup? More coconut, of course!!

If you ever go to Oahu, please stop by Wailana Coffee House for these pancakes. The eggs were gross, but the pancakes and bacon were phenomenal.

Here is the view from our first hotel, the Doubletree Hilton. Rain, rainbows and murals of flipping whales.

Oh yes. The wonderful employees of the Doubletree greeted us with hot chocolate chip cookies and we were pumped. 

Originally, because of our late reservations, we had to break up our stay into several different hotels. But, being the awesome and persistent husband he is, JD called the Hilton Hawaiian Village at least five times the week before we arrived and he finally got us a room there for a consistent three weeks. We did have to stay at the Doubletree two nights when we arrived but it was much better than our previous plans of having to switch hotel rooms several times a week. Everyone was super nice at the Doubletree and the rooms were nicer than the Village... but the Village has way more activities so I was happy there while JD was working. If you're going to vacation in Waikiki, we would recommend the Hilton Hawaiian Village. 

Here is our map from Honolulu to the North Shore, our favorite area on Oahu! More to come about that  next post...

The Honeymoon

We took a fairly non-traditional route for our honeymoon... meaning that we didn't go to an exotic island a plane ride away. In fact, we drove one hour up to the North Georgia mountains (Lake Rabun) and spent an entire week hanging out and enjoying the luxuries of being newlyweds. We shared some pretty amazing adventures, whether it be cooking, hiking or toasting Coca-Colas to a gorgeous mountain sunset... most of which we have documented in the videos below for your viewing pleasure. :)










Tutorial : Mason Jar / Pin Cushion / Sewing Kit


Aloha!!
JD and I are finally back from our three and a half week trip to Hawaii! This means I've been postponing my teaching duties for an entire month now. I'm so excited to get back to the homeschool co-op next week. We will be starting our two-week lesson on how to sew an apron. I'm so excited, in fact, that I put together these little pin cushion - mason jar - sewing kits for each student. These are super easy to make (I made 13 within a few hours). 

I hope they love them as much as I do!! 


Want to make one for yourself?

I've seen quite a few Mason Jar pin cushions on Pinterest. I've taken the best ideas from other blogs and came up with this step-by-step tutorial with a number of Jitney's Journeys bonus twists.

Here's what you will need for the kit:


Seam Ripper
Tailor's Chalk
Measuring Tape
Sharp Pair of Scissors 
Needles
Pins
Buttons
Spool of Thread (not pictured)

*Fortunately, Hobby Lobby is holding a 50% sale on all Sew-ology items this week. Whew!


And here's what you will need for the pin cushion mason jar:
Mason Jar
Scissors
Tag Punch (only if you have one laying around)
Cardstock
Hot Glue Gun
Super Cute piece of Fabric (measuring approx. 5.5" x 5.5")
Poly-fil (see image below)


Ready?

Let's do this...


Step 1: Punch out a circle from a piece of cardstock. You will glue this onto the back of the Mason Jar lid next. This tag punch measures 2.5" in diameter. If you do not have a tag punch around this size (should be 2.5" or smaller in diameter), you may freehand a circle with the approx. diameter or trace the lid and cut about 1/8" off. The tag punch is, by far, the quickest and easiest solution.


Step 2: Hot glue the circle to the back of the Mason Jar lid. The cardstock helps to adhere the fabric. 


Step 3: Cut a 5.5" x 5.5" square of fabric. 

Thank you, Hobby Lobby, for selling super cute fabric. 


Step 4: Lay the front of the Mason Jar lid onto the wrong side (or back) of the fabric. Place a dollop of hot glue one side and adhere. Don't glue anything else yet. 


Step 5: Grab a handful of Poly-fil. You can use as much as your heart desires, but a handful was sufficient.

I tried to take photos of every step but it got a little tough here, as I only had one hand to work with while the other was snapping photos. Multi-tasking at its best. ;) 

Step 6: Place the ring of the lid upside down on a flat surface. Stuff the Poly-fil in between the fabric and lid in as much as a puffy ball as possible. Push the stuffed fabric-Poly-fil through the ring and align the lid into the ring. You may want to add or subtract some of the Poly-fil here.

Step 7: Try to pull the fabric around the ring while holding the lid in securely, so that there are no cinches of fabric. Now your lid should look similar to the bottom right pic above.  


Step 8: Pull the fabric in small amounts (may need to be twisted or trimmed in some areas so it won't be too bulky) and begin hot gluing. Once you have almost finished a semi-circle, take the other side and glue it so that there is a straight line across of fabric. Take the bottom of the semi-circle and twist it just enough to a point where you can tuck it into the straight line going across. It should look like the bottom right picture. Hot glue that baby in.

Tip: Toothpicks are a great way to tuck in the fabric without getting the scolding hot glue all over your fingertips. 


Step 9: Admire your new pin cushion and get super pumped about sticking some pins in it! 


Step 10: Adorn it with lovely colored pins, fill it up with sewing essentials and get ready to host a sewing party!!


*You can use a thread and needle instead of hot glue, but I've found that the backside of the lid doesn't look so nice if you do it that way. No worries, we will not be using hot glue when sewing aprons for the Life Skills class. ;)

We Dashed Like Warriors.


This past Saturday, we gathered with thousands across the Southeast to compete in the Warrior Dash 5K, the world's largest running series.

Blood. 
Sweat.
Tears.
Ropes.
Barbed Wire. 
Mud.
Fire.
Beards.
Turkey Legs.

Here's a taste of what our race obstacles looked like...


The Warrior Dash came to Alabama for the first time this year. Appropriately, the race was held in the city of Warrior, Alabama. 


We thought the fire trucks were present because of the fire obstacle (in case someone caught on fire). However, we finished the race and found the competitors washing off the mud and dirt under the showers of the fire trucks' water hoses. Crazy.


Brandon and Theresa (JD's sister), and Matt and Julie all came up to compete with us.
Brandon and Theresa came up with the perfect idea of coordinating the super rad Tees, bandanas and socks (bright ones for the gals and camo for the guys). Theresa and I designed and crafted it all though. ;) Of course, us girls had to paint our nails to match our tie-dyed shirts.

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Pre-Dash Photo Op....


How about the awesome stenciled warrior helmets?


Post-Dash......


Champions.




We ran into Mo, a college friend of JD, Brandon and Theresa. Check out his handlebar 'stache and shirt ("You can go blind from my pure awesomeness")?


After the race, we drove up to Julie's parents' house for a fantastic dinner. Honestly. It was a dinner for true warriors, or Vikings, if you will. It's a good thing we received these shirts, metals and Viking hats as a reward for surviving in the race. The outfits made for perfect dinner attire.

The weekend held amazing, Spirit-filled conversations and laughter between a few of our favorite people. Thanks Mrs. Leslie and Mr. Craig for hanging out with us crazy couples and for opening up your lovely home to us without caring about getting mud all over your floor. We had such a blast!


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By the way, JD and I flew back in from Hawaii last Wednesday! The past three and a half weeks were magical, challenging and awe-inspiring. We're going to postpone writing about Germany a few more posts because we are that excited about our Hawaii adventure this year. 



Viva Las Vegas : Happily Ever After

Have you ever been to Fashion Show Mall in Vegas? 

It's pretty epic. 

A fashion show stage and catwalk literally rise from the ground floor and models strut their stuff. As soon as the show is over, the models step back into their window-shop positions as the stage and catwalk lower back down into the basement of the mall like an elevator. 

Sheer genius.


We celebrated Jackie's birthday at Maggiano's, family style Italian. 

Mmm.


The guys fought against Optimus Prime. 


And we took a lovely family photo in front of a fountain.


Here's a few last Vegas shots for your viewing pleasure...






Thanks Chase and Jackie for letting us stay with you guys. We're super proud of the things y'all are doing in Vegas. God is doing amazing work in and through the two of you. Can't wait to see what else He will do! 


Mom and Dad  - Few kids can say that their parents have been married for 30 years... much less happily married for 30 years. Chase and I have been infinitely blessed by you two. Your kisses in the kitchen and hands intertwined when you walk have not gone unnoticed. In fact, it is the imagery of your entire marriage. Thanks for loving each other wholeheartedly. You have not only stuck with each other through the worst of sickness - but you have fought for each other within in. Thanks for rubbing mom's feet when her neuropathy kicks in full-blast and for driving dad at nighttime because glaucoma has glazed his eyes. Your support of one another is impenetrable. Thanks for remaining faithful in prayer and in the Lord when doctors said mom would only have one more year to live in her darkest time of sickness, and when doctors said dad wouldn't be able to see his daughter's birth because he would be blind by that point. 

Most people must live by faith and not by sight.

But I have seen. 

I have seen that God heals and that He does a mighty work in marriages, in families and in our bodies. Thank you for leaning on Christ and each other in times of trials rather than straying apart from one another. Thank you for setting such a pure example of marriage for Chase and Jackie, and JD and myself. 

We love you.

Here's to 50 more years of being newlyweds. ;)