i miss hawaii.

as we did some random driving over the weekend, i was surfing the 'net on my iPhone for hula lessons for the bean. 

yes, i am totally *that* mom. 

anyway, as we got off the freeway to head home, we noticed these signs all along our route and wondered what they were for:

naturally, we followed them.  and they led to this:

a hawaiian-themed fundraiser for the local nature center.  whee!  it's the closest to the islands i'm gonna get, at least this year, and although the hub had no interest in checking it out, the bean and i went back to see what it was all about after she'd taken her nap.  it was still super packed at 4:00 in the afternoon, but i found a parking spot right away.  except that i couldn't be 100% sure that it wasn't a handicapped stall, despite the lack of a blue stripe on one side.  plus there was no sign in front:

but then i decided not to take my chances - who needs a $300 ticket, especially over something like that - and found another one close by.  the bean was puzzled as to why we were getting back in the car.  heh.

as we finally made our way into the festival, we noticed lots and lots of vendors hawking their hawaiian wares.

one in particular caught my eye - i managed to snap off this blurry pic of what captured my attention before asking (and being shut down) if i could take pictures.

the bean loved this necklace, so i bought it for her.

as for me, i picked up this pair of spam musubi earrings, just 'cuz.

this booth had lots of adorable sushi-themed items, all handmade by the lady who was sitting there watching the action.  after she declined my request to take pictures, she asked what i would've done with them.  i told her that i had a personal blog, and would provide a link to her online shop. 

"oh, i guess that would probably be good advertising," she said.  "but i don't know anything about blogs, so..."  and i left it at that.  because i have to share the use of a certain hated font by several of my friends, here's her business card:

 

 

despite the likelihood of being berated for my financial support (hey, it was $5) of such blatant copyright infringement, i still bought a pack of these cards.  so cute!

we walked around the rest of the 'fest, stopping briefly to watch the dancers and listen to the live music.

but by then, the bean was bored.  "can we go to the park part now, pleeeeeeeease?" and off we went.

i love watching her play.  and even with a shitton of other kids around in all ages, she fends for herself and knows to wait her turn for the equipment.

her brand new hello kitty vans took quite a beating.  whatever, that's what they're for.  i never trust pristine shoes on kids anyway - does it mean they don't get to play?

every time she climbed up to the top of the slide and began her descent, she flung her arms out wide and shouted "BLAST OFF!!!"

and then she was done.  she was ready for a snack.

i did find a local hula studio, by the way.  but we're going to start swim lessons too, and i'm afraid to overload the poor thing with activities. besides, there's a music studio around the corner...