When it comes to kid's, whether it's toys, candy or birthdays, two is almost always better than one!  My darling niece and Goddaughter Alohilani celebrated her 2nd birthday a couple of weeks ago and we all celebrated by going to Sea Life Park!  While I'm on the topic of two being better than one, my lucky niece got 2 cakes that day...one at the party and one at my parents' house.  Yeah....she's loved!!

We all had a fun, albeit very hot time at Sea Life Park. Even though the previous days were a little rainy, the weather managed to stay clear and sunny for Alohi's birthday celebration.


A group of Alohi's cousins got together with a few adults to enjoy a fun day at Sea Life Park!!! Most of the children are from my sister-in-law's family. [My son is the one wearing the Angry Bird shirt (much to my dismay..kind of sick of Angry Birds..haha)].  My brother and I were never that close to any of our cousins growing up because we didn't see them very often. As a result, our kids aren't very close with their cousins who are around the same age. That's why we make it a point to get my son and nieces together as much as possible so they can have a close relationship and someday their kids will be close like my sister-in-law Kellie's family is.


Needless to say, my niece Alohi was super excited about her birthday celebration!!! It was full of fun times and laughs. Happy Birthday Alohilani!!! We all love you!!!

There are more photos after the jump!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.whatjeanlikes.com/2012/05/aloha-friday-blog-hop_10.html" title="Aloha Friday Blog Hop"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRS3tDw7RYFHxq2c4qlz-11Zt8caIPkWufZIIDUWP7iuy06MK6odHxNdmXXd4A-Tik4PrGhbEQpT-ZbMcK36xcHmxKG6YL45D2w5R_1O4_i0JI7fRBca6DhLnpW5L9i0rB8UwWYDzzKk/s400/draft.jpg" alt="Aloha Friday Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.whatjeanlikes.com/2012/05/aloha-friday-blog-hop_10.html" title="Aloha Friday Blog Hop"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRS3tDw7RYFHxq2c4qlz-11Zt8caIPkWufZIIDUWP7iuy06MK6odHxNdmXXd4A-Tik4PrGhbEQpT-ZbMcK36xcHmxKG6YL45D2w5R_1O4_i0JI7fRBca6DhLnpW5L9i0rB8UwWYDzzKk/s400/draft.jpg" alt="Aloha Friday Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

• Please follow your hosts Nicole from Local Sugar Hawaii and Jean of What Jean Likes.  We are the first two blogs on the list.
• Link up your blog name and URL with our Linky below.  You can do a separate entry for your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Linky. 
• Grab our Aloha Friday button and include it in a post about the event on your blog and in your sidebar (if you want) to show some love and let everyone know that you participate in the weekly blog hop!
• Go to as many blogs on the Linky as you want and be sure to tell them that you are from Aloha Friday Blog Hop!!! 
• If someone is nice enough to follow you, why not show them some Aloha and some sugar and Follow back any followers you have gained from the Aloha Friday Blog Hop!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.whatjeanlikes.com/2012/05/aloha-friday-blog-hop_10.html" title="Aloha Friday Blog Hop"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRS3tDw7RYFHxq2c4qlz-11Zt8caIPkWufZIIDUWP7iuy06MK6odHxNdmXXd4A-Tik4PrGhbEQpT-ZbMcK36xcHmxKG6YL45D2w5R_1O4_i0JI7fRBca6DhLnpW5L9i0rB8UwWYDzzKk/s400/draft.jpg" alt="Aloha Friday Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

• Follow Jean via Google Friend Connect, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Networked Blogs, Pinterest, Tumblr, Linky Followers, and Bloglovin!  
• Link up your blog name and URL with our Linky below.  You can do a separate entry for your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Linky.  We want everyone to get lots of follows and some sugar!! 
• Grab our Aloha Friday button and include it in a post about the event on your blog and in your sidebar (if you want) to show some love and let everyone know that you participate in the weekly blog hop!
• Go to as many blogs on the Linky as you want and FOLLOW them!!  Be sure to tell them that you are from Aloha Friday Blog Hop!!! 
• If someone is nice enough to follow you, why not show them some Aloha and some sugar and Follow back any followers you have gained from the Aloha Friday Blog Hop!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am not one to normally post videos about animal cruelty. I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, I eat meat regularly. I personally believe that eating meat is healthy for humans but at the same time, seeing videos like this makes me sick. I will NEVER purchase pork from Walmart Superstores and I am glad I have never done so. The terribly cruel and inhumane treatment of these animals is inexcusable and something needs to be done.

I'm not one of those "crunch granola people" (an expression I heard used to describe activists who were vegans). I am just your average run of the mill mom who's heart broke watching them castrate baby piglets without any anesthesia as the piglets screamed in agony. The sad fact of the matter is that food suppliers all over the world are guilty of terribly inhumane treatment of the livestock that later become our food. These conditions are not only inhumane but very unsanitary. If these animals are getting infections and sores, it's something that originates from filth and passes to the blood stream which means we are later eating animals that had severe infections in their body. That can't be healthy.

It's very important that we know where our food is coming from and that the suppliers are not like Christensen Farms with their inhuman treatment of animals. I understand how difficult it must be to raise these animals but at the same time, there is a line that should not be crossed. These animals have short lives already, why make them so miserable and tortured in the short time they do have? Just taking into account the infections and sores they suffer from makes me never want to eat from this supplier or any like them (and there are many).

There's a film called Food Inc. as well that shows the unhealthy and inhumane treatment of animals and how a lot of stores get meats from these suppliers filled with antibiotics, steroids, etc. that lead to us getting more and more obese and sick after we consume it.

Ryan Gosling, Zooey Deschanel, and Kristen Bell are just some of the few celebs that are angry with Walmart after shocking footage of abused pigs was filmed at one of the megachain's suppliers.

On the website WalmartCruelty.com, a video was posted of the cruel events that take place at pork supplier Christensen Farms of Minnesota.

Narrated by Bob Barker, the Mercy for Animals organization highlights the cruel practices of gestation crates.

In the letter submitted to walmart, superstars condemn Walmart with the following:

After visiting WalmartCruelty.com and learning from my friends at Mercy For Animals that Walmart pork suppliers condemn pregnant pigs to lives of misery and deprivation inside tiny gestation crates, it is now clear that the hidden cost of Walmart’s ‘always low prices’ is blatant animal abuse.

We implore you to help end the needless suffering of these animals by ending the sale of pork from producers who confine pigs in cages so small they can’t even turn around for nearly their entire lives.

While Walmart tells its customers they can “Save Money, Live Better,” the pork sold in your stores comes from pigs whose lives couldn’t possibly be any worse.

As world-renowned animal behaviorist Dr. Jonathan Balcome puts it: ‘Gestation crates are unremitting hell on earth.’ Inside tiny gestation crates barely larger than their own bodies, these intelligent and social animals never get to walk, run, root in the soil, see the sun, breathe fresh air, or do nearly anything that comes naturally to them.

Driven mad from boredom and stress, these poor animals have nothing to do, day after day, hour after hour, but to bite the bars of their cages.

Watch the incredibly disturbing video (above) and continue to support the END of gestation crates!

Let me caution those of you with weak stomachs or who get depressed easily, you may not want to watch this video.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.whatjeanlikes.com/2012/05/aloha-friday-blog-hop_10.html" title="Aloha Friday Blog Hop"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRS3tDw7RYFHxq2c4qlz-11Zt8caIPkWufZIIDUWP7iuy06MK6odHxNdmXXd4A-Tik4PrGhbEQpT-ZbMcK36xcHmxKG6YL45D2w5R_1O4_i0JI7fRBca6DhLnpW5L9i0rB8UwWYDzzKk/s400/draft.jpg" alt="Aloha Friday Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

• Follow Jean via Google Friend Connect, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Networked Blogs, Pinterest, Tumblr, Linky Followers, and Bloglovin!  
• Link up your blog name and URL with our Linky below.  You can do a separate entry for your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Linky.  We want everyone to get lots of follows and some sugar!! 
• Grab our Aloha Friday button and include it in a post about the event on your blog and in your sidebar (if you want) to show some love and let everyone know that you participate in the weekly blog hop!
• Go to as many blogs on the Linky as you want and FOLLOW them!!  Be sure to tell them that you are from Aloha Friday Blog Hop!!! 
• If someone is nice enough to follow you, why not show them some Aloha and some sugar and Follow back any followers you have gained from the Aloha Friday Blog Hop!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As a photographer, I feel like I'm constantly trying to learn new things, be more creative and improve the quality of my images. Nothing drives me more than looking at amazing captures taken by other photographers. One of my favorite photographers is Clark Little. He's most famous for his wave and shore break shots which should all be captioned with "Taken right before the wave pounded me into the shore". 

Here's a little bio on Clark Little:

Award-winning photographer Clark Little was born in Napa, California in 1968. Two years later, a move to the North Shore of Oahu (Hawaii) dramatically changed his future. In the 80’s and 90’s he made his name as a pioneer of surfing at the Waimea Bay shorebreak. Clark had a unique talent for taking off on hopeless closeout shorebreak waves and surviving in one piece.

In 2007, Clark discovered his ability and passion to capture the extraordinary beauty of the shorebreak when his wife asked him for a picture of the ocean to decorate a bedroom wall. With the confidence of an experienced surfer, Clark went out and bought a waterproof camera setup, jumped in the ocean, and started snapping away, recording the beauty and power of Hawaiian waves. "Clark’s view" is a unique and often dangerous perspective of waves from the inside out, captured in photos for all to enjoy from the safety of dry land.

"The shorebreak is my comfort zone. I absolutely love it. It's always different. The light, the colors, the water, the sand and what happens to it. And to be there to capture it and share it with the world... what a dream."

- Clark Little

They say that to be truly successful at something, you gotta do what you love. I'd say Clark has not only earned his success, but he's done so doing something he loves. His sharp, colorful and vibrant photos are the reason why he is one of my favorite photographers. Here are some samples of his shots courtesy of his Facebook page.

If you are interested in seeing more of Clark Little's work or viewing his gallery, you can visit his website and Facebook page which I will link below.

• Clark Little Photography  
• Clark Little Photography Facebook