Hawaii 2019 Day 12: Kamehameha Class Night

Makai woke up and came by our bed to tell us he couldn’t open his eye. A mosquito had bit him in the night and it was all puffed up! We gave him some children’s Claritin and that seemed to help a lot.

This was our last day in Waimanalo. I was sad to leave our friends, but also excited for what we had planned. Makai played with Damien and Hoku and Ka’eo in the morning.

We met Dallas’s cousin Vivian and her daughter Maile at Gyotaku (not Gyukaku- there was some confusion.) in Pearl City (Also confusion about the day we were meeting!). We had a good lunch. I had sushi and salad. The menu was huge and confusing and that’s when I realized that I’d been to Gyotaku before with Aunty Kitty and Aunty Myrtle!

We then drove over to Vivian’s house in Moanalua. I’d never been to this area before. Makai was to stay overnight at their house while Dallas and I attended a Kamehameha alumni event. He was excited to see that they had a big trampoline in their backyard that was littered with used water balloons! And also they had two cats – Jessie and Makana (gift). Maile also has an older brother, Seth, and a younger brother, David, so Makai was PSYCHED. (The photos above are photos that Vivian sent us from their overnight together. Makai also loved that Jessie slept with him and meowed right in his ear to wake him up!)

Dallas and I then went and checked into the Alohilani Resort in Waikiki. Because the rest of our time on Oahu was going to be spent in Honolulu, it was easier to get a hotel down there for 2 nights. It was a shame that most of our time was spent outside the hotel and we didn’t get to take advantage of all it had to offer!

I wanted to make sure I had enough energy for the night so I went and got myself some iced coffee and Dallas some iced tea at Kai Coffee, which was connected to our hotel. This was a cool place. The coffee was great. In the back they had a roasting room and the person working in there let me sample some 100% kona coffee while I waited for my order.

Back in the room we got ready for the night. It was Kamehameha Alumni Class Night. Dallas’s class graduated in 1994 and we were all going out that night. At 4:15 we went down to the hotel bar for a drink. I had a super fancy and way delicious mai tai. Some friends were meeting us, but not there yet, so I went over to check out the aquarium wall. The lights changed with the music, and I’m SURE the fish really appreciated that!

Talbert and Debbie met us at the hotel bar. Malia and Chris JUST flew in from the Big Island and eventually they met us as well. When it was time for us to get an Uber to the party, it was nearly impossible! Kalakaua Ave was closed for a Pan Pacific Festival and preparations for the Kamehameha Day parade! So we had more drinks. And more drinks. It took the Uber almost an hour to arrive!

Finally we arrived at the Waiwai Collective, a kind of modern Hawaiian space that is part cowork space, part cafe, part event space, from what I could tell. The party was in full swing. Everyone was required to take their shoes off and the floor was covered in a kind of astroturf! Funny thing, I feel like Dallas and I split off immediately and I just started talking to all the people that I knew. The Kamehameha community has always been so welcoming and open to me that over 15 years I’ve made a lot of friends of my own there!

When I saw Alika and Ty and Jayson, they were serving a beverage that I didn’t know of. They had me try some and it was cold and not bad. It was made of kalo (taro). I guess some people hate it, but I didn’t mind.

I entered the raffle that night and I won TWO TIMES! The first time I won a KS insulated bag and a round of golf for 4 at Makaha! We kept the bag but gave the golf away to BJ. The second time I won another KS insulated bag, a Pauahi hat and a tunic top with leggings! We kept the bag and the cap, but later on I gave the tunic and leggings to Liz (it was comfy for her and her growing belly).

At 9 or 10pm, everyone was good and drunk and there was a shuttle to take everyone to the Kamehameha dorms to party some more. I’d had enough so I snuck out and got a Lyft back to our hotel to crash!

Hawaii 2019 Day 12: Flying kites, blasting rockets, tidepooling

Just before we arrived, Billy and Ging had an air conditioning unit replaced. So they had this big box laying around. Great for painting and other imaginative play! Makai, Damien, Hoku and Ka’eo all went to town on it. I was a little bit shocked when I went outside and Makai had painted his entire hand black to make handprints on the box. Great idea, but change your clothes first! Luckily it came out of his shorts.

Billy and Ging took the day off and we all spent the day together. We first went to Sandy Beach Park where we flew kites and tried to launch a rocket that Ging picked up from Costco. I think there was 1-2 good launches but it was funny to see everyone try to get it going!

Next we drove up the street a bit. There was a food truck and we got some hotdogs for lunch and some fresh pineapple smoothies. We walked down a trail with some pails and nets.

I didn’t know really what to expect. We were walking towards the ocean, but the tide was low, so the water in this lagoon was super shallow and it made a sand bar. There were fish and other kinds of critters stuck over there. I found out later we were on the Kaiwi Coastline.

Damien and Hoku were super interested in catching fish. They had nets and were putting them into a bucket. Makai wasn’t as interested in that. We explored around and found a sea cucumber. In one tidepool I thought we found a bunch of snails, but they started skittering around and we realized that they were all hermit crabs! Makai LOVED that.


I found an area where endangered Hawaiian Yellow-Faced Bees bees were nesting!

As the tide came in it made the water on the other side of the barrier deeper. This was a special spot. Such a cool place of nature.

The afternoon was getting SO hot. I’d been draping a towel over my shoulders for hours so I would not get sunburned. Were were there for several hours before we decided to pack up and head out. Billy opened a cooler that I didn’t even know he had. He’d packed cold juice for the kids and beer for the adults! It was the coldest most delicious beer I ever tasted! We were still so hot and sweaty, I took Damien, Hoku and Makai for a quick dip at the beach!

At home, Billy’s dad brought his grandkids, Billy’s nephews over. They played for a bit and then they all went to the driving range. Makai didn’t want to go to the driving range. I think he was all tired out.

Dallas and I were going to bring Makai to meet friends in Kailua, but Ging told us to leave him with her, so we took her up on that. We met Talbert, Dallas’s friend from Kamehameha Schools, and his girlfriend Debbie at Maui Brewing. We had a couple drinks and split some delicious pizzas. Somehow we all got talked into then going to the Kamehameha dorms! Talbert rode with us and Debbie met up with us all later. It was great to see all of our old friends, but I had a total headache and was exhausted, so I only lasted til 11:45 and then made Dallas come home with me!

Thanksgiving in Wisconsin

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Oak Creek to Richard and Amanda’s house. Amanda’s parents and sister (and her family) also joined us there. The food was great and it was so much fun to hang out with everyone!

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Amanda + Richard

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Amanda + Makai

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Drunks!

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Courtnie, Debbie, Stephanie, Jessica

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Courtnie, Jessica, Debbie, Stephanie, Mom

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Makai made this Thanksgiving centerpiece in daycare.

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Dad carving the turkey.

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Makai being silly.

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Cousins!

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Being very Hawaiian! Makai’s first time in the snow. With grandpa!

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Makai is a little obsessed with dogs. He loved playing with Milo.

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Steph, Jess, Richard, Amanda, Milo (Thanks for hosting!)

Stephanie’s Graduation From Oak Creek High School

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My niece Stephanie graduated from Oak Creek High School on June 14th. Can you believe it? Me either! The day before graduation she got her first job and in the fall she starts college! Craziness!!

Steph’s class was about 480 students and the ceremony was held at Miller Park. I can’t even remember the last time I was at a graduation ceremony. Maybe when my brother graduated about 17 years ago? I don’t even know. It was interesting to see, even if it was loooong! And I wasn’t thinking, but the roof of Miller Park was open, which meant sunburns for everyone!

After the ceremony we met up with Steph outside the stadium for family photos. There were a ton of people, friends and family, and a very festive atmosphere. And even the racing sausages were there!

After photos, we went downtown to Joey Buona’s for a huge Italian feast.

Congratulations to Stephanie and the entire class of 2014!!

Bling

I posted about our engagement when it happened, but I never posted anything about the ring we picked out. I would like to write this out, just so I can remember it and also because today marks 6 months that we’ve been engaged and two days ago was our anniversary of 6 years together. So, here goes..

I’ve known for almost as long as I’ve known Dallas that he is morally opposed to the way that diamonds are acquired and marketed. Luckily I was never one of those little girls who sat and dreamed one day of the big shiny diamond that she would someday wear, so it wasn’t really an issue with me. But then… what do you get? I just didn’t know. I don’t wear much fancy jewelry, especially not rings, and I had no idea what I’d want. And Dallas had no idea. Honestly, this is probably part of the reason it took us 5 1/2 years to get engaged!

When we finally decided to get engaged, we decided to pick out a ring together. Like I said, I wasn’t sure what I wanted, and Dallas didn’t want to make that decision for me, especially since it’s something I’d be wearing every day for the rest of my life. We researched jewelers online and decided right away not to go to “Jewelers Row” down on Wabash. A lot of what we were reading said that they’re kind of like used car salesmen down there and that definitely was not the experience we wanted. We read up some more on local jewelers and decided to visit Stanley Brown in Lincoln Square. We read their Yelp review and it had 12 reviews and every one of them was a 5-star review. I was suspicious, but then I noticed that one of the reviewers was a coworker of mine, so no way they were made up reviews. More research showed that Stanley brown is old-school and have been in business for almost 100 years. They have a charity drive for dogs. They got great reviews everywhere we looked. All signs pointed to them knowing their shit, not pressuring you, and being trustworthy.

So, we picked a day and went in for a visit at Stanley Brown. We told them right off that we didn’t want to look at diamonds and that my birthstone, sapphire, was probably what we’d want. They did not blink an eye. Their philosophy is that there’s no right and no wrong. It’s just whatever suits your style and your budget. I found this refreshing, especially at an older, traditional jeweler.

Honestly, we don’t know much about jewelry so our first visit was just learning. Cuts, settings, etc. I didn’t have any idea of a gem shape or setting that I wanted, so they had me just keep trying different things on. After a while I started to get a sense of what I liked and what I didn’t like and what was in our price range. We worked mostly with Debbie the co-owner of Stanley Brown and she was totally knowledgeable and helpful. In our first visit we picked out a setting we liked and the shape of the stone we liked in that setting. From there Bruce, Debbie’s husband and co-owner of Stanley Brown, went and tried to find stones that would look good in the setting and are comparble to what you like but that are in your budget.

On our second visit to Stanley Brown we looked at the stones that Bruce selected for us. It was Halloween, I remember, and Dallas was super annoyed with the trick-or-treating kids all over the place in the Lincoln Square business district. On the contrary, the jewelers were handing out candy to the kids and really enjoying their company. At one point the cutest kid came in dressed as a lion. Debbie and I totally commented on his costume as someone else at the store gave him candy. I turned back to the ring and next thing I knew Mike and Theresa and their baby, Nicholas, were right in front of me. Totally busted!! For some reason we’d looked right at Nicholas, dressed as a lion, commented on his cuteness, and never even noticed our friends! My head was totally in a different place, that’s all I can say about that. So, Mike and Theresa were the first to know about our engagement! Back to the stone. We picked one out that we liked and that was at the high end of our price range, but still in the budget.

I also brought in a string of black pearls that Dallas had gotten me that are too long. I asked about them and Debbie said they could adjust the strand to make them however long I wanted. We also talked about possibilities for things to do with the extra pearls, but I decided to just hold onto them until I figured out what I wanted to do with them.

The following week was our final visit to Stanley Brown. All we had to do was pick up the stone in the setting. And get my necklace. And pay. Actually, we may have paid on the second trip, I can’t remember now. We went out to the garage and got into the car and it won’t start. So we had to take the Western bus up to Lincoln Square to pick up the ring. Fun!

We walked into the store and the clerk was so excited. She went back and got the ring and brought it out and put it on my finger saying “I assume you want to wear the ring out of the store!” Well, we never really thought about or planned what to do with the ring once we got it, so wear it out of the store, I did. I guess we were then officially engaged. Hah. We went across the street to a new market that had opened and who did we run into? Mike & Theresa again! They were the first to officially congratulate us on our engagement.

Getting Ready for Santa


Stephanie’s letter to Santa reads:

Dear Santa,

Here are are some milk and cookies for all of your hard work delivering all of the presents around the world to all the girls and boys. Good luck.

From Stephanie and Jessica


Second page of the letter to Santa.


Jessica and Stephanie with the milk, cookies and letter we set out for Santa.


Reading A Visit From Saint Nick (T’was the Night Before Christmas) before bedtime.


A little less milk for Santa, a little more for Shorty!

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While we were putting out milk & cookies & writing the letter to Santa, Amanda & her parents were picking up Amanda’s brother, Mike, at the airport


Mike & Jessica meet for the first time. Jessica likes him.


Jessica & Mike


Jessica & Grandpa (Jerry)


Stephanie, Jessica, Grandpa (Jerry)