Hawaii 2019 Day 2: Settling In

We woke up and had coffee (YAY! there’s a coffee maker now!) and breakfast. Kathy had this sweetbread from Punalu’u Bake Shop on the Big Island. We’d never had before and it was really good. It comes unsliced and we cut off slices for toast and sandwiches. Kathy likes to just pull little nibbles off the end and we kept teasing that there was a mouse in the house!

George was golfing at Wailua, as he always does on Sunday mornings. Kathy took Makai for a walk to Aunty Jane’s house to see her pet turtle. Since we visited last, a garage was built. It looks really nice! Actually a ton of work was done on the house since we were last there. It looks great!

While Kathy and Makai were gone I ran out to get some things at Big Save. Who knew there were so many flavors of SPAM now?

Back at home Kathy gave us a call and let us know they were at the Waimea community center. Swede’s volleyball team was playing. It’s only a short walk, so we headed over. We saw Aunty Nancy, Uncle Bob, Eric, Swede and Sand. It was only about 10 am but I was SO hungry (5 hours behind). They were selling musubi at the game, so I had one.

Sand was totally stealing his show at his big brother’s game! Also, this was the first time I met Sand, even though Makai and Dallas met him when he was a baby. At the end, Swede’s team won? maybe? They all got instant noodles leis. There were extra, so Makai got one too!

Back at the house Dallas and Makai got into a water balloon fight!

Kathy and Dallas decided to golf at Kukuiolono. We all went and had lunch together there at Paco’s Tacos. I was laughing because they had ono ceviche and described it as “Mexican poke.” It was really good. I also had ono tacos.

While Dallas and Kathy were golfing, I took Makai to Spouting Horn. He’d been there before, but didn’t remember and thought it was pretty cool.

Then we went to Lappert’s! My favorite ice cream ever. He’d also had Lappert’s before but didn’t remember. Makai only really remembers the last time he was in Hawaii, which was only with Dallas. At home whenever I told him something about Hawaii he would be like “I KNOW mom, I remember from when I went with Daddy.” And he would tell me things about Hawaii, as though I’d never been there.

Back at home I relaxed by sitting on the front porch and alternately staring at the ocean and reading books. I picked up some spiked seltzer called Bon and Viv at Big Save and had a couple cans. This stuff tastes great, but is very weak. For dinner we had lau lau.

It got windy and rained AGAIN! Two days in a row. Crazy. When it stopped raining Makai played in the hose again. Also, a lot of koa pods blew down when it was windy and rainy. Makai picked them up and Kathy gave him $2!

Hawaii Day 19: Bon Voyage Party!

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Not all Monday mornings are bad. No one was at Salt Pond except for us and groundskeeper Wilhelmina.

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(null)After a long morning at the beach, we were HUNGRY. We went to the Shrimp Station in Waimea and got some coconut shrimp and some garlic shrimp.

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(null)In the late afternoon a lot of friends came over to barbecue. It was our last night in Hawaii 🙁 🙁

Hawaii Day 15: Celebrating Cinco de Mayo, Boys’ Day and 12 Years Together

FullSizeRenderFullSizeRender-2Cinco de Mayo and Boys Day! We had breakfast and then Aunty Jane came over. She had a fun gift for Makai for Boys Day: Let’s Fish fishing game! Makai played with Aunty Jane and Grandma C. Grandma C was a ringer, taking a lot of joy from beating Makai Boy at the game!

FullSizeRender-1Dallas found some old photo albums and we had a look.

img_4845.jpgimg_5029.jpgI took Makai to the Post Office and Big Save. Look how big the local avocados were! I couldn’t believe it. When we tasted them they were so rich and buttery. The best avocados I’ve had!

img_4869.jpgI also got some local guava jam and local honey.

img_4871.jpgOh, and the local paper. We were at Salt Pond the day before this genius decided to punch out an endangered and pregnant seal. It was the talk of the island.

img_4854.jpgimg_4858.jpgimg_4860.jpgimg_4862.jpgimg_4856.jpgimg_4866.jpgWe also went to JoJo’s Shave Ice. Makai was super interested in how the shave ice was made and how it looked, but he wouldn’t even take one bite of it! I took it back to the house and all the rest of us shared it! It was huge!

IMG_4898Dallas and I met on Kauai 12 years ago that week, so we made plans to go out and celebrate.

img_4929.jpgMeanwhile, George and Kathy took Makai to Aunty Nancy and Uncle Bob’s house so he could play with Swede and Safina and their dog.

img_4907.jpgimg_4903.jpgimg_4900.jpgimg_4905.jpgFirst we went to Seaview Terrance for some cocktails. The view was so beautiful and relaxing. There was a Hawaiian musician. I had a Li Hing Mui Margarita (Cinco de Mayo!) and a Mai Tai and Dallas had a few local beers. I could have sat outside there all night, it was so nice!

img_4934.jpgFor dinner we went to Stevenson’s Library. We’d been there before to celebrate Liz and Jordan’s wedding, but had never eaten. The sushi was sooooo good. And we had so much! Kanpachi sushimi, sake and ika and tako and anago nigiri and two types of maki rolls. Also, hamachi kama. Yumyumyum.

After dinner we had some drinks at the bar. We tried to play pool, but we couldn’t get in the queue. It was Kauai, so the bar closed at 10 p.m. We tried to shut the bar down, but we couldn’t even make it that late! Nice, relaxing, early night!

 

Hawaii Day 12: Fishing in Waimea Valley

FullSizeRender-2In the morning we flew from Honolulu, Oahu to Lihue, Kauai. In the Honolulu airport we had a somewhat boozy breakfast. We were going to spend the rest of our vacation on Kauai with Dallas’s parents. We got our rental car and drove to Waimea. Dallas’s mom was out shopping, but Dallas’s dad loaded us back in the car to drive down to Waimea Valley for some fishing!

img_4437.jpg img_4468.jpg img_4471.jpg img_4462.jpg img_4475.jpg FullSizeRender-3Family friends Jane and Linko were fishing with their grandson “Junior”, who is almost exactly Makai’s age. Junior caught so many fish! Linko was just sitting there taking them off the hook and throwing them back in. Makai was not really patient enough, but I took a short turn and caught a small fish!
img_4489.jpgBack at home Makai took a nap. I drove over to Kauai Coffee to sample the goods and buy gifts for myself and others :). I got a fancy frozen blended coffee dessert drink and sat on the patio to relax. I was overlooking some of the gorgeous coffee bushes. While I was sitting there I noticed a Facebook message from a guy in Hawaii with my same last name. He was mutual friends with BJ and Nalani and had liked a photo I posted from their house a few nights before. He reached out to say that our name is not very popular in the islands. Turns out that the guy was Dallas’s dorm advisor! He was a wrestling coach and teacher at Kamehameha. Crazy. We chatted for a while and then I finished my drink and went home. Super chill night. We just took it easy on our travel day!

Making Cookies for Santa

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I had off the whole Christmas week. Early in the week, Makai and I made cutout cookies. This was the first time I had him bake with me and he was really into it. I pulled a dining room chair up to the counter and he wanted to help with everything! When I was rolling the dough out he kept saying “My turn, mommy, my turn!” It was fun!

IMG_0440_editIMG_0087_editIMG_0101_editMy mom and dad came down on Wednesday and that is when we decorated the cookies. Makai was really into that as well! Especially the sprinkles. Can you tell which cookies he decorated?

IMG_0452_editIMG_0430_editIMG_0139_editOn Christmas Eve night, Makai picked 3 cookies to put out for Santa. I don’t know that he totally understands Santa Claus, but he could talk about leaving the cookies and Santa in the chimney and everything. I think next year it will really set in.

IMG_3378janesugarcookierecipeI asked around for a good sugar cookie recipe and Kristin sent me the first recipe, which is one her mom uses with her Pre-K class. They taste very good. I like the hint of almond. Jane also sent me the second recipe that uses sour cream, but it was after I already made the first recipe. I’ll have to try it next year!

Hawaii Day 5: Makai’s First Aloha Shirt

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When we woke up Dallas and his dad worked on the deck some more. This is getting repetitive, right? But the morning and evenings are the best times to work because it’s not so hot. You can see who the supervisors were. 🙂

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When Makai took his morning nap, I ran to Hanapepe. My main reason to go was to stop at Talk Story, a bookstore I visited on our last trip that had some books on Kauai and written by Kauai authors that are not available on the Mainland. BUT FIRST…

I stopped at Little Fish Coffee. This is a cute little cafe that I would have liked to hang out at, if I had more time. They seemed to specialize in breakfast and lunch, but I think they are open until 5 p.m. daily. I got an iced coffee, which was especially delicious in the heat. And also because I’d been feeling SO coffee deprived with no coffee maker in the house and not being able to spot a coffee shop in Waimea (I found one later though!).

Across the street I browsed through the Banana Patch Studio, which is always fun. I got Makai a honu puzzle. A quick run through Aloha Spice Company.

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At Jacqueline on Kauai I bought Makai his first aloha shirt. Jacqueline owns the shop and has her work station right there in the back. She specializes in custom men’s aloha shirts (made to order or free alterations) and uses her remnants to make boys shirts. We talked a bit and she knows Aunty Kathy. I couldn’t decide between the red, blue or orange print, but ended up with the blue in a size 12 months. I was a little nervous, but it fit perfect and Makai wore it to a party later that day. So glad Makai’s first aloha shirt was a special one hand-made on Kauai.

Finally, at the Talk Story bookstore I picked up a collection of short stories called Kauai Stories. These are stories written by the people of Kauai. I was talking to the owner for a while and he and his wife even had a story in the book! There was not too much of interest otherwise, not much I couldn’t get at home. I realized I’ve read a lot of the Hawaii/Kauai books and others just didn’t look good.

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I had to stop again at Big Save to get some things for Makai. Then I went to Jo Jo’s for some shave ice. It’s totally nice inside now. Plain, but not like the shack it used to be. I talked with the woman working the shop and she said that they remodeled in November 2013. I asked her about the Jo Jo’s that popped up next to Big Save and she said that the original owner sold Jo Jo’s (the one we always go to and the original location) and opened a new one. It used to be on a side street (I’d been to that location once) and now it’s next to Big Save in Waimea. I got a #2 with mac nut ice cream and haupia cream on top. I brought the shave ice home and held it in front of Makai. He took a face dive in and grabbed it with his hands!

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For dinner we went to Aunty Nancy and Uncle Bob’s house where Makai got to meet a lot of aunties and uncles and cousins. Dallas’s mom loves to show him off and all the aunties say how good he is. He eats some more poi.

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At around 8 p.m. Dallas and I left for a little bit to go to Wrangler’s Steakhouse, where we met up with some of his old childhood Waimea friends, Trixie and Nick, and their friend Kaela. Nick travels the country and the world singing traditional Hawaiian songs and had performed at Wrangler’s earlier that night. We actually wanted him to sing at our wedding ceremony, but he was performing in Japan. You can find him on Spotify or iTunes (Nick Castillo). It was nice to finally meet him and Trixie after hearing so much about them through the years!