Waikiki, Lanikai and the Luau

After hiking Diamond Head, and eating lunch, we headed over to the beach to avoid rebellion by four girls.  They found plenty to do.  No, Cheesie isn't surfing, she was balancing in the very strong waves.

Blondie and Big Al boogie boarding

and then you would think we would head home exhausted. NOPE, not my kids. They immediately jumped in the pool and the hot tub with the cousins.  (I have no idea what Cheesie was doing)

The next morning we drove to a nearby beach called Lanikai. It's really a neighborhood with folks living on the beach side. Between certain houses are public beach access point. We went down to the furtest one and found a tiny beach. It was difficult to swim because it was so windy, and we were very glad we had water shoes for the rocks and reef. 

We tried snorkeling, but the wind would push you backwards into shore so it was tough to hold your position.  Just as we were thinking of leaving, we saw a sea turte pop its head out of the water.  Now this beach is across from the Mokes, which was on my list of things to do because I wanted to snorkel and sea the turtles, so Brian sent me back out to see what I could find. Of course turtles are much faster than I am, so it was gone quickly.  I eventually managed to catch site of two turtles hanging out together, but moving away from me.  So I was excited.  We ended up leaving soon after and hung out in the pool until time to get ready for the luau.

This was the view from the big house. Tough..... I know.

My in-laws invited all of us (all of their kids, grandkids, and cousins) who were in Hawaii to the luau at the Hale Koa.  As we entered they handed us a drink and we walked around the grounds. They had someone teaching the kids to make lei bracelets, weave headbands from palm fronds, poi ball swinging for the kids to try,  and music playing.

This young man showed us how to climb a coconut tree.  He was hysterically funny.

Then we were called to dinner by these young men.

The pig was pulled out of the ground.

Just because.....you know.

Blondie questioning the idea of fried bananas - NOT her thing.

Some of us. We took up 3 tables. All of the kids were so well behaved.

Part way through dinner the show started. It showcased the various dances/cultures of different islands in the pacific.  The dancers were fantastic.

Because..... he was still a great dancer....

This lady was amazing.  She is exactly what I think of when I think Hawaiian hula dancer.

Part of the show was for married folks to dance.  These are my inlaws who brought us all together.

Jillianne (my sister-in-law) was pulled up on stage to dance. She is super shy, so we were all surprised she actually participated

The guy group

This young man was the reigning world champion at the junior fire something or other championships.  He was very impressive.

Because the Hale Koa is for military folks, there was a segment for those who had fallen serving in the war. My grandfather Cecil was killed in the Korean War, so I stood with a candle during the song. Jillianne's fiance, and Brian's dad, also stood. Wayne lost friends and comrades in Iraq/Afghanistan, and my father-in-law lost friends in Vietnam.

At the end all of the dancers were outside to pose with everyone.  So I think all of us stood next to this guy..... because.... you know.

We also stood by the wonderful lady dancer.  She is not bending down, she is actually THAT tiny. 

We finished up with the twelve year old fire spinner. Shaka.

Diamond Head and Waikiki

On this day we wanted to hike Diamond Head. This was Brian's first hike with the family, and only two days after doing Maunawili, so the kids were slightly skeptical. Especially when you looked up and saw we were going WAY UP THERE. Diamond Head is actually a crater, that was once used as lookout points with bunkers up on the top.  The hike takes you from inside the crater to the top where a few of the bunkers are located.

Everyone started off well, and we realized very quickly that there was very little shade.

We finally reached the point where the views were spectacular, and the breeze was strong. 

These views were right before the dreaded stairs. We had already gone up stairs, and through a tunnel, and now we had the choice of going around on the outside, or going up major stairs and into the bunker. Since Blondie was a trooper and not complaining, but obviously tired, we took the route through the outside. 

Blondie was fabulous, and we even had a lady stop and tell us how impressed she was with how she was climbing along without any problem.

Towards the top, Lori, Leigh Ann and Megan met up with us. 

As we stood up there we could look down and see all of the hats that had blown off of people's heads and down the side of the crater.

This is the very top with the amazing views.

A bunker along the ridge, and Honolulu behind it.

 We loved the water, so many different shades of blue.

 Now towards the top, the girls got a little sick of Brian's photography.  He took pictures of EVERYTHING from many different angles, and we were sort of getting tired of the frozen smiles on our faces.  All of them were a bit embarrassed by what he was wearing (can't imagine why).

So part way down, to make his point about how obnoxious he COULD be, Brian just started throwing the camera over his shoulder and randomly taking pictures. One of them caught Cheesie... with her tongue out.

Just to illustrate how this wasn't just a cement path, most of it was actually rock with a lot of level variations.  She did it all by herself though.

By the time we got down to the bottom, Lori, Leigh Ann and Megan had caught up with us again. We all felt pretty powerful after that hike. 

After lunch we headed over to Waikiki to check out the beach, but I have apparently maxed out blogger with all of these pictures, so I'll have to do a part two with the next post. 

Swap Meet and Music

Saturday. June 23, 2012

Today the kids and I were looking for something to do until Brian's plane came in. We settled on the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium. Overall it's the same type of stuff over and over again, but the girls loved finding cheap t-shirts and trinkets, and I enjoyed the browsing.

I finally gave the younger two their money, and they bought a bag, a lot of bracelets/necklaces, and t-shirts. The older ones bought a lot of the same.

We watched this man cut coconuts in the back of his truck. He was just whacking the heck out of them.

Of course there were brightly colored clothes hanging everywhere.

We picked up Brian, and headed back to the house so he could see his family and spend time with them before the time difference took it's toll. His parents have a favorite Hawaiian singer named Jerry Santos, that they have become friends with over their many visits. He will be singing at Jillianne's wedding later in the trip. He plays at the Hilton (I think) every Friday and Saturday night. Brian couldn't make it, so he stayed home with all of our kids, nieces and nephew while the rest of us went to enjoy the music. Turns out it was Jerry's birthday and musicians from the area, as well as hula dancers came to pay their respects and show their love.



Here is an example of Jerry's music....



This lady danced several songs with the group. Her name is Leilani and she is a featured dancer with Jerry. I'm sorry for the poor quality but it was around 10:00 p.m.  Below is another video of Leilani and her husband Nohono dancing (you'll see him in a later post about learning to make leis):

Overall, what I learned from this experience is that many locals have a very deep sense of culture that is well maintained in their community. This idea of Aloha is very real and loving. These folks grew up in the same community where we are staying, and the affection they have for one another is truly beautiful.

Aloha & Maunawili Falls

BIG FUN here. Thursday the girls and I flew out to Atlanta, and then a 9 hour 40 minute plane ride to Oahu.  My sister-in-law is getting married and the family is gathering in Hawaii to celebrate. We are beyond thrilled to have this opportunity to experience this with Brian's family.

This morning (Friday) when we woke up, I thought I would take the girls on a quick hike and then come back for lunch and head for the beach. I found a website with directions to Maunawili Falls, and thought it was perfect. A hike ending in a beautiful waterfall and "pool" that you could jump and swim in.  In theory it was a great idea.  THANKFULLY, right before the girls and I left, another sil showed up with her friend, so Lori and Leigh Anne went with us.

Pretty early on I was thinking, "Oh crud. This is not good." Do you see what I see?  I expected a nice little dirt path and a quick hike (1 mile-ish), but reality was tree roots (I mean EXTREME tree roots) everywhere, and very slick clay-like dirt. Blondie was in her brace, but it was some tough going.  I held her had a lot of the way to help with the incline (you know, my "bruised bone elbow" hand). Lori and Leigh Anne helped tons because after the tree roots were the big rocks in the river we had to cross. 

Now, having framed the trip properly, let me just say that it was utterly beautiful! I was frustrated because I couldn't name trees and flowers, and the birds were bright and gorgeous.  

Lori kept saying it was like being on the set of LOST.  

And did I mention the views? GORGEOUS. I had my waterproof camera with me because I didn't want to haul the big one, so I don't think the camera remotely caught the true colors, but I was loving the views. 

Yep, more views along the trail. As we got closer to the top, there were stairs, and roots, and slick mud and boulders, and not once did my girls complain, and I mean, NOT ONCE. 

Then we got REALLY close, and we chose to cross the stream again, and go up the other side (because it had to be easier for Blondie than following everyone else up the stream - HA, mistake on our end). 

Because on the other side....

were giant trees, bamboo, and roots, slick mud, etc.  Blondie had a couple of bad slips, cried a minute or two, but we could HEAR the waterfall at that point, and HEAR the people having fun, and then...

we saw the falls, and the pool of water, and the boulders everyone was sitting on, and we couldn't get those swimsuits exposed fast enough!

Now, Big Al wanted to jump off a cliff in Hawaii. It's on her bucket list. 

And, I hope this counts, because I don't know if I could watch too many of these. 

Of course, if Big Al can do it, so can T-Rex.  Blondie said she wanted to try, and Big Al was going to help her up the rocks, but she ended up sitting and watching.  

The way back down was absolutely much easier. Blondie decided she didn't need any help, and did it all by herself (and YES, it was still slick). I figure this counts for an extreme version of physical therapy.  Later tonight I hope to add in video that Leigh Anne took of the girls on the trail, so I'll try to get them loaded as soon as possible.  So check back often, and I'll do my best to post as we go.  

Celebrating 100 yrs. of Girl Scouts

     I started volunteering with Girl Scouts when Big Al was in 2nd grade (8 years ago). Since then I've always been a leader for 1 or 2 troops. Five years ago I took Big Al, T-Rex and a few others to DC to celebrate 95 years of girl scouts. This year (100 years) I brought Blondie and Cheesie and their brownie/junior troop. This happened back on June 8,9, and 10th. Yes, I'm late, but had to get this posted because vacation posts will be coming soon.

The first adventure on the trip was to actually STOP at South of the Border. A thoroughly tacky little destination off of I-95 on the SC side of the SC/NC boarder. We've always driven by, but had to stop because I had forgotten something. The girls thought it was cool, but weird (which it absolutely is) but it was a fun pitstop.

The second adventure was to stop (three times going up) to find letterboxes (go to letterboxing.org if you don't know what that is). The girls were excited because the other three girls hadn't done it before, and we were lucky enough to find 2 out of 3 of them. At a previous meeting we had carved our own stamps, so the girls were excited to find handcarved stamps instead of store bought.

We stayed at a campground south of DC called Pohick Bay recreational park and it was perfect. The main campground was nice, but they had another one near it for kids. We camped next to boy scouts having a jamboree, and a Spanish speaking soccer camp (those boys were playing soccer at 6 a.m.).  The girls were thrilled because most of them hadn't gone tent camping before, and the first order of business was to set up the tents, start that fire, and begin cooking our own hotdogs and smores.

 

 The next morning we got up and drove to the metro station. Now 5 years ago DC was packed for the 95th, but this one was WAY BIGGER. Imagine DC on a Saturday in the summer with the regular tourists, and then about 200,000 girl scouts on top of it. The metro (above) was super packed (even more than rush hour) and we were all so worried about splitting up our girls. Thankfully with everyone so child centered (everyone was pretty much a girl scout) it went fairly smoothly and politely.

Now my younger two have of course been to DC many times to visit family and we do a couple things each time we go (no hurrying around, just pop in and pop out). The other 3 had never been though, so we started with the White House.  

 From there we walked over to the Washington Monument area, and sat with a huge sea of people watching the Girl Scout concert of the big screens. The girls started handing out our swaps, and quickly realized that we should have made hundreds. Blondie's hat was covered pretty quickly, and I think the girls burned out pretty quickly with the idea of them.  It wasn't as hot outside as other years, but when you're sitting in a field without any shade you heat up quick. The girls ate the lunch we brought, listened for a bit, and then we moved on to the American History museum.

After that one, we went to the Natural History museum. Above, the girls are watching a woman try to work together some of the dinosaur bones. The girls were pretty impressed with the displays of the dinosaurs, and the mummies.

A few of them were willing to hold the weird insects on display upstairs (yay Blondie). I had to help her hold that giant grasshopper because she needed two hands, and lefty just wasn't going to cut it for that poor insect. 

We walked out of the museum and the girls were pooped. So we waited in line to even go down into the metro, and then headed back to camp, where the girls made nachos and tacos on the camp stove.

They did a fabulous job of taking over all of the responsibilities and I was very proud of them.  They spent the evening playing card games, and hanging out. They were in bed pretty early and we headed back the next day.  It was a short trip, but they got to see thousands of girls who share their enjoyment of scouts.

If you go to the local tv station..... make sure you look presentable

Tomorrow I take Blondie and Cheesie, along with a few other girl scouts, to DC for the 100 year celebration. When Girl Scouts gather together they usually bring SWAPS with them.  The girls swap the pins with scouts from other areas as a memento of the event.  I heard from a friend at work that a local tv station (wltx) had a penny press machine that they would let anyone use, so I called. Since I wasn't going to sell them they let me come in with the girls and we pressed 120 pennies with either the SC flag, or the outline of the state.

As the machine is squeaking along, and the receptionist is probably counting down until we're finished (it was really a loud, long process), and my kids argue over who gets to do the next one..... the receptionist asks, "Which one of you girls want to be on TV?"  Um. NONE OF THEM. Cheesie looked the most presentable, but Blondie needs a haircut badly, and I walked out without doing hair or makeup (because WHO WAS I GOING TO SEE AT A TV STATION).  Big Al and T-Rex immediately recognize the gravity of the situation and slowly disappear to the couches FAR, FAR AWAY from any camera, or reporter. I do what any good mom would do, I promptly throw my youngest to the wolves. They can speak for Girl Scouts, right?  They know what we're doing, right?  Cheesie does the morning show at school.... that's the same, right? RIGHT?

They did a respectable job, and everything was fine, UNTIL..... DUDE turns the camera to me and hands me a microphone and asks me to speak on 100 years of scouting, what the girls are doing, and why we're making SWAPS. Seriously, it's girl scouts, we tend to do a bit of crafting, you have a free machine what's the story?  So tonight, or some point soon, you may see me on TV, and I apologize for my appearance, and promise I won't let anyone leave the house like that again.

***I also apologize for the quality of picture, it was my cell phone because I had forgotten the camera at the house too***

I'm baaaaaack.

Yes, I took a long break from blogging. I didn't intend to, but it started with our other computer getting two very expensive, monster viruses. We finally caved and bought a new computer this spring, but I was so out of the habit I didn't pick it back up again.

SO, without going back to update everything ( because we do so much) I'll just start with today.  TODAY is the second official day of summer vacation, and we have so much planned this summer.  Right now Big Al is cheering Monday through Thursday at the high school getting ready for next year's competitive season.  Her big push for the last couple months has been her tumbling skills. She used to be a softball player, then a soccer player, and then she quit it all to do gymnastics which quickly turned into cheerleading. So last year was her first year on any team, and she did well (and wasn't hurt thank goodness).  Once the winter basketball season was over and things slowed way down (for her, not me) she started taking lessons across town. Today she showed me her tumbling at the team practice.



Of course there are also huge crashes......


No, the camera didn't go crazy from me being worried, I was laughing too hard. She was fine.  

Edited later: I'm not sure why the videos are green and not showing the video, but I"ll keep working on it.