Hawaii

Day 5

Guess what I had for breakfast today! Spam Musubi! Seriously, I love that stuff more than I should. I must say, buying breakfast at 7-11 is much cheaper than eating at a restaurant! So, after my delicious breakfast, we went to Aunt Susie's house to get some gear. We needed some chairs for the beach, a big umbrella, a cooler, boogie boards, beach towels... you know, beach stuff. We decided that yesterday was the most touristy day in the history of the universe so today would be a day to chill at the beach.

"WHAT?!?! Didn't you guys just get burned to a crisp two days ago? What are you thinking!?"

I know, I know. But this time we are smarter. We applied our SPF 50 sunblock before leaving the house. We rubbed it all over instead of just spraying it on willy-nilly. We also plan on spending time in the shade and using the umbrella to block the sun when we need to. Yay for the beach! After spending all day on the beach, we left to get cleaned up for dinner and found that neither of us were burned! In fact, we looked better now than we did in the morning! I was very happy about this. I spent most of the day in the shade, but I did get in the water quite a bit. It is so nice to be able to get in the ocean. You can't get in the water like that on the Oregon coast. The water here is so blue and clear and beautiful!

For dinner we went to Aunt Susie's and had dinner with her whole family. Duke and Shayna, Adam, Bailey, Uncle Shep, and their friend, Dee. There was prime rib, shrimp with pasta, sweet potatoes, salad, and more. It was delicious. I don't get to see them very often so it was a lot of fun to get everyone together. My Uncle Shep is hilarious. I wish he had his own reality show. I would totally watch that.

Hawaii

Day 4

Today started out wonderfully. I had a left-over Spam Musubi in the fridge (they are surprisingly filling) so I scarfed that down in the car as we headed off to Pearl Harbor. Wait, let me rewind a little. Ben and I got back from the movie last night and realized just how badly burned we both were. We bought some waterproof/sweatproof spray SPF 50 sunblock for the trip. When we got to the beach, we sprayed each other head to toe and laid out in the sun. It turns out that even with the spray, you still need to rub it in so that you get an even coating. It was a rookie mistake.

Yes, that is my leg. Yes, it hurts. Anyway, we decided that lying on the beach isn't a great idea for today. We went to Pearl Harbor early to beat the crowds. The museum, movie, and memorial were all very interesting and moving. We left feeling grateful for the people who serve our country and keep us safe. Now, off to the swap meet to spend our money!

The swap meet -- for those of you who have never been -- is a bunch of little stalls set up around the outside of the Aloha Stadium. If you want Hawaiian souvenirs for very little $$ this is the place to go. We got a bunch of little things for the kiddos stuck at home and a BBQ chicken sandwich with "ice cold lemonade" to wash it down. It was hot and "ice cold lemonade" sounded divine. Turns out they just fill the cup with ice all the way to the top then fill in the cracks with some Countrytime lemonade. Oh well.

After getting stuff for the kids, we thought we would drive out to the middle of nowhere and get some Matsumoto's shave ice. This is the greatest shave ice on the island (which is really saying something). We got coconut, strawberry, and watermelon. Now, this isn't normal shave ice. First, they put a scoop of ice cream on the bottom. Then the ice with the delicious flavored syrup. Then, to top it off, they squirt on some sweetened condensed milk. So good! We ate outside and I saw a tree that looked like it needed someone to climb it. Since Ben was holding our snack, the responsibility fell to me. Too bad I was wearing a dress and sandals. That made it a little more difficult. Did I let that stop me? No way.

I seriously HATE this picture, but I think it's funny so I put it on here. Just before taking the picture, Ben said "knockers up!" and I did this as a joke. Then he took the picture. Dang.
Anyway, I climbed back down, brushed all the ants off of me (so many!) and we were on our way. We thought we would go to the North Shore and watch the waves and the surfers. This is what Ben looked like for a lot of our trip:

 Ben's GPS told us to go one way, but it was actually the opposite way we were supposed to go. We were looking for a place to turn around and found the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Should we go in? Sure! Why not? We did the World's Largest Maze and then went into the cafe to get some Pineapple Dole-Whip. People, I would go back to Hawaii just for this ice cream. It was so good! If you get the chance to eat some, DO IT!
Next we went to the Laie Temple and spent a few minutes walking the grounds. The bench that I sat on for this picture was like sitting on a frying pan!

We had plans to go to a Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center tonight but we were pretty early. We went anyway and walked around to see the different exhibits there. I was tired. We had spent a lot of time walking around and I wasn't wearing great shoes (they are the shoes I wore when I got married!) so I just wanted to sit on a bench and enjoy the surroundings. Instead, we ended up sitting on a bench playing "words with friends".

By the time the luau started, we were both starving. Ben was so hungry, he was about to eat his lei.

We have both been to the luau here before and I think that either they were having an off night or that we just remembered the food being better. Either way, we were a little disappointed with the food. We sat next to a couple who was on their honeymoon and they were from Australia. I think I enjoyed the conversation more than the food.

 (Ben is having a very intense game with my dad. He REALLY wants to beat him.)
After dinner we saw the show. Ha - The Breath of Life. The dancing was amazing, but the actual program itself was surprisingly cheesy. At the end of the night, we were both tired and ready to crash. I was glad Ben was the one driving home, I just wanted to close my eyes and pretend I was asleep in my own bed with a cool breeze.

Hawaii

Day 3

I am not used to sleeping in this kind of heat or humidity. It might take a few days to get used to. Thank goodness for 5 hour energy! We went to breakfast at Boots and Kimos. They are famous for Macadamia Nut Pancakes but I wanted some protein so I got eggs benedict. it looked good, but Ben's tasted sooo much better. Next time I'm definitely getting the pancakes.

We wanted to lay on the beach, but it was pouring rain. Lucky for us, we could just drive to the other side of the island and enjoy the sun. We ended up at the beach in Waikiki where we spent a few hours lounging in the sun. 

 And of course, when I say "lounging" I mean that I was lounging and Ben was playing "words with friends" on his phone. This was a constant for both of us for the entire trip. I think the sun was frying my brain as well as my skin because I was really having a hard time focusing on the game.

I could feel my skin frying so I forced Ben to leave and buy me some lunch. He went for the "plate lunch" option with steak and rice. I was craving subway (I've been wanting it for months!) so I got a BLT with sweet onion sauce. Delish.

We both got a little toasty on the beach so we decided to stay out of the sun for the rest of the day. There were a few movies out that we wanted to see, so (after buying some aloe at Walgreens) we found the nearest theater and decided to see Fast Five. Too bad it doesn't start for an hour... and the tickets are stupidly expensive... and we are covered in sand and seawater. Back to Shayna's and Duke's house. We got all cleaned up, got some dinner at L&L and then went to the theater in Kaneohe. The movie was entertaining and the theater was cool. Perfect. I had a pretty awesome movie snack too (shh... don't tell anyone that I brought outside food into the theater). Now, keep an open mind and don't judge me until you've tried it:

It's called Spam Musubi. It's like sushi, but they use fried Spam instead of raw fish. This one is Teriyaki flavored so it has sauce on it. OMG. I love this so much. I don't eat Spam unless I'm in Hawaii. It's seriously like heaven in my mouth. Oddly enough, my favorite place to get Spam Musubi is at 7-11 by the tray of rolling hot dogs. YUM!

Hawaii

Day 2

It's day 2 in paradise and all is well. We started off the day at the Koa Pancake House. The pancakes were delicious! I love breakfast. It's definitely my favorite meal of the day. I think the Koa Pancake House was more of a local place - there weren't very many tourists there. We were definitely going to need a good breakfast because we have a full day ahead of us. We donned our swimming suits and headed out.


After breakfast we headed up to Diamond Head. The hike is only 0.8 miles each way, but it's uphill, lots of switchbacks, and 271 stairs! Oddly enough, it was easier for me to go up the stairs than down. My legs were trembling the whole way down. I had to stop twice on the way down. The view was pretty even at the trail head.

Half way up we stopped to take in the view.

The pamphlet they gave us at the trail head said, "it's always hot here". They weren't kidding! I was sweating buckets! The hike wasn't terribly hard, but it was so hot, I felt like I was melting. I hate being sweaty.

When we got to the bottom, we saw a food truck and decided to get a shave ice. It was sooo good! We got coconut, strawberry, and watermelon. Yummmm...

Actually, it tasted so good that I took off my sunglasses so I could fully enjoy it. Then I proceeded to walk off and leave them there. Crap.


After we made it back the car, we headed to Hanauma Bay. We borrowed some snorkeling equipment from Duke and Shayna. We didn't take any pictures, but we had lots of fun laying on the beach, snorkeling, and punching pigeons. There was even a rooster on the beach! I wish I had a picture of it. It was a beautiful bird! It was very rainy on the windward side of the island but it was beautiful where we were. It was a little cloudy, but that kept us from getting too hot. People kept apologizing for the weather. Like they could do something about it! We didn't mind at all.


After snorkeling we went back to Duke and Shayna's house, got cleaned up and then went to Waikiki for dinner. We went to a Japanese place called Ichiriki. It was interesting. Not the greatest food I've ever had, but it was a different kind of dining experience. It's called Nabe. There was a boiling bowl of flavored broth and they brought us different meats and vegetables to cook in the broth and then rice to eat it with. It was good, but I probably wouldn't spend that much money on it again.

It's the end of day 2 and I'm tired. I managed to NOT get sunburned today so I'm pretty happy. I'm excited for tomorrow!

 

Hawaii

Day 1

We left our house at the crack of dawn Sunday morning for Portland Airport. We made it through security in record time got to the gate and got on our plane. Ben, being the wonderful husband that he is, put a few episodes of Burn Notice on our laptop, got us some headphones and we passed a few hours like that. I also beat him in a game of Egyptian War. After that he wanted to play Gin so he could win. Of course, he beat me most of the time. Then we played Toy Story Uno and I beat him every single time. Pretty soon, we were on the ground and we stepped out of the plane into the oppressive heat and humidity that is the Honolulu Airport. Hooray! We're here! Now find me a bathroom so I can get out of the clothes! Seriously... what was I thinking? I wore jeans, tennis shoes, long socks, and 3 shirts with a scarf. Dumb.

We found our rental car, got some lunch at L & L Drive In and then came over to the rainy side of the island. We are staying with my super awesome and amazing cousin, Shayna, and her husband, Duke. They have a beautiful home and they have opened it to us. We changed our clothes and went to a cemetery called the Valley of the Temples. It has a beautiful Japanese temple and the grounds are beautiful. We walked around, rang a giant gong that promises blessings from Buddah and lit some incense at the shrine. It was raining, but it was warm and we were so happy to finally be here that we didn't care. We were pretty wet by the time we got back to the car, but we weren't cold so it was okay. We drove to the beach in Kailua and took a walk. I love Hawaii! It felt so good to be alone with the man of my dreams in a warm place where we don't have to worry about a thing! I never want this to end!

Okay, that's not entirely true. We see little kids everywhere we go. It makes me miss them like crazy. Every time we see something or do something that they would like I miss them more. Do I miss them enough to come home early? Fat chance. Someone would have to lose a limb for that to happen.

Anyway, I'm loving this trip already and it's only the first day!

Mother's Tea

Mill Plain United Methodist Preschool does a Mother's Tea Party every year for Mother's Day. I feel like I've been going to this party for my entire adult life because I have had kids in this school for so long -- and I have another 2 years to come with Tori. It's always very nice and I always have a good time... and they are all exactly the same. The same snacks, the same tea/punch/coffee, the same songs, the same gifts and cards. I love it. Nicole looked so pretty. Originally, she wanted to match. When I informed her that I was going to wear jeans, she decided that maybe we should just wear matching colors. :-) She's not a huge fan of jeans. So we settled on black, white, and pink.

Nicole seems to think that today is actually Mother's Day. Did I tell her that it's not until Sunday? Nope. She brought me peanut butter toast in bed while singing her own made-up Mother's Day song. Then she let me curl her hair, she did all her chores with no complaints, and she has been expressing her love for me all day long. I wish every day was Mother's Day! We decided that we might as well celebrate today since I'll be on a tropical island for the real Mother's Day. Darn. :-)

Games People Play

I love to play games. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of games that are good for just 2 people. The few that Ben and I like to play have gotten old. We needed something new. Ben found these two games and they are so much fun!

So, if you're looking for something fun to do with your sweetie, try these. Or, if you want to hang out and have a game night, that would be okay with us.

Some of my favorite group games are: