food trucks, more beaches and our past

The best thing about staying at a condo was having a kitchen. We got groceries and ate at food trucks for one meal a day. The food truck faire was amazing, and often meant leftovers for the next meal. I think our favorite was "Da Bald Guy" truck. 

This trip was an important visit to our past because we met up with Honeygirl. She was a very important part of mine & Reggie's life when we were teenagers and into our parenting years. She and her family introduced our youth group to Volleyball, which I know I've blogged before about its importance in my life. I think for Reggie, she and her family and others in our ward helped Reggie get in touch with his Hawaiian heritage and memories, and find peace and joy in it. Leaving Hawaii was not a pleasant situation for his Mom and the kids, and his father barely saw them after that. But Honeygirl and family and others in our church shared their culture with all of us and helped Reggie get it back. Honeygirl also showed me how to make Shoyu Chicken for Julia's 1st Birthday party and she made her several leis for her high school graduation. Reggie is very good at keeping in touch with old friends, so he had called Honeygirl - who now lives on the North Shore of Oahu - to let her know we were coming.  We visited with her several days in a row and "talked stories" (or memories) as the saying goes. 

One thing Honeygirl told us was that her grandsons, who were visiting from Georgia, were out jumping the bridge. As we drove back to our condo and stopped at one of the beaches along the way we realized what she was talking about - and I just love it!  All this back and forth we were doing meant driving across a small bridge. We realized there were kids climbing on it and jumping into what looked like a shallow puddle/run off from the ocean. But it was actually really deep - not a huge jump, but the water was deep enough for them to submerge themselves safely. At this beach we watched them do it over and over again and I just thought it was the funnest portrayal of childhood I have ever seen. I also found this beach fascinating because it had pieces and shreds of coconut all over. At the PCC we were told that all coconuts have faces. I certainly believe it after Julia found the one pictured below.

And finally, I saw this beach years ago, off the side of the road and was intrigued, but we weren't able to go until this visit. It was so fun to wade in the water with little yellow-striped fish swimming around me. Reggie & Julia went in much further than me. Next time: scuba diving!

Stressful Success

 Last week I had some real triumphs. The kids were completely interested and involved in the things I had planned (learning new songs and painting pictures of the moon). Yet now, after a nice weekend of catching up on things at home, I hate that I am so nervous for a new week. I have always been like this: just as nervous about the things I am good at as I am about the things I'm not good at or experienced with yet. Just as nervous about people watching me succeed as I am about people watching me fail.  Oh well, luckily I seem to snap into things by the morning. All will be well.

ps - actually, I seemed to get a second wind tonight and got so excited about planning the new week. I started looking through supplies I've had and made throughout the years (for school, church, grandkids). I love the teaching and the curriculum. But I am furious with myself because, earlier in the year, I forced myself to throw away a lot of stuff that I thought I would never use again. Oh well. Maybe next Saturday will be a curriculum/visual aids making weekend, which actually sounds fun. (As long as no one is watching - ha ha!).

More of my favorite places on Oahu

We did a repeat of our last visit of some of our favorite places in Oahu, which again, was all new for Julia:

Oahu Temple

Pearl Harbor  

Bishop's Museum

Big Island Candies store (for their tasty shortbread cookies)

Swap Meet

 Kualoa Ranch - one of my favorite things about Oahu. This time we did the bus Hollywood Movies tour. The ranch is so beautiful - towering green mountains and valleys. No wonder it has been used for many Hollywood movies. My favorite are Netflix' Finding O'Hana and the Jurassic Park/World movies.

The bus route

One More Song

 Recently I was listening to one of my playlists while driving home and it suddenly picked some songs for me that I had never heard. Turns out they were from the Netflix movie "Vivo". My kids know that movie and love it. I hope to watch it soon. But in the meantime, I have added this song to my "Be Brave" playlist.

Now that I am about 6 weeks into my new job, I love it and hope it takes me to retirement. I hope to never have to job hunt again. But, I have been grappling with feelings of getting old. All of my siblings have retired or are talking about their retirement coming up, yet here I am starting a new full time job. Because of new bills I am especially grateful or the chance to work. I hope I have about 10 years left till retirement. I hope I have "One More Song" in me. I hope I have the health and strength and energy to keep up with these beautiful preschoolers, and keep doing what I love, and then someday enjoy retirement as much as my siblings seem to be. So - I plan to keep being brave and hopeful as my playlist tells me to be everyday!

breakfast picnic

(I still have a couple of Hawaii posts left to do, but in the meantime, I want to keep up with my current events).

This morning Samantha had to be to work especially early - and since we commute together, so did I. This gave me time to have a breakfast picnic near her building. I especially enjoyed doing this since today is Pioneer Day in Utah and Idaho. This is the only thing I will have time to do to celebrate, but it has me thinking of my ancestors, and their outdoor meals as they crossed the plains so long ago.

 This July has been unusually sunny and beautiful, and I am soaking it in. (And thanks to Samantha for my very useful lunchbox pictured here.)

Monday on the north shore

The next part of our trip was all about Reggie, me and Julia together, while Addy was at the summer camp.  It was like we were re-inacting our trip to Hawaii when Julia was 4 months old. Of course, she doesn't remember any of that, so this time was all so new and wonderful and import for her. 

We stayed at a condo near Turtle Bay beach. The backyard was part of a golf course, which they said was a short walk to the beach, so Monday morning Julia and I went out bright and early to find it. It was little and nice and empty. 

Later in the week we went to the big beach by the hotel, like we had done 36 years ago. This time Reggie and Julia swam in the water while I put my chair in to let the waves soak my sunburned feet. 

Monday also included Waimea falls where Julia swam under the falls and we all walked the beautiful trail, and a second visit back to the PCC (the tickets are good for 3 days in a row, mins the buffet and show after the first day).

  

Our weekend together

 Our trip began with meeting Julia & Addy at the gate at the Oakland airport. They had already taken their flight from Seattle, which then connected with ours. It was fun traveling together and we were all full of excitement.

Once we landed we hit some snags and worked through them through the weekend. But all was well. We went straight to Audrey's performance (blogged about previously) and then our hotel. Reggie and I needed a rest and, though it was dark, the sisters and cousins needed some time at the pool and beach. Luckily Reggie and I could see the Friday night fireworks from our balcony. The girls did a Marco Polo video of their view from the water. Pure Happiness. We also enjoyed a short walk around Waikiki, which is one crazy place. I was just happy to find an ABC store - which isn't hard to do there. They had a few souvenirs I've been planning for a while, and a chicken sandwich and musubi for our dinner.

The next day we hit the road early. We squeezed into the bright red jeep, which was the only thing available to rent, and headed toward the north shore, after stopping at Leonard's for malasadas for breakfast of course. (The rental car company made a huge mistake in the arrangements, but after a few days of Reggie dealing with them, it was resolved to his satisfaction. At that point, it kind of seemed fun, to me anyway, to be in such an adventurous vehicle. Then we started noticing red jeeps all over the place.) 

We stopped at the Dole Plantation for a whip and a little train ride to see the different pineapples growing. The next stop was Turtle Beach, which lived up to its name. Finally we got to the Polynesian Cultural Center and I just can't adequately express how much we enjoyed the day and evening there. Though I felt like I was slowing everyone down with my bum knee, I realized they were in no hurry because they were enjoying everything so much. Addy and Audrey did some kind of keiki explorer program with a booklet and stamps and prize at the end. We all got wrap-around tattoos and tried different activities. We all had our favorite shows. Reggie's was at the Samoan village and mine was at Aueteroa (New Zealand). The buffet dinner was SO good, and I'm glad we ate light all day so that we could enjoy it to the fullest - literally. And then, the highlight of such an amazing day was the evening show. All of the dancing, singing, drumming - complete joy. Reggie and had seen this a couple of years ago, and to see the look on our the girls faces was also fun. The finale, with the fire dancers seemed to go on forever, and yet we didn't want it to stop.

Another of my favorite experiences is when Reggie & I paddled a canoe with Audrey & Addy. While they were standing in line to get on board, and I wasn't, I realized that there was no reason I couldn't do that - it was a bit out of my comfort zone because I had never done it before, but I was happy physically able to do it. It was a real work out on the arms but so fun. In fact, our guide said that if I was getting tired I could put the paddle on the sideboard and he would take over and I could relax. I told him no thanks, that I wanted to be an example to my granddaughters of perseverance. It was a wonderful moment for me. 

So anyway, we got back to the hotel very late, and though Addy & Audrey had such a wonderful time, they didn't want to go to bed because they knew we would have to separate the next day. There were tears the next morning as Hillary & Audrey headed for home, and a bit of nerves for Addy as we dropped her off for her week at the school. Afterwards Reggie, Julia and I headed to our condo on the North Shore.