The coconut

One of the things Ben was most excited about in Hawaii were the coconuts.

Andy actually found one floating in the water by my dad and Leslie’s house. He set to work opening it up!

We gave this one to Leslie to plant. She planted a pineapple and it’s growing, it will be neat to see if anything happens with the coconut.

Ben really wanted to try and eat one so Andy picked up a coconut from the grocery store later that day.

We cut a hole in it and let the coconut water drain out.

Ben’s face is priceless! Drinking and tasting the coconut wasn’t quite what he’d thought it would be :) Definitely not as sweet as he’d expected. The kids did think it was all pretty fun though!

Tour guide Leslie pointed out this YMCA camp as we passed on the way to the beach. It was used on the show LOST as the “Others” camp. Since being home Andy and I have started watching the show again on Netflix and WOW it’s totally Hawaii!

This was one of those adventures that didn’t exactly turn out as planned. We started out on the trail along the beach, it was going to be a mile in and we were supposed to find monk seals. Leslie had seen them there several times before. The trail was a bit rocky but really flat and not that bad…except the kids kept running and wiping out. Seriously, like falling five times between the two of them. We used up all our bandaids, but they didn’t help the whining and complaining. I’m not sure what the issue was but we finally decided to call the trail quits and headed down to the beach.

It was really beautiful here, the mountains just immediately jutted up from the ocean.

Cassidy unhappy about life. Grandma trying to salvage the situation.

Sandy butt!

The kids ended up having a blast playing down by the water. Waves were too big to swim in, but they had fun running away from them. We found lots of pieces of coral and little treasures here too. It ended up being a nice adventure after all :)

Luau!

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My dad and Leslie treated us to a Luau while we were on Oahu! We spotted a huge rainbow on our drive there.

My dad already owned this Hawaiian shirt. Leslie volunteers at the base thrift shop and came across the dress for Cassidy in the exact same pattern. They were the cutest together :)

We enjoyed the musicians as we headed into the Luau.

They had a bunch of fun activities for families to do. This one was a flower bracelet making station.

The kids got to pick “tattoos” too :)

My dad helped Ben figure out the braid for his palm leaf crown.

Andy couldn’t be convinced to dress Hawaiian festive for the occasion ;-)

The kids even got to dance!

This was our MC “cousin Jerry”

He taught us about the life giving palm tree and how it influenced their culture. Then he showed us how one is traditionally climbed.

Then it was time for dinner!

Andy was first to try the seaweed, mmm.

Leslie warned us that the kids might not like what was served, so here’s Cassidy eating the PBJ we packed for her! Both kids ate the pineapple, but Ben actually tried everything on his plate, I was so proud of him.

After dinner we sat back to enjoy the show!

This guy even proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of it. Ben was cute, he thought they were getting married on stage.

Sleepy Cass! The Luau was such a neat outing, everyone really enjoyed it!

Sunsets and bed time stories

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I thought it appropriate to share these now that we’re home. The sunset this night was beautiful and kept changing as time went on.

The kids enjoyed lots of stories from grandma and grandpa Lute. So sweet how much they bonded in the few weeks we were there. Especially since the kids were pretty little when my dad and Leslie headed to Hawaii and have really just gotten to hang out with them over skype.

I still have TONS more adventures to share! So.Many.Pictures. :)

Pillbox trail

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Leslie watched the kids while my dad took Andy and I to the Pillbox trail. The drive there was through a valley between mountains and was SO green and lush. My dad pointed out the staircase in the photo below and said it’s called the Stairway to Heaven and that it’s an insane trail people hike.

My dad let us borrow chains for our sneakers. I’m so glad we had them, while the trail wasn’t too extreme it was pretty muddy and slippery.

Dad leading the way!

There are several pillboxes on the ridge around the island. They were used as lookouts in WWII.

Views up there were amazing!

You can see the second pillbox on the trail in the upper right corner.

Andy had looked up several geocaches on the trail and we found one but couldn’t find the others we’d been searching for. Such a neat hobby to be able to do at home and halfway around the world!

We hiked to three different pillboxes, some smaller than others. Rain started moving in and my camera was getting a little foggy as we ventured on. The hike back down was even more slippery but we made it, only a little muddier than when we’d begun.

My dad treated us to lunch at a cute cafe afterwards. One of the signs on the window warned us to not feed the chickens. I laughed, but it’s true, there are tons of wild chickens and roosters walking around the streets. Just like you’d see squirrels back home, Hawaii has chickens :)

Sharks Cove and Green World Coffee

by Heather | 0 comments

This was actually one of the first adventures we had last week. Sharks Cove was a neat spot on the north shore with tide pools and little pockets of water protected from the bigger waves. We explored, played and I got to snorkel for the first time too. It was very cool, like a completely different world under the water! Andy got some fun video on his gopro I’ll have to share once he uploads it. We timed it really well (mommy IS a planner…) and waves for high tide started coming in and filling up the pools by the time we were done exploring.

This is grumpy Cassidy being a grump. True to “three-nager” status one minute she’s a bubbly delight of squishy happiness. The other she’s scowling at Ben, ignoring grandpa and screaming that she doesn’t like the snack you gave her. Just so you don’t think it’s all rainbows and unicorns over here ;-) We love her anyway.

After the cove we headed to Green World Coffee. Actually, we’ve stopped two more times as we’ve passed it on other outings. Andy hit the coffee sample bar pretty hard and the kids enjoyed their shaved ice. It’s a neat spot!

There have been a few waves that scared them and some scraped knees and blood (or “blub” as the kids call it). We’ve had to explain that sometimes bandaids are part of the adventure!

Scribble and Scrabble

The coconut

Kaena Point Trail

Luau!

Sunsets and bed time stories

Pillbox trail

Sharks Cove and Green World Coffee