Family Fun and Happy Birthday to Me!

Alooooooohaaaaaaaa!

I'm a little late on the weekly update (as if that hasn't happened before) because da Mom, da Dad, and da bruddah came to visit us this past week for my 25+7 birthday!  Weeeeeee!

The workweek was busy, what with the head honchos of the Navy music program visiting us from the mainland.  It was a week of performances and getting our various collateral duties looked over.  All-in-all, it was a success, but it left me going into Thursday's family arrival wired, tired, and just overall strung out.

The weather only marginally cooperated.  When everyone arrived, it was nice and warm and sunny, and rainbows abounded.  We took pictures of ALL the rainbows!  And we got ramen at Gedi's favorite place from Japan, which apparently also has a location in Honolulu and I think a location in San Fran.  It was good stuff -- better than the ramen I got in Kailua, in my opinion.  We also picked up snorkel gear and then checked into our cabin at Bellows AFB.  We really scored.  The cabin was small, but the back door opened up to the ocean.  We were literally 10 steps away from beautiful beaches.

We tried to get a quick take-out dinner from Kalapawai, but apparently they were having trouble keeping up with the flow of people because the Target in Kailua opened.  Apparently when you're a really rich yuppie, you shop at Target on opening night and then get wine and food at Kalapawai afterward.

Yup.

Mom, Dad, and Gedi waiting for the conservation movie

Our first morning of adventure was an early Friday wake-up call so we could go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.  It was cold.  Sunny, for the most part, but the water was cold.  I think Dad and I lasted for a half hour.  Gedi and Stephen stayed in longer and swam to the deeper waters, but even an hour of that was enough for them.

Gedi swimming with a cornetfish

So many fishies

Gedi, me, and Dad, and the Hawai'i state fish

We decided we were going to warm ourselves up by hiking up Koko Head.

What were we thinking?!

What lies ahead

Oh, we were thinking that it's right across the street, and snorkeling is leisurely anyway.  Hint: snorkeling is not leisurely when the family is jet-lagged and got up extra early.  We were all so tired and hungry that Gedi, Stephen, and I motored up.  Mom and Dad motored a good portion of the way up, but doing 2,000+ stairs is kind of a lot of stairs.  We were all hurting when we were done!

Preparing for death by stairs

So high the climb...

View from the top

We had lunch at Mo'ena Cafe, where Gedi began his first of many run-ins with overcooked egg yolks.  Shame.

We went back to Bellows, where many naps were taken.  Gedi and Stephen went body surfing in the cold, cold, super-choppy water.  Sometime after my nap, I went out and joined them.  We got dinner at Cactus, where we got some tasty South American food before hitting the newly-opened Target for some more snacks.  I don't think any of us could even fathom how much Gedi was going to eat as a result of our activity!

Oh, and we got some ice cream in between, which launched the never-ending discussion about what the difference is between beni imo and ube.  They are purple sweet potatoes, but Gedi knew the ice cream in Japan as beni imo, but basically the same thing in Hawai'i is called ube.  We came to the conclusion that it is probably the same as calling the orange sweet potato a yam when, in fact, they are all sweet potatoes.  Or it's a regional dialect thing.  Yes, these are the important discussions we have when we're all together.  I just wanted to know if it was as delicious as the stuff they have in Japan.  I think the answer was yes.

Saturday was another early morning.  We just did some easy snacks at the cabin before heading up to the North Shore.  We decided to stop at Shark's Cove to see if we could do some snorkeling there.  The best part of the cove was not accessible because of the big, choppy waves, but we went to a protected area and snorkeled around a little.  Actually, more like Mom and I relaxed and lay in the sunshine, and Gedi, Stephen, and Dad snorkeled, although eventually I got too hot and jumped in the water, snorkel in tow.

It was still cold, even though the sun was out.

Stephen says it's the scary father-in-law-fish

From there, we headed up to Hale'iwa, where it proceeded to get cloudy and chilly again.  Boo.  We got tacos from the North Shore Tacos truck, which makes some of the best shrimp tacos I've ever eaten, plus their homemade pinapple salsa.  I also got a coconut from the stand right next to it, and the guy who runs it was totally making fun of me.  I said I had just moved to Kailua, and he said that was great, I'd fit right in.  He then asked if I knew what everybody calls Kailua, and when I said I didn't, he said "Haole-wood."

Yup.  I got called a haole (the Hawaiian word for anyone who isn't Hawaiian).  Gosh, is it so obvious?!

Since the weather sort of made it impossible to enjoy the beach, we hit the shops, where Dad found some great new Aloha shirts and Gedi found a really nice pair of boardshorts.  Mom and I lamented their complete lack of decent aloha clothing for women, which is why after eight months of living here I have only two items of aloha, one of which is too dressy for everyday wear and one of which is basically a glorified nightgown.  We all agreed that the shave ice from Matsumoto's was really delicious, although I'm apparently the only one who likes adzuki beans on the bottom.

We went to Opal Thai for dinner, which was a lot of deliciousness!  Mom even ate the skate and just told us to tell her what it was after she ate it.  She still won't say skate is delicious, but she'll gladly say that this particular preparation of skate was delicious.  Even Gedi said that, given all the good food he can get in the Bay Area, he had to agree with me that this is some of the best Thai food out there.

After another long day, we headed home and got some sleep.  Sunday was yet another early day because we decided to rent a boat in Kane'ohe Bay and go out to the sandbar.  We started with some delicious crepes at Crepe No Ka 'Oi in Kailua.  We were super-excited that the sun was out and it felt kinda warm, but then our boat trip took us straight to the wind and the clouds.

It was so cold.

We jumped in the water and paddled around the sandbar a little bit.  But holy cow it was so cold.  I'd share pictures, but it was also murky.  The reef out there is beautiful and chock-full of fishies, but it was so cold.

Did I say it was cold?

We rented the boat for four hours, but only stayed out for two.  The guys at the marina actually refunded us for the two hours we didn't use it.

We went back to Bellows and got some snacks, and then we tried to figure out what to do with the rest of the day.  Dad and I decided to dedicate it to napping.  Stephen and Gedi went back up to Kailua to try their luck at surfing.  From what I understand, it turned out really well, and nobody broke my surf board.  We decided to get an early dinner at Kalapawai because, after three early mornings in a row, we at least decided that a long, full night of sleep was in order.  You want to talk about where all the haoles go to eat, this place is it.  It was still delicious, though.  And we got lilikoi cheesecake.  Boom.

Monday, Mom had this lame work thing that she had to be online for at 10:30am, so the rest of us went to Lanikai to snorkel.

Guess what?

Smudge-tastic view from the trail

It was cold.  And murky.  And lacking in fishies.  I had a small hissy fit and sat on the beach after only 25 minutes because I was not going to be cold again.  Fortunately, we also brought sneakers along to do the Lanikai Pillbox hike and check out all the views!

Gedi descends into a pillbox

Gedi inside the pillbox

The three of us at the entrance

Me taking a picture of another couple

When we were done with that, it turned out that Mom was done with her work, so we went home, grabbed her, and then, seeing as it was a beautiful day, went back up to Kailua so we could get a real Hawaiian plate lunch at FatBoy's and then play in the water and lay on the beaches.  So that's what happened.  Mom and Dad took beach naps, and Gedi, Stephen, and I rented some bodyboards to play in the waves.  We got some really good rides in until I ended up at the convergence of two waves and got REKT.  That's wrecked.  I got flipped over and dragged on the sand and got a lot of skin torn off my elbow and my left hip, and so much sand in my swimsuit it wasn't even funny.

When we were all good and tired, we decided to get some dinner at Aloha Salads.  Yep.  We were all fooded out and just wanted greens.  We also went to bed retarded early (okay, at least I did).  Tuesday was NOT going to be an early day!!

Looking out to the harbor

Nope, on Tuesday we went to Cinnamon's for breakfast, where cinnamon buns, guava french toast, and red velvet pancakes abounded.  It was heavy.  It fueled us through several hours at the USS Arizona memorial, where we walked through the tours of the history leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the events that day, and then we took a little boat out to the memorial.

Entering the memorial

One of the sad and interesting things the ranger pointed out when we were looking at the wall was the MUS rate -- the musician.  Every single musician stationed on the USS Arizona died that day, and since they had come in second place to the band from the USS Pennsylvania in a battle of the bands only a few days before, that band gave up their trophy for the Arizona band.  I guess when something big happens, it's the little things that matter.

Mom and Dad looking at the wreckage

Mom looking at the wall of names

Exiting the memorial

When we finished with the memorial, it was time for lighter activities.  We got lunch at Nico's, and then we headed for Waikiki because I just thought Gedi had to see Waikiki once before the end of the trip.  We ended up at the same beach that we could see from our hotel when we visited 23 years ago.  At this time, we found out that we lost Dad's snorkel gear.  Superbummer!  Especially because, unlike 23 years ago, the reef at Waikiki was actually full of fish, so we got some random last-minute snorkels in.  I got cold (again) and ended up taking a nap on the beach at 5pm while Gedi and Stephen snorkeled with sea turtles and barracudas.  Yup.

 

Gedi videos all the turltes

Derp on the beach

Brotherly derp

Since Gedi, Stephen, and I are all fans of sushi, we went to Doraku for what was apparently my birthday dinner, because it was the last dinner we had together before my birthday.  It's not exactly a celebration place, but we decided we needed the flambed bananas because they would come out flaming.  Of course, the waitress explained that they don't come out flaming, but she humored me and put a candle in my banana flambe.  They whisper-sang happy birthday.  Stephen took a really bad picture, but at least I'm smiling!

Birthday derp

Wednesday was check-out day.  We got more crepes, took a last-minute spin around Lanikai in the hopes of finding Dad's lost snorkel gear, and then ended up at Snorkel Bob's sucking up payment for the loss.  What a freaking bummer.

What I can say, though, is that five days and seven nights is not long enough!  It finally felt like we were getting into a vacation groove, and then it was over!  Sad, sad.  We need to start planning now for next year's visit so we can get a cabin or condo or whatever we choose for a longer time.  Who knows, maybe next time we'll pick a different island!

But for what it's worth, there was nothing quite like getting to have the whole family down for vacation.  Oh, but next time we won't pick March.  Darn you, weather!