The Quiet Before the Storm

Well, it took me about a month, but this will be the last post about our Big Island trip. I can't believe it has only been a month, as it already seems so long ago. Anyway, our last day, Friday, was spent relaxing. We were contemplating driving up North along the coast, but decided against it. Instead, D and I redeemed our voucher to rent a double kayak at A-bay. I was concerned that we wouldn't know when our hour was up. However, they were really laid back, and said they were sure we would be tired before the hour was up, anyway. We chased a couple of sea turtles, and it was fun for D and I to have a mini date while the kids were with Grandpa and Grandma. We also accidentally went pretty far out past the buoy that marked how far you were supposed to go, but like I said, they were lax. The water was calm, since we went in the morning. Afterward we all went to the beach of the Mauna Lani hotel and did some more snorkeling, while k continued to make sand castles.


n decided to take a mid-morning nap.


We ate lunch at the restaurant on the beach and went home so everyone could take a nap. Then we drove to the nearby Mauna Kea hotel to check out the grounds. This was the hotel hardest hit by the earthquake a few years back, and it underwent a lot of remodeling. It kept its 70's vibe, though.

Beautiful beach.


k was spoiled by being pushed in the stroller a lot that week. However, she agreed to walk down the stairs.


Me + n


For dinner we ate at Monstera at the Shops at Mauna Lani. It is a new Japanese restaurant featuring mainly sushi and noodles. We all enjoyed our dishes, but I was really impressed that they offered to make baby food for n! I told the waitress about his wheat allergy, so she consulted the kitchen, and they whipped up some carrot-sweet potato puree with a little bit of butter, along with some rice. Although he didn't eat too much of it (he was being really picky that entire week), I really appreciated the effort.

We retired to our condos and D and I watched the Olympics. And then we heard about the tsunami warning. And then, well, you've already heard that story!

Akaka Falls & Hilo

Thursday was our big "excursion" day. During our first trip to the Big Island, we drove all the way to Hilo and then on to the volcanoes, and it was just too much for little k to handle. We decided to avoid the screaming/crying with n and just went to Akaka Falls, which we missed the first time around, and then to a botanical garden, not too far from Hilo.

No trip through Honokaa should be made without a stop at Tex Drive In.

Mmmm...malasadas. Especially bavarian cream! This was the only place that I really wanted to go back to from our first trip.


Look at n peaking out from the backpack. That cracks me up.



So, apparently there are two botanical gardens that are in direct competition with each other. We went to our trusty friend, Yelp, to help us decide which one to go to. That is how we ended up at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. It is not too stroller-friendly, so I'm glad that k was willing to walk. D carried n in the backpack.

Wishing Well


Nice view


Ironwood tree (my family will know why I took a picture of this ;))


Orchid


Forgot the name


Cat whiskers


Tiki and D looking like a ghost

Afterward we went on to Hilo for lunch. We were looking for local food and someone recommended L&L. We didn't really want to go there since we can get it over here (although maybe it's better over there?) so we ended up at Cafe Pesto for pizza. We had eaten at the other location last time, so we knew we would like it.


After lunch we headed a few doors down to a lunch counter that also had shave ice.

I ordered one with ice cream for k and I to share, and it was gigantic. See how it looks bigger than k's head?

On the way home, n and I fell asleep in the back seat. On the way there, and on the way back, k and Grandpa were having a long conversation about anything and everything, but mostly about k's doll named Abby. It was funny because when I woke up, they were still talking! Much better than screaming and crying.

Where In The World Has D Lived?

Metropolitan Statistical Areas______________________Years
Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA MSA (2.1M)________15.0
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA MSA (12.9M)________6.7
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA MSA (4.3M)___________3.8
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA MSA (1.8M)___________3.2
Windsor, Canada (Tecumseh, LaSalle, Lakeshore) (0.3M)_____3.1
Bloomington, IN MSA (0.2M)___________________________1.7
Total_____________________________________________33.5

#1 If you combine the years I have lived in S.F. and San Jose together, since it is a Combined Statistical Area, I have lived there for 7 years. By June, I will have lived in L.A./Orange County as long as I have lived in the Bay Area. Interesting.

#2 By 2011 I will have lived in the Bay Area/L.A./Orange County as long as I had lived in Sacramento.

#3 Bloomington and Windsor are small metro areas. I have lived all but 5 years of my life in CA.

Shopping in Kona

On Wed. we decided to go down to Kona for a little shopping. Our first stop was a fairly new Target, my favorite store.

Instead of the Dollar Spot, it had an "Aloha Shop"! This is where I bought almost all of our souvenirs for the trip.

We bought my brother in law a Spam slicer. (They had other Spam merchandise as well). We also bought a trivet for ourselves, mainly because it had a map of Hawaii, and D is a sucker for maps. In the kids' section I found a cute Hello Kitty necklace with a rainbow for k.

Afterward we went to the nearby International Marketplace for some more browsing, but I didn't buy anything.

For lunch we went to Jackie Rey's Ohana Grill. It is a little off the beaten path, but I had read good reviews. I had signed up for a coupon online and I received a personal e-mail from the manager/owner! They also made it a point to visit each table to greet everyone. It was doing pretty good business for lunch, and there seemed to be more locals. D's parents both had the crab crusted mahi mahi and they liked it. n was being fussy, so I had to spend a lot my time outside trying to calm him down. I can't wait until he lets me sit down for an entire meal at a restaurant.

This cool car is parked outside of the restaurant.


Notice the license plate.

Next stop was Costco. I bought a bag of macadamia nut Hershey kisses, which I've never seen before, as well as a tub of shortbread cookies for D to bring to his co-workers. Right after I made by purchases, the electricity went out! They stopped letting people into the store, so I guess we made it just in time. D also filled up his gas tank, since Costco has the best prices on the island.

Our final stop was Kua Beach. D's parents had told us how beautiful the beach was, and it was true! The color of the water was amazing. We also saw some whales.







(By this time, k was NOT in a picture-taking mood).

Cal + IU Sports

CAL
Best performances in the NCAA Basketball Tournament in the Last Ten Years:
2002 - Round of 32
2003 - Round of 32
2010 - Round of 32 or better (Pac-10 Regular season champions)

Best performances in Bowls in the Last Ten Years:
2004 - Holiday Bowl Loss
2006 - Holiday Bowl Win (Co-Pac-10 champions)

IU
Best performances in the NCAA Basketball Tournament in the Last Ten Years:
2002 - NCAA Finals (Co-Big Ten champions)
2003 - Round of 32
2006 - Round of 32
2007 - Round of 32

Best performances in Bowls in the Last Ten Years:
2007 - Insight Bowl Loss

Our Tuesday on the Big Island

Back to reliving our Big Island trip. In the morning we went to Mauna Kea for some more playing in the sand (k + n), snorkeling (D) and lounging (L). Although you can't tell from the picture, the water became kind of rough, so I was a bit worried about D. We had a picnic lunch on the beach.









In the afternoon we went to the Hilton to see the dolphins.




Afterward we went to Merriman's Market Cafe at the Kings' Shops.

This was probably the best meal deal of our trip because we went for happy hour where all of the dishes were $5. We had been to the original Merriman's in Waimea last time, so we knew the food was going to be good. We ordered 9 dishes, and it was plenty. We had pizzas and flatbread(shown above), hummus, garlic fries, meatballs, ricotta fritters, and a tomato-mozzarella salad and bruschetta.


k even had the butter and cheese pasta that was free for kids 3 and under. I guess it was finger-lickin' good.

We had a post-dinner stroll, and saw the "Hawaiian Kenny Rogers" perform.

Happy 1st Birthday, n!

Yesteray we celebrated n's first birthday with Chinese food and cupcakes.

This year truly flew by so quickly. I can't believe that one year ago I was in the hospital and k met her brother for the first time. n and k are still learning how to get along together, but it warms my heart when I see them making each other laugh. n is now sleeping 10 hours and then 1-2 hours more at night. His eczema is a challenge, but we're hopeful that he will grow out of it. He is a curious guy, and doesn't take no for an answer. He is just starting to enjoy eating solid foods (he really liked the corned beef we had for dinner tonight). His bangs grow in the shape of a triangle. The most common adjective people use to describe him is "sweet" (like when he leans his head into my chest when I hold him). Happy birthday, n!


Cupcakes made for D's St. Patrick's Day potluck at work.

Ice Cream Cone for 4

Well, at the rate I am going, I'll be blogging about the Big Island until summertime. Life goes on, however, and I don't want to miss recording some of the more recent happenings.

While we were in Hawaii, the long-awaited Citrus Ranch Park opened up down the street from us. We had passed by the previously fenced off park many times on the way to and from my parents' house. So, when I told k we could go to the park now, she said, "the one with the yellow footballs?" Um, I wasn't too sure what she was talking about.

When we arrived at the park, she immediately pointed out the yellow footballs...

Ohhh...yes, lemons!



Yesterday we re-installed k's old carseat so that n can face forward. I think he liked the new view.


For dinner we went to El Pollo Loco. Turns out that n really likes their chicken! It was the first time he really seemed to enjoy his food. We also tried the new steak tacos, which were pretty good. I liked that the tortillas were grilled. After dinner, D wanted to get something from the in-house Fosters Freeze. I left it up to him as to what to order. This is what he came back with:

This is a "large" cone, and it ended up feeding four people!

Of course, k liked eating the chocolate and ice cream (not the cone).

k sportin' her new bob haircut.

Once the chocolate was gone, n wanted in on the action too.

He also liked the cone at the end.

It was pretty comical to watch us passing the ice cream cone between the four of us.

Cal Bears and Indiana Hoosier Post-season Streaks

Cal Football - 7 straight bowl games
Cal Basketball - 2 straight NCAA tournament appearances
Hoosier Football - 0 (last bowl game 2007)
Hoosier Basketball - 0 (last NCAA tournament appearance 2008)

Cal is on its way up with Tedford and Montgomery. Next year's basketball team might not be that great since there are four starters leaving; however I wouldn't count out Montgomery. We'll see about the quarterback play for Cal next year!

I'm still waiting for Hoosier Basketball to turn around. Maybe next year.

Relaxing and Overeating on the Big Island

Having kids has definitely made us slow down on our vacations. I remember on our honeymoon I felt the need to constantly be doing/seeing everything to make the most of our trip. Since this was our second time to the Big Island, I did not feel the same pressure. Plus, I knew that k and n needed their afternoon naps, so we pretty much took it easy every afternoon. On Monday, after naptime, we just went to the pool again...this time it was warmer.

n's turn


For dinner we went to Huli Sue's, a new restaurant in Mauna Lani. The original restaurant, in Waimea, is known for its BBQ. However, at this location, the BBQ selection was pretty small. D had ribs and I had a pulled pork sandwich.



We pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves...not a good sign.


I wanted to try the banana cream pie because I had read some good Yelp reviews. I liked the creative presentation, but it tasted pretty heavy, almost like there was almond paste or something. (k liked licking the chocolate/caramel design off the plate). No one else at the table was too fond of it, so I ended up eating way more than my share because I felt bad for suggesting it. That wasn't a good idea, as I could feel it sitting in my stomach later on that night.

After dinner we went to the Shops at Mauna Lani to watch a hula/fire show. D's dad won a voucher for free kayaking by answering a trivia question about Hawaii.

n fell asleep.

Whale Watching

The one thing that D wanted to do most on our trip was to go whale watching. This was the first time we were in Hawaii during prime whale watching season, and there are supposedly a lot more whales than usual this year, so it was perfect timing. On Monday morning we dropped off n to be with the grandparents and took k along for the adventure (she was free).

We booked the tour through Ocean Sports and departed from A Bay. They had us take off our shoes, which surprised us. The reason was that they wanted to minimize the amount of sand tracked onto the boat. They took us on a short glass bottom boat ride to get to the whale watching boat, Sea Smoke.


Once on board we were greeted with cups of POG.

In retrospect, I'm not sure I would've taken k along at her age (3). I think she was a little too young to really enjoy it. I was kind of surprised at how "open" the sides of the boat were...it seems like it would be really easy for kids to fall through. It was also kind of hard to manage her, mainly because I was feeling pretty seasick once they turned the motor off and we were just swaying (ever so gently) back and forth. (The crew members really took care of me, though, and gave me ice chips and ginger candy. Thankfully, I made it through, but I was really glad to be on dry land again. I had k wear SeaBands to help prevent seasickness, but maybe I should have bought some for myself too!)



But, as promised, we did see quite a few whales, and they were a lot closer than I thought they would be. Some even swam directly under our boat! They truly are amazing creatures. It wasn't easy taking picture, but here are my best two shots:




Mom and calf.

We were also able to see a lot of whales from the shoreline throughout our week as well.