And Then There Were Two

I've got nothing for y'all!  We have been some extremely boring people the last few days.  I had to return the rental car on Saturday and that has really slowed our roll  :)   We made Sunday and Monday our "mellow" days and have tried to rest our tired bones.  Yesterday (Tuesday) was very similar to the previous days with a few interesting anecdotes along the way.  Early in the morning, I went on a walk down the main drag and saw a duck truck (not a dump truck).  I guess it is an amphibious type of vehicle that makes money taking people on land and ocean tours.

I was snapping a photo and walking simultaneously (dangerous) when I literally walked into this...

It was the first day of filming for the new season of Hawaii 5-0.  They had blocked off the entire street and there were huge crowds surrounding the madness.   I didn't get to see any of the main actors in the show, but it was pretty exciting nonetheless.  After I got home, Jaden and I grabbed some lunch and headed to the local beach.

Today was definitely more fun and entertaining.  We woke up around 7 am (because Jaden made me set my alarm clock) so he could be on time for his surfing session at 8 am.  A few weeks ago, our neighbors (teachers in California) gave Jaden one of their extra short boards to use for the entire summer.  He was beyond thrilled!  The dad and his eighteen year old son surf everyday and invited Jaden to go with them.  He was off by 8 and I caught up with them later to take some photos.  They were pretty far out but I did manage to capture him riding waves.  FYI, surfing on a short board is extremely difficult compared to a long board.  It has something to do with paddling, timing, and balance...none of which I understand.

See that speck of orange to the right of the boat?  That would be Jaden!

He surfed for about three hours and we had just enough time to change bathing suits before my friend, Melissa, picked us up.  We headed out to Hawaii Kai (a suburb of Honolulu) and stopped at a place called "Spitting Caves" to eat our lunch and watch people die jump.  This place is uh-mazing!  Spitting Caves is described as "a volcanic, layered shoreline, a reminder of Hawaii’s violent geological beginnings, along with spectacular blue water. The cave itself is caused by a point in the bluff where the ocean is pounding its way in, causing a small "dent" in the land. These undercut cliffs are what cause the "spitting." As waves pound the cave, they are repelled causing enormous explosions of white water and mist; a truly spectacular sight. Summer is a good time to visit this spot, as this is when the biggest waves come to the South shores of the island. However, even winter time waves can be impressive. From December to April, this spot makes an excellent place to look for whales, as you’re high up, with an expansive view of the ocean. At any time of year, you may be treated to sightings of Hawaiian monk seals, turtles, spinner dolphins and several species of birds."  

It is also a place that many people die because they have misjudged the height, tide, current, and strength of the ocean.  There actually were a few people attempting to jump, but no one actually went through with it.  And don't worry Grandma, I wouldn't let Jaden near the cliff...although he was tempted.  After we had our semi brush with death, we headed to a very nice house to swim in their very calm pool.  Below are some photos of our day!  Aloha!

 

a cross to remember those that have lost their lives jumping

backyard view

 

 

Jaden giving Roxi a ride

Yep, I'm holding octopi (octopuses?)

New Faces, New Places

For those of you that don't know, my husband is a social butterfly!  He'll talk and befriend anyone!  Well, last week was no exception.  We were at the beach in Waikiki and he struck up a conversation with a bloke from Australia.  Turns out this Australian was traveling by himself and Chris invited him to go to the North Shore with us.  I'll stop calling him the Australia guy, his name is Cameron, and we adopted him for a few days.  It was Chris' birthday on Tuesday, so we loaded the car, picked up Cameron, and headed to Sunset Beach.  It was a wonderful day!  The guys chatted, I learned how to speak Australian, and Jaden swam for hours.  After the beach, we stopped to show Cameron the turtles, went to Matsumoto's for shave ice, and headed into town for some mexican food.

He is running away from me and my camera

Now he loves the camera?!

She looks how I feel!

His entertainment while we wait for a table...Omaha!

<3 

Thursday was Chris's last full day here on the island.  As I write this (Friday night), his flight left about an hour ago.  We were really sad to see him go, but he had to go back to work.  So, anyway, he wanted to spend the day at the beach and go to a luau in the evening.  Wish granted, my adorable husband!  We loaded the car, picked up Cameron again, and headed up to the western side of the island.  We went to Makaha Beach for the day and spent our evening at Germaine's Luau.  Below are some pictures of yesterday....I think it's obvious what a great time we had!

Apparently our child is a social butterfly, too!

Um, excuse me?!

Somebody got on stage and took a hula lesson.  It must have been the five sprites he had!

Cameron and Jaden comparing tattoos

Jaden and I are still here for another month, so I'll keep blogging but I doubt things will be as entertaining.  However, things will still be pretty!  I'll leave you with tonight's sunset.  Aloha!

where did you go, june?

I had a mini panic attack today! Can y'all believe today is the last day of June? Where does the time go?  Apparently, time goes to the beach, which is where we have been!
Jaden has been begging (and I mean begging) to go to Pounders Beach, so he could get appropriately pounded by huge waves.  On Saturday, we finally decided to appease him and headed to the town of La'ie, which is on the North Shore but on the eastern side.  It was about an hour drive but it was so beautiful!  We drove through the mountains, passed a macadamia nut farm, and saw Chinaman's Hat.
When we arrived, I was told that we weren't exactly at Pounders Beach, but instead, we were at Hukilau Beach.  Jaden didn't know the difference and I liked the name better, so we went with it.  Jaden hit the water immediately, while Chris and I set up our camp.

After a couple of hours, Jaden got bored of boogie boarding and Chris got tired of hanging out with me, so they started wrestling.  This is the order of events of their WWE session... and boys are weird.

While the boys were doing their thing, I started talking to a couple of locals.  I'm not much of a chatty cathy, but this is what caught my attention.

Aren't they adorable?  Meet Koa and Bo, pitbull puppies.  (Delilah, don't worry, you're still my favorite!)  Their owner told us the real name of the beach that we were on and advised us to go check out the Hukilau Cafe.  Does that name sound familiar?  It's the cafe that they filmed the movie "50 First Dates". I took a picture of Jaden in front of the cafe.  When we got home, I researched it a bit more, and read that it wasn't the exact location but they paid the cafe a specific amount of money to use their name.  I need to watch the movie again so I can double check.

Yesterday (Sunday), we finally went to a new beach!  We went to Makapu'u Beach, which is very close to the lighthouse.  Our child is seriously a water rat and spent about 5 hours in the water.  It was such a beautiful beach, I couldn't blame him.  The waves were huge and the water was warm.  This place could quickly become one of my favorites.  Below are some pictures of the day...

 Today, we spent a low key day at Kailua.  Jaden didn't swim/boogie board as much as he normally does.  He improvised pretty well, though.

Tomorrow is Chris' birthday and he wants to go to the North Shore.  I'll post pictures of our next adventure later.  Aloha!

Favorite Post!

There isn't much to report these days.  We have been happily frolicking at local beaches around Waikiki.  We all woke up extremely early this morning to watch USA vs. Germany (6 am).  We may be jumping on the soccer bandwagon but at least we are dedicated! One of my co-workers, Danae, is here with her family for a week.  She is staying in Kailua but drove into Waikiki and Jaden and I showed her all the touristy spots.  I also picked up a new rental car for the next few days so I'm sure we'll be off exploring.  

Now, for the main event!  Finally, finally, Leah dropped off our wedding photos and video.  Chris and I immediately sat down to watch our day of holy matrimony and laughed the entire time.  Talk about awkward (hi, Amy!).  The pictures, thankfully, turned out much better.  We ended up receiving almost 250 pictures on a disc, and they turned out really well.  Here are a few of the "best" ones  :)  

Aloha!