HAPPY Mother's Day!

We actually celebrated a special Mother's Day outing on Friday. We told Mom that we would be taking her to the Honolulu Zoo for a Mother's Day treat.

If we're going to make that long 30 minute trek (This is Hawaii. Anything over 15 minutes is far away.) into Honolulu, Mom asked that we stop by at the Nuuanu Memorial Park where she wanted to bring orchids that she'd grown for my father and grandmother. She especially wanted to let her late mother-in-law know that she hadn't forgotten her on Mother's Day.

It had been raining all morning and on the ride there. However, the rain stopped just in time for us to put the flowers on the grave and columbarium.


Mom does love Japanese food so we took her to one of our favorite restaurants in Kaimuki. It's a small restaurant called Maguroya at 3565 Waialae Ave.


We think they have the tastiest and most generous serving of butterfish we've had on Oahu. Unfortunately, they did not serve chawan mushi with our teishoku lunch. A teishoku is usually composed of a main item, a bowl of rice, some miso soup, and a bowl of Japanese pickles. Chawan mushi is a custard like dish which I love, but they said they only serve it at night. The butterfish teishoku was $17.95 (I think.) Everyone there was so friendly and Mom said she really loved her luncheon.


It downpoured while we were eating lunch, but stopped in time for us to make our way to the Honolulu Zoo which is in Waikiki. I have no idea why they didn't just call it the Waikiki Zoo.

Mom smiled and said, "You're bringing me here to prepare for our Yellowstone trip, aren't you? You can't fool me."


The Zoo had really changed since we came many years ago. We were happy to see all the renovations. Mom said she hadn't been to the Zoo in decades.

We didn't just look at the animals. The plants were also a lot of fun. This cactus plant with it's different colors really captivated us.


All the Starlings in Illinois are just purplish black. I didn't much care for them. However, we thought this Golden Breasted Starling was really spectacular!


We had one little sprinkle and the skies remained gray, but we were able to see everything without getting wet. Because of the rain threat, most people stayed away from the zoo. There were loads of free parking and the zoo was empty.


The Aldabra tortoises were eating mango! How lucky is that! They have no idea how expensive they are now.


The Nene goose is the state bird of Hawaii. There was a sign warning us that the Nenes could bite.

We spent THREE hours walking around the zoo and Mom said she had a great time. She never noticed the time passing and loved every minute. She's ready for Yellowstone now!

We left at around 3:00 and traffic was already backed up. It took us 45 minutes (in the rain) to get home! I told you we live very far from the city.

My brother, Dennis and his family will be coming to celebrate Mother's Day with us today.

HAPPY Mother's Day everybody! I want your day to be as perfect as ours was (despite the traffic).