July Fun with Our Son and Family: Part 2

Art wanted to take the family to the Big Island where he grew up. They're changing the Big Island name to Hawaii Island. I hear news broadcasters calling it Hawaii Island. However locals still refer to our biggest, youngest island as the Big Island.

We landed in Hilo, visited relatives, had Loco Moco at Cafe 100 and then went to Rainbow Falls. Everybody goes to Rainbow Falls when they go to Hilo. The grandsons managed to find this HUGE banyan tree that Art says he'd never known about. And yes, just like their dad would have done when he was little, they shimmied up the tree while holding on to the aerial prop roots.

We spent the night at the Kilauea Military Camp in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. 

In the morning, Keola and family went hiking at Kilauea Crater while Art and I relaxed.

When they returned, we headed out to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park which used to be called City of Refuge. 

This is from the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park website:

"Imagine you had just broken the sacred laws, the kapu, and the only punishment was death. Your only chance of survival is to elude your pursuers and reach the Puʻuhonua, a place of refuge. The Puʻuhonua protected the kapu breaker, defeated warriors, as well as civilians during the time of battle. No physical harm could come to those who reached the boundaries of the Puʻuhonua."

We also visited Black Sands Beach. The boys loved seeing the sea turtles there.

When we returned to Oahu, we had a pot luck party so Keola and family could spend time with their uncle, aunt and cousins. I ordered this 1/2 sheet of Dream cake which was really too big, but froze amazingly well. 

Do you remember the song, "Happy Together" by the Turtles? I thought this was appropriate for our party. I have a feeling it was lost on the younger members of our family though.

Throughout their stay in Hawaii, they tried to spend time at every beach on the island and there are many.

They enjoyed going to Byodo-In Temple in Kaneohe and ringing the giant bell.

For our grandson, JK's birthday, friends recommended Wai Kai in Ewa Beach. It's a water park along the ocean front. They had a glorious time. Our daughter-in-law kindly rented a cabana for Art and me to be comfortable out of the sun.

I'm sorry I had to laugh because RK developed this fascination for burrs that are annoyingly all over the place as the weeds proliferate easily. We gave him a little plastic bottle so he could collect those sharp burrs that stick to your socks and shoes. He was a little disappointed that it wouldn't be a good idea for him to bring it to the next country where they would be living. 

One of the things JK asked of me was to teach him how to make a teriyaki marinade. This is RK helping his brother grate a ginger root. JK then soaked the chicken in the marinade for about 5-6 hours and placed it on a pan to broil. It would taste even better if they had grilled it. But it was still delicious and we had a wonderful dinner.

JK's birthday is a few days before mine and they'd already celebrated it happily with a lei and balloon. JK passed the lei and balloon on to me for my birthday. We managed to celebrate several birthdays during their stay.

And then it was time for them to leave. The time had absolutely flown by and it was difficult to see them off at the airport again.

But then our daughter, Tiffany texted us a couple of weeks ago saying that they'd be coming to visit us in January.

Yay!!! 😀 

POSTSCRIPT: Would you believe that balloon is still flying over our dining table?  I smile whenever I look at it.

July Fun with Our Son and Family: Part 1

We could hardly believe it when our son, Keola told us they'd be staying with us for a month in July.  They were leaving one country and were now assigned to another so they had a month free. 

It's been a truly busy year for us with our trip to Japan in April and then Chicago to see our granddaughter graduate from high school in May and then our son's visit in late June to July. Things are finally settling down a bit. I've finished my photobook for Japan and almost done with the photobook for the grandsons.

I'm now documenting their visit on my blog since this is where I come to every time my memory falters which is a LOT!

Mom just loved seeing Jon's new hairstyle. It's not exactly new. He's had it a long while.

She couldn't stop laughing saying he now definitely looked like a samurai with his chonmage.

This is from Wikipedia:

The chonmage (丁髷) is a type of traditional Japanese topknot haircut worn by men. It is most commonly associated with the Edo period (1603–1868) and samurai, and in recent times with sumo wrestlers.

In the one month they were here, they managed to squeeze in every bit of fun they could. Art told them they could crush all the drink cans we were accumulating and take them to the recycling truck. They loved it and also loved the money they got after turning in the bag of cans.

We'd been growing a poha plant for a year and saving the berries in the freezer. Poha berries are physalis peruviana, also known as golden berries, Cape gooseberries, and ground cherries. Art had always loved poha jam having grown up with the treat on the Big Island.

And now he had such fun making the jam with his grandsons. We also gave some small jars of the jam to our friends who gave a group of us the poha plantings. Our grandsons loved the jam like their grandfather.

Keola and family also went to the Dole Plantation. They even went through the Dole maze. Art and I have never done it, but the boys had a great time. I think they liked the Dole Whip even more though.

Several friends and relatives recommended Keiki Kingdom for Keola and Sarah to take the boys. And yes, they had a fabulous time!

But you know what? I was happy to see that one of their most favorite places to explore was our library. They could have stayed there for hours.

They also piled an armload of books to bring home and enjoy and could occupy themselves happily just reading.

As a retired teacher, I loved it!

Getting Ready for Hurricane Kiko

It's Hurricane Season again and we were warned last week that the approaching Hurricane Kiko was a category 4 storm with 145 mph winds and very scary. We get these warnings a lot. 

According to AI:

"Hurricane season in Hawaii runs annually from June 1 to November 30, with peak activity often occurring in August and September. While the entire period is designated as hurricane season, storms are more likely to occur during the mid-summer and early fall months."

We're told that we should:

 Stock at least 14 days of supplies:

• This includes non-perishable food, water (one gallon per person per day), medications, and hygiene items. 
• Include essential tools:

  Your kit should also contain a first-aid kit, a battery-operated radio, a flashlight, extra batteries, and a can opener. 
• Add other important items:

  Consider including cash, personal documents, chargers for your devices, and baby supplies if needed.

Hurricane Kiko was going to hit us yesterday. Happily, it veered north of us and we'll just get some high surf (maybe) and some rain (maybe). It's easy to be complacent since we get these warnings a lot. However, I'm remembering when Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai in 1992. 6 people died and there was billions of dollars in damage. We were living in Chicago at the time, but friends and relatives wrote to tell me how badly their homes were damaged.

So although you might compare the weather warnings to crying wolf, you don't want to get eaten by the destruction the hurricane can cause. We did get hurricane barriers for all our windows created just in case in 2019. 

And hmmm.... I'm looking at my hurricane supply, just in case. And yes, we have water in another closet.

Uh oh... my case of Vienna sausages are expiring.

OK, maybe this isn't enough for 2 weeks. 

We'll go shopping when we get the next hurricane warning.