Learning About Hawai'i

If you live in Hawai'i, it would be a shame not to learn about Hawai'i in school, right? Of course, our curriculum doesn't include anything state-specific, but the islands have such an interesting history and culture! I decided we needed to find some way to add a little bit of Hawai'i to our school day.

Enter A Visit to Hawaii coloring book. Each page has a short paragraph explaining some part of Hawaiian culture, including anything from the formation of the islands (I find it very interesting that a single volcano produced all of the islands. It continued to flow as plates shifted, producing the 8 different islands) to fun facts about surfing. We read a page once a week, and then Child Thing #1 gets to color. She is sooo into coloring (and any artsy craftsy thing, really) lately.

I'm really glad I came across this coloring book. It is a great addition to our curriculum because it's fun, easy and both of us learn a lot from it!

Haole

In Texas, I'm a gringo (or is it gringa). In Hawai'i, I'm a haole. That's the Hawaiian word for "white guy," and it isn't necessarily a derogatory word. Just depends on how you use it, I suppose. But if you learn the history of the word, it really is not so flattering. :P

Basically, haole means "one with no soul." That's a loose interpretation, you understand, so let me explain. Everyone knows what "aloha" means, so I will start there. "Ha," in ancient Hawai'i, was the breath of life, what I understand to be the soul. "Alo" means to face, so the word "aloha" means to face another person and breathe the breath of life, to open your spirit and your soul to that person. So, to greet someone in old Hawai'i, you would face them and say "haaaaa," breathing into each other.

When the first Europeans came to Hawai'i, you can imagine they were not so comfortable with this way of greeting. Those prim and proper British people... So, instead of sharing the breath of life with the native Hawaiians, they did things like stand at arms length and offer their stiff hands. The Hawaiians thought this was weird and so called the Europeans "one with no ha."

This is the way I understand the meaning of the word; I hope it's accurate. I'm just a haole, of course, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. :)

Our House

I have written a Hawaiian-sized (read: BIG) rent check three times now, and I haven't blogged at all about our new house. We took a risk and signed a lease without ever really seeing the house, and although there were a few surprises, we are really liking it here so far.

The house consists of one big room, which is the living room, dining room and kitchen all in one. Beyond that is an enclosed lanai, which was one of the surprises I mentioned before. This is what was supposed to be the third bedroom. But with big sliding glass doors and no closet, we chose to make it an office/toy room/homeschool area instead. That means there are two remaining bedrooms, so the child things are sharing a room for now. The room is a decent size and they don't seem to mind sharing, so it's working out.

The house is nice, but small. The big plus is that it's only about a block to the beach. It's so nice being able to walk down there without having to worry about packing a ton of stuff. We can stay for as long as we like, and when we start to get tired, just walk back home. Pretty cool. My favorite part of the house is the back porch. it's got a pretty big porch and yard that's pretty big by Hawaiian standards. I love to sit out there in the evenings and enjoy the cool breezes and the mountain scenery. Have I mentioned lately how blessed we are to get to live here?

Maui Vacation



Maui in the morning

 We made it to Maui and back with the child things, and we had a really good time on our little vacation! For some reason, my darling husband scheduled us to leave Oahu at 5 in the morning, so the vacation started very early. I am tempted to complain about having to wake up at 3 a.m., but it was kinda cool to see the sunrise from the airplane. We arrived in Maui just after the sun did, and then the fun began!

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. If anyone is looking for a place to stay in Maui, here's what we thought of it: the grounds were beautiful, the room was very nice, the staff was oh-so-friendly and helpful (almost indulgent), the pool was great, the food was delicious, the spa was AWESOME, and the golf course also got rave reviews from my other half. The only downsides: it was pricey, and the beach (though it looked like lots of adults and teenagers were having tons of fun boogie boarding) wasn't the most kid-friendly beach we've been to. It was always windy, and the waves weren't the coddling waves we're used to.

Overlooking the resort grounds

Personally, my favorite touristy thing we did was take a boat ride out to a small offshore island called Molokini to snorkel. Definitely the best snorkeling I've ever done! I guess that's not saying a lot since I had never snorkeled until 2 years ago when I moved to Hawaii. But it really was pretty spectacular! I finally got to see the two fish I always look for, but never find: the Moorish Idol and the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (Hawaiian state fish).

We also drove the Hana Highway, and I'm sure we did not experience it to its fullest, but it was still amazingly beautiful. There are dozens of stops to make a long the way, but we wanted the child things to enjoy it as much as possible, so we did not do any of the hikes or swim to any waterfalls or pull over at every scenic overlook. Even so...it was awesome! Here are some of the things we did stop and see:

Keopuka Rock, which was filmed in the opening scene of Jurassic Park.



Beautiful coastline scenery

 

Child Thing #1 at Waikani Falls (The Three Bears Waterfall)



Child Thing #2 at Wai'anapanapa Black Sand Beach. The kids had a good time at this place...it had CAVES!



The Child Things at a red sand beach in Hana

More beautiful coastline scenery

A fresh coconut and coconut ice cream.

Child Thing #1 had a fresh coconut before we left Hawaii and loved it, so the whole 9 months we were living in Texas, she kept asking me when she could get another one. We saw this stand, Coconut Glen's, on the side of the Hana Highway and thought it was the perfect opportunity. We bought a coconut and some ice cream made from coconut milk (which was actually really good), and of course, she did not like the coconut at all. Scott tried it (his first taste of fresh coconut milk) and didn't like it either, so I drank some and then we threw it away. The first time I tried drinking a coconut, I didn't care for it much either. It just wasn't what I expected. You'd think it would be very sweet and creamy, but it's more like water. But it has grown on me.

We all loved the ice cream, though, and I also loved what a hippie/environmentalist Coconut Glen was. No plastic spoons. He gave us a sliver of a coconut shell to eat our ice cream. And when the Child Thing asked him if he had any straws to use to drink the coconut, he stepped outside his stand, pulled a leaf off of a papaya tree, used his machete to chop off its hollow stem, and stuck it in the coconut for a straw. It didn't taste very good, though...

What else did we do in Maui? We went to the Maui Ocean Center, an aquarium that we all enjoyed. Child Thing #1 is now positively fascinated with hammerhead sharks. We spent a good deal of time hanging around the pool at our hotel. And we visited the very quaint downtown Lahaina. It was a wonderful vacation. So much fun! And there is much more fun to come! At the end of the week, we will have visitors arriving!

Headed to Maui!

Don't expect any blog updates from me for a few days. Tomorrow we are headed to Maui for vacation!! Woohoo! I'll take lots of pictures for you. Have a fun weekend, friends. I know I will!

We're Almost There!!

The weeks are growing few until this deployment is finally over! And I am SO HAPPY to say that! I cannot wait to have my family whole again and my heart whole again. Just the past few days, it has hit me how soon Scott will be coming back, and I have so much more joy than I have for a looong time. I wouldn't say I have been depressed or anything, but I have been...incomplete. I can live without him, I can even enjoy life without him, but I really, really like it when I get to live with him.

Ecstatic. Thrilled. That's what I feel when I realize how close redeployment is. And there is lots of other exciting stuff going on right now, too. Child Thing #1 has her first dance recital. We're planning a birthday party for both the child things before we leave. We're packing up our stuff to go to Hawaii. We have secured a rental house (just a block or so from the beach, if I may brag a little bit). It's all so exciting!

Of course, in the back of my mind lurks the question, "what if we don't like each other anymore?" And it's a valid question. The Army counselors/chaplains say couples develop coping mechanisms to deal with life alone and to deal with war, and those don't always mesh well when it is over. And they say the spouse left at home has had no other choice but to become very independent and self-sufficient, which makes the soldier feel unwanted. And the soldier has experienced the horrors of war, and that changes a person. Then throw in the fact that both are used to their independent routines and have to re-learn how to live together, and you have the potential for a big mess!

Maybe it's foolish of me, but I'm not expecting this "adjustment period" to be quite as rough as the last one. We have been there before, and we made it through and still love each other. So we know that if it seems bleak for a while, things will get better. As far as I can tell, this deployment has not been nearly as traumatic as the last, so perhaps Scott will be less affected by the "horrors of war."

So there's that, but for now I'm just going to be excited that he's finally coming home! And that my kids are about to turn 2 and 5! And that I will soon get to see my little girl on stage in a tutu! And that we are about to move to Hawai'i! And that we are going to live on the beach!

God is good to me!

The Adventure

Lately I seem to be writing a lot about the hardships of military life. That's probably because I'm 8 months in to a deployment, which is one of the worst parts, and I'm tired of it! I am SO ready for this deployment to be over, but in the mean time I'd like to share with you what I think is the best part of Army life: the adventure!
Maybe my parents instilled a sense of adventure into me, or a sense of curiosity about other cultures, or maybe I was just a gypsy in a past life, but I love that we get to experience different parts of the world. Let me tell you, since my husband joined the Army, I have learned A LOT, and my views on the world have widened A LOT. We have lived in 4 different states, and everywhere we are stationed, we take trips to see the sights that are nearby. Within the Army, we have also made friends with people from all over the country, and even from other countries. And we don't just read about different places, different traditions and different cultures (and yes, there are definitely different cultures in different regions of the country), we experience them.
We got to go to the Big Island of Hawai'i to watch a volcano smoldering and play on a black sand beach created by its lava.

In Kansas, we took a day trip to visit the site of one of my very favorite childhood books The Little House on the Prairie. I probably enjoyed this little excursion more than Scott did, but he actually learned a lot and was quite impressed with the ingenuity of families like the Ingalls.

Now don't think that I am a vacation hog and only plan trips to places like Independence, Kansas. Here's a road trip that the husband definitely enjoyed.

These are just a few of the many, many wonderful and eye-opening places we have experienced because of the Army. Even though it's always sad to say goodbye to your home and your friends, it's exciting to know that the adventure isn't over.  We're always wondering where we'll end up next and what new things we'll get to see while we're there, and what is so awesome is that it could be anywhere in the world.
When this deployment is FINALLY over, we will be back in Hawaii for at least another year, and we plan to enjoy every minute of our time on a tropical island paradise. But after that, who knows?! Alaska? Japan? Colorado? New York? Germany? Missouri? Arizona? Korea? Australia? Louisiana? Washington?
Where ever it is, it will be an adventure, and I like the sound of that!

Turmoil

This evening Child Thing #1 (shown here loving on her aunt--with underwear on her head) and I talked about moving back to Hawaii. We've always known our stay in Texas would be temporary...just while Daddy was deployed, and she has been looking forward to returning to our tropical island home.

"I'm so hot! When are we going back to Hawaii?"

or

"It's too cold! When are we going back to Hawaii?"

Plus she misses friends there, and most importantly, it was her home.

But after our conversation tonight, I realized that she no longer consideres Hawaii her home. She considers Texas her home, and she doesn't want to leave her home.

So now I'm wondering again if I made the right decision when I chose to move home for the deployment. Before we moved, I debated it for months, and my #1 reason against moving was this: as a military family, we already have so much turmoil in our lives, and I don't want to unnecessarily create any additional turmoil.

But I made the decision to move anyway, and I have to admit, it has been great getting to spend time with all our family here. It's great that the kids have gotten to know their relatives. It's also great that I get to enjoy some fantastic Mexican food every now and then (no salsa made from ketchup! hooray!).

Anyway, as I have said before, the child thing handles the upheaval really well. But even though she doesn't lash out, that doesn't mean that the change is easy for her or that it doesn't have an impact on her. And it really breaks my heart to see her suffering (albeit quietly) from it.

Now that she has completely adjusted and views Texas as her home, it's almost time to move back to Hawaii and start the whole process over.

And I feel guilty.

Kauai

Just before the deployment, we made a family getaway to the island of Kauai. It is a BEAUTIFUL place! Even though we spent half of our vacation days shut up in our condo (because of a girl's nasty stomach bug, a baby's first fever, and a mommy's trip to the ER), we made the most of our healthy days. If you ever go to Kauai, do not miss the Na Pali Coast...stunning! I wish we could have taken a helicopter tour, but that would not have gone over well with a certain little girl.







We also loved the Waimea Canyon. It's not as big as the Grand Canyon, but it is pretty spectacular all the same. The trip was fun; I only wish we had been healthy so we could have seen more of this beautiful place.

Hawaii Tourist Review--Ko Olina Lagoons

The Lagoons at Ko Olina is our favorite beach to go to to swim and play. The entire thing is man-made, but don't let that bother you. This is an awesome beach, especially for kids. I know a 3-year-old who got knocked down by a big wave her first trip to the beach and has been leary of the ocean since then. But because the rock barriers protect this beach from the open ocean, it's almost like swimming in a pool, and even she will get in the water here. Plus, as I recently learned, there's some decent snorkeling along the rocks toward the back of the lagoon.

Here's what I know about the lagoons: there are 4 (pretty much)identical lagoons in a row. They are all beautiful, but we generally opt for lagoon #4 because it has the most parking. You can plop your beach chair down in the sand near the water, or claim a shady spot in the grassy area surrounding the lagoon. The only problem is the parking. There's not much, so it's best to arrive early (by 9 a.m. or so), especially on a weekend.

This place gets two thumbs up from me. It's all a family could want from a day at the beach (unless, of course, you are looking to surf or boogie board).

Big Waves, Little Regrets

Want to know what gets Hawaiians really excited? Fifty foot waves! Really! Fifty feet! I never knew waves could get that big! But last week they did, and the whole island went crazy. Though I was tempted to check out the surf, the rumors of road closures and displacement shelters scared me out of it.

I'm not one to take my children into a natural disaster.

As it ends up, no roads got washed out and no houses got swept away, so now I wish I would have taken the chance. I comfort myself with news that the traffic was HORRENDOUS since everyone wanted to see the waves, especially the Eddie Aikau surfing contest, and it would have taken us hours to get there.

Since I don't have any pictures to share, I will refer you to the blog of the photographer who recently took our family portraits (that I love!). Check it out! Crazy!

Big wave photos here

Our Tropical Christmas Tree

Apparently it's not that easy to find a fresh Christmas tree when you live on a tropical island. Who knew? :P We did eventually find a tree farm that grows Norfolk Pines, which are a little funky looking. Sort of like an artificial tree would look if someone forgot to install every other row of branches. It's working for us, though!

The tree farm experience was different for us, as well. When we arrived, our designated tree cutter asked us how tall we wanted our Christmas tree to be. About 6 feet, we said. Instead of trying to find a 6 foot tree, he found a much taller tree, measured 6 feet down from the top and chopped it off. He said the bottom half of the tree would continue to live and grow and become another Christmas tree some day.

This is our tropical Christmas tree. Different, for sure. But that's part of what we love about living here in Hawaii. We are experiencing so many things that were previously completely foreign to us. I love being able to view things from a different perspective. And we're even picking up a few (and I mean very few) Hawaiian phrases. Here's wishing you a merry Christmas:

Mele Kalikimaka!

Public? Private? Homeschool? No School on Fridays?!?

Four days of school a week?!? As if Hawai'i doesn't already have the worst school system in the United States. Has the news of "Furlough Friday" made it back to the mainland? If not, here's the deal: the state of Hawai'i is facing some sort of budget crises, so the elected officials have decided to save millions of dollars by closing schools on Fridays. And I mean every Friday. For the whole school year!

If I were a kid, I'd certainly be excited about this, but I just don't see how this is a good idea. Obviously, a kid's education is going to suffer. Also, parents (who still have to work on Friday) are having to come up with ways to take care of their kids on Fridays. This policy really just reflects the government's attitude toward education: it's not a priority.

Scott and I had been considering sending Child Thing #1 to a private pre-school next year, but this whole Furlough Friday thing makes private school that much more appealing. Scott has even brought up homeschooling recently, so that's something to consider.

It's just kindergarten...I doubt going to a below-par kindergarten would be damaging in the long run, but still...it's something to think about.

This Place May Turn Me into a Neatfreak

I have never been one to be obsessive about cleanliness. It's one of my flaws. One of the many. But living in Hawaii is changing that about me. It's the bugs!

I can't say I wasn't warned. Anyone who knew anything about Hawaii told us, "The bugs are terrible, and the schools are terrible. Other than that, you'll love it there!" So, I knew ahead of time that critters would be a problem.

I didn't know, however, that that meant I would be greeted into my new home by a baseball-sized spindle-legged spider crawling out of the kitchen sink our first night here. I'm going into convulsions just thinking about that thing. Scott killed it. That moment was one in which I wondered how I will survive the next deployment.

The next day, though, I regretted the murder of the poor spider, as it would have been a natural predator to the MONSTROUS cockroach we discovered had made its home underneath our stove. This thing was huge, and that is said by someone who grew up in a hot, humid place where cockroaches flourish.

Not to worry...the largest gecko I have ever seen moved into our house soon thereafter and had its way with grandpa roach. It was either the gecko or the Raid sprayed blindly beneath the stove for a week that got him. Or maybe he just died of old age.

Using pesticides around the house does make me a little nervous, especially with child things around. It will only be worse when the baby is crawling around and putting things in his mouth. Here's a solution suggested to us by a public health worker: visine.

Apparently eye drops contain boric acid, which is deadly to roaches, but not harmful to people. The worker instructed us to line the perimeter of drawers and cabinets with eye drops to keep roaches out. Huh...I never would have guessed. I don't know if it really works, but it's certainly worth a try. Too bad it doesn't work on spiders and ants too, though.

Snow Cones and Spam

It didn't take Scott long to immerse himself in the culinary culture of Hawai'i. He eats Spam musubi, a local favorite, for lunch several times a week. Me...well, I'm going to have to work on suppressing my gag reflex before I give the dreaded meat-from-a-can a try. For some reason I cannot fathom, Spam is very popular here, and Spam musubi is apparently the preferred way of serving it.

What is Spam musubi? As far as I can tell, it's a slice of spam topped with sticky rice and wrapped in seaweed. I'm not much of a seaweed fan, either. I'm one of those redneck non-sushi eaters; I don't even like California rolls.

So, since that delicacy is out, a certain 3-year-old and I gave another Hawaiian specialty a try today, one that is much more appealing: shave ice. Shave ice is similar to the snow cones I slurped up as a kid, but better! They put ice cream at the bottom (I had to skip that portion this time--still not cheating on the no-dairy diet), the ice is really shaved to a powder, so it is oh-so-smooth and not at all crunchy, and supposedly, many of the shave ice stands here make their own syrup. Yum! Those poor kids on the mainland (who walk a mile to purchase a bubble gum flavored snow cone from a rickety stand...not that I ever did that) just don't know what they are missing!

Hawaii Tourist Review: Dole Plantation

Aside from the Awesome pineapple flavored soft serve ice cream, I found the Dole Plantation to be somewhat disappointing. The plantation includes a garden, a train tour of a "working pineapple plantation," the largest hedge maze in the world (or so they claim), a cafe and a huge gift shop, all of which are very staged for tourists.

The garden and the train ride provide some basic information about the history of the Dole Plantation and their method of growing pineapples, but it certainly isn't very in-depth. I have to admit, however, that a certain three-year-old was very excited about the train ride.

We didn't try out the hedge maze on our trip, but is probably a good way to pass the time. The cafe serves decent food (and delicious ice cream), and the gift shop, well, what can I say?


If your home decor theme is pineapple, you have found your heaven. :P The gift shop sells more pineapple items than you can image: snacks, blankets, clothes, dishes, decorative items, etc... And of course, they offer fresh-from-the-field pineapples for a hard-to-swallow $6 each.


Overall, the place wasn't bad, just your typical tourist trap. If you only have a limited amount of time to spend in Hawaii, the Dole Plantation probably isn't one of those can't miss sights. But if you've got a hankering for pineapple ice cream, have always wanted pineapple shaped bottle opener, or have a kid who loves trains, you may want to check it out.

Church Hunting

I like the way Hawaiians do church--in the open air. What could put your spirit more at peace than singing praises to the Lord as the breeze carries in the fresh scent of passing rain showers?

We have started our hunt for a church home in Hawaii, and our first trip to a church on the island was pretty typical of what we're used to, except for two things. The first is that the sanctuary was open; one side of it was basically a wall of shutters, and the other side had HUGE sliding doors the whole length of it. Both were open for the service, which I found to be quite pleasant.

The other difference was the blowing of the conch shell at the start of the service. Native Hawaiians blew the conch shell 4 times, facing the north, south, east, and west, to invite the spirits into their presence. It was pretty cool to experience that native tradition within a modern Christian setting.

Although I enjoyed the exposure to the native culture (most of the people there were natives, as well), we probably won't end up joining this particular church. There were very few younger families there, and the preacher didn't seem too excited about having children sit through the service. I like to have my child things participate in worship as long as they aren't causing a ruckus, so we shall continue our search.