Byodo-In Temple

We went to Japan today! No, not really, but this temple is often used to portray Japan in movies and magazines. In reality it’s here on Oahu in Kaneohe.

The setting and grounds are beautiful and there are a number of activities that make it fun for kids. Feeding the wildlife, exploring a small bamboo forest, talking in a pavilion with neat acoustics, staring up at the giant Buddha and of course ringing the big bell.

Oh, and almost forgot to mention the ever popular activity of playing with and eating gravel - I think that was my girl’s favorite part of our outing today!

There’s a little store next to the temple that sells fish/bird food for $1/bag and we did our best to keep them in business. We fed the koi fish, the pigeons, some sparrows, a swan and even a turtle.

My girl wanted to walk into every body of water we came to and my boy wanted to stand on the edge of the bank when feeding the fish but somehow everyone came home dry. A friend went with us and having an extra set of adult eyes and hands was helpful, plus adult conversation for Mom is always nice!

To Do It Yourself:

Just google ‘Byodo-In Temple’ and you’ll find everything you need from hours (8:30 – 4:30 daily) to directions. Prices shown online vary. Here’s what was posted today:

They just charged me for one kid. Maybe the one year old was free? Mosquito spray came in handy when our exploring took us away from the temple itself.

Enjoy! And if you don't live on Oahu - put it on your 'to see' list when you come to visit!

Made in Hawaii

Today the four of us went to the Made In Hawaii Festival at the Blaisdell Center. It happens every year but this was our first year to attend. There were two buildings full of vendors selling things that were/are made in Hawaii: clothing, bags, lots of jewelry, wooden decor, plants and quite a variety of food items among other things. There were some children's items but not as many as I had expected. One cool thing though was the author and the illustrator of some children's Hawaiiana books we have and love were there and it was fun to meet them and introduce my boy to them.

It was pretty crowded but as long as you were okay with going at the pace of the crowd it worked fine. We, especially the kids, enjoyed all the free food item samples. Some of them were so yummy we bought more to take home. We took a stroller which ended up being used more for holding our purchases than our children, but we were glad we had it. I was going to post a picture of our purchases but the camera got lost in the process of getting out the door this morning so I'll just say we bought a few things for ourselves and a few things to give as gifts and spare you a detailed list. This was different than our usual type of weekend activity but we had fun and are glad we went! Oh, and on our way out we got coupons for free hay rides in the fall so look for a post about that outing in October. :)

The Honolulu Zoo

I can’t plan a trip to the zoo without the Raffi song Going to the Zoo getting stuck on repeat in my mind. I challenge you to listen to the song and see how long it gets stuck in your head! Not sure you like that idea? Oh come on, it’ll be fun!

I packed up the stroller and a picnic lunch this morning and off we went to the zoo after my girl's morning nap. For being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Honolulu Zoo really has a nice collection of animals. Giraffes, elephants, hippos, orangutans, tigers and more. So where do we always head first thing? I’ll give you a hint:

Did you guess goat? Yep, we have to make a beeline to the goats. Oh sure, my boy will glance at the tigers or elephants or whatever we pass, but the goal is definitely to get to the goats. Lucky me! You see, I’m not so much a fan of the goats. They poop all over the sidewalk and I’m sure they lay in it too and it just can’t be hygienic to go in their area and hang out with them and worse yet actually touch them! But I don’t want to stunt my children’s development or pass on my issues to them or anything so into the goat pen we go.

After my boy gets his goat fix and I wipe them both down from head to toe with sanitizer (not really, but can't say I never thought of that) he’s ready for his second favorite thing at the zoo, the playground! I’d probably vote for the ‘African Savannah' myself but I really have no complaints about the playground. Who wouldn’t want to hang out under these gorgeous trees while the kids burn off some energy?!

By the time we finished with the goats and the playground today it was time for lunch. After we ate we finally got to go and see the ‘cool’ animals. You know, the ones from Africa and India as opposed to Old MacDonald’s place.

All in all it was a good day at the zoo and since I just renewed our yearly membership today I know we’ll definitely be going back, goats and all!

Do it yourself on Oahu
Location:  On the corner of Kapahulu and Kalakaua Aves. at 151 Kapahulu Avenue, Waikiki, Hawaii
Hours:  9am to 4:30pm daily; Closed on Christmas
Parking:  The zoo parking lot is adjacent to the zoo along Kapahulu Ave.  This lot is metered parking.  Memorize your license plate number (or park near one of the pay stations) and then pay with credit card or cash at the pay station.  No need to put your receipt on your dashboard, the parking attendants check when your parking is expired electronically using your license plate number.  If I remember right, parking here is $1/hr and you can add time remotely using your phone, how cool is that?!  You can also park for free in the Waikiki Shell parking lot which is along Monsarrat on the other side of the zoo.
Facilities:  The zoo has restroom facilities in several locations.  They have a couple of places to get food and drinks including the Kapahulu Market.  There is a gift shop by the main entrance.
Other:  A zoo membership is worth purchasing and will save you money even if you only visit a handful of times in a year.  You can find membership info and even join online here.
More info:  Honolulu Zoo Webpage, 808-971-7171

Riding the Rail

Anticipating another wet day left behind by Hurricane Felicia, I planned a rainy day activity with the kids today. Pearlridge Mall is divided into two separate sections and there's a monorail that runs between them. In the past I've always just walked between the two buildings to get some exercise and save some pennies, but I thought the kids would enjoy the ride and it would be cheap entertainment out of the rain.

Wouldn't you know it, today was sunny and beautiful! I guess I should have known better than to put any faith in the weather forecast (as mentioned previously). Anyway, I decided to stick with the same plan and we did our rainy day outing on a sunny day. Here's just how sunny and beautiful it was today:

For being such a simple adventure the kids really liked it and had fun. We rode the monorail from the 'Downtown' part of the mall to 'Uptown' where we did a little shopping, ate pretzels and then rode it back to 'Downtown.'

Oh, and it was/is an even cheaper adventure than I thought - 50 cents each way and kids under 5 are free!

Have Kids, Will Travel

A post about a trip to the Mainland might seem out of place on a blog about life on Oahu. However, for most of us who live here and for all those who come here for family vacations, airplane travel with kids is part of the experience.

Until I traveled with my first child I never knew how quickly I could consume the drink given to me by a flight attendant. But I quickly realized the high risk of having my entire drink end up in my lap with a squirmy child next to me, or especially on my lap, and the easiest way to avoid this seemed to be to guzzle the drink in one breath. On our last flight I did this so quickly that before I knew it the flight attendant had given me a refill before moving on to the next row and I had to do my speed drinking trick a second time.

With kids our hand carry bags are filled with books, toys and lots of snacks. Oh, and of course the compact DVD player too! My favorite travel toys were both given to us as gifts and we've since covered a lot of happy miles with them. I highly recommend them both! Here's more info if you're interested:

Matchbox Pop Up Adventure Set. We have the fire station but there's also a barn, harbor, auto center, construction site and a few others. Ours is one of the compact ones that folds in half. The deluxe ones tri-fold and look like they might be a little big for taking on the plane.

Aquadoodle Travel N Doodle. Works great for lots of ages - both my kids enjoy it.

What are your favorite tricks or tips for traveling with kids? We travel several times a year and I'd love to borrow/steal your ideas!

Shoes?

As we are packing to head to the Mainland for a few days I remembered an experience when we lived in North Carolina. We met up with friends from Hawaii who mentioned that their boys were wearing the only pair of real shoes they owned. I've never been one to buy tons of shoes for my kids in any given size, they grow too fast for that, but still I couldn't imagine only having one pair.

Well, here we are a year and a half later and guess what, I'm having to ask myself - do the kids have any shoes that fit? Digging around in the bottom of the shoe box I discovered that they do, but they sure don't get worn that much. Slippers are my boy's favorite form of footwear (see self portrait of his feet) and when he outgrew his sandals he even started wearing slippers to church. He'd wear them hiking too if we'd let him. The cost of living in Hawaii is high, but we do spend less on shoes and clothes than we would in the Mainland.