Likeke Falls

This weekend we met up with a group of friends and hiked to Likeke Falls. This is a favorite hike for us because it's not too far from where we live, it's a relatively short hike and it's a kid-friendly trail. No steep cliffs for them to fall off of, no scrambling over rocks, just a nice trail through the jungle with a beautiful waterfall as a destination or a place to stop and snack.

I'm not a botanist by any means, and my knowledge of plants doesn't go much beyond, "Oh, that's pretty!" but I do enjoy the flora along the trail. There are funky vine/root things like this to see:

As well as lots of lush foliage like this:
And at the right time of the year there is also edible plant growth like mountain apples and these guavas. Yum!

This trail does get muddy in a few spots and at the waterfall you have to cross over a little stream. When we first took our boy on this hike (one of his first) he had issues with getting dirty and we had to use that parenting combo of bribes and threats to keep him moving on the trail, especially after he got a bit wet and muddy. He's come a long way in the last year and this time we barely saw him during the hike because he was up at the front of the group trailblazing with his friends - and getting dirty! At the end of the hike we had him take off his muddy boots and pants before we let him get in his car seat. For once I thought to bring a plastic bag to put the muddy slippers and shoes in for the ride home and it came in really handy.

Here my husband and our girl are crossing the little stream below the waterfall. If you're careful you can keep your feet dry as you go across. If you're a 4 year old boy who's no longer afraid of wet, muddy shoes, you just tramp straight through.

The trail continues on past the waterfall and not too far after the falls there's a neat mango grove that we've gone to a few times. I think the trail goes all the way to the Likelike Highway but we've never gone that far. This was a great outdoor adventure with lots of those, "Lucky you live Hawaii" moments.

If you want to go:

• You should be able to find directions and trail details with a quick google search. We've always parked at Koolau Golf Course and hiked from there, though a lot of people start the hike from the Pali Lookout down the Old Pali Road. The hike is probably a little shorter and easier from the golf course but I can't say for sure because I haven't gone the other way.

• For those who enjoy geocaching there are a couple caches on this trail.

• Take drinking water (and snacks for kids) in with you and remember to take your trash out.

• Happy hiking!

Nu'uanu Valley Park

Today we had a late morning class/appointment on the windward side and an early afternoon class/appointment on the leeward side. Rather than try to rush home in between for lunch I decided to pack a picnic and spend our lunchtime at Nu'uanu Valley Park. It's off of the Pali Highway which was our chosen route for the day anyway so it was super convenient.

The park was/is beautiful! The giant trees are amazing to see and provide tons of shade. It was a hot day today but even at high noon it was very comfortable at the park with the shade from the trees and the trade winds that were blowing. It was quiet and peaceful but there were enough people there the whole time that I felt safe. When the mothers and kids vacated the playground (probably to go home for lunch) other people came to eat lunch at the picnic tables in the park.

We had a fun little picnic which thankfully was not interrupted by rain. I was worried for a few minutes when I spotted a huge gray cloud and felt the breeze pick up a little but the cloud went a different way and we stayed dry.

After our picnic we spent some time at the playground. I was surprised to see swings! They don't have any toddler swings for the younger kids, but any type of swing seems to be a rare thing at playgrounds these days.

A little side note here. Do you know how tricky it is to take a picture of your oldest child on a swing (with a slow digital camera) while simultaneously trying to keep your youngest child from walking in the path of said swing? Had a couple close calls but no one was hurt in the taking of this picture. Whew!

This was definitely a successful outing! It was more fun and more relaxing than a stop at home would have been and I think we'll add it into our week any time we have appointments on opposite sides of the island that bracket lunch - which happens more often than you'd think.

Oregon Coast

I haven't updated this blog as much recently as I would like to. Our adventuring took us off-island to the Oregon Coast for a long weekend to attend a wedding. That side of the Pacific Ocean is quite different from this one and we enjoyed the scenery and the time with family and friends.

We weren't gone that many days but the trip prep, trip itself and resetting after the trip cut down on our adventures closer to home for awhile. We're finally unpacked and caught up on our sleep (mostly) so I should have more fun times on Oahu to share soon. We did go see the Thunderbirds perform at Hickam Air Force Base this weekend but I forgot my camera so decided not to devote a post to that outing, but it was fun to see them!

Sea Life Park

We had family visiting from the Mainland over the Labor Day Weekend (yes, I'm a little behind on updating my blog) and they asked about Sea Life Park as something to do while they were here and we went on Labor Day. I'd been there years ago when I took a bunch of my students on a field trip but hadn't been back since and my husband and kids had never been.

I knew it was a pricier activity than most but was surprised to find they even charge for parking. Paid for parking, unloaded everyone from the car, bought our entrance tickets (yay for kama'aina (local) rates!) and we were off on our marine animal adventure.

We started the day with the sea lion show. For me, watching our boy's face was even more fun than watching the show itself. He smiled and laughed and grinned and just had the greatest time. Our girl got into it too and made her universal animal sound (a little growl she uses for all animals except birds) every time a sea lion came out. She also got into applauding with the rest of the audience. It was too cute!

We missed all the feeding times where you can buy food to feed the sea lions and turtles, but we did get to the touch pool area where we got to pet a baby sea turtle and we got to watch the sea lions swim around and lounge on the rocks in their area.

We watched both dolphin shows and they were good. The snacks we took helped the kids wait patiently for the shows to start and kept them completely content during the shows as well. I thought the pace of the shows was a little slow but the tricks the dolphins did were neat to see and the backdrop of the ocean behind the show venues was beautiful.

Before we left the park we watched the giant sea turtles, looked at the bird and monk seal rehabilitation areas, let the kids run around in a play structure they have there and then spent some time looking at the large aquarium that you circle as you enter and exit the park. Divers were feeding the rays and that was neat to see.

We were all tired and hungry by the time we left. There's too much to see in half a day at the park but not enough for a whole day. We'd opted to push lunch back a bit and have a long morning there and then head to Kailua for lunch rather than taking time to buy food in the park. I think next time I'd either pack a lunch or take snacks for the adults too to avoid dragging out of there like we did this time. Lunch never tasted so good!

In the evening's conversation I discovered that the other adults in the group thought Sea Life Park was very run down and in need of painting and other maintenance. We watched the scenes from 50 First Dates that feature Sea Life Park and the pools were definitely cleaner then than they are now, but the need for more maintenance wasn't what I noticed at the park. I noticed the awesome scenery and the delight on my children's faces as they got to see creatures up close that they more often see at a distance or in books. Would I recommend it for tourists with limited time to see the island? Probably not, but if you live here and are looking for something different to do with your kids definitely put this on the list. It's not Sea World by any stretch of the imagination, nor is it a place we'll visit monthly, but this won't be our last trip to Sea Life Park, that's for sure!

One last picture - the penguin habitat and the beautiful mountains beyond. The park really is in a gorgeous setting!

If you go:

Don't forget your water bottles and sunscreen!

If you have a choice I'd recommend going sometime other than the middle of summer when it's not as hot.

They have lots of "animal encounter" options if you want to pay the big bucks to swim with a dolphin, etc. Seemed really pricey and we skipped those options, but if it's your dream you can fulfill it here!

If you live here:

Take your kama'aina ID. You can buy two tickets at kama'aina rates with each local ID.

Camping at Hoomaluhia

I have a cautious interest in camping. I do occasionally go camping and I've made some great memories on camping trips but I'm not a gung ho or hardcore camper by any means. However, I've decided that camping at Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens has the potential to make me truly enthusiastic about camping. Pitching your tent under a shady tree on a nice grassy lawn with these majestic mountains as a backdrop - what's not to love?!

Yes, they have funky gate hours so you can't come and go quite as freely as you might want to, but once you figure out the schedule it's very workable. Oh and yes, it's not at the beach but in a way that simplifies things a bit and with a toddler and a preschooler in the family I'll take every bit of simple I can get. They have showers and flush toilets and lots of wide open spaces for playing Frisbee, running, exploring, hiking and other fun family adventures. There's a big lake kids can fish in and they have fire pits for marshmallow roasting, yum!

Now before any friends start adding comments about what a hypocrite I am I will on my own accord admit that I haven't actually spent the night in our tent which is pictured above. No, I've packed up my girl after campfire time and we've taken advantage of the 9 PM gate opening and headed home to sleep in our own beds, leaving father and son to have some quality bonding time before we return when the gate opens at 9 AM the next morning. But when she gets just a little bit older we'll all stay overnight and I'll get to enjoy the sunrise on the beautiful Koolau Mountains from our camping spot. This tentative camper can hardly wait!

Aloha Tower

This week we met some friends at the Aloha Tower Marketplace for a morning of adventure. I've been there a bunch of times but had never gone to the top of the tower itself before for some unknown reason. After this outing it's now on my "not to be missed at Aloha Tower Marketplace" list, especially if I have my kids and/or off-island visitors with me. (And if it's during the day - the elevator is closed in the evenings I believe.) The elevator is small but we squeezed two Maclaren strollers, two boys and two moms into it and rode to the 10th floor - the observation deck. There's a small balcony/lanai on each side of the tower just above the clock.

We checked out the view from each side of the tower. There's a great view of the harbor and the reef runway at the airport on one side, downtown on another side, Kaka'ako area on another side and Sand Island and the ocean beyond on yet another side. Some of the scenery:

After enjoying the views from the tower we walked around the Marketplace and then went upstairs to the food court for lunch. There are a number of nice restaurants there too but we were in the mood for something fast and simple. How's this for food court seating? Much nice than most I thought, and it had a nice view too.

Lunch at Subway filled our tummies and got our parking validated, savings us some money on our adventure. Oh, and speaking of money, the elevator ride was/is free! My favorite price!