Happy Holidays!

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving yesterday! Ours was low-key by choice and we had a great time eating, visiting with friends, hanging out with the kids and eating some more.

And now it's officially on to Christmas! I actually started listening to a little Christmas music before Thanksgiving this year which is unusual for me but I just couldn't help it. Now it's time to get a tree, break out the decorations and get serious about celebrating this season. Stay tuned to hear about our island style holiday celebrations!

Aikahi Playground

We finally made it to the new and improved Aikahi Playground. Guess we're not that late in the game actually, I believe it just officially reopened at the end of October. Anyway, I was very impressed! It is so great to have a playground that is not the same as all the others - you know, those plastic and metal sets that cities must order from the 'city playground catalog' or something. This playground has a climbing wall, multiple slides, ropes to climb on, lots of fun balancing type things for kids to walk across - so much variety! Both of my kids had a great time.

And my favorite part? The grass that isn't real! Instead of the usual rubber turf, this playground has fake grass turf to cushion any tumbles that kids take.

Do it yourself:

• Located in Aikahi (next to Kailua), down the street from the fire station.

• Go after school hours since this playground is on school property. They lock the parking lot when the teachers leave, so park on the street if you'll be staying into the evening.

• No restrooms.

Operation Christmas Child

Today we went on an adventure to Price Busters. No, this wasn't just me dragging my kids along as I ran my errands, it was an intentional outing. A few weeks ago I got excited about Operation Christmas Child (OCC) as a way to help my children experience the true meaning of Christmas, learn about giving, help them think about the less fortunate, and all that important stuff.

I don't know about you, but I have found it challenging to find ways to engage my children in service projects that are meaningful to them. Many hands-on projects just aren't suited to toddlers and preschoolers and financial contributions are too abstract for them to really understand.

Doing the OCC project with my kids turned out even better than I expected. Granted, my girl is too little to have a clue about any of it, but my boy really got into it! I told him we were going to pack one box for a boy his age and one for a girl his sister's age. That was key. It put a face on this project in a way and made it something he could really relate to.

When we got to Price Busters he was ready to go! He was full of ideas and suggestions of what we should buy and I was the one following him through the store much of the time. I offered some guidance here and there, "We have enough toys, now we need some craft supplies" and things like that, but I figure he knows better than I do what a 4 year old boy would like and so I followed his lead on a lot of things and left many of the final decisions up to him.

Here is what we ended up with to send to a boy:

When we got home my boy continued to be interested in the project and he helped get everything wrapped and ready to put into the shoe boxes.

Unfortunately we got a little too enthusiastic in our shopping and our stuff won't fit into the boxes we had. I think we're going to have to upgrade to bigger shoe boxes and maybe leave out a couple of items.

Operation Christmas Child is definitely going to be a yearly tradition for our family. Kids helping kids, what better way to teach my children about service?!

Not only was my boy excited about buying new things for another child, but when we finished this project he said he was going to go through his room and find stuff to give away to kids who don't have as much. Before I knew it he had a big pile in the living room. I got him to keep his trash can and told him he had to keep his fan, but there are still a number of things he wants to give away. OCC requires that all items in the shoe boxes be new, so I need to find another charity to donate these gently used items to. I'd like something more specific/personal than Goodwill or Salvation Army. Any suggestions?

More Info/Do it Yourself:

What is Operation Christmas Child?

OCC is a project that distributes shoe boxes filled with gifts to children facing hardships, primarily in developing countries. It is coordinated by an organization called Samaritan's Purse. OCC lets you specify the gender and age range of the child you have packed a box for.

If you want to get involved with this project there's still time but you have to act right away! Filled shoe boxes are being collected now through the 23rd (Monday!). Sorry for the late notice, I'll try to give more of a heads-up next year.

Head to the official website for Operation Christmas Child for more information including guidelines for what to pack in your box, drop-off locations, and the chance to pay for shipping online so that you can find out what country your box gets sent to.

Yogurt Mama!

In the middle of a day of doing chores at home we decided a family outing to Yogurt Mama would be the perfect thing to do.

Truth be told, we went there for lunch. No, not dessert after lunch, just lunch. We'd had one of those weekend days where breakfast was late but not late enough for everyone (especially the kids) to make it to dinner but late enough that no one was hungry at the normal lunch time. So what to do, have a late lunch and mess up dinnertime too? Instead I suggested we go to Yogurt Mama for a late "lunch" and then have an on-time dinner at home. It was easy to get everyone on board with that plan. You should have heard the surprise in our boy's voice: "Just ice cream for lunch?!" He was probably thinking, "Who are you and what have you done with my parents?!"

So here's what we got. Our girl doesn't get her own yet but we did share with her. This picture makes me hungry!

One funny side note. They have three flat screen TVs on the wall. The last couple times we've gone two have been on mute playing a Disney cartoon and one playing a music video. Our boy is fairly TV deprived and so he locks onto those cartoons. Locks on as in we can steal his yogurt from him and it's quite some time before he notices. We've also been known to threaten that we'll make him finish eating his serving on the curb outside if he doesn't keep taking bites - otherwise we'd sit there all day waiting for him to finish!

Do it yourself:

Yogurt Mama is located in Kailua on Oneawa Road. It is self-serve and you first pick your yogurt flavor(s). They have oh, at least 10 choices and they change them out from time to time. To help with narrow your choices they have sample cups, though I noticed they've moved them from the entrance to the register so you have to look for them. After you get your yogurt you put toppings on. They have lots of the usual chocolate, sprinkles, candy, etc. but my favorites are the mochi balls and the fresh fruit. The first time we went there I completely missed the fruit and was so bummed when I discovered that.

You pay by weight and not everyone on your tab has to check out at the same time, they can store it in their cash register. For some reason that impresses me. We always help our boy get his, have it weighed, then he can happily eat while we serve ours up and just pay once at the end. Pretty cool!

Pohakupu Park in Kailua

My kids and I met up with friends at a new (to us) park and a good time was had by all. It was a beautiful day. One of those rare ones when there are absolutely no clouds touching the mountains and they just stand out in all their glory against the backdrop of the blue sky. I don't think I'll ever get over the beauty of this island and I'm glad for that!

We had a nice picnic in the shade and then the kids had fun playing on the playground equipment. They were much more impressed by the dinosaur to climb on, the swings (even a toddler swing - my girl liked that!), and the playground structures than the view of the mountains. My girl impressed/worried me with how high up on the dinosaur's back she was able to climb on her own. Most of the play equipment was in the sun, but there was shade nearby and a nice breeze blowing so it wasn't too hot, even at noon.

Before we left we took a walk around the fountain at the corner of the park. I've seen it countless times from the road, but had never seen it up close and personal. I decided it looks prettier from the road, but the kids liked walking around on its outer wall.

Do it yourself:

• This park is located at Castle Junction in Kailua, catty-corner to Castle Medical Center.

• The official name of this park is Pohakupu Park, but it's also known as Dinosaur Park, Fountain Park, That Park by Castle Junction (what I've always called it) and who knows what else.

• The park and the highway are only separated by a single chain, so be sure to keep a close eye on little ones and their wanderings.

This post is part of the Mom's 30-Minute Blog Challenge over at Steady Mom.

UPDATE: The next time we went to this park I realized that there are no restroom facilities there, so pee before you go! :)

Hiking to the Pali

We have been doing quite a bit of backyard adventuring lately, a.k.a. yard work. The kids actually enjoy the extended time outdoors as a family but it doesn't make for very exciting blogging, so I haven't had much to write about.

We did do a little hiking this past weekend though, so here's a new post finally. I can tell we've been hiking more consistently because it's taking us less time to get everyone ready and out the door than it used to. Backpack for our girl to ride in, check. Backpack with sunscreen, camera, water and snacks for everyone, check. Backpack for our boy to wear and fill with whatever he so desires, check. Shoes and socks for everyone, check. And off we go! Although this hike convinced me we need to add: mosquito repellant, check. Live and learn!

Don't know the official name of the hike we did. We started at Ko'olau Golf Course and hiked like we were heading to Likeke Falls but instead of turning to the falls we kept going up the old rock road. It turned back into a trail that we followed for quite a ways. We passed a tour group and felt lucky/happy to be hiking for free, even though we didn't have the narration about the trees we were passing and the official reminders to hydrate.

We eventually came out onto a junction of old, abandoned roads. We headed uphill there and hiked until we got to the Pali Hwy. It was very weird to be between the lanes of opposing traffic. From one place I stood the downhill traffic was aimed right at me for a second before making a right turn. When I imagined what would happen if a car didn't make the turn I quickly moved to a different spot where I wouldn't be a distraction to the drivers and I wouldn't get hit if they failed to navigate the turn!

We could have gone under the second part of the highway and connected in with another trail but we turned around. I think the other trail would lead to the Pali Lookout, which is where many people seem to start their Likeke Falls hike from. Personally I prefer hikes that go uphill first and downhill on the home stretch, but maybe that's just me.

On the way back we stayed on the abandoned road rather than hiking through the jungle. I wasn't leading the hike but it was my lucky day - uphill first, downhill last AND a loop trail, another hiking favorite! A little trail connected the end of this road with the parking lot at the golf course.

Our boy was a happy hiker the whole afternoon, even when he took a couple falls on the road which was slippery in a few places from last week's rain. He and a friend who was also on the hike turned more and more red from the red dirt as the afternoon wore on, and they sure had fun in the process. Our girl had missed both her naps but she was happy and especially enjoyed getting a chance to escape the backpack and walk down the road for a ways.

I've sure enjoyed the hiking we've been doing and want to keep it in the activity mix! There's just something about spending time being active in the great outdoors that leaves me with a very content feeling at the end of the day. And I'm hoping that by doing it a lot now while our children are young they'll just consider it a part of life and not whine about it when they get older. Wishful thinking? Maybe, but so far they're enjoying it.


Do it yourself:

We did this hike again in April and went all the way up to the Pali Lookout.  Click here to read about our second time on the trail, complete with much better trail directions and descriptions than I included in this post.

Kayaking on Kaneohe Bay

This post is about an adventure we had awhile back that I didn't get the chance to blog about. Seems like a good time to include it since my boy had a fever for a couple days this week so we have spent a lot of time at home and haven't done anything exciting.

A few weeks ago, when the trade winds were absent and it was miserably hot, some friends and I decided to make the most of the weather and we spent a morning on Kaneohe Bay. With no wind, the water was incredibly calm - perfect for kayaking.

My husband and I enjoyed kayaking in our pre-kid days and have been happy to discover that kayaking with kids is very doable. I have yet to try taking both kids with me at once but one of these days I'll give that a shot. When I take them individually though, I always make sure they wear a life jacket and I do the same. They sit in front of me and I do the paddling. My boy likes taking a little paddle along and sometimes he helps but mostly he enjoys dragging it along in the water. He also likes jumping overboard and swimming or being towed. This was actually my girl's first kayaking adventure and although I can't say it was her favorite activity ever, she cooperated really well and didn't try to climb out of the boat or anything. When I let her drag her feet in the water she really liked that, but it's hard (impossible) to paddle and hold a child on the edge of the boat so I didn't do that for long.

There are lots of reefs in the bay and on calm days you don't need a mask and snorkel to see the coral and fish - a perfect way to introduce kids to the undersea world. My boy and I like to watch the feather duster worms pull back into their base when we put a paddle near them. Here's a picture of just how clear the water can be.

I love kayaking in KBay. Even on windier days it is more protected than the open ocean and usually it's an onshore wind so there are no worries about getting blown out to sea. It's fun to paddle along the waterfront and see the houses and boats, or to paddle around Coconut Island which sits in the middle of the bay (and which was used for the opening sequence of Gilligan's Island). Every time we go out I see something new and get in a good workout at the same time.

Photos taken by my friend JS. Thank you!

Do it yourself:

We are fortunate enough to have friends who live on the bay and let us use their kayaks, but rentals are available (a google search will give you several options) and there are public access areas along the bay. For military members, the marina at the marine corp base rents kayaks and you can launch from there.

My Favorite Beach - Bellows

Our visiting friends decided to spend their last day on island at Bellows Beach and my kids and I joined them for some fun in the sun. Bellows has got to be my favorite beach on Oahu, maybe my favorite beach anywhere. So why haven't I been going there weekly, or at least monthly? I'm not sure, but I need to fix that.

I love the first glimpse of the ocean at Bellows. I'm always amazed at how beautiful the water is there.

The adult to kid ratio was good so even though my husband wasn't there I was able to get in the water with my boy and help him catch some waves on a boogie board. (Thanks friends!) The water stays shallow for quite a ways out so I could stand next to him and help him get the board pointed in the right direction, give him a shove when a wave came and with a little kicking on his part he could ride it all the way to shore. Sadly I didn't get any pictures, but he caught some good waves and had fun!  Since it was shallow I wasn't worried about him falling off or getting tumbled in a wave because I knew he could just stand up if that happened.

All the kids enjoyed playing in the sand building castles and walls and digging holes. My girl played 'til she was so tired she just laid down on the sand, but surprisingly she didn't get as much in her mouth and eyes as she often does. My boy has recently gotten into writing his ABCs and he had fun using the beach as a canvas.

And me? I got stung by a Portuguese Man O' War. I was standing in the water and felt a tingling/stinging sensation around my ankle. I looked down and could see the Man O' War with its long tentacle trailing along behind it. For all the times I've seen them I'm surprised I haven't been stung before this. I think I got a minor sting because it didn't hurt that bad and only for a few minutes; although now, two days later, I do still have welts on my ankle and they really itch. But that didn't keep me out of the water on Sunday and it won't keep me out of the water in the future, especially at my favorite beach!

Do it yourself on Oahu

• Bellows is located just south of Waimanalo off of the Kalanianaole Hwy.

• This beach is part of a military installation. The northern part of the beach is always open to military members and dependents. The southern part of the beach is open to the public on the weekends.