Train Ride at Pearlridge Mall

(If you are looking for information on the monorail train that runs year round between Uptown and Downtown at Pearlridge Mall, see my Monorail Train Ride post.  To learn about the Christmastime train inside the mall, keep reading below.)

How are your holidays going?  I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and are enjoying the last few days of 2010 before New Years.

If you are looking for something fun to do with your children, the Pearlridge Express is still operating this week and weekend.  My daughter and I first saw the train when we were running errands at the mall in early December.  She really wanted to ride on it but it didn't fit in our schedule that day.  I promised her we would go back and she remembered that and told lots of people she was going to get to ride "the little train."

I kept my promise and took both of my kids to ride the train at the beginning of Christmas vacation.  After we listened to instructions from the train conductor we headed into the train area.  I buckled them in and took a couple pictures and they were ready to go.  I don't know exactly how many times they went around the track but the ride seemed to last quite awhile.  In reality it was only about 5 minutes long but it seemed longer.  The area is decorated with oversized gifts and toys and is really cute.  My daughter really liked a giant bear they had up and she waved at it every time the train passed it.  My son was older than most of the kids on the train but he enjoyed it too.  They definitely got $3 worth of fun out of the ride.

Do it yourself on Oahu


Location:  Pearlridge Mall, Uptown Center Court
Cost:  $3 per ride (books of tickets available at a discount)
About:  Train is for children 48 inches and shorter.  When you purchase your tickets they'll let you know what time your train will depart and what seats your children will be in.  There weren't very many people there when we went and we went directly from the ticket counter to the boarding area.
For more info:  488-0981

Christmas Lights in Kaneohe

Want to see some Christmas lights on the Windward side with the family?  There's a little street in Kaneohe that is worth a visit.  We drive it several times every year during December and this year we even got out and walked along the street to see the lights close up.  There were a lot of families doing the same thing and we even saw Santa there handing out candy to the keiki.

Do it yourself on Oahu

Namoku Street in Kaneohe
This is a pretty long street but the short segment nearest Longs Drug store has the majority of the lights.  I think the easiest way to get there is to turn off of Kaneohe Bay Drive onto Aumoku Street and go by McDonalds.  Continue past 24 Hour Fitness and the back of Longs and then take a left on Namoku Street.

Snowing Tree at Windward Mall

This last Sunday we had planned to go to Waikiki to see the Christmas decorations but we cancelled that idea when we woke up to wet and rainy weather.

We still wanted to do something fun with the kids so we decided to combine some last-minute shopping with fun for them by heading to Windward Mall.  I mentioned the Snowing Tree last year and in my Christmas Events page and it's been on our family's "fun things to do in December" list too.

The tree "snows" bubbles, but not just regular spherical bubbles.  These are clumps of little bubbles or something and when they float through the air they really look like snowflakes.  When they land they look more like bubbles, but in the air they look cool and the kids enjoy running around in them, trying to catch them, etc.  The tree "snows" for 15 minutes at a time but after about 10 minutes our hungry kids were ready to get some food.  They enjoyed the tree though and I'm glad we took them again this year.  

Do it yourself on Oahu

Location: Windward Mall Center Court

When: Ongoing through Christmas Eve.  The tree "snows" for 15 minutes at the stop of every hour from 1pm to 8pm M-Sat, 1pm to 4pm Sundays, 1pm to 5pm Christmas Eve

Near the tree there is a letter-writing station for sending letters to Santa.  You can also pay to have pictures taken with Santa.

Scenic Sunday: Magic Island at Sunset

Scenic Sunday...because I never get over the beauty of these islands.

Magic Island in the golden light of sunset.

Aloha Friday - Weekend Events

Oops, I was so on top of things this week that I dropped the ball.  I updated the weekend events page earlier than usual and mentally checked it right off my 'to do' list, forgetting to post about it here 'til right now.  But it's there and it's full of fun things to do this weekend.

If you haven't made it to a Christmas parade yet there are still a few opportunities to do that this weekend.  There are also a couple of monthly events that have a Christmas theme this month like Mission Houses Museum's Kama'aina Family Day and the Free Family Sunday at Honolulu Academy of Arts.  And on Sunday the Bishop Museum is offering free entrance for military and kama'aina.  Check out the Weekend Events page for the details on these events and more.

Happy weekend!  Can you believe it's the last one before Christmas?!

Honolulu City Lights Parade

The Honolulu City Lights electric light parade has become an annual tradition for our family and we enjoyed it again this year.  It's always on a Saturday night, probably the first one in December but I'd have to check my calendars from previous years to be sure.  Lots of people go early and enjoy the rides and activities around Honolulu Hale but we prefer to watch the parade as it comes through Chinatown.  It's less crowded there and getting in and out and finding parking is pretty easy to do.

Our kids enjoyed dancing along to the Christmas music as various bands marched by and they loved getting candy that was passed out by parade participants.  Our son remembered this from last year and asked that we take a bag to put his stash in.  During the parade he decided the candy bag should sit back next to me rather than by him, so the people passing out the candy would think he didn't have any and would be sure to give him some.  As soon as he'd get a piece of candy he'd turn around and toss it to me for safe-keeping in his bag.  Our daughter's technique was to eat as much candy during the parade as she could and she may or may not have eaten candy stolen from the big kids she was sitting with in addition to her own.

There were some nice floats in the parade but my favorites were the utility vehicles bedecked in lights.  Have you ever seen such a nice looking dump truck?

And look at this fancy sewer pumping truck.  

I didn't get a picture of the Handi-Van that was tripped out to look like a low-rider, complete with a spoiler on the back, but it was one of my other favorites.

Hope your holidays are going well.  Kids out of school yet?  My boy has a day and a half left before his Christmas break begins.

Tree Lighting at Castle Medical Center

Last night as I drove up to the E.R.* at Castle Hospital it looked like the picture above (minus all the people) and I was reminded that I never posted about their tree lighting celebration.  They usually hold it on the first Wednesday of December and this year that was December 1.  

The event was more crowded than I remember it being in years past.  They ran out of hot chocolate and navigating the crowds with our kids was a little tricky but we didn't lose either one of them and we all had fun.  The kids got Christmas tattoos and gingerbread cookies, we got little flashlights and we all munched on popcorn.  For the Marine Corps Band's concert we stood behind them and watched their percussion section which was a neat perspective.  We were quite a ways back when the Honolulu Boys' Choir performed but enjoyed their music.  As is our tradition, we skipped the trolley ride and pictures with Santa because we didn't want to wait in line, but we got to see Santa arrive in a horse-drawn carriage and our daughter was really excited about that.  All in all, a fun time and a great way to kick off the Christmas season.

* And why was I at Castle's E.R. last night?  Well, our son was disobeying house rules and climbing on the furniture.  He fell off and got a cut on the back of his head, big enough for a trip to the E.R.  My husband was home alone with the kids and managed the whole thing beautifully.  My only role was to meet up with them at the E.R. when I finished my errands and bring our daughter home.  My husband waited with our son while they cleaned up his wound and put two staples in the back of his head.  He's always been an active kid and I'm actually surprised he made it to 5.5 years old before needing to be taken to the E.R.  Except for the extra hardware he's as good as new and even went to school today.  And a shout-out to Castle -- not only do they put on a great Christmas tree lighting program but the turn-around time in their E.R. was great.  My boy was in and out in about an hour and a half.

Scenic Sunday - Clouds on the Ko'olaus

Scenic Sunday...because I never get over the beauty of these islands.

I love watching the clouds float up and over the mountains after an early morning rain.

To see more beautiful photos from around the world, check out Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

Aloha Friday: Weekend Events

I've been slacking lately (sorry!) but the Weekend Events page is finally updated and ready for your viewing pleasure and weekend planning.  If you want to see a Christmas parade this weekend I'm sure there is one that will fit your schedule.  There are also several opportunities to eat with Santa, a chance to make some eco-friendly holiday crafts, Christmas concerts to attend and lots of other family fun for this holiday season.  Click on over to the Weekend Events and make your plans.  Let's just hope the weather will cooperate!

Christmas Shopping

No new blog posts recently because I've been spending all my online time Christmas shopping.  I would love to say that I've been buying wonderful handmade items at etsy or that I have great Hawaiiana items to tell you about but I've mainly been over at amazon dot com.  It's hard to beat the convenience of so many items in one place and who doesn't love their free super saver shipping?

I hope your Christmas shopping is almost done and your holidays are off to a good start.  We're going downtown tomorrow night to ride the trolley and take in the Honolulu City Lights, just like we did last year.

Aloha Friday: Weekend Events

"It's Aloha Friday, no work 'til Monday..."  That song always goes through my mind when I write these Friday posts.  If only it was true, but as a mom I work all weekend long as all the parents out there know.  I still like the little song though.

I've posted some activities and events happening this weekend on the Weekend Events page, so if you're looking for family fun on Oahu this weekend check there.  Some of them, like the Honolulu City Lights Opening Night and Electric Light Parade, are repeats from the Christmas Events page but there are a couple new ones too.  Specifically there is info. about the Windward Choral Society's Holiday Conert and a Hanukkah Kids Event happening at Borders.  There is also additional information about the Kaneohe, Mililani and Pearl City Shopping Center Christmas Parades.

I hope you are enjoying the holiday season with your friends and family.  I am, which is why posting has been a little lighter here on Oahu Mom and is likely to remain that way throughout December and early January.  Hope you'll stay with me through the next few weeks in spite of my lighter blogging schedule.

Happy weekend to you!

Big City Diner in Kailua

Big City Diner serves a great breakfast.  Breakfast out, especially on the weekends, seems to be a popular activity in Kailua so it's nice to have a few options in mind when you head out.  That way you can pick the place with the shortest line to eat at on a particular week, especially if you have hungry kids along who don't want to have to wait a long time in line just to get a table.

Let's see, what should I tell you about Big City Diner?  They have both indoor and outdoor seating available.  We've done both, but outdoors is always my preference.

And though I'm not restaurant critic, I know I should mention the food.  It tastes great and the servings are very large.  Our daughter decided to boycott eating the last time we were there, but even if she hadn't our plan to let her share off our plates would have worked out just fine.  And for older kids who want their own meal I'd recommend this friendly pancake face which was a hit with our son.

Big City Diner is a great spot to enjoy breakfast with the family.  They serve other meals too, but I write about what my family and I do and we've only eaten breakfast there.

Do it yourself on Oahu

Location:  Big City Diner is a chain with five locations on Oahu.  Their Kailua restaurant is located at 108 Hekili St #101, Kailua, Hawaii, 96734

Hours:  Sunday through Thursday 7am to 10pm; Friday and Saturday 7am to 12am (midnight)

Other:  They have high chairs and even, get this, restrooms.  So nice to have convenient restrooms, especially when eating out with children!

For more info:  Big City Diner's website.  Phone number for Kailua location: 808-263-8880