Toys 'R Us

My girl is having a birthday soon so the kids and I headed to Toys 'R Us to look at tricycles.  Gotta love the age where you can take your kid with you to shop for their gift and they are none the wiser!  :)

I have mixed feelings about Toys 'R Us.  On the one hand, a great place to see lots of selection and variety at once but on the other hand, total sensory overload!!  And that is for me, can't imagine what it must be like for kids!  Although as I kid I remember I loved that store, but now I leave feeling overwhelmed and a bit dizzy.  Oh, and tired.  I think subconsciously I feel like I am fighting advertising, consumerism, materialism and other 'isms the whole time I am in the store, with the fear that if I let my guard down my home will be overwhelmed with stuff and I'll spend all my days picking up toys.  Oh the drama!

When we didn't find exactly what we were looking for at Toys 'R Us we headed over to Target.  The prices seemed much better there to me, so do some price comparison before you purchase.  As for me, I didn't find the perfect tricycle so the birthday shopping isn't over.  Makes me tired just thinking about it!

Do it Yourself:

For directions and other info to Toys 'R Us on Oahu, click here. 

Hike: Ko'olau Golf Course to Pali Lookout

The weather was beautiful this weekend and we got out and enjoyed it Saturday afternoon with a hike.

We started at the Ko'olau golf course and headed up toward the Pali Lookout.  We've done this hike before and I wrote about it here, but last time we just hiked up to the Pali Highway and turned around there.

This time we went under both lanes of traffic and up these stairs.

That got us onto another trail that we headed uphill on and soon we were on the upper part of the Old Pali Road.  The views were beautiful!

We hiked up the road for awhile but the grumbling from the kids started to grow and so the group split and the kids and some of the adults started back down while the rest of us continued on up the road all the way to the Pali lookout.  It was really windy up there and our girl remembered our last visit and decided she liked it even less this time.  She started crying and would not be consoled so we headed back down the old road and she promptly fell asleep in the most uncomfortable looking position.

We caught up with the rest of our group and continued on down the road until we got to this little bridge, where we headed up over the bank to our cars.

Do it yourself:

I paid better attention to the trail this time so I can be a little more specific with my directions than I was last time.  

Park at the Ko'olau Golf Course and head up the road that leaves from the back left corner of the parking lot as you're facing the mountains.  

When you get to a big water tank, take a left on the trail that leads through the trees there.  This trail will later become an old stone road and then turn back into a trail.  

Later you'll come to a junction of trails.  Turn left for a short walk to a lookout point or go straight to continue on the trail.  

You will eventually come out at a junction of three old roads.  Take the highest (and least cleared) road and go up toward the Pali Highway.  

After you go under the Pali Highway, you will come to another trail.  Take this to the right to get up to the Pali Lookout.

On the way back down, when you get to the junction of the three old roads, instead of going back on the small trail you can take the road on the left (as you're facing the ocean) and it will get you back to your car.

Happy Hiking!!

Na Pohaku O Hauwahine

Awhile ago some friends told us about a spot off of Kapaa Quarry Road (i.e. Dump Road) that they liked to visit.  We had some time one weekend afternoon and went and checked it out.  Calling it a hike is probably a bit of an overstatement – it’s more of a walk, but there are some slight elevation changes and you walk over varied terrain so that’s the hike part of it.

There were a number of trails to choose from and we started out by hiking up to the highest spot we could.  Our friends said they call that spot Pride Rock and as we stood on the top we could see how they came up with that name.  

We told our boy, a huge Lion King fan, that name and he got super excited and immediately tried to assign each of us roles from the story and wanted to act it all out right then and there.  We declined and instead enjoyed the view of the marsh and Kailua in the distance.

We continued to follow various trails and made our way down to the marsh and found a trail built out over it. 

Walking on that reminded me of walking on tundra.  It was really neat.  Our boy quickly headed up to higher ground though to find more rocks to boulder on.  That was definitely his favorite activity!

We didn’t take our backpack carrier and instead let our girl walk when she wanted and carried her in our arms when she wanted up.  The trails were short enough that worked out okay.

This was definitely a neat spot, and quite a surprise.  It felt like we were much farther away from the road than we really were, and the view was different than I’ve seen from any other place.

Do it yourself:

The trailhead for this spot is between the Pali Hwy and the Kapaa Transfer Station (the dump) on Kapaa Quarry Road.  There are pull-outs on both sides of the road and a sign marking the trail.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  Our family celebrates our risen Savior on this day.  I like the Paschal greeting.  In English it is "Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!" and in Russian (according to Wikipedia) Христос воскрес! Воистину воскрес! (Christos voskres! Voistinu voskres!) 


Last year we were here for Western Easter and in Russia on Orthodox Easter.  This year they are both on the same day and we are celebrating here in Hawaii.  The kids have already had their candy fix for the day (although I'm sure there will be more to come) and are excited about an egg hunt with their friends later today.


No matter what, why or how you celebrate on this day, I hope you have a wonderful Easter!