Kaka'ako Waterfront Park

Here's a picture of my kids eating a picnic lunch at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park.  How lucky am I to get to include views like this in my weekly routine?!  The tropics aren't for everyone but I'm sure happy living here!  And would you believe this was Plan B for a picnic spot?

When we have an activity/appointment on the Windward side before lunch and one in town after lunch I often pack a lunch and we picnic at Nu'uanu Valley Park on the way.  If it's raining there we just keep driving until we find sunshine, which is how we ended up at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park.

There's no playgroung but there's lots of wide open space and both my kids enjoy running up and down the big hills.  There are lots of places to picnic - near the parking lot, at the top of one of the hills, under a pavilion by the water or, as shown in the picture above, on the grass facing the ocean.  I loved this spot we found.  Sure can't beat the view!!  We all had fun watching tugboats pulling container ships out to sea and watching people take parasail rides.  We were a bit windblown when we left but were no longer hungry and were refreshed and ready to continue on with our day!


Do it yourself:
• Kaka'ako Waterfront Park is just across from the Children's Discovery Center at the end of Ohe Street, which intersects with Ala Moana Blvd. between the Aloha Tower and Ward's Warehouse.  Look up Ohe Street, Honolulu, HI on Google maps and you'll see it!
• The park has bathrooms and picnic tables.
• It's a popular spot for school groups to have lunch on their field trips but there is still plenty of space there even if you see five school buses in the parking lot.


Thanks to SteadyMom for hosting her Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge.

Zia's Caffe

I pride myself in being able to put off grocery shopping much longer than planned and still make healthy and tasty meals, but I pushed it a little too far last week and our fridge got so empty I suggested we should eat out.

We decided to head to Zia's Caffe in Kaneohe.  The setting, right on Kam Hwy, isn't anything special but they bring bread right away (always nice when dining out with kids) and we like their food - good salads and lots of great pasta dishes to choose from.  Pizza and lots of other choices too, but we always go with salad and pasta and if the kids have been on good behavior, they get ice cream for dessert.

They have a small patio and we sat there.  Our girl commented on a couple loud trucks that went by, but other than that we didn't really notice that we were right by the road.  The kids enjoyed coloring on their children's menus until the food came and we all enjoyed our meal, which did end with ice cream for the kids.


Do it yourself

Head to the website for Zia's Caffe to see their menu, get directions, check their hours, etc.  They have locations in both Kailua and Kaneohe.  We've eaten at both and I would recommend both.

Flat Stanley Visits Oahu

Have you ever met a Flat Stanley?  I've met three, but I've discovered that many people have never met a single one.  If you've never met a Stanley, let me explain.  Jeff Brown wrote a book called Flat Stanley about a boy who wakes up and discovers he was flattened by something that fell on him during the night.  The book (books actually, I think there's a whole series) goes on to describe the adventures he has while he is flat, including traveling by mail to a new place.  Many classes use this as a fun way to do a geography lesson, with each student making a Flat Stanley and mailing him somewhere.  So, on with my story.

Flat Stanley came to visit us from Louisiana.  When he arrived we got him a flower lei and I made him sunglasses and he was ready for some island adventures. 

Flat Stanley went to Nature Hour at Ho'omaluhia with us and we got some pictures of him on the nature trail there.  He also went to gymnastics class where he got a sticker for good participation for jumping on the trampoline with my boy.  

We wanted to make sure that Stanley's adventures included some uniquely Hawaiian things so we took him to beautiful Bellows Beach and took pictures of him digging and being buried in the sand.

We also took him to get some shave ice at Island Snow and of course got some ourselves too.

We had fun hosting Stanley and my boy even got a little nostalgic at the post office when mailing him back.  I think he enjoyed showing Stanley the sights.  What a fun way to learn about geography!  Which reminds me, I need to get out a map and teach my boy a little about Louisiana so we can get in on the learning part of this experience too!

Mahalo to SteadyMom for hosting the Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge again this week!

May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii

May 1 is Lei Day in Hawaii, and in honor of Lei Day there are lots of festivities and programs featuring traditional Hawaiian culture.  Many events are on Lei Day itself, but often schools have their programs at various times before or after May 1.

Sunday night we went to the May Day program at a high school where a number of our favorite teenagers go to school.  It's not a very big school, but they put on an excellent program!  They started with the introduction of their May Day court, with the prince and princess representing each island wearing the traditional colors and leis of that island.  The program included traditional Hawaiian hulas but also included dances from many other Pacific cultures including the Philippines, New Zealand, Samoa, Tahiti and a few others.  The students had obviously spent a lot of time rehearsing and their costumes were all very good too.

The Maori men's dance scared our girl and made her cry, but she recovered and enjoyed the rest of the program...well, except for the fire dance at the end.  She didn't cry for that one, but definitely wasn't thrilled with it and we think it gave her nightmares.  That night she woke up crying a couple times and when my husband checked on her he said she mumbled "fire."  Poor thing!

Our boy enjoyed the program, especially the dances that included spears and sticks.  "Dad, are there going to be any more dances where they pretend to fight?" he asked and then added, "I hope so!"

The program was long, just over two hours, but I can't think of any part of it that I'd have wanted them to leave out.  It was a great cultural experience, kind of like our own Polynesian Cultural Center show but without the hefty admission price.

Do it yourself:

Here is more info on the history of Lei Day.

If you're on Oahu, check and see if there are any schools that haven't had their May Day program yet.  If they're open to the public I would recommend taking your keiki.  Like I said, definitely a great cultural experience!