Family Sunday at Honolulu Academy of Arts

We made a last minute decision to add the Academy of Arts into our weekend plans and we were sure glad we did! We had friends helping to put on a Lego display there on Sunday. It was amazing what they built, all with legos - any description I could give wouldn't do it justice.

We went for the legos but ended up enjoying other aspects of the museum too. It was a free family Sunday and the theme was Medieval (wow, spelled that right on the first try!) Times. The museum had a "gallery hunt" in which children could look for five specific pieces of art related to medieval times and answer questions about them. To my surprise our boy really got into it, even before he found out he'd get a prize at the end. That got us into the galleries where we all got to enjoy the art along the way.

Throughout the grounds of the museum there were stations where children (and adults too if they wanted) could try on medieval clothes, touch items from that time period, do various craft projects and watch demonstrations. Our girl didn't like the battle between the knights, but it wasn't crowded so we could quickly and easily take her away from the action.
The event was really well done and a great outing for kids and their parents. The museum itself has a very nice collection of pieces and is a nice size - big enough to have a quality collection but small enough to see it all in part of a day.

Do it yourself:

There are two more Family Sundays this year.

November 15 - Views from the Top

December 20 - Keiki Christmas

There's free street parking if you can find a spot as well as metered parking and a pay to park lot nearby. The museum was busy but not overwhelming crowded by any means.

Pumpkin Patch at Aloun Farms

For more up to date information, use this link to read about our 2011 Visit to Aloun Farms.

A pumpkin patch in Hawaii? Yes!! This is what the little stand looks like where you pay for hay rides, pumpkins and other fresh veggies:

And here's a view of the pumpkin patch with Honolulu and Diamond Head in the background:

I had heard the pumpkin patch was hot and dusty but we decided to brave the elements and go see it for ourselves. As we pulled into the parking area we saw a mom slapping at her crying child with a slipper and when we got out of our car the sound of crying and whining children filled our ears as families made their way back to their cars. Oh boy, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all...but on we went.

We had coupons for a free hayride (we got them at the Made in Hawaii Festival) and we headed to do that first. The ride took us around the perimeter of the pumpkin patch and we all had a fun time.
Then it was off to the pumpkin patch in search of the perfect pumpkins. We decided we'd get a small one for each child and a big one to carve.
Our girl had fun walking through the field and got herself quite dirty in no time. She liked the big pumpkins best and thought they made great drums. Our boy enjoyed the pumpkin selecting process. Our criteria was that he had to be able to carry whatever pumpkin he picked. He quickly found his own pumpkin, picked one out for his sister and offered lots of advice on which big pumpkin we should get.

As we wrapped up the pumpkin picking my husband and I realized we had very little cash between the two of us ($2 and some loose change in the car). We asked and found out the pumpkin patch only took cash and the nearest ATM was, well, not near. So we ditched the big pumpkin, paid for the kids' little pumpkins and then stopped at the pumpkin pile for one last photo op, where the kids were much more interested in playing with the pumpkins than posing for a photo.
We made it back to the car with no tantrums, tears or whining even though we'd said 'no' to the bouncy house and had only purchased two pumpkins. Hooray for happy kids and happy parents! I think that getting there after the heat of the day definitely worked in our favor.

Do it yourself:

The patch is open to the public for two more weekends. Go to the Aloun Farms website for all the details.

Waikiki Aquarium

Last week we met up with relatives who were on island and went to the aquarium. Our boy went there with Grandma last summer but I hadn't been in years and my husband and our girl had never been. Our boy wanted to see an octopus so that is what he was on the lookout for. This picture is a bit blurry but you can see that Mr. (or maybe Mrs.) Octopus cooperated beautifully and was waiting right up against the glass for us. When we passed by the tank later and could only see one of its legs sticking out of a hole in the rocks I realized just how lucky we'd been our first time by!
We got an audio guide at the entrance. I wouldn't have paid for one but they were free and we put it to good use. My boy actually listened to a couple of the descriptions of things and then my girl used it as a phone and chatted her way through the aquarium.
The aquarium is fairly small but makes up for its quantity with its quality. Lots of variety of sea life (my favorites were the different jelly fish they had), nice clean aquariums, great signs and labels on things - very well done.
After seeing the sights inside we went out to see the tide pool tank they have. We also saw the biggest and healthiest looking monk seals I've ever seen.

Do it yourself:
If you want more info., including directions and admission prices, visit the Waikiki Aquarium Website.

Ducks & Shave Ice

My boy decided he wanted to go feed ducks, so off we went one day this week to do just that. I decided to head to the canal in Kailua because there are always ducks there. We parked and walked to the edge of the canal and...no ducks. Not a single duck in sight. I decided to hang out there a few minutes and maybe ducks would show up. No ducks.

So we decided to leave and head to a different part of the canal and just as we turned to leave I spotted four white ducks across the canal, waddling down to the water's edge to swim over to us. My boy eagerly rushed to feed them and they eagerly headed toward the food. They were a little too eager actually and in this picture my boy has just jerked his hand away from a duck who nibbled on his thumb by mistake.
After that it was pretty difficult to get a picture of either of my kids feeding the ducks because they stood right next to me for protection from the ducks, which continued to appear from all directions.
All too soon we'd exhausted our supply of food for the ducks. We filled our empty sack with some trash from the edge of the canal (trying to leave the spot better than we found it) and headed to Island Snow for some shave ice. Yum! Their li hing mui flavor is the best I've had on the island and their keiki cups are not only a great serving size for a child but they actually come in cups - genius! So much easier for my boy to eat than when the ice is piled high above a tiny paper cone and half of it ends up on the sidewalk.