The Rest of Mommy's Family's Visit

By the time we woke up on Wednesday, daddy had gone to the airport to go to a place called Moloka'i.

Ah Gu took Ah Mah and Ah Gong hiking up the mountain (!) and we went to work out by the beach.


Ah Mah and Ah Gong on Diamond Head

For dinner we went out to a special restaurant called Roy's. I had the juice.


And I enjoyed the view


Ah Mah teasing Aki with grown-up food

On Thursday we went for a long drive to the North Shore. On the way we stopped to play with pineapples and have some pineapple juice. Daddy says that when he was growing up there was pineapples as far as the eye could see and burning clouds of caramel smoke from sugar cane, but now there's only this pineapple museum. Eh, it was fun anyway.


Even as a pineapple, I love my ukulele


There was a pineapple train


For pulling us pineapples

After we left the plantantion, we went even further up. We had shave ice at Matsumoto's Grocery Store, if only to compare it to Waiola's. I drank the juice.

Then we got to this island theme park, the Polynesian Cultural Center.


They have fishies to feed here


And fishies to fish too!


Hawaiian chiefs of olden days


Three amigos warriors

That was a long day so everyone just collapsed at home after Chinese food from Lung Fung.

On Friday, daddy played hooky. Hooky from us that is! He took Ah Gu hiking up in the mountains.


The hike they went on


Koolau crest


Ah Gu wading in the pool at the end

Looked like fun. Maybe next time I go?

Later on Friday we went for a party at Sea Life Park. We got there early so we had to wait for the doors to open.


Aki loves waiting!


Finally we got in


Gizmo is a baby sea turtle. He looks fake but he's real!


Ah Gu getting in the spirit


I liked the dolphin show

Then it was time to eat. And watch dancing. But really, it was time to eat. Daddy led the way with two plates of the yummy Hawaiian food. I had some fried noodles, rainbow jello and juice. Hey, it was late.


Polynesian dancers


Ooh, I almost went to sleep before this guy came out

On Saturday we woke up extra early to go to the Farmer's Market at KCC. Grandma likes to get there before it opens at 7:30.


Mommy fueling up for the day with the special high-energy loco moco. Looks good!

Then it was on to the Windward side. We saw lots of plants and flowers at the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens. I mean, Ah Mah and Ah Gong did, since me and Aki were asleep.

We woke up in time to get to this place, the Byodo-In temple at the Valley of the Temples.


Buddha sitting outside


We fed the fishies here too. These ones were bigger. Must be the huge bag of food you get for your $1.


Daddy helped me ring the bell

In the evening, Aunty Marlene, Grandma and Kung Kung came over to have dinner.


We put them to work wrapping up plastic mesh to make into dish scrubbers. Really.


I wanted a mesh t-shirt, but this was the best we could do


So instead of the mesh t-shirt, I went outside to play bubbles

Today Ah Mah and Ah Gong had to go back to California. I was sad to see them go...


Hanging in the back yard before they left

Ah Gong stuck around a little longer, if only to get a little more sunburned.


Eating plate lunches at the beach with Uncle Jeff


Most importantly, we got some shave ice at Waiola's! And I drank the juice.

We had a great time with Ah Mah, Ah Gong, and Ah Gu. Next time, maybe they can stay for two weeks? And can I have some juice?

Mommy's Parents in Honolulu

So Mommy's parents came in last weekend and we've been keeping busy showing them the sights.


First we picked them up at the airport. They got these flower necklaces.

The next day we went to do a fun run at the beach.


Ah Mah enjoying the music


After he finished, Ah Gu came back to walk with me and mommy and Aki


Here's me doing the toddler run


Getting my prize--a Marathon Jon bear. Now where is that guy?


The beach was empty early in the morning at Ala Moana


We helped to fill it up


Ah Mah and Ah Gong stayed on the sand with Aki

That night we had a little party at our house.


Ah Mah was busy


Uncle Jeff made me some arm pads


Uncle Dwayne, you need some of this!


Lots of relatives came over

This week we went to the Pali.


This pose lets me show you my biceps and clean my nose at the same time


The Pali is windy sometimes

I've been having lots of fun with more people around. I've been keeping up with my music.


Here's an early morning concert for Daddy and Aki.


And of course we eat a lot. Mommy had crab at Tsukiji. I had shave ice. Daddy ate everything else.

Ok, we're caught up to Tuesday! Next time, daddy disappears, and we go on a train ride! Good night!

More Grandparents

Tomorrow Ah Mah and Ah Gong are coming. Ah Gu too! I am in training for their arrival. I have just learned how to roll over back to front and I also make a bulldog face now.


Grr. My mouth is full of drool...

Pictures Are Back

So now that we're in the new house, we have some Internet access back again, courtesy of several of our neighbors. I've been having a great time here in Hawaii, and so has Owen!

Saturday was a busy busy day.


Big brother studying the guitarist at the KCC Farmer's Market


This looks like fun, when can I do this?


I guess I have to learn how to do this first


We went to Aunty Kiyomi's house, and I got a present!


Later we went to see this ukulele player at the shopping center. Owen liked it a lot, or at least the first 20 minutes!


I thought it was pretty good too

On Sunday we went to dinner at Uncle JT's house.


Here is Owen working on his core. This move is called the Snail.


Owen played the harmonica while I slept

On Tuesday we had our first guest in our new place, Aunty Shellie!


She's nice.


Mommy's nice too

Today we went to Queens Beach. The water was too rough for me to go in, but Owen did a little wading in the waves. Later we went to the aquarium. The AC was broken so I just walked around outside with mama. That always makes me sleepy. Here's some of what Owen saw:


Not a touch tank


Nemos


Lau'ipala from the book grandma got us


What visit would be complete without Owen seeing a diver...


Crazy humuhumunukunukuapua'a


Very small giant clams

Ok, that's enough updating for me. I have to go to sleep now so that I can wake up in the wee hours of the morning. Bye!

This Week on O`ahu

Hi everybody! We've had a great week in Hawaii. Daddy went to work every day this week, but mommy, me and Aki (and Kung Kung and Grandma) have been keeping very busy.

Monday we went to the Bishop Museum. They had whales, but not just any whales... scary robot whales!

Tuesday we tried to go to a stroller exercise class like back in MA, but the Tuesday class got canceled. Too bad. I got to play at the park and then we went to art class. I came out all covered in shiny glitter!

Because we couldn't go to the stroller class on Tuesday, we went Wednesday. It was at the beach! Good thing mommy didn't have to push the stroller on the beach. After the beach we met Kung Kung, Grandma, and Uncle JT for lunch at Uncle Dan's favorite food court in the whole world, Makai Marketplace.

Yesterday we went to the park with a new friend, Dayton, and his little sister Saige. Mommy met their mommy "on line". We went back to the beach again today with them. I had a lot of fun swimming in the ocean.

Wow, this week went by fast! I'm having fun hanging out with my grandparents, chasing the cats, and running around the house. I'm so glad we're here in Hawaii for a few more weeks...

Fun in the Sun

So... quick recap of our trip so far... I spent Thursday running around the house and collapsed before the sun went down. Friday we went shopping for beds. I liked testing out the mattresses! Yesterday we went to the Kapiolani Community College Farmer's Market where I had a yummy ginger-ade and little pickle sushis. Then we went to the big main library. I checked out a few old favorites and quite a few new ones. Kung Kung could just barely carry all of my books!

Today we took a break from boring shopping to hit the beach. Uncle Jeff came over and we went down to see some tidepools at Sandy Beach. Only problem was, the tide was coming in, and we didn't get to see too many pools. That was okay though-- Daddy wasn't quick enough to catch fish with his net, and Uncle Jeff wasn't too lucky with his fishing pole.

Instead I splashed around in the water, rode some waves, dug the sand, and played with the hermit crabs that Kung Kung caught for me. Uncle Jeff finally caught a tiny fish using the pole and the net, then Kung Kung caught a couple more fishies with just his net and his patience.

We took lots of pictures of the beach, but no time to put them up today. Maybe tomorrow? Good night!

A Little Behind...the Scenes, That Is!

First off, let me apologize for the delay in posting. My editor was sick and I was taking care of him, so we had to hold off.

We also have a temporary new home base...in Hawaii! That's right, we are here in Hawaii, in my ancestral homeland, hanging out for a month while daddy works at the local hospital and we get to play with Kung Kung and grandma. Mommy is here too.

Instead of recapping our Fourth of July festivities from over a week ago, take a look at the pictures from then on our Flickr Photos site. Suffice it to say, we had a great time with the parade, carnival rides, fireworks, and even another "fun" run.

We've gotten settled a little into Hawaii, but more on that in upcoming posts. Kung Kung has a Zen-like patience with his dial-up internet connection, so we may be experimenting with "mo-blogging" too. Hopefully we will get a chance to put up some pictures too...

Bubble time

I had some spit up of my own this weekend, so inspired by bubble man, we had bubble time. I got to try out all the different bubblers we had. Except for that bubble gun... I wonder where I put it?


Big bubble


My bubble straw


The gymboree bubble blower

While we were blowing bubbles, mommy took Aki to see some badminton. My aunty and uncles from the OC were here playing. Congrats to Aunty Cee, Uncle Phillip and Uncle Ryan.