spud-n-bug: August 2011

/25 on monday we left for a new island. so after returning the car (thank you smartphone for helping with directions), we got on our flight to the big island -- hawaii. it is a short flight but so different. dad and mom have been to hawaii together a long time ago. and this time we were lucky enough to be able to stay in a condo belonging to dad's college friend and his wife in kailua-kona. we met them at the condo. the kids took very quickly to uncle kirk once everyone was in the pool. the afternoon went quickly as the kids swam in the pool right next to the ocean. it helped build their confidence with the snorkel gear and was warm enough not to cause r to shiver. we had a nice oceanfront dinner at java lava's in kona and then said goodbye to our friends. a return to the condo and bedtime followed.

7/26 Tue: we took it easy today. dad went grocery shopping, the kids played in the pool and then we took a nice drive down the coast to went to pu’uhonau and honaunau. it is amazing to see these incredible historical spots. we live in the midwest, so of course we are aware of the history and culture of indigenous people. but this feels much older. (we can certainly interactions with the pioneers and settler colonialism, but the pre-colonial history is not as visible to me.) r really enjoyed hearing about life during that time and the kapu "rules" that created hierarchy and structure. the consequences for violating social standing were quite severe -- often death. so seeing a place of refuge and talking about justice was quite exciting. r and i talked about the discrepancies in society and how they privilege people with power. rules are often written by people with power to maintain their power and can be unfair. it was a good time. he borrowed k's camera and took pictures. it was nice to see his view of the world. it is all about detail i realized. i will post some examples. we headed home after a nice walk and drive. the area is quite stunning and while mom eyed the coconuts, she could not find any to eat or drink. i am thinking no more fresh sugar cane or coconuts on this trip.

So just to give a quick summary of our other activities in hawaii, let me give you the highlights of each day.

Wed: uncle david brought us malasadas from leonard's bakery in honolulu -- the donuts were amazing. i could have eaten 3! we walked around the bishop museum which is a fascinating place. very uneven exhibits and presentations. we watched a basic planetarium show and a poorly done volcano demonstration, but had a wonderful set of international with the exhibits for the geology of the island and history of the island. many of these exhibits were sponsored by the watamulls -- clearly an indian name. with a little research i figured out that they were an early indian family who migrated to the island and made their money in the hawaiian garment business. see this link. the hula demonstration was kid oriented and very well done. and the history and culture section detailed -- dad spent almost 2 hours walking around this part. afterwards, we headed home, relaxed and then went with our friends to dinner around the corner. all in all a nice day.

Thur: mom thought she had an exam this morning but realized about a half hour after the other adults and kids left that it was the next day. so i tracked them down and joined them on the beach. it was a nice walk from the house down past the zoo to the beach and the kids were playing in the sand and surf. after several hours, we took our kiddos home while aunt t and her sons went on an adventure. a quiet afternoon playing and reading were followed by chinese takeout and then we all to the bus to waikiki to watch hula. the kids were interested after their museum demonstration and watched with curiosity and patience. some french fries and a bus ride later, everyone came home good and tired.

Fri: mom did have an exam by phone today. and after it was over, she got in the car to meet the kids, dad, and aunt t who had left 3 hours before for hanamau bay. i had snorkeled here twice last time i had come to honolulu and it had been great the second day. i got there about the same time as everyone else because the buses had been packed! we all watched the safety video and walked down the hill. the kids were hungry and after some sandwiches we all headed to the water. of course, that is when it started to rain. it did not rain for long, but enough to make some kiddos cold. with the various levels of comfort that we have seen this past week, it is unpredictable whether or not the kids will want to snorkel. we tried but they seemed panicky so they played on shore while dad swam around. it was a 4 kid to 2 adult ratio on shore which was fine. everyone had a good time though the wind and visibility were not good for snorkelers. it was nevertheless such a beautiful place to be. mom made two trips taking everybody home and everyone was happy with their time in the sun. (we listened to npr on the way to and fro and heard about the norwegian terror. thought very much of my graduate student and her work on racism in norway and of the stieg larssen series...)

Sat: despite our intention to get to diamond head early in the morning, by the time breakfast was done, it was late morning. parking at diamond head is a nightmare. they don't let you wait. and there is no where near to park. so after about 45 minutes of circling, i got in the lot. everyone else had been dropped off/walked in from the bus. finally we were ready to climb! diamond head is a caldera (volcano crater) right near waikiki. now climbing diamond head with 2 five year olds and a 7 and 8 year old was not easy. but the kids were terrific. we kept on slow and steady and climbed the whole thing. everyone went their own pace and with 3 adults and 4 kids, that was quite fine. lunch was a breathtaking picnic overlook 2/3 up the trail. do check out the photos! after our hot hike up and down in the sun, we came home and had a little rest before deciding what to do with the rest of the day. the nice thing about vacation is that we could have stopped there and it would have been a fabulous day. but uncle david told us about a japanese lantern festival at the jodo mission on the north shore. dad had read mom a short story about lantern festivals a long time ago. and a festival on the ocean sounded irresistible. so we got in the car and drove 1.5 hours north. k fell asleep and mom picked a thai food truck for dinner (dad's giovanni's shrimp truck was closed). the food was terrific and the owner's son quite adorable. he was smaller than r but they were incredibly friendly and befriended each other quickly. it was nice to see r feeling so relaxed and able to be social with such ease. we headed out and found our friends at the mission. they told us about the green sea turtles (honu) warming themselves on the beach so we went to look at the honu. they are amazing creatures and endangered. it was breathtaking to be so close to them. both kids were clearly touched. r said, "mom this is special. not everybody gets to see such animals. and we are polluting our oceans. they might become extinct in our lifetime. i am lucky to see them up close and see their beauty. this is a rare treat." the night continued to be amazing. the dancing and the tae ko drums at the festival were fabulous. and the old women with their well practiced and graceful moves were mesmerizing. we donated money to the fundraising for the tsunami and got cool tshirts for uncle david and dad. then finally it was time for the lanterns. it is hard to describe the beauty of the night. family's light a lantern and right their ancestors and dead loved ones names on the lantern and then float them out to sea. so we stood there as waves of lanterns bobbed up and down in bright ribbon out to sea. it was a late night. but this might have been my favorite day of our entire trip.

Sun: north shore – the next day we headed back to the north shore for snorkeling. our friends had plans for brunch and the day so we were on our own. we talked to marie masee who was very pregnant on the way. i am glad we did! we told her to hang in there and hold off on induction, c-sections, and the rest of it. her baby was born the next day i think!

dad wanted to try out sharks cove. so mom took the kids to the tidal pool. we were fortunate enough to park at the same time as the inventor of the koosh ball . he offered to have dad join them on their dive. i felt a lot better because i do not like dad diving on his own. so we went off in different directions. dad got the better end of the deal and hopefully he will post some of the cool footage of him going through arches and other underwater cool things.

Dad, here. Sharks Cove is a fun place to snorkel and free dive on the North Shore of Oahu. I'm the second diver with the long fins (not the diver with the yellow fins and not the videographer). It was really great to run into people who were happy to take me along to share their fun. The fish hanging out in the cave is an ulua, a large pelagic fish sought after by spearfishers.

Here's another video shot in the same area.

the kids and i were in the tide pool. it was a hard combo for the 2-3 hours. k was on the boogie board and had to be pulled everywhere. r was afraid to snorkel and scrape the coral. i had to walk and pull each one. it was a hard journey and finally r decided to build in the sand, but k wanted to stay in the water. we were able to situate ourselves where i could be in the water with k and watch r. between carrying and pulling, mom banged her foot on the coral fairly badly. dinner at home involved finishing off all our various foods and packing for the next day to travel to the next island. whew! oahu was a lot of fun.