Hot Date and Sea Side Cafe

I love lazy, weekend, daytime dates! Cliff and I decided to park in a neighborhood near the sea wall and take a walk along the water.


You just never know what you are going to find around here. Exploring never gets old. This is a bar made out of an old bus. See the sign by the door? We were pretty sure the place was abandoned by the looks of it...but you really never know.



Beautiful stained glass...



Interesting architecture...



And of course, fishermen.



We walked from one end of the sea wall, as far as we could down to the other, and then came back for lunch nearer to where we started at the Sea Side Cafe. We've heard rave reviews about this place and were eager to try it. There was a family with wild kids running roughshod over the place inside (it's a very small restaurant) and it felt like they had no AC going, so we did an about face and opted for the front patio seating. It was hard to beat the view. A couple of the other tables on the patio had chillin' dogs tethered to them while their owners relaxed and ate. Combined with the sound and smell of the water, the whole scene was very serene.



A little peek at the menu. While hard to pass on a "Big velly burger"...



I had to go with the number one Smoked Salmon & Avocado (with lemon cream french sauce).

Cliff thought about the classic burger, but rumor has it, it's number two...



So he opted for the fish and chips.

The food was simple, but delicious. I think it's a perfect spot for lunch. They even have (not free) Wi-Fi if you are interested...and it's pet (and apparently kid) friendly.

If you had one more day in paradise...

What would you do? Jake would have loved to have spent the day at the beach or a water park...but since those were out of the question, he asked to go back to Waikiki to take another spin around the International Marketplace.


We made one more trip to The Cheesecake Factory, so that Jake could order this monstrosity (he did eat lunch first).



There's nothing like this on Okinawa...which is probably a very good thing!



As we were getting ready to cross the street between The Cheesecake Factory and The Marketplace, we encountered a bird man. He was covered in exotic birds (obviously looking for "tips" for pictures). I saw dollar signs appear in the bird man's eyes as I rolled up with my kid in the wheelchair.



He paid special attention to Jake...



And of course, I fell for it completely!



Remember how I can't pass up a cheesy, touristy, photo-op?



Have I mentioned how extremely ticklish Jacob is? The most ticklish person I know. That forth bird trying to make his way up to Jake's shoulder with his beak just sent him over the edge.



We did some final souvenir shopping for the peeps back home, and I had to get a pic of this old graffiti tree. What can I say, I'm a tree hugger.

Then, we drove back to the hotel to do laundry and pack for our big morning tomorrow. Home sweet home, here we come!

Hawaii...it's been real. You will forever stay a honeymoon destination in my heart, but other than that...I want nothing to do with you. Nothing personal...it's the traumatic stress talking.

Patrick on the Today Show!

Oh my goodness, they really DID make it on the Today Show!


That's my baby's tongue on National TV!



And I see he purchased an "I heart NY" t-shirt to replace the "I only like NY as a friend" t-shirt I gave him for Christmas.



Here's a clip of the gang chatting with Al. I have watched it over.and.over.

Mrs. Deakins has been sending nightly emails to all the parents, recapping the adventures of the day. In all the other school trips my kids have taken, this has never happened before and I appreciate it so much. It helps me to still feel in the loop, even though I'm not at home, either. Just one more example of why Mrs. Deakins is da bomb! I can't wait to hear all about it from Patrick! I wonder which one of us will get home, first?

Patrick is Headed to Broadway!

After much work, wait and fund raising, the day has finally arrived. Patrick's awesome drama teacher, Mrs. Deakins...has gone above and beyond in planning, coordinating, championing and working miracles to pull off the adventure of a lifetime.

Patrick and fellow drama-geeks will be leaving for NYC (via Korea and SFO) today. I am a bit sad not to be there to see him off at the airport...but the excitement I feel for him makes up for it. The kids will be participating in workshops during the day, seeing Broadway shows at night...and fitting in the sights, too...such as Lady Liberty, FAO Schwartz, etc. They are also going to try to get on the Today Show. Good luck, everyone!



Oh...and I never did get a chance to post this video from Patrick's Far East Drama experience in Korea. One of his talented classmates put it together, and I just can't get enough of it. Lots of good footage of Patrick in it, so I hope you'll check it out.

Museum, Mongolian and Good Fortune

Poor Jake gets so bored. I feel sorry for him...but not so sorry that I relish leaving the room and dealing with this:


You wanna know what's worse? Crawling along in this parking lot, realizing...you missed your turn...and that it would cost you at least an extra thirty minutes of drive time. Awesome. It was about this point that I asked Jake if it would be OK with him if we just stayed in the hotel room the rest of our trip.



Drive with Aloha, my eye. I've got your Aloha, right here!



We finally made it to our destination, The Pacific Aviation Museum.



Pshhh...this map makes it look so much easier.



If only every road led to our destination this way.



What displays they had were very well done, but the museum was much smaller than we imagined.



I mean, this looks like just one wall in Jake's room.



After the aviation museum, we went back to the room to wait for Heidi's call. She had offered to take us to Hickam AFB for Mongolian BBQ tonight. What a beautiful location. (Unfortunately, my camera was not cooperating and would not focus properly...I think because of the steam...but you get the idea.)



Brandon is Jake's age. Jake immediately relaxed and enjoyed visiting with him...and Brandon was so considerate...all of the kids were...in helping Jake with anything he needed. It was such a lovely evening and I'm so grateful to Heidi for making the effort...with 6 of her kids!



Oh...and I can't make this stuff up. This was the fortune from my cookie. While not actually a fortune by definition, I think it was pretty apropos, don't you? I know I will never forget Heidi's kindness.

North Shore Drive

We had planned to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center today, but Jake really didn't feel up to it. Instead, we decided just to take a windshield tour of the windward side of the island. We had to do something to get out of the room.

First, we took H3 straight out to the Marine base at Kaneohe Bay to look around at the BX, quarters, etc. You know, the important stuff. It is a very nice base with lots of new and improved housing. We ate lunch at the food court. {Only the best for Jake.} Then we did a little shopping. Not too much, though...not a lot of room left in the suitcases. Just important things...like chocolate chip macadamia nut shortbread cookies.



This is just the way I remember it from 20 years ago. I think it's wild how the road runs right along the ocean. See how wet it is? That is from the waves crashing onto the road. It was fun to watch.



I wonder how many people have driven straight into the ocean?



We followed the signs to the LDS temple in Laie. Beautiful! It had just opened back up after two years of renovations.



Then we backtracked a little to check out the BYU Hawaii campus.



What a gorgeous campus. We're hoping one/some of our kids have the opportunity to go here.



Jake still didn't feel like stopping at the Cultural Center next door, so we just kept driving...up to the North Shore. We found parking right off the road and stopped to take in the sights for awhile. {With Hawaiian radio 105.1, KINE, playing in the background, of course. It's been our constant soundtrack for our adventure here. Hawaiian music is probably going to give me traumatic flashbacks of this experience now.}



The waves were awesome. I could have sat here all afternoon and watched.



Then, to add to the local flavor, a machete-wielding stranger walked up to our car with a green coconut...



And made us an offer we couldn't refuse. {Seriously, we were afraid of what he might do with that machete if we turned him down.}



Jake loves coconut and was super excited to be drinking from one. The straw looked suspiciously like those McDonald's carries...and with no wrapper in sight, I had my worries about its origin. {Here's hoping Jake's "local" experience doesn't have him "going coconuts" all night.}

Andy's and Army Museum

Although I am grateful we are so close to the hospital (traffic can be a nightmare), there is nothing close by for shopping and food. The directory in the room has a map with several options just on the other side of the freeway...things like Papa John's Pizza and a Chinese place. It didn't take me long (just about 30 minutes of driving in circles) to figure out the map is outdated. It has all been replaced with car dealerships.

I called the front desk and asked for the nearest commissary. He said there was one right down the road at Ft. Shafter. I was so relieved...only to discover that by commissary, the clerk thought I meant gas station with shopette. While they did have a few items of produce and other groceries, I was completely traumatized when I picked up a bundle of bananas and a gecko jumped out of it and onto my hand. This place was OFF the list!

With Heidi's help, I was able to find a nice, big commissary to stock up...but with only a small microwave and fridge in the room, we did still need to buy at least one meal a day. Finding no apparent restaurants in the vicinity left me consulting the Internet for clues. The process was tedious...trying to figure out what was close enough...but then I just did a simple search for "Honolulu restaurants" and quickly came upon a site called yelp.com...filled with pages of restaurant reviews, which could be sorted by price, cuisine, neighborhood, etc. It has become my new best friend.

There is a problem with this, though...instead of looking for close and/or cheap...I couldn't help but look for what sounds the best, or is the most highly rated. Andy's is both...although close it is not. No matter...with page after page of rave reviews for their homemade bread, hand-carved turkey, to-die-for smoothies and fresh pastries...I would have driven the island over. In traffic. Luckily, I only had to go as far as Manoa Valley.


It was a little bit of a challenge to find...we drove past it the first time. There were lots of reviews filled with warnings about the lack of parking spots, but fortunately for us, Jake now comes with special VIP parking. My mouth is starting to water just looking at their sign again...



And is it any wonder? I mean...look at that sandwich! And the smoothie? Jake got strawberries and cream (which had yummy coconut milk), and mine was a tropical slice of heaven with stuff like papaya, mango, strawberry and banana. Andy's is the definition of 'hole in the wall'. To demonstrate...see the guy sitting at the table on the left? That table is up against the shelving that runs the length of the restaurant. See the person leaning on the right? He is leaning against the coolers that line the other wall. That's how big the place is. This proved unfortunate when the young couple seated at the table next to us started making out. I'm not kidding. I saw her tongue and everything. Classy. Jake looked like he wanted to rake out his own eyeballs with his bare hands. {Man, how I miss the society of zero public display of affection...where my husband and I catch sideways glances for holding hands. I wanna go home!}



And get a load of that menu...does that just scream YUM?!



Oh my goodness, I want to bite my computer screen! See those white bags up top? They hold homemade, chocolate-chip granola bars and chocolate muffins for the road. They were already out of their famous apple turnovers, so we will have to go back, for sure.

On the drive down, we saw traffic horribly backed up in the opposite direction, and heard on the radio that there was a shooting of some sort which had a major road totally blocked off. Charming. Rather than sit in that nightmare, or try to magically find an alternate route home, we decided to head down to Waikiki and check out the Army museum to kill some time. {That's probably not the best phraseology. Sorry.}



Again, plenty of VIP parking right up front.

Ahhh...pining away for "home" just like me, I'm guessing.



This was a very cool tribute to veterans of the Korean War. We found lots more to see inside...











I found this exhibit the most interesting...and touching. General Shinseki is Hawaii's homegrown hero, and there was an entire room dedicated to his life and military career.

If you can't read this, click on it to enlarge. Reading this brought tears to my eyes. Who wouldn't want those things said about her by her husband? What a special relationship they have...and he sure has a way with words.



When we got back to the hotel, we were greeted by a very special surprise from Grandpa Jim. What could it be?



Is this gorgeous or what? These ginger flowers are individually wrapped with rose petals. I wonder how long something like this takes to make?



Jake's was a manlier variety...but just as beautiful. It was so thoughtful of my dad to send us something to help us catch the "aloha" spirit...



Heaven knows we could use some of that around here. Thanks, Dad!