Milena got up early as usual, so I bribed her with some gummy bears. That's how you parent, right?
Leila was completely bagged from surfing the day before, so she slept in a little longer.
Before we hit the beach, we visited an outlet plaza that might have the best deals on the planet. Our Asian friends are acutely aware of this and they'll cause lineups to get into stores like Coach and Kate Spade.
We did a bit of shopping, but then hung out by the trunk for a bit before heading onwards.
Kalama is one of Mandy's favourite beaches and on the northern end of Kailua Beach and it's awesome. It's on the windward side so yes, there is a consistent wind but considering all it has to offer, that warm breeze is totally fine.
The waves keep coming and the sand is so soft that it makes leaving here even harder.
By the end of our trip, the kids have once again become so used to the waves and the salt water that it is a thing of beauty. Perhaps moving here would be easier than I thought...
As we head home for the day, we picked up a pizza at Prima, a place I was interested in. IT did not disappoint.
We weren't going to make it back to Sunset in time for the sunset (possibly pizza related), but we let Ethan run out during a bathroom break just to touch the ocean in a different spot.
Another successful day! Tomorrow is really just packing up, hitting a few quick beaches along the way and then off to HNL for the long journey back home.
I split the day up into two posts since there was a lot to mention in the surfing post. I could've posted a lot more photos of it as well, but I'll save them for when the movie comes out.
We cleaned ourselves up a bit, had lunch and headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It is a great setup where there is lots to learn about the many islands and their people, such as Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii, etc.
Each island puts on a bit of a show and afterwards hosts some lessons ranging from fire-making, to baton twirling to weaving, etc. It sounds a lot less interesting writing about it than actually doing it.
(imagine these had fire on the ends and it sounds more exciting)
Out of all the stations, the only one that wasn't supervised was the fire making one. I figured that if the Samoans weren't concerned, neither was I so I grabbed a beer while these guys tried to burn it all down.
And then, it started pouring like crazy. And hard. Some people were quick to buy ponchos, but not me. I knew better. As a part-time weatherman, I was sure it was going to pass.
And it did - 5 hours later. After getting completely drenched, we went back to our house to change and then returned to the PCC looking dry and fresh, scoffing at the drying service that was offered to us at dinner. I should mention that around here rain is a slight inconvenience. It's warm and doesn't feel nearly as bone chilling, so the only real problem is that you don't look as good as usual and sunblock has now drained into your eyes.
We at an awesome buffet dinner, where the kids ate Taro rolls (the purple ones) and loved them.
The show told a story about the circle of life and the performance was fantastic. While some of it confused Leila, she picked up on a lot of it and was very happy when they showed the two people getting married.
Ethan...well, he didn't care. He only wanted to see fire and had no interest in keeping quiet or sitting still. That wasn't really comfortable, but his energy was so awesome (and like that the whole trip) that it was fun to see.
Once it had finished, the kids wanted to go thank and take a photo with some of the cast. As tired as they were, these guys embraced the kids and smiled...and made their night.
The day I look forward to most on Oahu finally arrived. Surfing is one of most fun, simple (in concept!) and pure things I have done and it is difficult to describe the peace I feel when doing it...or at least trying to do it.
The waves weren't very big at all this time around, but that made both the wipeouts less grand and the paddling back out easier. And most importantly, it meant that Leila could come out as well! Rowyne had expressed interest in coming out and that might have been what triggered Leila's interest at first. Of course, both girls were so nervous and vocalized that numerous times before heading out. I was as excited for them as I was for me.
When we got suited up and learned the basics of getting up on a board, we started paddling out. Leila rode tandem with an instructor named Vi (or Fy?) which was the best thing that could've happened. She also had a 7 year old daughter at home and ensured that Leila had the most fun on the board possible.
Vi had calmed Leila's nerves pretty quickly and I could hear them chatting about all sorts of stuff while we waited for waves.
We even managed to catch a few together!
(this is the best)
Rowyne got the hang of it pretty quickly and our instructor Trek had mentioned a few times about her impressive paddling strength.
She was getting up quickly and often and loving every minute of it.
After a while, I got sick and tired of everyone talking about how well the girls were doing and thought it might be best to step up some localism and push them out of the way.
This is how that turned out.
(at least my board is still there)
Really, the only thing that could have made this better was if Ethan had come out as well... and he was quick to tell me that he changed his mind and wanted to go out surfing.
I don't blame him - it is one of the best feelings ever. And yes, next time, he will most certainly go!
I originally wanted to have bigger waves since they were so much fun the last time. Of course, that might have scared off the girls, so this was a much bigger win. We were all so stoked by the end of it that as always, I regretted not doing it earlier and multiple times. Next time!
After surfing with the little energy we had left, we got cleaned up and headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center to learn some fun stuff and to go to "Ha! The Breath of Life."
Yesterday, we spent a bunch of time around boats. So naturally this day would start with Ethan captaining his sofa boat and Milena acting as first mate.
The traveled from Oahu to Maui and back a bunch of times and once that was done, we went to Backyards for our first beach of the day.
Milena found it very entertaining to throw sand on my legs.
We headed into town to find Uncle Bryan, owner of Sunset Suratt Surf School and after a little stroll down memory lane, booked surf lessons for tomorrow for Rowyne, Leila and me. We then went for lunch at a yummy burger spot named Kua'Aina.
It was delicious and I think that the local chickens and roosters would agree. Leila and Ethan fed them more than they fed themselves. It feels good knowing that we are paying to keep the local fowl fed.
Now that all living things were fed, we went back to Three Tables for a bit more swimming. And Milena continued with her new favourite pastime.
We had semi-officially set a goal to hit 4 beaches today, so we moved on to Turtle Bay Resort, the only fancy hotel on the north shore. It's pretty nice and they have to allow public access to the shoreline. Victory!
We'd wrap up the day and reach our goal by getting to Sunset for well, the sunset. I'd say we were successful.
We usually spend one day in Waikiki, shopping and beaching. It is usually more than enough, since shopping is expensive and the beaches are crazy packed.
In the North Shore, there is an acceptance of "No shirt, no shoes, no skirt, no problem." Things are different here. Everything moves faster. Even Milena could feel it, so she held on to Mandy for dear life.
Just kidding - she just wanted to give Mandy a hug. As fast paced as it is, I'd still live here in heartbeat.
There's a break wall to make it real safe and fun for kids...and also to play water polo on surfboards.
After some fun in the water and in the stores, we hit the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Not authentic Hawaiian, but definitely easy to please everyone in the crew.
This town is really beautiful and everything is in pristine shape. While trying to let the ladies have a drink in peace, we traveled up and down a few escalators and ended up here.
Leila is really feeling the sophistication of Waikiki
From the first bus we saw here, Ethan couldn't wait to get on one and ride it around. There were many trolley buses and all but one of them were Japanese speaking tours. I like a good adventure but this one seemed out of reach. I was told "the Pink Line" double decker bus would take us around for $2, so we hopped on.
It started off on the main strip and was really nice, but that quickly broke down as we headed on a bunch of side streets through the city and was a pretty boring trip. Ethan lost interest after the first 30-40 minutes.
I don't really blame him. We are in a parking lot that is under construction.
We returned to meet up with the ladies happily getting thrown around by the waves, right in front of the Royal Hawaiian - the first place we stayed at during our honeymoon on Oahu.
Milena was having a rough time, so we all had some non-dairy frozen banana things that were pretty delicious. Jen and Rowyne (correctly) figured they were toohealthy, so they went up the street for some ice cream options.
(there's always money in the banana stand)
We did a bunch more shopping, then head home later than usual. The kids were so exhausted from all of the waves (and walking) that they fell asleep really quickly.
Before heading into town today, I had my stylist make sure my hair looked pretty slick before heading into town.
When we first arrived on Oahu, I asked a college girl what we should see/do on the island. The only thing she came up with was to take pictures in front of the angel wings, which gave me little hope for the future of our people.
And yet, my eyes lit up when I saw the wings and Leila really wanted a photo in front of them. All of the sudden, the future is looking pretty good.
We wandered around town a bit and ended up at Haleiwa Joe's, an iconic restaurant overlooking the pier. While the view here was awesome, everyone was fully engaged in Mandy's magic tricks.
From there, we headed to Waimea Valley, a 3/4 mile walk through many species of plants that leads to a waterfall and freshwater pond. We also met a few peacocks along the way and were warned that they could be aggressive, so we sent our bravest warrior to make introductions.
The scenery here is beautiful and my photos don't capture the atmosphere, so here is a token shot of some greenery and my word that it was all really nice.
The above photo captures the personalities of the kids pretty well - Rowyne posing nicely, Leila trying to mimic her and Ethan just bolting around like the Flash.
We made it the waterfall and the kids wanted to jump off some of the rocks under the falls. In an effort to win Cool Dad of the Year 2017, I said "yes" immediately.
It's slippery and constantly getting drilled by the water offers quite the challenge, but it's a great test at perseverance.
Reeeeeelax. This is as high as they'd jump from. Even that was difficult enough and really, I was so proud that Leila stuck with it to make it happen.
Rowyne really loved it and probably jumped about 10-12 times. So much fun!
Once we'd had our fill, we started back to the beginning to end the day at Sunset Beach. We grabbed a coconut from the equivalent of a white unmarked van selling candy. Seemed legit.
We finally located the spot known as Mother's, it's a part of Sunset that is much more docile and family friendly.
Yes, every beach photo is a postcard.
We had a little snack and packed up our minimalist gear before grabbing some dinner.
There are a bunch of food trucks stationed in one spot so we thought we'd check them out.
One of them even has a big screen playing surf films, so waiting for you food is never a problem. In fact, I was bummed that it arrived so quickly since I was curious about the pubescent love story and how it would turn out. Does the guy get the girl? I'll never know.
Of course, I quickly forgot the movie since these guys performed a play for us. The story was tough to follow and they only had one set with no costume changes, but I gave them an 8/10 for being family.
