July 2018
The Glorious Fourth!
Our Fourth of July began with Lukas’s dramatic announcement while we were still in bed: “Something amazing happened last night!” He was talking, of course, about the American flag stuck in the corner of our lawn by a local realtor (who does this every year). It was so cute and hilarious! After that, it was a classic low-key holiday for us, featuring grilling for both lunch and dinner, the neighborhood parade, an all-day pool session, and in the evening, fireworks at the lake park. Perfection.
Our Fourth of July began with Lukas’s dramatic announcement while we were still in bed: “Something amazing happened last night!” He was talking, of course, about the American flag stuck in the corner of our lawn by a local realtor (who does this every year). It was so cute and hilarious! After that, it was a classic low-key holiday for us, featuring grilling for both lunch and dinner, the neighborhood parade, an all-day pool session, and in the evening, fireworks at the lake park. Perfection.
Hawaii
Because of our friends’ visit and the Sauce connected to it, back in June, we moved our annual Hawaii trip to July this year (7/6 - 7/20). And though there were some un-fun moments, this actually was one of our best trips yet!
—Birds in paradise: Lukas gave names to all the kinds of birds we saw, including protector birds (a kind of crane we saw in the fishponds), superhero birds (black with yellow eyemasks), and red skull worm-eaters (self-explanatory, hella metal).
—The Sand Restaurant: The kids made and served sand food creations for us on some of our beach club days; dishes included: Squid Awesome, Luscious Leaf Platter, Coral Special, Seaweed on the Cob, Delissimo Salad, Shrimp Turtle, Lavas and Lava Rock, Coral Dumplings, Lucky Bowl, and Fried Coconut.
—Characters: We saw a lot of wildlife this trip (including our mascot, Geckie the stuffed gecko), our gecko friends at lunch at Napua (one even came down to our table to sip some water that had spilled! we got video!), the bird family that visited us at breakfast on the lanai nearly every morning, Todd the tiniest gecko at the entryway of our house, and his friend Jake, plus their other friend Jacob on the sidewalk between our parking spot and the condo (names all supplied by Lukas).
—Big times at Hapuna: We spent most days at the beach club, but we did several up at Hapuna, where Lukas boogie-boarded with R.’s help in the launch phase, and Annika and R. bodysurfed, and we all jumped and swam in the clear warm waves; when we were done, around lunchtime, we went up to Kawaihae for lunch at Kohala Burger & Taco (which had expanded by more than double, and was still magically delicious). On our third and final Hapuna day, we were early enough to do a spontaneous petroglyph (or, per Lukas: petchagrifts/pictogrifs/etc) trail hike near the Fairmont on our return (Lukas, sounding like a seasoned trail guide as we picked our way through the kiawe thorns and jutting lava rocks in flip-flops: “I’ve been doing this for two years.”).
—Snorkeling: Annika and R. were the most avid snorkelers, as usual, but I got out there a lot too, and R. came up with a genius solution to get Lukas to join us: In full mask and fins, he floated on the boogie board, which seemed to feel safe enough that he could enjoy it! Yay! We saw all kinds of fish and coral (including eels, which Lukas became obsessed with/terrified of) and even spent 20 minutes swimming with a honu that was going about its business!
—General good times: We did several fishpond walks, built a couple of truly epic sandcastles, sang the KAPA radio song, discovered and loved the Tommy Bahamas restaurant, did SUP with each kid, found poke on nearly every menu for Annika, went to a luau (which was fun but wasn’t as good as the last one we saw), and managed to mostly forget about life on the mainland for awhile … aloha, and mahalo till next year!
Because of our friends’ visit and the Sauce connected to it, back in June, we moved our annual Hawaii trip to July this year (7/6 - 7/20). And though there were some un-fun moments, this actually was one of our best trips yet!
—Birds in paradise: Lukas gave names to all the kinds of birds we saw, including protector birds (a kind of crane we saw in the fishponds), superhero birds (black with yellow eyemasks), and red skull worm-eaters (self-explanatory, hella metal).
—The Sand Restaurant: The kids made and served sand food creations for us on some of our beach club days; dishes included: Squid Awesome, Luscious Leaf Platter, Coral Special, Seaweed on the Cob, Delissimo Salad, Shrimp Turtle, Lavas and Lava Rock, Coral Dumplings, Lucky Bowl, and Fried Coconut.
—Characters: We saw a lot of wildlife this trip (including our mascot, Geckie the stuffed gecko), our gecko friends at lunch at Napua (one even came down to our table to sip some water that had spilled! we got video!), the bird family that visited us at breakfast on the lanai nearly every morning, Todd the tiniest gecko at the entryway of our house, and his friend Jake, plus their other friend Jacob on the sidewalk between our parking spot and the condo (names all supplied by Lukas).
—Big times at Hapuna: We spent most days at the beach club, but we did several up at Hapuna, where Lukas boogie-boarded with R.’s help in the launch phase, and Annika and R. bodysurfed, and we all jumped and swam in the clear warm waves; when we were done, around lunchtime, we went up to Kawaihae for lunch at Kohala Burger & Taco (which had expanded by more than double, and was still magically delicious). On our third and final Hapuna day, we were early enough to do a spontaneous petroglyph (or, per Lukas: petchagrifts/pictogrifs/etc) trail hike near the Fairmont on our return (Lukas, sounding like a seasoned trail guide as we picked our way through the kiawe thorns and jutting lava rocks in flip-flops: “I’ve been doing this for two years.”).
—Snorkeling: Annika and R. were the most avid snorkelers, as usual, but I got out there a lot too, and R. came up with a genius solution to get Lukas to join us: In full mask and fins, he floated on the boogie board, which seemed to feel safe enough that he could enjoy it! Yay! We saw all kinds of fish and coral (including eels, which Lukas became obsessed with/terrified of) and even spent 20 minutes swimming with a honu that was going about its business!
—General good times: We did several fishpond walks, built a couple of truly epic sandcastles, sang the KAPA radio song, discovered and loved the Tommy Bahamas restaurant, did SUP with each kid, found poke on nearly every menu for Annika, went to a luau (which was fun but wasn’t as good as the last one we saw), and managed to mostly forget about life on the mainland for awhile … aloha, and mahalo till next year!
Tennis everyone
The Monday after we got back, the kids had a week of tennis "camp" — really just a 2-hour group lesson at Almaden Swim and Racquet club. Both. kids. loved. it. LOVED (minus a couple of competition-related breakdowns on Annika’s part). I bought them their own racquets the second day — that’s how much they loved it. That Saturday, we went to the courts at their future middle school and hit around as a family — this looks like something we can all really get into! The kids are going to camp again in the second week of August and might even want to continue lessons in the school year.
The Monday after we got back, the kids had a week of tennis "camp" — really just a 2-hour group lesson at Almaden Swim and Racquet club. Both. kids. loved. it. LOVED (minus a couple of competition-related breakdowns on Annika’s part). I bought them their own racquets the second day — that’s how much they loved it. That Saturday, we went to the courts at their future middle school and hit around as a family — this looks like something we can all really get into! The kids are going to camp again in the second week of August and might even want to continue lessons in the school year.
Summertime fun
Here’s the potpourri section about stuff we’ve been doing: instituting the Summer-Day screen rules (medium-successful …); Lukas's guitar concert / variety show every morning (in which he’d play his unplugged guitar for us and do a bit or two while we were still in bed); bowling (with the Patels, or as a family several times); pool weekends; watching Chopped Junior; the kids getting into weird games (Hello Neighbor) and shows (Walk the Prank).
Here’s the potpourri section about stuff we’ve been doing: instituting the Summer-Day screen rules (medium-successful …); Lukas's guitar concert / variety show every morning (in which he’d play his unplugged guitar for us and do a bit or two while we were still in bed); bowling (with the Patels, or as a family several times); pool weekends; watching Chopped Junior; the kids getting into weird games (Hello Neighbor) and shows (Walk the Prank).
posted by One of the Grownups @ 11:54 AM
0 Comments
