Baby Queens Beach - 12-29-12

The kids standing in front of Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku's monument.  Duke was a native Hawaiian olympic swimmer and surfer. 

On Saturday we made plans to hang out with Diane, Danny, and Keoni.  Jim trained Diane and her long-time boyfriend Danny to work for Roma Designs while in Hawaii.  Diane has a little boy named Keoni, so before they were done working, we all made plans to hang out together, let the kids play, and have some fun.  

Meeting Keoni

Look who's not afraid of the water anymore!

Our plan came into effect on Saturday the 29th of December.   The aim for Saturday was to meet at Baby Queens Beach, have a picnic lunch, swim, play, visit, AND teach the youngsters to surf!  Diane and Danny's roommate, Bill, brought his old-school all-wood boards to Baby Queens so he could help teach Tralee and Keoni to surf on the ankle-busters there.  Bill is an islander and super nice.

Bill teaching Tralee to surf

Tralee and Keoni hit it off right away.  Hunter tagged along joyfully as well.  The kids played in the sand, in the water, and eventually the time came for Bill to take them out to surf.  I watched as Tralee attempted several times to catch a wave, with the help of Bill, and wipe-out.  I was so proud as I saw my little betty jump right back on, and try again.  After several attempts, my baby girl rode her a wave!  She charged it ALL THE WAY IN!!  In fact, she just about took out another surfer as she cruised her way in.  She never made it to standing position, but sure had fun riding a wave on a real surf board.

New buddies

Tralee catching her first wave of the day

After Tralee and Keoni finished their surfing lessons from Bill, Jim took a go at it.  He wasn't a total Barney, and actually stood up and rode in some minty mushburgers.  I was proud of my whole family as I remained a gaper on the sand, snapping pics of my crew! 

Playing in the water

Diane's mother also joined us on the beach after a bit, and brought with her some yummy Philippine  food.  Seriously yummy!  It was so fun to hang out with new friends native to the island.  They were so friendly and inviting.  Diane's mom introduced herself with a hug and kiss, and told my kids to call her grandma as well.  Every time we saw each other after this, we were also greeted with a hug.  So friendly!

Just playing in the waves

We met another islander at the beach who was playing with her beautiful granddaughter.  After exchanging pleasantries she looked at Hunter and asked, "He was breast fed for a while, right?"  When I replied, "Yes." She said, "I can tell by the way his body looks.  He's healthy and strong -- a breastfed baby."  That made me laugh, and I wondered if there really was a different "look" between breastfed and non-breastfed toddlers.  We continued talking about babies, breastfeeding--specifically how long each of her children and grandchildren were on the boob, and my own experiences with my wee-ones.  As a strong advocate for breastfeeding, I wasn't at all taken aback by all the lactation talk.  It was actually nice to see that little grandbaby of hers, crawl up to her mommy and have a little snack.  It made me miss the days when my bambinos did the same.  

Going right in!

I got a little off-topic there.  The main point of our day at Baby Queens was that we all really enjoyed ourselves whether it be through cruisin' on a wave, playin' in water, or meeting new friends and advocates!

Hunter almost in over his head!

Kailua Beach and More - Thursday 12/27/12

The day after Christmas Tralee woke up and then proceeded to throw-up.  We were hoping it was just a one-time thing (maybe from eating too much Christmas candy the day before), but after coaxing her to eat some toast and sip on some juice and then watching it come right back up a few minutes later, we decided that we might just have to take it easy for a day and let Tralee's little body fight whatever infection so rudely intruded upon her small frame.

Jim had some work to do and errands to run on Wednesday, so he took Hunter out and about with him, while I stayed in our studio apartment with Tralee while she slept.  I finished another book this day, and started on a third.  Sometimes motherly duties required me to hold the "puke bowl" whilst comforting my wee-one while her body purged itself of infection.  Poor thing.  

Tralee slept for most of the day, and had a few moments with her head in the bowl designated for you-know-what.  I rubbed Tralee's back, played with her hair, and prayed and prayed and prayed that whatever germ that had hitch-hiked a ride in Tralee's body would quickly find its way out, so we could continue on our vacation.  By the end of the day, Tralee hopped out of bed, started dancing around,  and requested to eat, so I knew we were in the clear!  Prayers answered!  PHEW!!  

The next day, Thursday the 27th of December 2012, we continued on with our vacation sans germs.  We packed up the car with all of our beach gear, pulled on some swimsuits, and hit the road.  Our first stop was the Makapu'u beach lookout.  

After snapping some pics at the lookout we made our way to Kailua beach.  I do believe this was my FAVORITE day of our family vacation.  The weather was PERFECT!  The sun was shining.  The waves were wonderful.  The beach, though packed, was welcoming.  The sand?  Soft.  My family?  Happy and healthy.  Everything was perfect.

This was also the day that Hunter's fear of the ocean slowly washed away as he crept further and further out.  I coaxed him a bit, making a game of letting the waves "kiss our feet."  He thought that was pretty funny.  Soon he inched further and further out until he realized what fun it was to run, dance, and play in the water.  I loved watched the progression.  After this day, Hunter was ready to jump right in and play in the waves at whatever beach we visited.

Still in the sand

Tralee and Jim went right in!

Hunter still happy in the sand

My water baby splashing about.

Beach pic

She looks like she knows what she's doing, doesn't she?  My little beach bum!

Still in the sand

I love this picture

Finally letting the waves "kiss his feet."

Waiting for more wave kisses

Here they come!!!

That face!!

He's starting to get it!!  At this point he was moving closer and closer to the water.

Waiting for the waves to get him.

They got him!  He's still unsure how he feels about this.

Running with the waves

Not so bad, right Hunter?

I think we finally conquered his fear!!

Heck yes!

Oh yeah!

Take that ocean!

Starting on that day's sand castle

Finished castle

While we played on the beach, we noticed a whole bunch of kids sledding down a sand hill on their boogie boards.  It looked like fun, so we gave it a try!  You know what?  It WAS fun!  Who says you can't go sledding in Hawaii?

Hunter preferred to go sans board.

After playing at the beach, we gathered up all of our gear, found a local diner for lunch, and then started driving.  We didn't really know where we were headed, but we enjoyed the journey.  At one point we saw a sign for a scenic look-out, so we decided to follow it.  We ended up in the rain forest.  The kids thought it was cool to drive through all the trees.

We made it to the look-out and this is what we saw:

We followed some trails to see where we ended up.  We didn't go far before the kids had had enough.  Jim tried to help Tralee jump from a fallen log onto solid ground and this was the result:

She hung there for a few seconds, feet dangling, before Jim pulled her up to the earth again.  Thank goodness my hubby is super strong.  Also, if she were to have fallen, she would have gone down two feet or so.  HA!  It was still exciting! 

This day was one of my favorites in Hawaii.  We had so much fun playing together as a family.  I want to go back and do it all again!!  Wanna come with?