Hawaiian Odyssey Part V - Let Them Eat Cake

Throughout the day of March 2nd, Grant expressed his discontent at having no cake yet. We finally came through after dark when we headed up to the roof. The view was pretty great.

And there was cake! Two cakes, actually, with six candles each, and ice cream.

Bryn was pretty excited about it, too.

After the cake we headed down to the beach for the fireworks.

I'm pretty sure most people don't get fireworks on their birthday.

Of course, we did make them pose for a family photo.

But I think Grant came away satisfied that his birthday was a success.

Hawaiian Odyssey Part IV - Hilo Hattie

Apparently, Hilo Hattie is the place to go for Hawaiian clothing, tchotchkes, and other touristy stuff. We decided to ride the free shuttle trolley, instead of driving, which, in hindsight,was a poor decision, even if we did get a marginally amusing tour of Waikiki. As we were waiting for the shuttle, Grant made an important discovery.

Directly across the road from the shuttle stop is a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant! As you can see, the name of this fine establishment isn't clearly visible but Grant said that he figured it out from the color scheme of the awning. I've never been prouder.

Anyway, after that debatable thrill, we settled in to wait. Shuttles run every 30 minutes so naturally we waited closer to 40.

On the trip we saw many exciting sights. Well, we did see the Duke Kahanamoku statue.

Bryn was obviously enthralled.

But we finally arrived and took the obligatory photo by the world's largest aloha shirt.

This makes my eyes hurt.

We bought a pearl, which had to be taken from the oyster at knife point.

Aww, ain't it cute?

Bryn, as usual, was drawn in by a book and plopped down on the floor to read it.

After we were done we waited another 40 minutes for the return shuttle. We amused ourselves as best we could.

Some were less amused than others.

And some amused the rest of us.

Hawaiian Odyssey Part III - Gotta Boogie

We started the boys' birthday celebrations off with presents: underwater cameras from their cousins...

... and boogie boards from their parents.

Their cousins were suitably impressed.

We walked down to our local ABC store and let the kids choose their own beach towel. Bryn clutched her pink choice as we walked back home.

Our beach of choice this day was Sans Souci Beach, at the east end of Waikiki, where we were told we could snorkel and boogie board. They were right, and we did. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Some of us were content to just lounge in the water and enjoy the sun.

Hawaiian Odyssey Part II - "This is the Way We Waikiki"

We left the airport via the deluxe Dollar car rental shuttle. While we were on the shuttle tsunami warning sirens started blaring across the city. Not to worry, apparently, they test the warning system on the first day of every month.

After getting our rental car and arguing with our GPS, we finally found ourselves greeted by... COUSINS! They live in posh tropical surroundings with a koi pond and everything.

Before we could head to the beach, we gave the boys an early birthday present: their own matching snorkel and fin set. Cole was wearing his old mask while opening his new one, just in case a sneaker wave found us on the 31st floor.

Finally, we hit the beach and the kids began a game they call "Kingdom", which mostly involved building a house upon the sand and then acting alarmed when the rain came down and the flood came up and the house on the sand washed away.

Meanwhile, Bryn tried her hand at boogie boarding.

The photo is deceptive because it makes it look like she enjoyed it. In truth, she had brief moments of joy interrupted by long stretches of terror and frantic clinging.

Cole, on the other hand, was born to boogie.

Now let me close this beach episode with a couple photos of Bryn playing in the Kingdom ...

... and dancing in the surf.

Aloha!

Hawaiian Odyssey Part I - "Flight of Fancy"

Our journey begins at 7:12 AM on the first day of March. The location is Portland International Airport, gate C-3. Three children, who didn't get enough sleep, and two parents, who got even less, are waiting to board their flight to Hawaii. A couple of inches of snow fell at our house during the night. Fortunately, the airport was nearly snow free and our flight is not delayed.

Two hours later, Grant has made himself comfortable. At this point he has probably only asked how long we've been on the airplane a dozen times. By the time we land, that tally, combined with "how long until we land?", "are we there yet?" and other, horrifyingly similar questions, is rapidly approaching triple digits.

Cole brought a friend along to keep him company (and guard his bottle of apple juice).

Bryn and Sue shared a bonding moment... for 6 hours. I helped by taking Bryn on several potty breaks. She declares the airplane toilet to be "fancy". Grant concurs.

In an attempt at keeping two 6 year-(minus one day)-olds entertained I relinquished control of the camera to Cole and he produced this brilliant photo.

Ten minutes before we land, Bryn finally falls asleep. She's like the proverbial canary in a mine for knowing when we're almost at our destination.

Cole's first impression of Hawaii: "It looks like the same airport." Actually, until we left the gate area, I had to agree.

Coming soon: Part 2, in which we leave the airport and enter Aloha-land, AKA the Sandwich Islands, AKA Hawaii.

Cole's Credo

Here's a boy who's got it all figured out.

Of course, that last line may need some updating...

My Brother Made Me Do It

Bryn (after tattling on Cole): Dad, I wasn't tattling.  Cole was making me tattle.

Don't Tie Yourself in Knots

In the January issue of the the Friend magazine, there was an article about making CTR Pretzels.

CTR Pretzels
By Heather Brinkerhoff
1 teaspoon salt
2½–3 cups flour
1 tablespoon yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
melted butter

1. Mix the first five ingredients until they form a ball. Then knead dough until smooth and elastic. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for one hour.
2. Pull off sections of the dough and roll into long ropes. Form the ropes into the letters “CTR” or make the shape of the CTR shield.
3. Put the pretzels on a greased cookie sheet and bake 8–10 minutes at 450°F (232°C). Brush pretzels with melted butter.

We followed the recipe but put our own Cruncher spin on it.

Astronomy With a Capital G

After watching Wallace & Grommit in "A Grand Day Out" I asked the kids, "Do you think the moon is really made of cheese?"
Bryn's immediate response: "No! The moon is a cookie."

The Moon's the North Wind's Cooky

(What the Little Girl Said)

The Moon's the North Wind's cooky.
He bites it, day by day,
Until there's but a rim of scraps
That crumble all away.

The South Wind is a baker.
He kneads clouds in his den,
And bakes a crisp new moon that . . . greedy
North . . . Wind . . . eats . . . again!

-Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931)