Aloha!
(Make sure your volume is on so you can enjoy some Hawaiian songs while you read this - very long - post)
Yes... I still am alive... Actually more than alive. The kids and I are in Hawaii... We came to visit Franky and spend a glorious month gallivanting around the busy and beautiful island of Oahu. We have been very busy visiting many sites, going to shows and yes... hitting the beaches. We are official beach bums! hahahahahaha I have many pics that I have already uploaded to the blog. There is a direct link to the album on the right hand side column of the blog you can see. Or you can follow the links I am putting in this post to the first pic of each series. That way you know what the pics are about. Don't just look at the first pic. Keep pressing the "next" button because each place I describe has several pics to illustrate them.
My friend Julie and her family (hubby James and kids Hailey, Tristan and Ethan) joined in on the fun for the first couple of weeks on the trip. Julie and I had a chance to catch up on girl gossip, shop and even went to a luau (in Paradise Cove) by ourselves. Yes Franky kept the kids, including Diana who has had no issues bonding with her dad.
We have had many adventures here... The first being to the birthing stones located in the middle of a pineapple field on the North Shore. The Kukaniloko birthing stones are where the ancient Hawaiian royalty came to give birth. The rocks are said to be magical... they can't be moved out of the area they are in. When I lived here I bumped into a Hawaiian priest who told me that there was an energetic umbilical chord that connected this site to heaven. Anyone who gave birth in this area would forever have an enchanted life. He also told me that the stones knew I was pregnant (which I was with Diana) so they would send the winds to greet the new life I carried within me. The rocks are also shaped in ways to help women with the various positions of labor. While there this time I tapped into some amazing energy... I had some major goose bumps. Actually it was Diana who led me to the spot where the energy was the strongest. She felt completely at home in this spot. I have always loved this spot and this last visit only made me realize how wonderfully special it is... I will never forget what I tapped into while there...
Once done exploring the stones we drove to the north shore.The road there is gorgeous. Once you get to the top of the hill and you get a view of the north shore... oh my! It always takes my breath away... The North Shore is well known for 2 things. One of them is surfing. The winter months bring huge swells (and some other technical mambo surfing jumbo I'm not quite sure about) which result in monstrous waves. I have been here during that time of the year and have seen some of them pounding on the shores. The sound is pretty loud and the sight pretty amazing. The other thing the north shore is known for is turtle beach. Sea Turtles come out to this beach to sun bathe. In addition you will see them swimming around the ocean... You are not allowed to touch them but swimming with them is very much allowed and if one of them brushes up against you... Well lucky you! Everyone decided to go swimming there except me and Diana who had decided to not swim that day... In a nut shell we changed our plans when we got to the North Shore and Diana and I had left out swimming wear back at the house...
One of the places I wanted to revisit (or eat at again) while in Oahu was Top of Waikiki. The food there is pretty good and the view is amazing, especially since this is a revolving restaurant so you literally get to see all of Waikiki. If you are a first timer to Oahu I definitely recommend this place. But the main reason for me going back was their chocolate fondue. I don't think I can rave enough about it. Julie, James and Franky laughed at me with every hmmmmm and ahhhhhh I made as I ate the fondue. Ok... now that I have talked about the fondue (have I mentioned how good it was?) I should also say that we had a great time. The conversation was great and I had a ball getting all dressed up for my date. Yes... I had a date. But before you all start thinking of Franky, I should mention that his date was Diana. My date was waiting for me at the restaurant. And just in case you have not yet guessed "who" he was... "he" was the chocolate fondue. Have I mentioned it was the best I ever had????? LOL
We all did some major beach going. Including a night time trip to the beach to watch the full moon during the summer solstice. We hung out for a while chit chatting while the kids played around in the night. It was a pleasant moment with a beautiful view of the moon!
Another adventure took us to Waimea Valley on the North Shore. This is a botanical garden with a hike up to a waterfall that you can swim under. That particular day the water was very low due to lack of rain. But Julie and I still swam out to the waterfall and sat under it for a while. It was a delicious experience that all the kids wanted to join in with the exception of Arthur who was afraid of the drop off in the pool. Once we left the valley we decided to go to one of the beaches on the North Shore. We picked the one in Halewa which is a small surfing town. The beach has a beautiful view but not so nice for swimming and playing in the water since there is a lot of rocks... But overall we had a nice afternoon and a beautiful sunset...
Another breath taking drive is the one to Kailua via the H3. The view is stunning... First you have those lava carved mountains and then the view of the ocean... Oh my! I don't think I can ever get tired of that scene... My heart skips a beat every time I go down the H3. This particular day we went down the H3 to be able to get to Kualoa Ranch. This ranch is the center of many activities including atv and horse back tours. Unfortunately for us we could not do any of that because of the kids. So we did what they call their Hawaiian experince which takes on a tour of the ranch by foot, catamaran, jeep and bus. There we heard all about the history of the ranch, legend of Chinaman's hat and saw the places where Jurassic Park, 50 first dates, Godzilla and Lost (among other movies/tv shows) were filmed. It was quite interesting and the views were just gorgeous. Needless to say... fun was had by all!
Next adventure has got to be one of my favorite ones. Maybe because it was something I had never done before. Maybe because of the sheer coolness of standing on top of a crater. I don't know. I just know I felt all powerful after this amazing hike. If you have not yet guessed what we did... let me tell you: we climbed Diamond Head. It was a pretty steady incline but the breeze was going that day so overall it was not too bad. We took our time. After all the kids were with us and they needed constant breaks. Once at the top we could see all of Waikiki and then some. Gorgeous view. I tried calling several people from the top of the crater. I thought it would be beyond awesome to get a phone call like this... "guess where I'm at? I'm standing on top of a crater!" Only one lucky person answered the phone that day... And even though the conversation was brief (the wind was making all sorts of noises and we were beginning our hike down the crater)... I still thought it was pretty cool...
Ah... now to one of my favorite beaches on Oahu. Yes... that would be Hanauma Bay. Hanauma bay is actually a submerged crater. There you will find coral and all sorts of fish. It is a favorite spot to snorkel at. Lets not mention the place is beautiful... At the end of the day one of the life guards drew our attention to the ocean. There we saw some dolphins playing around. It was amazing to see them jumping around and having a good old time!
And off to another Hawaiian Sacred site. This time it is the Ulupo Heiau or as it is better known by my boys... the fairy forest. Why the fairy forest? Well... this is the place where the Goddess Haumea was worshiped. Haumea is said to be the mother of all creation, to include elementals. So she gave birth to fairies, gnomes, menehunes (Hawaiian elementals) among others. They say that the menehunes built this site and the bridge that leads to the marsh just beyond the site. Fairies abound in this place and you will see many wooden piles that actually look like little houses. We all had a good time exploring the grounds and even brought the fairies some chocolate as a present.
Another wonderful beach we went to was Kailua Beach Park... Oh the waves there are delicious. Julie and I spent a good amount of time just swimming around... The kids had a ball playing there. Unfortunately that was Julie's last day on the island after which she returned to the mainland.
Another hike we did was to the Makapu'u Lighthouse. This was supposed to be an easy hike since the road was paved. This meant that Diana could go in her stroller and I would not have to carry her. What we failed to figure out was that because the road was paved, it got hot there. And rather quick too. Also the hike was on a steady incline and for a good part of it (about 1/3) there was no breeze since the mountain sheltered all of that ocean breeze. So we literally died that day. Not to mention we did not bring enough water... So by the time we finished the hike we were all ready for a nap. But the view was well worth the hike...
Last but not least for this post is the July 4th celebrations! We mostly hung around the house. In the late afternoon we went to 2 parties Franky had been invited to but did not stay for long in either one of them. We came back and played with some sparklers. Franky got for the kids. Diana decided she would hold the sparkler all by herself... She thinks she is about the same age as the boys! Fortunately she did very well and kept her hands off the sparkly part of the stick.
Before I head back to the mainland, Franky and I decided to take the kids to Maui next week for a few days. We have never been there so we are all really excited about going. We have heard that is the most beautiful island in Hawaii. I will take plenty of pics and post them once I get back to the mainland (hopefully). But for now... enjoy the pics I already took. And I will see/ talk to all of you soon!
