Good Eats Oahu

Anyone who knows us knows that our trips are judged by the food as much as the adventures! After landing and getting our rental car we made a beeline for an Oahu must have - malasadas. They are kind of like a squishy doughnut without the hole, covered in sugar. As if they needed anymore reason to be eaten, they fill them with custard fillings: vanilla, chocolate, haupia (coconut) and this months flavor, pineapple. One of my favorite fruits. Sunshine-for-your-mouth pineapple. They were delish!! Jon was suppose to get 4 total and came out with 14. But if you're going to gain 20 pounds on vacation, this is a tasty way to do it!

In the last post I talked about Haleiwa Joes, which is one of our favorite places to eat. I had the best fish I have ever had there this time! And if the food isn't incentive enough, they have a gorgeous garden with a koi pond to look at while you eat. 

A few years ago, while on a Waikiki beach, we got thirsty and found this little smoothie booth that had pineapple smoothies and got hooked. It's more like a slush made with bizzed up pineapple than a typical smoothie. One of the many reasons I love my hubby is that he saves up about $50 for my pineapple smoothie fund and as soon as we get to that beach (we like to stick with tradition), he puts down the bag (before even unpacking the towels etc.) and says, "do you need a large or a medium?" and heads off. Every couple of hours he says, "You ready for another one?" That, my friends is true love.  The kids have now christened this beach "pineapple smoothie beach". (Like my beach hair?)

We took the kids to Ono's this time so they could experience traditional Hawaiian food. Our motto is When in Rome . . . They loved everything but the chicken lau lau (taro leaf wrapped chicken) because there was too much "spinach stuff" for their taste. 

One other place that we like to frequent is Kua 'Aina in Haleiwa. They have burgers etc. but they also have great salads. Unfortunately the kids were full of shave ice when we went so they didn't eat much. 

One of our "finds" this time was Genki sushi. Jon had been saying he wanted to go to a sushi place that had a conveyer belt. We happened to see a place that looked like a fast food joint complete with a drive through window but Jon was really wanting some sushi. He went in to check it out and came running back with little boy eagerness all over his face, "they have a conveyer belt!!". It ended up being really tasty! We all ate to fullness and it only cost $53! 

Another must for us is a Ted's Bakery pie. Collin chose the Chocolate macadamia nut pie and it was a winner! 

The Trip of a Lifetime . . .

Well, we're back and still not recovered from our amazing trip. We had so much fun that it's taken us a while to recuperate! It was SO  worth it! Every day the kids said, "Thank you so much for bringing us here!!" We did a lot of the touristy things on O'ahu since the kids don't remember doing them and we also did our favorite things too. We took a few hundred pictures so the 20(?) pictures here are a drop in the bucket. This is the only picture of all of us out of our hundreds!! Taken on Laie Point. 

The first morning after getting there, the kids and I woke up at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep. After what seemed like an eternity, the sun finally rose and the kids were there to greet it. 

Jons brother Dave and his family live in La'ie so we got to see them a few times. It's hard to believe that Grace and Dave's daughter Tevai share some of the same genes!!

They love good food as much as we do, so we went to one of our favorite places,  Haleiwa Joes for some GREAT seafood!

We had to hit the swap meet for some must-haves like Macadamia nuts etc. The kids got $20 to learn a budgeting lesson from Jon (yes, that's an oxymoron). Grace went to the first booth we started at, saw a Toki Doki bag and even after going all the way around Aloha Stadium, that's what she still wanted. She wasn't even tempted by anything else. 

Collin on the other hand . . . spent the whole time trying to figure out what he wanted most. He FINALLY ended up getting some cool shades and a bone carving necklace. 10 going on 17?

Actual documentation that Grace did indeed snorkel, even if it was only about 2 feet of water! 

The Snorkel Queen . . .
Collin takes after Jon and likes to do anything in the water, snorkel, skim board, swim, boogie board etc. and can't wait to dive with me and Jon.  I love his excitement and love of water. With Grace, you buy her a $5 beach toy set, and she is perfectly content all day. A little water time, a lot of sand time (yes, she takes after me) . . . 

A 28XXL Aloha shirt that Collin couldn't stop talking about. He keeps calling it the "Iz" shirt. As in Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. 

I am accepted there . . . at least at the ABC stores.

The sweet potatoes at Hanauma Bay. Their favorite place we went. 

Our favorite fish - humuhumunukunukuapua'a

They "had" to get shave ice from Matzumoto's in Haleiwa AND they had it "all the way", with ice cream and adzuki beans at the bottom. 

The Dole Plantation has this train that takes you all over their grounds and you see so many fruits and flowers and it is really interesting . . . 

The boys getting ready to snorkel in Sharks Cove . . . 

Did I mention we had almost too much fun? Grace slept the whole way home (it was a night flight), while Jon let Collin watch the in-flight movies all the way home. . . 

Our REAL Christmas Present . . .

On Monday morning this will be the sunrise we'll be waking up to. . .  You see, we (Jon and I) have had a secret from the kids for the last few months. On Christmas morning we gave the kids a card that said, "This year we are giving you the gift of memories. Good things come to those who wait." The kids didn't really do much with it other than toss it aside and go on playing with their new toys. Little do they know! Tomorrow morning we are heading to Hawaii for a week (Thanks to really low airfares!). I am SO excited for them! I guess because Jon and I go every year they talk about it ALL the time. Collin has been twice, the first time when he was 2 and the second for Jons brothers wedding when he was almost 5. Grace has been once when she was just a year. I'm hoping that it's going to be as good as I've been hoping!

I think this is a pretty good first anniversary of blogging post, don't you? Hopefully we'll have a few minutes to post while we're gone. 

Flash back

Do your kids (if you have them) like looking at old photo albums? Mine do, and I do too! It seems when we have a holiday we inevitably end up looking at pictures. The kids love to see themselves when they're little. 

Yesterday I looked at Grace doing some school stuff  . . . 

And saw my little 18 month old baby but with longer hair. . . 

I think it's so fun to see kids do the same things they've always done. It's fun being a mom!

Got Wii?

With it being our first post of the new year, I suppose I should be saying something profound . . . then again, it is pretty profound that we succumbed and bought a video game console!!!! Which is also why I haven't posted in so long. We have been having too much fun bowling, boxing, dueling in tennis etc. to do much posting. (That and the fact that I have been sore from my neck to my feet since Christmas!) So without further ado let me introduce you to my little friend . . . 

I have taken a lot of pictures of us playing on the wii but pictures don't capture the "3D" of playing on it. We also have video of all of us playing (videotaping is Collins new hobby), but that should not be shown to those outside our family. SO, I think this video will do justice to the excitement and complete dumbfoundedness (is that a word?) the kids had about it. You have to realize that we have always had a "no video games" rule in the house. I am posting this even though I am showing how bad and crabby of mother I am. In case you forgot, Collin is a Lego fanaAtic, so he was building his latest set (which absorbs his whole mind and body) and Grace had started opening it (does that give me some justification?) . . . 

After all the excitement, Collin immediately returns to the Legos . . . 

So long tooth, so long 2008!!

Before . . . 

After . . . 

And so officially ends the baby/toddler/little kid stage in our life. STILL DON'T miss the diapers or nursing in the night, DO miss feet that fit in my hand and little bodies that fit in my lap. 

Parental Tip: As soon as your child's tooth becomes loose, have your payment plan ready, even if it takes 3 months for the tooth to finally come out! You don't want to get caught on a Sunday night at 8 having your child's tooth, and FIRST tooth at that, coming out. Telling them that the tooth fairy doesn't work on Sunday's doesn't work because they KNOW for a FACT that she does too. I said she probably wouldn't come tonight so not to get her hopes up. Jon (the little kid in a big kids body) couldn't NOT let the tooth fairy come. So he scrounged up some quarters so she wouldn't be disappointed (we usually give $2 bills for the first teeth and big teeth and dollar coins for all other teeth). What a good dad!

Wishing you all a fun and safe New Years Eve and Happy 2009!!

Christmas . . . Part Deux

We had a great Christmas! We ate lots of good food, played games and spent the whole time together.  This batch of pictures is from Christmas

 morning . . . 

Collin, having the biggest stocking of us all, trying to see all the way to the bottom . . . 

Grace getting excited about some chocolate (definitely my girl) . . .

Jon with his Bear pate and me with my new blue slippers. . . 

Collin gives the best reactions to presents! Grace gave him the Star Wars lego set, so she's trying to see if he likes it or not (like there's any question!).  Grace with her new Barbie turn-little-girls-into-consumers cash register set (again, my daughter . . . I loved cash registers when I was little). . . 

Another great Collin shot . . . 

Grace is too busy opening everything and ripping tags off to give good reactions, so for her, showing she likes something is how absorbed she is with it. Also, we have pictures from every Christmas of the kids sitting in matching positions. And Collin is always building some lego set. . . 

Our traditional aebleskiver Christmas breakfast. We have also had nonalcoholic gløgg the last few years, which is warmed, spiced fruit juice with slivered almond and raisins at the bottom of the mug. I grew up eating cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast so this year I decided to make some to bring back the memories. YUM!

Christmas . . . Part One

This is the first installment of the deluge of pictures to come. . .  these are leading up to and including Christmas Eve.  We had Jons brother and family come into town and I guess we were having too much fun to take any pictures!! The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins. It's one of their favorite things. 

This is Jons latest artistic endeavor. I guess since we don't have a spot big enough for a real koi pond, he decided to paint some . . . 

Singing a song on our very last Advent last Sunday. . . 

Opening the advent calendar on Christmas Eve morning. . . 

Our traditional "very Danish" Christmas eve dinner of frikadellar (ground meat patties), potatoes, rod krohl (red cabbage) etc. Yummo. 

Jons family has a great tradition of having a white elephant gift exchange on Christmas eve, but with food treats (see why I married into this family?). So this is after we were done with our "loot" as Collin likes to call it. . . 

Another one of our traditions is to give the kids "jaminas" on Christmas eve. Grace has ALWAYS buried her face in hers in excitement . . . 

Collin seeing his . . .  I love that they still get excited about them . . . 

The sweet potatoes . . . 

After getting cozy in the new jaminas we pool our white elephant treats and settle down to watch The Nativity Story DVD (if you haven't seen it, I strongly suggest it) and then settle in for a long winters sleep. . . . 

December Randomness

For those of you that don't know, we are now doing Scribble out of our house . . . 

What used to be our dining room is now our production room . . . . 

As I was going through my camera, I came across some that I didn't take and had to laugh at this one. Grace's turtle . . . in a bowl . . . I love being a mom!!

Grace with her new set of wheels . . .

Grace outside trying to catch snowflakes in her mouth. I let them stay in their "jaminas" all day since it was so cold . . . 

See all the snow? The kids kept saying, "it is snowing SO hard!"