Lava was the point of this trip! Chris had some time off between deployments so the four of us island-hopped to the Big Island for some volcano viewing. Our flight from Honolulu to Hina was delayed so we arrived in Volcanoes National Park after dark. We checked in to the Kilauea Military Camp cabins and zipped…
I Lava You
Nice Try
Santa arrives in Waikiki—how else??—via canoe, so we scrambled into the car early Saturday to see! Unfortunately, we sat in traffic so long that we missed his arrival completely. We listened to Christmas carols on the ukulele and watched the lovely hula dancers at the Outrigger Hotel, but I was disappointed we missed the main…
Blackened Canteen Ceremony
“Let me tell you why I am here today,” Yosuke Matsuzaki said before the whiskey part of the Blackened Canteen Ceremony. Yosuke Matsuzaki is the son of Lt. Mitsuo Matsuzaki, a pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy who flew Cdr. Fuchida up around and above Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Cdr. Fuchida was the…
Christmas Season is Here
“Eloise, what do you want for Christmas?” “Christmas season!” “Yes! And on Christmas morning, what do you want under the tree?” “Christmas season under the tree…?” “Do you want presents?” “Yes! Presents!” “What do you want IN the presents?” “Hmmmmmmm I want presents.” Now, those are expectations I can meet! There will be presents! This is…
Ho’oilo Changing Season
November is the first month in Hawaii’s wet season, or ho’oilo—literally “changing season.” I agreed it was time to change out my beloved blue table and chairs after a second chair broke apart. They had a good run. I replaced it with this Hawaiian acacia set and I love it! I was afraid a whole…
Christmas Tree Farm Oahu
I’m not a Christmas tree purist. Live, fake, short, tall, type, whatever. I like multicolored lights, and I love my kids’ handprint ornaments. But the tree is not even close to my favorite Christmas decoration. My favorite thing about the Christmas tree is going to get one the day after Thanksgiving! As soon as Chris…
Snowfest 2017
This was a really good…try. Bellows Air Force Rec facility does great squadron picnics and events and stuff, and it’s right on the water between Lanikai and Waimanalo. So when we heard they were doing Snowfest with TWELVE TONS OF SNOW, hot chocolate, pictures with Santa, and shave ice, we were there almost as soon…