No turtles at Lanikea Beach

In the attempt to purchase a gallon of milk under $6, we made a 40 minute drive to Costco this Saturday. On the way, we decided to stop at a nearby beach famous for its Hawaiian sea turtles that frequent the beach daily. Despite going at one of the peak sighting times (late morning) the only things we sighted were signs about the turtles...no turtles...just signs. It was a little overcast, so I think they decided to stay indoors. Boe and I spent the remainder of our trip discussing the premise of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and what made it so popular despite being based on such a weird idea.

This is what we had hoped to see. The Malama na Honu volunteers set up camp everyday to make sure the turtles remain protected. When one creeps up, they place a red string around to remind visitors to keep their distance.

This is all we saw:

Our house (Evanson Hale)-the cat belongs to the neighbor but the princess bike is definitely ours. I love the blue trim. The landlord(lady?) owns two units just behind ours that have roof tiles that are the same blue color but with a glossy finish. They remind me of Legos. I wish I could knock them down as easily as Legos because then we'd have a direct view of the beach.
The view from our side yard with some nice local art. Yes, that is a cactus peeking over the wall...just like home.

Your daughter is a princess if...

How to tell if your daughter is a princess:


She calls an umbrella a "Belle-Rella"

She calls Taco Bell, "Tinker Bell"

She makes you put on her headbands Rambo-style, like a crown

She will do almost anything for Disney princess spaghettios

When something is too high to reach, she states "I need a fairy" (to fly up and get it for her)

She starts singing, "Someday my prince will come" every time she sees a lady wearing a pretty dress

Every Sunday you have to make a castle out of Hymnbooks for her princess figurenes to play in

She wants to wear a dress everyday...even resorting to dirty ones in the dirty clothes pile if necessary

Her dresses are named according to their predominant color and corresponding Disney princess: yellow and orange ones are Belle dresses, Blue ones are Cinderella dresses, green Ariel dresses, red Snow White dresses, and pink Aurora dresses


...all of which have led me to the conclusion that my daughter is in fact a princess.

Turtle Bay and the PCC

We were honored to spend the weekend with some very generous family/friends at Turtle Bay Beach Resort on Oahu's North Shore. Along with the occasional crab, we also spotted Sean Penn eating dinner and The Hoff (yes, David Hasselhoff himself) at the resort gym. Kenz and Dixon provided Sean Penn's private dinner entertainment as they chased each other around what was supposed to be his secluded table. He was probably thinking the children's silly parents must be making some sad attempt at getting a celebrity's attention. In reality, we were just really hungry and wanted to eat, I guess at the expense of his private evening. Thanks, Sean, for being such a good sport and babysitter. I saw the Hoff at the spa/fitness center, walking at a steady pace on the treadmill, and unsuccessfully trying to balance his morning newspaper on the treadmill stand. At one point, he even tried to pay tribute to his Baywatch days by kicking the pace up to a jog, which only lasted 5 seconds. Jogging is too much of a hassle for the aging Hoff. Ironically, the gym television began playing a commercial advertising a new " Beating Alcohol Addiction." He looked pretty sober to me though (other than trying to balance an open newspaper on the tiny little treadmill stand).

At the pool with Dad

I'm guessing this beach is Turtle Beach as it borders the resort. Kenz and Dixon took every opportunity to hunt for various sea "monstors". Lucky for the crabs K and D's hunting tools were flimsy dried leaves.

What better way to spend vacation than lounging on the hotel bed watching tv with the cousins?At Waimea Bay where we did some boogie boarding. I need to practice a little more before I do that again...the waves here are pretty intense.The weekend was capped off by a trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center. The park is organized by the Polynesian islands Figi, Hawaii, Tahiti, New Aealand, Tonga, and Samoa. Each "village island" has authentic dwellings, structures, performances and activities central to their culture. In Figi, we learned to play a bamboo stick, while in Tahiti we were tattooed. I wanted to leave Kenz's TWO tattoos for nursery the next day, but decided against it.

The daily Canoe Festival. Each island (Figi, Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, Tonga, and Samoa) represents their style of dance and dress while being paddled around a small lake. This is Hawaii's canoe. I think this was Tonga or Samoa's canoe At the Fiji island village after a performance. Kenz though she was getting eaten. The big guy on the right had come straight from Fiji only two weeks earlier. He is attending the Y to pursue a degree in business management. Kenz will be doing no business with him in the future.
Our luau buffet consisted of purple sweet potato salad, purple rolls, pineapple, kalua pork (they smoke a new one underground every day), teriyaki chicken, island fish, saimin (basically pico de gallo with pices of raw, lemon-marinated salmon), clear noodles with pieces of chicken, spinach, cucumbers and carrots in something sweet, coconut pudding squares, a bundt cake with coconut glaze, chocolate cake, and all sorts of tropical nectars.

Ha Breath of Life Night Show. The performances were great and the story line had some subtle references to Mormon doctrine. Kenz kept smiling and saying, "Mommy, they shakin' their bootie!" Pretty accurate if you've ever seen authentic island dancing.