Our Week In Hawaii (Feb 2016)

On our way to Honolulu: We arrived at 2:30 am!

Our rental house on the North Shore (remember this view so you can compare it to the storm surge we experienced at the end of our stay)

Iolani Palace in Honolulu: 

This was the residence of King Kalakaua and his sister and successor, Queen Liliuokalani (who was also held prisoner here during the overthrow of the monarchy)

Receiving Room at Iolani Palace: 

Where guests would be greeted by the King and Queen

Main Staircase of Iolani Palace

 Oliver's favorite thing about the North Shore, Windmills!

Our visit wouldn't be complete without Matsumoto Shave Ice

From the North Shore looking toward the South...again notice how calm the water is!

Carson turned 10 during our stay! We ate at Joe's Seafood Grill for lunch (Carson had fish tacos, one of his favorites) then we also made tacos for dinner which was followed by a vanilla cake roll and ice cream.  During the times we made it back to our rental house, we sat on the deck watching whales play out in the water.

Dole Plantation: We wandered the grounds and rode the train out into the fields learning about the history of the plantation and how pineapples are grown.  Every tree, plant, and shrub is labeled with its name making it easy and fun to learn about what you see around you.

Beautifully colored Gum Tree

Outside the Dole Plantation

Every night on the North Shore there was a beautiful sunset.  They almost always looked similar to this photo.  One of the nights I even saw the infamous green flash!

Waimea Valley

 

Kualoa Ranch Kahaluu, HI

We decided not to do any tours this time around but this area was very beautiful!  Lots of nature tours although one of their most popular is the Hollywood tour as many movies have been filmed here from 60s Elvis movies, to Jurrasic Park, to 50 1st Dates. 

The beach outside our rental house.  As you can see the ocean is calm here and the beach and coral is all exposed.

 The last night of our stay we heard the rumbling of the waves growing progressively throughout the night.  It shook the house every time a wave would crash.  As the sun rose we got to see how big the waves had grown all due to a storm surge farther out to sea!

Packing for a Family of 4 for a 30 day trip

We made it home from our 30 day trip and have recovered.  We took a ton of photos but it is taking more time than I thought it would to sort through them.  We will get photos and details of our trip up soon though!  In the interim, I thought I would detail what we did for packing.  Many of you saw the photo of our two carry-on pieces of luggage in which we fit a family of 4 (2 adults, a 3 year old, and a 10 year old).

The black pack is a Deuter Transit 50 with a detachable daypack (we used this daypack everywhere we went).  This bag was amazing and I cannot rave enough about it.  The blue bag is a Granite Gear Cross- Trek Convertible Wheeled Carry-On with Removable 28L Pack.  This bag was the same price as the Deuter but overall seemed to be built a little cheaper. It worked for the trip and I loved the removable backpack for places like on the plane. I also loved the wheels but most of the time it would have been nicer to just carry it on my back so my hands were free.  There are strap on the entire suitcase to carry it but they are very uncomfortable and there is no back support straps. If I were to do a 30 day trip again I would buy a 2nd Deuter but with a slightly smaller capacity, as the 50 L is a little big on my small stature. The only thing missing from this photo is Carson's red backpack which you will see in another picture farther down. To keep things organized inside our bags we used eBags Packing Cubes (they come in many colors so each of us had our own color) and 1 shared eBags Pack-it-Flat Toiletry Kit.

So you might be wondering how in the world we fit a family of 4 into these 2 bags.  And what did we pack? We unpacked everything a little after half way into our trip.  By this point we had acquired a few souvenirs and kept peanut butter and bread with us at all times.  But to start with each of us had:

• 5 Complete Outfits (4 packed and 1 on our bodies)
• 1 pair of tennis shoes and 1 pair of flip flops (we wore mostly flip flops so should have packed 3 pairs of socks instead of 5), Oliver also had his Croc shoes so we shouldn't have packed his flip flops
• 1 Hat and 1 Rain Jacket and/or Light Sweater, 2 pairs of sunglasses 
• Games (ie UNO), books, and Electronics (Kindles, Ipads, Phones, Nintendo 3DS, ect), Headphones, Chargers for each electronic device, power adapter for Asia power outlets
• Toiletries (razors, toothbrushes, sunscreen, hand sanitizer wipes, homemade 1st aid kit with medicine, cough drops, and tissues); we picked up an all-in-1 body/hair wash, deodorant, and toothpaste in Hawaii then trashed it when we left there (after 1 week), then purchased the things again in Thailand where we knew we had 3 weeks until we got on a plane again)
• Small spiral notebook to keep notes as we traveled, pens, pencils, coloring pages, crayons, blank printer paper for drawing, passports, print outs for everywhere we were travelling and staying

 Here is what all of this looks like (plus a couple extra souvenirs) unpacked:

After getting everything in the packing cubes here is what things looked like with the bags they went into:

Everything on the left hand portion of the picture went into Aaron's Deuter bag: orange cubes-(Aaron's clothes and items for the plane-neck pillows, etc), 1 pink cube (games/electronic chargers), and 1 gray cube (Oliver's clothes).  You can see the day pack removed from the big bag on the top left.  

On the right-this went into my Granite Gear suitcase: The pink cube (Dorina's clothes), Green Cube (Carson's clothes), Blue cube (toiletry bag--this was great for airport travel--our liquids were in 1 ziplock type baggy inside but all I had to do was pull the entire cube out of the suitcase and put it in a bin at security). 

In the middle-these items went into my Granite Gear backpack: 1 grey cube (electronics and headphones for the plane), mine and Oliver's sweaters and hats,  Oliver's stuffed animal Apollo, snacks, tissues, hand sanitizer wipes, and non-electronic activities for other (paper, crayons, books, etc).  

The bottom right went into Carson's red back pack: hat and sweater, tennis shoes (although sometimes we packed these into his clothing packing cube which went into my suitcase), green cube (electronics and headphones for plane). 

Final tips for packing light:

Unless you are travelling to the middle of nowhere or into a jungle where there are no stores, remember there will always be a convenience store of some sort where you can buy goods.  Everywhere we went we saw 7 Elevens.  They had all the big brands you would expect in the US but prep yourself to be flexible anyway. To keep your weight down and make traveling through airport security easy buy your toiletries at your destinations (we mostly purchased travel size items but if you know you will be on land for a while you can purchase larger items).  Also try to share items if possible.  Although I usually like my body wash, shampoo, and conditioner separate, for this trip we bought an all in 1 wash that covered everything from hair to body.  My hair was always up in a pony tail anyway so I wasn't worried about winning any beauty contests. I did not pack any make-up as where we were travelling was hot and humid most of the time.  It would have melted off my face 2 seconds after stepping outside!

For clothing and shoes, check future weather forecasts for where you are travelling.  Future forecasts said there was a slight chance of rain a couple places we went, we never had rain but we packed our rain coats anyways because they were small and took up little room.  If your coats take up too much space and there is a small chance of rain leave the coats behind.  There was clothing and ponchos everywhere we went so it would have been easy to get extra items if needed.  

Also, you can plan ahead to book B&Bs with laundry services although we did not do this.  We did book B&Bs and guesthouses the entire trip then just checked with the owners about laundry services.  We found a pay for someone to do your laundry in one place, found a do-your-own laundry service in another, then had the owner do our clothing for us at another place.  Our final rental in Guam had machines in the house so we did all our laundry there and came home with clean laundry (except what we had on our body).  So don't worry about laundry services if you are travelling to a known touristy place.  

We picked up snacks and drinks as we went along at convenience stores.  Again you will find normal brands you would see at any convenience store although you won't find all your favorites.  We normally do not eat Pringles at home but on our trip this was a favorite snack.  

In everything be flexible and open and you won't be disappointed!

Summertime in the Winter

As lovely as this picture sounds (I am not complaining, I promise), this has been a source of confusion for us here on our new island home.  For over 30 years, fall holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's were accompanied by changing weather.  From warm, to cool, to downright cold! But this year was different.  As each holiday came and then went, the weather stayed the same.  A balmy 87 degrees each day for the high and 79 degrees for the low (although with winds it could feel cooler--or maybe that is us acclimating).  Now that January has come and gone and February is here, I think our bodies and minds are growing more accustomed to this 12 months of summer thing we have going on here.

Oh and Happy 2016 to everyone!  I cannot believe how fast January flew by.  I am not sure how the month came and went, yet I cannot tell you much of what we really did.  Most of our days are just the usual school, work, and play routine.  Although things are about to change in many ways for our household.  First we have family coming to visit in a few days!  Woo!  Very excited about that.  They will be staying with us for 11 days then we will all fly back to Honolulu together and stay for 5 days.  From there family will return to the states and us 4 will be off to S.E. Asia for a 3 week trip through Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.  We are definitely looking forward to this!

And the last big change coming to our family is the decision to home school Carson.  We have had some issues with the schools out here, mostly just that they are a year behind the school we came from.  So as we started noticing this, we asked the school for help.  After not getting much help, we pursued accelerating Carson a year ahead.  It has been over 2 months now since we pursued this and have yet to hear anything from the school administration.  Meanwhile, Carson has lost his love for school and is completely bored.  With no help coming from the schools, we decided we as parents needed to take charge of Carson's education to make sure he regains his love of learning and also make sure that he stays on track with his peers back in Massachusetts.  So Carson will be getting some world experience with our trip to Asia, then once we return Carson will be learning at home with his family! We look forward to our new adventures that await us and will keep you all posted on our progress!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on Ebeye

Our big meal of the season occurred on Christmas Eve.  Several friends got together to enjoy beef wellington and all the fixings.  Being away from family is especially hard during the holidays but being able to share special meals like this one really helps.  After dinner, Aaron and I put the boys to bed, then spent the evening wrapping presents.  We have had our Christmas presents here on island since the end of October and beginning of November as the mail is so unpredictable but things got hidden away and time just ran away from us.  Before we knew it we had presents to wrap at the last minute.  I am hoping we will be better prepared next year in this regard!

Christmas morning we opened gifts and spent time together as a family.  We had a nice little lunch then caught the ferry over to Ebeye (our nearest populated Marshallese island).  Christmas day is one of the big Marshallese holidays.  There are activities going on at the churches (around 6 of them on island) from morning until sundown.  The churches get very excited to see Americans visiting their churches.  We were treated like royalty at each church..sometimes uncomfortably so! Children and Marshallese adults alike were told to give up their seats for us usually in the front rows.  And we were given gifts such as shell necklaces and handmade fans (for the churches that were not air conditioned).  All of this was a special treat but at each place we would have been happy to sit on the floor and enjoy the festivities.  The Marshallese would have none of that however!

In the photo below we are walking down the street.  Some streets are pretty clean and the houses although made of plywood, or metal, look to be in pretty good form and condition.  Other streets look pretty rough with houses being made from scrap wood or even cardboard.  Most houses do not have running water or electricity.  But even those who do have water or electricity it is very primitive.  The plumbing is usually a hose being ran into the house from a holding tank outside and live wires with electricity run throughout the house without any grounding.

The first church we went to was a small little church.  We were all packed in watching the children perform a traditional Marshallese dance.  The whistle is a key part of the dance, informing the dancers when to start, stop, or change the moves they are performing. Here is a video of the dance:

https://youtu.be/S2mvQmXE5Ig

The 2nd Church we went to is also a private school.  For elementary school, the cost is $40 per month.  Most Marshallese on Ebeye cannot afford this.

Here is a couple videos from this church.  They spoke in Marshallese during the program but the kids sang in English for every song.

https://youtu.be/G0KI354Rvmo

https://youtu.be/YKuKv08Gk24

The 3rd church was enclosed but still had windows and doors open to the outside.  So it was very hot inside! Here they not only gifted us with necklaces but with fans as well. This was the E.U.C.C (I cannot remember exactly what it stood for but it was something like Ebeye Universal Church of Christ...or Christian Church). 

 

Videos from the church: You will see in some of the videos the performers throw out candy or money to the kids.  The kids would swarm when this would happen!

Traditional Marshallese A'Capella song:

https://youtu.be/rgeNbEW2vlE

Part of a Traditional Marshallese song:

https://youtu.be/z-dmDgCJChg

Traditional Marshallese song and dance (with whistle):

https://youtu.be/FqNEOSAfgYI

Kommol tata (thank you in Marshallese) to the churches and Marshallese who were so kind to us on Christmas day!

December 5th Kwaj Tree Lighting

I have been playing around with how I want to post videos...or more like what is the easiest way to post videos online for your viewing.  I have decided uploading videos to youtube is definitely the easiest.  So here are the links for a couple of videos from December 5th's Kwajalein tree lighting ceremony.

This first video is of the elementary school singing a song from their Christmas program.  Carson is in the back row in a neon yellow, and blue stripped shirt.  He is standing more towards the right side but several (or 5-6) kids in.

https://youtu.be/ILuZ9VSvmPM

These next 2 videos are songs written about spending Christmas on Kwajalein.  This local gal and her husband hit all the highlights of spending the holidays on a tropical island.

https://youtu.be/-GKvX1K8_1Q


https://youtu.be/BNftZBZFDUQ


Last video is of the lighting of the palm tree:

https://youtu.be/Xdnep_WuJDw

November and Part of December

It has been so long since I have written I post that I had to go back and see what my last posting was!  Halloween!! Yikes! The last month and a half has absolutely flown by.  In fact the last 4 months that we have been on island have flown.  There are so many activities on this island that some days it is hard to keep up.  I guess it is good to stay involved but we are trying to figure out how to dial back everything and still enjoy ourselves.

Thanksgiving was lovely.  We spent the day with friends eating good food.  The kids (and some dads too!) enjoyed Kwaj sledding (playing on the slip n slide).  The weather here is always beautiful.  It is always the same although sometimes it rains (then it feels cold!).  Now that we are heading into the 'not so rainy' season, the majority of the days are sunny.  This is also the windy season.  So with a nice wind, it helps it feel a little cooler.  We still try to avoid going outside between noon and 3 pm to stay protected from the sun.

We are trying to get into the Christmas spirit but not having any seasonal cues is definitely throwing us off.  To kick off the holiday season however, we did have an island wide tree lighting ceremony but I will post more on that later as that will need its own post.   

For now I have some pictures to share!

Yes, it almost always looks like this outside! 

We finished our advanced diving class, meaning we can go as deep as 130 feet now! 

We have started doing more wreck dives.  Most of these are from the WWII era.  Some were sunk during the battle and some were sunk intentionally.  I still haven't figured out the history behind our ski boat area wreck site pictured here:

We are starting to find more and more cool creatures on our dives!

Spotted Eagle Ray:

Shark:

On one of our night dives we found 2 sleeping octopi, one is pictured here:

Carson finished swim team with a slew of personal bests.  

He even won some overall heats!  We were very proud of him!

The boys love being in the water.  Oliver blows bubbles and swims around with his puddle jumper but hasn't worked up the courage yet to put his head under the water. 

Carson on the other hand, wastes no time going under the water...he loves to snorkel and cannot wait to get his dive certification in February when he turns 10!

One of our fun gatherings, was Aaron's work party.  We had a wonderful time with friends who are becoming our adopted family out here and enjoyed some great food too! The highlight of the party was our gag gift of a blow up pickle.  He ended up in a lot of our photos.  We wonder if he might show up at future work parties! 

Halloween and Diving

Just when I thought things couldn't get any busier here on our tiny island, Halloween came!  For Halloween there was one activity after another from kid activities to adult activities.  Carson's school had a costume parade and each class had their own parties.   

 Carson and his classmates (only a few pictured here as there were 4 teams) 

had a mummy making contest.

Oliver's class trick or treated around 6 buildings on the island, including the hospital, Aaron's work, and the Commander's Headquarters.  Here is Oliver during morning line-up.

The kids loved riding around on a bus for the morning!

Oliver trick or treating at the hospital.

Aaron and I at the Vet's Hall Halloween Party.

There was also a zombie run, a fun obstacle course set up around the island where each runner is given 5 flags to be worn on around their waist (think flag football).  As you go through the obstacles around the island, there are zombies (made up by a hollywood makeup artist who is a resident on the island) who try to take your flags.  If you lose all 5 flags, you don't survive the zombie apocalype but if you make it with any flags (Aaron and Carson made it with 1 flag left) then you are a survivor.  This run was too scary for Oliver so he and I didn't make it to the event but Carson and Aaron had a great time! Here is Carson's video of the Zombie Run from his view (the camera was strapped to his head):

And then there was the Shaving Cream Social.  They fill a ditch area with water (it was a little low this year for some odd reason) and give the kids a can of shaving cream.  The little kids have no idea what to do but the older kids really have a lot of fun tagging their friends with shaving cream.

To make things just a little busier Aaron and I have been busy diving as we finished our scuba certifications.  Our plan is to start our advanced diving class in the next couple of weeks but to do that, we need to be pretty comfortable in the water. We are starting to feel very comfortable in the water now but are still perfecting everything that goes along with diving under water!

Me (Dorina) diving at the Ski Area Wreck 

(Boat is a Japanese Maru that sunk during WWII)

Aaron and his buddies diving at the Prinz Eugen 

(A German war ship that sunk accidentally just after WWII)