Aliyah turns 1 - visit to Hawaii April 2022


 Thursday I arrived in Hawaii after flying through the night. I didn't really sleep too much but when I arrived it was morning, so I started up my day again! Fun to see Amari and Aliyah and play with them. We took a nap together and then went to Genki Sushi to start the visit off right!




Friday was all about Birthday party prep! But that evening we took a break to walk down to the beach and enjoy the views.








Saturday we had several families over for Aliyah's birthday party. The theme was set as an Easter theme with Bunnies because it would have been held the day before Easter. But then Grammy got Covid and party was postpones a week. But the Bunny theme was still super cute! Avniel drew a big Bunny for the game "Pin the tail on the Bunny" and he tried to make the face look like Aliyah. Pretty great job!

The food was delish - we had teriyaki chicken rice bowls, turkey chipotle meatballs, veggies and fruit.




For dessert Megan made Carrot Cake and cupcakes for the kiddos with a special Bunny Smash Cake just for Aliyah.



We held the party outside on Megan and Avniel's carport. It was a great place to do it and  the kids have fun playing on grass.



















Sunday we were all so tired - just spent the day recovering from the partay! Made another trip to the beach to relax and enjoy the view that never gets old!







On Monday afternoon, Anviel kept Aliyah and Megan and I took Amari on an adventure. We first went to the Pali Lookout. It's ALWAYS windy there. I told Amari about it before we went but she was still so surprised by the strong wind and very cool temps!






After the Lookout we drove to the Makapuu Lighthouse. Amari was a champ and did a lot of the hike by herself. She was loved climbing on the the rocks and kind of freaked us out as it appeared she might be able to slide through the rails on the fencing!









We finsihed up our evening with a stop at Foodland for Poke and fried shrimp topped off with ice cream drummies!



Tuesday Amari's preschool had a field trip to the Loi'i fields. That is the name of the mud fields where the Hawaiians grow taro. The activity is to put leaves into the mud fields as fertilizer and then stop them in with your feet. It seemed like a good idea...except most of the preschoolers were terrified to get in the mud - it was deep. Lots of crying until it was time to wash off in the river, that was a hit!

The day starting off with some rain, but it was never a heavy rain. The area where the taro farm was was absolutely beautiful! With all the fun in the river, Amari got her clothes all wet. The next part of the field trip there was a demonstration on how to beat taro into poi. During the demonstration Amari insisted on taking off ALL her clothes. We no options for dry clothes I had an idea -  I slipped behind a shed and took off my shirt. I  covered up with my rain jacket and Amari wore my shirt like a sun dress.

























After we got cleaned up from the field trip Megan and I drove up to the North Shore/Laie to have dinner and go to the temple. We had a little bit of time before our appointment at the temple so stopped by Turtle Beach for the sunset. 









Wednesday Amari had gymnastics. I was visiting when she took her first lesson last year and she has made so much progress!



Thursday we took our dinner to Poki'i Beach. Megan and Anviel have a blow up paddle board that was so fun. We took it way out in the lagoon and saw several huge sea turtles. No pics of them because we weren't brave enough to risk our phones out on the paddle board, but they were awesome!








Amari is a great swimmer! She loves to dive for the rings. She must have had me throw them out for her 20 times!




Friday we had a pool day. Megan and Avniel are members are the Kroc Center, a lovely community center near their house with a fun pool and gym. We didn't stay too long, but that's the beauty of a membership!
After the pool we picked up Grammy and Papa's birthday gift for Aliyah - a push bike. She LOVED it!












Saturday we visited the Bishop Museum and did a hike to Manoa Falls. I don't really recommend the Bishop Museum. Megan received some free tickets, so it was not too bad that we didn't really like it.














I flew back on Sunday and it was a smooth flight. When I was waiting outside for the Camp Zama shuttle to pick me up I realized I was the only person out there - not a soul in site. This is Narita  Terminal 2 - a major international airport. So weird!




All in all it was a great 10 days!






























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