June 13

Back home to celebrate Nat’s birthday. I was too tired to plan anything big so we had a low key hangout with the Chiu cousins and Big Uncle. She was showered with boba, cupcakes, and cakes throughout the day from her aunties and uncles.

Tacos for dinner. Big made fish tacos with the fish they caught in the morning while fishing in Santa Cruz. They were tasty!

June 11

We checked out this morning and stopped to pick up spam musubi and Rainbow drive in to take to the airport to eat. It’s been a fun and relaxing vacation and we’re looking forward to our next trip wherever that may be!

June 10

Our last full day in Hawaii. We had brunch at a cute little place called Aloha Kitchen popular for their soufflé pancakes. The food here is really good.

Banana pancakes

Coconut pancakes

Then we drove to other side of the island for a 1 hour ATV tour of Kualoa Ranch, site of the filming of Jurassic Park and other movies. This was a really fun experience. I highly recommend it to anyone going to Oahu. There is also a 2 hour tour, but the reservations were sold out.

On the way back, we stopped at another shave ice place recommended by Jessica. Waiola Shave Ice. The ice here is smoother than Matsumoto’s. Both are good, just different.

We also picked up some malasadas from Leondard’s. A must do when in Oahu.

Dinner: Basalt, a restaurant near our airbnb which we happen to pass. We were planning to eat somewhere else but the line was too long.

I ordered shrimp risotto. It was really good!

Favorite part of the day:

All of us – Kualoa Ranch

June 9

Nat woke up at 5am this morning to prep for and take her AP Calculus test at 6am. The test lasted about 3.5 hours with 2 short breaks in between. Hopefully she passes! While Nat was taking her test, David and Tyler walked over to a golf course nearby to check it out. Tyler was itching to play golf.

After Nat was done with her test, we walked around Waikiki to do some shopping. Tyler wanted to look for some t-shirts. We stopped at Island Vintage Coffee for some cold drinks and shared an açaí bowl.

Then headed off to the beach. Tyler wanted to surf again. We also brought our leftovers from last nights dinner to eat at the beach. It was perfect.

Nat and I went for a swim too

After the beach, Tyler was too tired to do anything so David, Nat, and I went to Island Vintage Wine Bar for some drinks and appetizers

David and I picked up take out from Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin. This place came recommended by several people but I could not get a reservation! The food was really good.

For dessert, we drove to an ice cream shop Nat found online called Thrills

Favorite part of the day:

Tyler – surfing
David – hanging out at the beach
Me & Nat – Island Vintage Wine Bar

June 8

Today we drove to Kailua Beach on the northeast side of the island. The sand was white and smooth and the water was turquoise blue. It was so nice!

Further along heading west on the island, we stopped at Giovanni’s shrimp truck for a late lunch. So delicious!!

Then a little further west, Matsumoto’s shaved ice. Very refreshing on a hot day!

Dinner: Side Street Inn. This place was recommended by my friend Kevin. It’s a sports bar that is popular for their Hawaiian-Chinese food. Huge portions. We had lots of leftovers.

Favorite part of the day:

Nat & Ty – Matsumoto’s shaved ice
Me & David – Kailua Beach

June 7

Tyler has a yellow stuffed cat named Stan that’s his “buddy” he got at an ABC store the last time we were in Hawaii. It’s faded and missing it’s nose now from multiple washes. He wanted to go find a friend for Stan so we’ve been checking all the ABC stores we pass. So far no luck. Today, we decided to walk over to the ABC store he bought Stan at which was at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Unfortunately, no Stans. While walking back, we stopped at an ABC store and found Stan AND friends! Tyler was so excited!

In the afternoon, we went to a small beach called cockroach cove Nat found online. Basically a “do not enter” kind of place but people are there anyways. Very picturesque. We saw several people come just to take pictures.

Dinner: sashimi from a take out place called Maguro Brothers recommended by Wileen. The line was long, but the fish was really fresh and tasty!

Favorite part of the day:

Tyler – finding Stan’s friends
Nat & David – cockroach cove
Me – walking around, shopping

June 6

Wanting to squeeze in a morning hike before our jet lag wore off, we hit Diamond Head this morning before it got too hot. Nat was a trooper and wanted to do it despite her cut foot. It was less than 2 miles but was a nice hike.

After the hike, we stopped at Walmart for some supplies and then headed back to the beach. Tyler wanted to surf again.

Here’s flamingo Natalie. She’s keeping her cut foot out of the water to keep her bandage dry.

Dinner: Udon. This was such a fun place with giant bowls of udon. I got curry udon with chicken and shrimp tempura and Nat got a sizzling beef sukiyaki udon.

Favorite part of the day:

Tyler – surfing
David – hiking Diamond Head and the views at the top
Me & Nat – udon dinner

June 5

Thanks to jet lag, we were up early and started our day at a local farmers market David found online. This place had lots of fresh produce and fruit and really great food stalls. David got some fresh squeezed sugar cane juice, a pineapple, some papaya, and Nat got fresh mochi. We also shared some grilled abalone which was really good!

Our next stop was the Aloha Stadium swap meet. We picked up a few souvenirs and snacks here

Lunch at Duke’s. Nat was dying for the hula pie.

The kids decided to try surfing today. There’s a small shop near the beach that rents surfboards for $10. Unfortunately, Nat cut her foot on a rock after her 3rd attempt on a wave and ended her surfing career. Tyler was out in the water for a few hours and did OK for his first time.

For dinner, we picked up poke take out

Favorite part of the day:

Tyler – Lunch at Duke’s (he had a burger and said it was delicious)
Nat – swap meet (she bought a sarong)
Me & David – KCC Farmers market

June 4th

Yesterday was the last day of school and today we’re off to Hawaii for our summer vacation! We were all very excited to travel somewhere. I was lucky to book cheap tickets before things started top open up again. On arrival, we picked up Zippy’s for lunch, checked into our airbnb, and headed to Target to get some water and food for our stay.

Then we headed to the beach. Our airbnb is only 1 block away from Waikiki beach, so it’s a nice and easy walk to get to and fro.

By 8pm local time, we were exhausted and went to bed

Favorite part of the day:

Tyler – boogie boarding at the beach
Nat – swimming in the ocean
Me – hanging out at the beach
David – hanging out at the beach, watching N & T play in the water picturing them as little kids

We attended sports night at school yesterday to support Tyler and his golf team. Nat opted out of participating with the girls volleyball team. The event was on the football field with different sports teams rotating in and out at different times to manage the crowd. His coach gave a short speech and had nice words to say about each of the team members. He called out Tyler at the end, the one freshman and poked fun at him for always searching for balls by giving him a large bag of golf balls!