The Zoo

The Honolulu Zoo has become our lazy man's activity.   Whenever we've gotten tired of driving or actually trying to plan something to do, we go to the zoo.  It's a nice zoo, easy to get to, there's a playground there that Evan loves, and best of all, it's free for us to get into thanks to our Cleveland Zoo membership!

So, given the choice of going to the zoo or to the beach, Evan chose the zoo.   We got to see some animals, but this time around much of the time spent was at the playground or in the Keiki (children's) Zoo area.    Evan really likes the tunnel through the Koi tank and the guinea pig area.   And of course, we had to spend some time checking out the numerous peacocks that congregate near the playground.

Shark's Cove: Part 1

After consulting with a couple of locals throughout the past week, we decided to check out Shark's Cove on the North Shore.    There are no sharks there, but some great snorkeling.   Our concern was whether or not it would be easy to take Evan in the water there.    Several people assured us we'd have no trouble, and I am glad that we listened.     There are actually two areas to Shark's Cove, the biggest tidepool I've ever seen is to the left and the cove for snorkeling is off to the right.

At it's deepest, the tidepool gets between 5-6 feet deep in some areas, but most of it was shallow enough for Evan to walk around and explore, or to drive his monster trucks around.    The cove however is best for strong swimmers (mid-summer the waves might be calmer?), but was totally worthwhile.   The waves look intimidating, though we're talking pretty small waves here at this time of year, but I could see how people who aren't confident when they swim might be concerned.   Jon's and my first reactions were, "Hmm, I don't know if being thrown into large rocks sounds like a lot of fun."   But once we watched a few people get in and out, we discovered the channel that was deep enough to get you from the beach into the main area of the cove.   And coming back in, so long as you paid attention to where you were swimming/floating, the current actually deposited you safely right back on the beach.  

Jon and I each took a turn snorkeling, I was the brave soul who went out first and then recommended to Jon that he check it out.    The main area of the cove probably goes down 15 or so feet in the area where we swam.  The bottom is covered with large boulders, and unlike some of the shallower and more used snorkeling areas like Hanauma, we were able to see some different corals and some larger fish.

While on the North Shore, we couldn't pass up another run at Hono's Shrimp Truck, and this time stopped off at Matsumoto's for shave ice and t-shirts.

The Pineapple Plantation and World's Largest Maze

Most days Evan gets a choice of what he would like to do.  To be honest, we alternate these days with actually going to the beach, but even on beach days he gets to do something fun like bring his monster trucks to drive in the sand or have shave ice on the way home.    Today was a "let Evan pick the activity" day.   He chose to go to the Dole Plantation to ride the Pineapple Express.   It's about a 20-minute train ride through the pineapple fields where you get to see how pineapples are grown, some of the equipment used, and some of the workers out in the fields.  

Once the train ride was done, we decided to try the "World's Largest Maze,"  over 2 acres of maze constructed of 14,000 Hawaiian plants with 2.46 miles of paths.   In Ohio in the fall we have mazes constructed out of corn fields, but most of these are self-correcting--you can't really get lost.    This maze was huge, came with a teeny-tiny map to follow, and had 9 different stations to find throughout the maze.   Jon, leading the way, had to ask me for directions to get through.    We only made it to 4 stations before deciding it was too hot and the largest part of the maze would probably take too long considering the heat.   Evan, however, had a great time running and chasing Jon through the maze.  We ended the visit with a Dole Whip and headed home.

Loribeth Comes For a Visit

Last night we received a phone call from Loribeth that she was able to come out and visit us for the day.   So we picked her up from the airport and headed over to Lanikai, considered one of the best beaches America. 

It turned out to be a beautiful day, and we got there early enough that we had plenty of time to take a stroll down the beach, where Evan unearthed a bright green Hotwheels racecar.   He asked some nearby children if it belonged to them but no one claimed it, so he now refers to it as his, "treasure car."     Jon also took the Aqua Eye boogie board out and was able to see some neat reef structures off the coast, and Evan had fun playing in the sand.   He was very excited and proud that he now knows how to use his sand toys to make a fish sculpture in the sand.

In the evening after naptime Loribeth and I took Evan to the "fun store" at the mall, where he finished off his bag of tokens riding in his yellow racecar and driving the bulldozer.   Then we headed upstairs to Islands Fine Burgers and Drinks for dinner.   Loribeth had some sort of veggie tacos and I had a kalua pork sandwich which was quite tasty.    Evan did a great job while we were there, I'd definitely consider going back there for lunch or dinner.

After dinner, it was back out to the airport to drop Loribeth off for her flight home to Maui, and back to the condo for bed!

Boxcar Racing and the Oceanarium

Earlier in the week I started to look into something that would be fun and different to do related to racecars or trains, since Evan loves anything that moves on wheels.    I came across the Race World Hawaii website.   I think it's the only place in the country where there are open track hours so that the public can come in and do boxcar racing.   On Sundays it is open from 9am-1pm.   We got there about 10am and Jon and Evan had a blast together.    

They spent a lot of time racing boxcars, but we also we all able to go check out several radio-controlled racecar tracks and one area specifically for off-roading with radio-controlled vehicles.    Plus Evan was able to rent a real remote controlled car for an hour and race on a small oval track with Jon's help.    We were all pretty worn out by the time we left at 12:30, so of course it was time to head back for a nap.

After naptime we headed down to the Pacific Beach Hotel to a restaurant called the Oceanarium.    The place has a really nice buffet dinner with a three-story fish tank.    When we arrived there was even a diver in the tank feeding the fish and manta rays.   When we walked in, Evan exclaimed, "Mommy, look, there's a diver in there!"


We finished off the weekend with a stop into the Ferrari Store and let Evan check out the computers at Jon's office before heading back to the condo for the night.

Some more photos from our exciting day:

Taking It Easy

Jon had the day off today, so we took it easy. I made a Spam omelette for breakfast, since I feel it is only appropriate to consume Spam while in the state of Hawaii.

We went across the street to Ala Moana Beach, where Evan made friends with a local boy named Zeke and played in the sand. Jon and I took turns on the Aqua Eye checking out the reef structure offshore, which was pretty neat. Ordered some pizza from Round Table for lunch. Then after naptime we all went over to Ala Moana Mall so that Evan could visit what we call the "fun store," aka Jungle Fun, basically a video game arcade that also has some games for small kids and a few of those little cars you can ride in.

After that we made a stop at the playground while Jon picked up Keo's thai food for dinner...yummy.

The Aquarium, Swimming and Fireworks

This morning, when given a choice between going to the zoo, beach or aquarium, Evan chose the aquarium. But, it seems as though the older Evan gets, the less the aquarium holds his attention. That's fine though, we still probably spent at least an hour there checking out the fish tanks. In the touch pool we got to see the smallest hermit crab I have ever seen, and we were also there to see the seals being fed.

After naptime Evan and Jon had a swim in the pool. It's so much fun to take Evan in the pool now, as he now has this "floatie" that allows him freedom to swim around and jump in on his own, so he spends about twice as much time in the pool as he used to. It also certainly helps that both the water and air temperatures are significantly higher here now than they are in the winter months when we typically come to Hawaii!

In the evening Evan and I made our nightly trek over to the playground to make some friends, then caught the fireworks at the Hilton lagoon before heading back to the condo for dinner.