Fiji - day 2

Our day started out with a search for coffee on the way to Todd’s friend’s Stu’s house.  We didn’t have as much luck as we’d hoped, so we ended up at the True Mart 5 mins from Stu’s house. Once we got to his house, we loaded up boards and kids and made the drive to Natadola Beach. 

We spent the day snorkeling with cool striped fish that would follow us, bodysurfing shore break waves, and surfing the little inside reef where parents can easily stand and push the kids into waves.  

On our way home, we stopped back at the True Mart and everybody had smoothies.  Before going back to the hotel, we made two final stops - to buy a coconut water from a guy on the side of the road (delicious) and then a massage place where Gordy got his first professional massage, which he loved!  He said it was “the best ever” and he can’t wait to get another one.

When we got back to the hotel, we made rice, lentils and sautéed veggies for dinner, which would have been delicious if not for the “dark mushroom soy sauce” that we had bought by accident and put on everything.  Gordy had one taste and decided he’d rather not eat.  I tried to be brave and ate without breathing through my nose, but it was horrible.  Gordy described it as smelling and tasting like a can of vegemite (sorry to our AU friends).

So, we mostly ate lentils and some snacks and went to bed relatively happy campers. 

Fiji - day 1.2

Most of the rest of our first day in Fiji went similarly to how it started. We found a supermarket nearby with prices that were higher than pupukea foodland and very limited food items. We sat down in a cafe for lunch which took 40 minutes to bring out our food (we have since learned that this was not an issue with the cafe, it’s just Fiji time). We played in the cold and very murky hotel pool.  We went out looking for massages and got skunked.

Things finally started to turn around when we stumbled upon a different supermarket on our way to a dinner restaurant.  This supermarket had much more stuff and everything was more reasonably priced!  So, we did a small shop for dinner fixings for the next day and then headed over to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

We all have high hopes for tomorrow being a better day.

Fji - day 1

Our Fiji trip has gotten off on a bit of the wrong foot.  It all started off with Todd forgetting his backpack and passport at the house. He realized the mistake when we pulled up at the airport and he went to grab it out of the backseat only to find that it wasn’t there. So, he hopped back in the car and flew home while Gordy and I held our spots in the slowest check-in line I’ve ever seen. An hour and fifteen minutes later, Todd made it back to the airport and Gordy I were finally at the front of the line (after letting 5-8 people go ahead of us).

Our flight was relatively smooth, but Gordy was the only one who got any sleep due to a crying kid two rows behind us, and a family behind us who were hell bent on testing out the thickness of our seats with their knees. 

When we finally arrived in Nadi at 4:30am and found our rental car company, we discovered that it was closed and wouldn’t open until 6am. So, we waited as patiently as possible only to find out that all the other car companies opened at 6am, but ours actually opened at 7am. Just to be clear here, the rental company sent Todd an email saying that they would see us at 5am, so we aren’t crazy.

At 6:45am, the representative at Hertz told us that he had found a car for us. He took us outside the airport and put us in a car explaining that the car was with another company that kept their cars in another location. And while we knew it sounded sketchy, we took the risk since we were tired, hungry, and feeling vindictive against our rental car company. The driver took us about 10mins south of the airport to a small car wash place that looked abandoned. As we all got out of the car, the driver’s uncle came over and pee’d on the fence next to us. We then went into the “office” and started the paperwork for a rental car. Things went south pretty quickly with this guy not giving us the rate we’d been promised and he ended up driving us back to the airport. 

By that time, our rental car company was open and we spent the next 30 mins sorting out the car and the paperwork because the car we’d reserved was not available. Side note - the car guy has never seen Seinfeld, and yes, Todd asked. By 8am we were all loaded up in our mini SUV and were headed to our hotel/apartment which was only about a 5 minute drive away.

Prior to coming here we had decided to pay up for a place with a kitchen because we have become quite particular with our diet. So we booked an apartment in a place that got great reviews. Sadly, the hotel is not all that it was made out to be. The room is dirty and even has a weird slimy film/coating over the entire floor, the kitchen utensils are VERY limited, the shower door only opens enough for one of us to slip inside because it opens into the toilet, the towels are a very weird fabric which doesn’t absorb water, the pillows are super lumpy, the bedsheets have stains on some of them, etc. And, while all of this is a bummer, we paid in full upon arrival, so we are stuck. The good news is that they let us check in super early without any additional charge which nearly made up for everything else because we were all so tired.

So, 4hrs after arriving in Fiji with not much to show for it, we all laid down and took a 2hr nap.

all the way across the bay

Gordy swam the entire length of the bay today for the first time!  We started on the church side and swam freestyle (with fins) all the way to jump rock.  We only stopped one time to check out a honu who was swimming past us.

I'm pretty sure Gordy was exhausted from the effort, but he handled it and is ready to go back for round two next weekend!

lulumahu #3

Gordy and I have been looking for a new adventure.  We've done the Kealia and Kaena Point hikes more time that we can count, and we were willing do a little driving for something new.  So, I suggested Lulumahu Falls hike.  It starts with a hike through a bamboo forest, and then you hike along a stream over boulders till you get to a super tall waterfall.  Gordy was keen, so we made the trek.  First we dropped off Todd at Sand Island to help Uncle Aaron with his boat.  Then, we drove to our destination.  

There were two entrances to the hike, so we picked the one that we saw other people using and we started there.  The bamboo forest was super cool and Gordy declared it his favorite part.

The trail was pretty muddy which seemed to slow other hikers down, but not us.  We flew past everyone and arrived at the waterfall in record speed.  

There were plenty people at the falls, so we walked a few minutes back down the trail and set up our own little spot with a picnic of snacks. 

The hike took us 1.5 hours total and we celebrated our successful adventure with a trip to Whole Foods in Kailua where we found some fresh cherries and made plates of food from the buffet.  

We stopped by the boat workers on our way home to pick up Todd and got our first tour of Uncle Aaron's boat!

We are already planning our next trip to Lulumahu - we absolutely loved it!!

holy molars

Gordy's 7yr molars are in!  The left molar made it's first noticeable appearance in the middle of March.  Then an "eruption cyst" occurred where the right molar would be.  Apparently this happens with the protective sac around the molar leaks fluid into the gums.  The cyst grew pretty large and turned blue/purple and then disappeared after a few weeks.

During all of this molar action, Gordy never complained of any pain.  But he was pretty unhappy recently about the little flap of gums that hadn't yet receded at the back of his left molar.  He didn't like the feel of it and wanted me to "snip it off".  I refused and it's since gone away.

7yrs old!

Our little man turned 7 yrs old yesterday!  

He was at summer camp this week which meant that he was able to celebrate his birthday with his camp friends.  Everyone sang happy birthday to him in the morning, his counselor/leader made him a birthday friendship bracelet, and I brought watermelon at the end of the day for him and his friends to grind, which disappeared in seconds.

After camp, we headed up to Rockpiles for sprints with friends, playtime in the pond, and more watermelon.

Finally, we made it home in time to meet Nana for dinner and cake.  Gordy's dinner request - Ulu tacos, and his cake - a yellow firetruck date and peanut butter cake (same as last year) with oreo wheels and m&m lights.

Instead of a party, Gordy opted for an hour of jump time at the trampoline park with a few friends.  So, we picked up one friend from down the road, I got in a quick swim at Wahiawa pool on the way, and we met up with the other jumper at the park.  The three kids had a blast for over an hour and were beet red, sweaty, and jumped out by the end of it.

Happy birthday Gogo.  We love you :)