Rain, Rain Go Away!
Ok I really hate to be a complainer. Honestly, the way I would describe myself on trips is probably "fanatically positive and militantly optimistic." It's something I learned from Rick Steves and his "back door" travel philosophy. It's helped me and our family have amazing experiences all over the world, despite the setbacks and unforeseen complications you inevitably face while traveling. But after 3 weeks of unending, dumping rain, flash-floods and the worst winter Hawaii has seen in decades, I'm a little down. It's not just the rain, it's the brown ocean and debris from the runoff as well. Most beaches are covered in sticks and logs and even some trash. Everyone has told us not to go in the water because we could get leptospirosis or other illnesses from all of the runoff contaminating the water. We've still done things and had great I suppose the bright side is that the kids have done great with online school and gotten awesome grades! But we've missed a lot of opportunities to hike and explore and even be in the ocean. But we still have 10 days in Oahu and that's enough to make up for lost time. There's still more rain in the forecast but we're trying to get out and do stuff despite the weather.
Isaac, Jeff, and I have surfed nearly every day. Isaac lasts for an hour and a half or longer each session. Jeff & I last about 15 minutes. Sometimes we'll go out a second time. If the weather is nice, everyone loves to be at the beach and bodysurf or boogie board, play in the surf, read, or layout and just enjoy the sunshine. We have had a few hours like that and it's heavenly!!
I spent Friday with Isaac. We drove to Honolulu to find a used surfboard shop. We've been renting boards and decided it would be cheaper to buy a used board. I wish we would have done this 2 weeks ago! Live and learn I guess. Anyway, Isaac found a great used board that normally retails for over $600. They were asking $275 but he bargained them down to $200. I just watched from the background and listened as he negotiated. He was thrilled to have his OWN surfboard!! Then we went to a burger place in Chinatown for lunch (he's not much for adventure when it comes to food haha) and headed out to White Plains beach to surf on his new board. Jeff met us out there. The other kids were finishing up midterms (Kira), end of term (Kate) and devouring Harry Potter #4 (Mikey) so they stayed home. White Plains was a great beach and we all caught lots of waves. It's next to the Military base so there were tons of families and people learning to surf. Isaac LOVED trying out his new surfboard. One thing I love about Isaac is his absolute determination. He will put in hours of work to learn how to do something he wants to get good at. He observes all the other surfers, asks other surfers questions out on the lineup and will try over and over again until he can do it. It's awesome and impressive!
Saturday we had a few hours without rain so we headed to the Swap Meet at the Aloha Stadium. We loved walking the market and finding little treasures and deals and trying food along the way. Then we headed to Chinatown for some lunch. We found a little noodle place called Lam's Restaurant. We shared a few unique dishes. The "Look-Fun" noodles were a favorite as well as the Chinese donuts! We finished the day at White Plains beach again. It was crowded but sunny so we were in heaven!
Sunday we went to a BYUH young married ward for in person church. One of our old neighbors moved here a few years ago and he is the Bishop of the ward and a girl from our ward is serving her mission here and is assigned the the same ward! We loved seeing them and being at church in person. I love the diversity here. It is so awesome to see so many young couples from different cultures and backgrounds coming together in the gospel. There was a baby blessing and I loved seeing the young dads coming up the the front in their dress skirts and sandals or bare feet and using their Priesthood to bless the beautiful new baby. It felt so good to go to church in person today!
Sunday night we had some of Calvin's girl friends over for dinner. They are here going to BYUH online. They were a ton of fun. They told us which restaurants to try and which hikes they loved. We at on the lanai and laughed about the Bachelor and American Idol and watched the huge waves and surfers. Then went down the steps to the beach and played spikeball until dark. It was honestly a blast!
On Monday we surfed in the rain in the morning and then we tried to do a hike after lunch. It had cleared up in Haleiwa so we thought we'd be good for a waterfall hike even though we knew it could be a bit muddy. I checked the recent reviews on All Trails and it seemed like it would be fine. We drove over an hour to the trailhead at Maunawilli Falls but in the last 15 minutes of the drive, it started DUMPING rain! My windshield wipers couldn't even keep up with the volume. It was crazy! By the time we got to the trailhead there were rivers of water running across the road and we were all getting alerts on our phones that there were flash flood warnings in the area. We sat in our cars near the trailhead for 15 minutes and then decided it would be stupid to try and hike to a waterfall during a flash flood warning. We were so bummed!!! I ended up taking Isaac back to Ali'i to surf in the rain. It was my best time! I caught lots of waves and felt like I was kind of improving. Isaac of course killed it and had a blast!
Tuesday Jeff and I took Isaac to Ali'i in the dumping rain. We sat under an umbrella and watched Isaac surf while it down poured. Finally we decided to take turns out in the surf. It was way warmer in the water than sitting on the beach. But we get tired after 15 or 20 minutes so we spent the rest of the time sitting in the rain. But it was still an adventure. We decided to try a new food truck for dinner that the girls recommended and waited 20 minutes for our food in the pouring rain. I just wanted to be warm and dry! Finally the rain stopped about an hour before sunset so we played a family game of spikeball on the beach. I'm just ready for some warmth and sunshine!
I can't forget to mention the crazy neighbors! We've got a few sketchy neighbors. We've heard screaming and fighting and yelling. The cops have come a few times. One night we spied through the upstairs window because we heard a fight happening. We were kind of scared. The girls came down to get us but Jeff just rolled over and went back to bed. The girls and I watched from the window, scared to call the police but someone else must have because they showed up a few minutes later. One day an ambulence came and took someone away on a stretcher, fully covered. We think maybe someone died. Super sad. It seems like there are some mental health issues with the older neighbors next door and maybe some drug issues with the next house over. We smell weed quite often. Yikes!
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