The officer spouse group I am apart of took an adventure to Coconut Island which is a restricted access research island used by the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (all beaches in Hawaii are free to access by anyone, there’s a small beach you can use on Coconut Island pictured above but can’t go past that). It is also the island featured in the opening song of Giligan’s Island . It got its coconut trees when a Hawaiian Queen wanted to host a luau on it but didn’t think it was pretty enough, so she shipped a bunch of coconut trees over. We were told to always be situationally aware because falling coconuts kill more people than sharks do every year.
We were provided a guided tour of the island which took maybe 15 minutes to walk around. We learned about some of the projects like this pontoon turned vacuum boat which suctioned up invasive algae and was so successful it’s now retired.
We could see some of the research facilities
And touch sea life in their touch tank.
Our tour guide was a retired veteran who wanted to keep his mask on, which was fine, but it made it difficult to hear. We heard a lot about the history, and at times in a little scatter brained manner, and not much about the research. I was a little disappointed by the tour guide… but it was still a worthwhile adventure.
The last fun fact I really remember is that one of the prince’s who lived on the island kept all kinds of exciting animals like gorillas and elephants which eventually became the beginning of the Honolulu Zoo. The elephant, Empress, could’ve been the longest living captive elephant at her death in 1986.
P.S. It’s mango season in Hawaii if you couldn’t tell.
If given the opportunity, I might go again, but I won’t go out of my way.
My family returned from their cruise on Saturday. Thankfully, Brian was available and we took them to tour his submarine. Then we went back to our place where we all relaxed (they were exhausted from the trip). We enjoyed a really delicious pork shoulder and some grilled chicken out on our Lanai for dinner. It was a bit of a squeeze but we made it work
The next day was their Pearl Harbor tour day so they spent the whole time on a personal tour going around to the different museums. For dinner we went to a local steakhouse called Buzz’s which is close to our house and the beach for dinner.
Monday was just another day of rest and exploration as they waited to head out on Monday night for their long journey home.
One of my newer subspouse friends, Mindy, (actually, kinda older now in the lifespan that is subspouse friends) had a baby last week! I met her in August; she was there the day Brian left for his SouthCom “underway” for three months. In true military spouse form, I ended up planning her baby shower. Truthfully, when I was walking with her one day I threw the idea out there thinking there was no way I was her closest friend and the one to plan her shower… and to my surprise she said yes!
Here’s what I wrote about the event on Facebook:
I “missed” acknowledging military spouse appreciation day yesterday. But here’s why… I was planning a baby shower for a mil spouse who I’ve barely known a year but was there for me the first day I ever had to say bye to my husband for longer than a month. I was picking up her best friends, who have since moved to their next duty stations, that I’ve never met, from the airport because her husband couldn’t so they could be here for it. And I had my other milspouse friend, who doesn’t even know her, come over after to lend her decorating expertise because it’s not my strong suit. And, in this picture are borrowed tables and chairs from multiple milspouses, because we know I don’t have my dream entertaining space yet. The cake I got was from a recommendation from another milspouse. Today, I hosted the shower at my house, where a majority of attendees were milspouses, and it was full of love and joy. That’s all you really need to know about how it takes a village to get through this crazy life and how much milspouses are the real MVPs.
When she said yes to my offer, I started investigating who her other friends were and found out a spouse named Haydeé (now in WA) was my point person. I called her and got some thoughts about planning. At some point, I sent her a picture of the invitation which had a date on it. I filled in the date because it was a requirement; not because it was the date Mindy had given me, and was simply asking for feedback about the general layout. Well, Haydeé took it as that was the date… and unknowingly to me she and another friend, Katy, bought tickets to fly out to surprise Mindy. I only found this out when Haydeé called me saying Mindy’s husband, Sean, was unaware of a baby shower happening that day and I told her because I hadn’t gotten a date yet from Mindy. Well… now I went to work to convince Mindy to have the shower that day.
Fortunately, I was going for a hike up Makapu’u with her in a couple days and we also planned to do her maternity pictures that day. This meant I had somewhat of a convincing argument… you’ll already have a lei! Let’s get it done in one day! Thankfully she agreed, phew!
Fast forward to the week prior to the baby shower. Mindy’s husband, Sean, ends up getting COVID… and now there was no one to pick up the friends from the airport. So I went and picked them up, never actually having met them in person. We went and ate a Moku Kitchen (my fourth time there… it’s delicious!) And then went to Mindy’s to wait for her to get home. She was so surprised when she walked in the door. It was really sweet- she had no idea. Then I was off to go home and get decorating!
Thankfully my friend Jess came over and helped. She was instrumental in getting the place to look very nice. She helped me finish up these baby sock center pieces that came out wicked cute. We clipped shrubbery from my backyard. They are rolled up baby socks on chopsticks stuck in flower foam. They were a little droopy by the next day but I was ok with that. I painted Fage yogurt containers white for the vases.
I also used baby bibs hanging to decorate. As you can tell, I’m trying to be really environmentally friendly and purposeful with the decorations.
We had brunch and split into two tables. Then we played two games – Name that children’s book based on emoji and name that song title with the word “baby” in it (I played a YouTube video). Both were a lot of fun. We also wrote on baby diapers things like “it’s dad’s turn” and “smells better than a submarine”
We also made baby’s first lei by buying a kukui nut lei, unthreading it, and handing a bead to everyone. We then wrote blessings on note cards and said them to ourselves over each bead, which were restrung to make a new lei. We had super delicious gluten free cake that I picked up that morning. Seriously, one of the most delicious tasting cakes I’ve ever had (second probably only to my carrot cake at the wedding). The saying on it is Hawaiian for “welcome baby”. It was guava lilikoi something. Sooo ONO (delicious in Hawaiian).
I also made this epic diaper cake. The layers are wrapped in burp cloths, the center is a bottle of wine, and the topper is a curled up teething bib.
We had everyone bring books to stock a library. I bought a sloth one because it’s her favorite animal. The shower was a huge success in my opinion. I was so pleased with how everything came together! I wasn’t extremely stressed about it, but I don’t typically excel at making Instagram perfect things, so it’s always out of my comfort zone. We had a really fun time and shared great memories showering the new momma!
Long time no post! I think almost a month. AppleCare had my macbook because a few of the keys weren’t working. They quoted me 5-10 days and it was four weeks… so here we are! I’m going to catch up in no particular order.
Today I hiked Hawaii Loa Ridge Hike, it was five miles and 1600ft elevation. 1000ft of the elevation was the last half mile or so. I don’t have any photos from the top, because, well, you can see we were socked in by clouds. (my friend Jess took a couple you’ll see at the end)
The start is inside a gated community with giant homes. You get a pass from a gate guard using a military ID or Hawaii license and head all the way to the end of the community, which is already at a good elevation. The beginning takes you through these beautifully wooded forest and was mostly dry dirt.
Eventually you get high enough into a clear you can look back toward Waikiki. I accidentally grabbed a shot of a rainbow! Only in HI. That’s diamondhead off in the distance.
More looking backwards, koko crater to the left.
More peak-a-boo views of Waikiki
We hit what felt like miles of stairs. These are kinda stairs; they’re also meant to prevent erosion.
I almost gave up a couple times, but it turns out we were REALLY close. I started to get really hot and not quite woozy- but I could tell I was low on energy. So I ate a bar and drank and let myself cool down before I carried forward. They went to the top without me, then one came back and got me once they realized how close we were.
Me, Jess W, Robbie, Saren, Jess J, and her husband
We hit the top, but, much to my disappointment, we didn’t get to see much. We made our way back down and I was a little more in the mood to take pictures.
The Ohia Lehua trees are blooming and there’s a Hawaiian legend that says if you pick one it’ll immediately start to rain. We didn’t attempt fate.
This hike definitely tested my limits mentally, technically, and physically. I’m glad I did it and am very proud of myself. I’m disappointed there was no view at the top, though I’m not sure I’d do this again.
Despite some fleeting clear moments, this is what was mostly at the top waiting for us. Hooray!
Honestly, clouds are nice because it makes for a kinda cool mist at the top. It also protects from beating sun and overheating. We got started a little after 7am and I am not sure I would’ve done as well any later. Also, what else are you going to do in Hawaii on a cloudy day? It basically eliminates any beach activities. Just a bummer to not see the sights.
So proud of myself for doing this when, a year ago, I was just getting hiking again.
Military Balls are a thing and the Submarine Birthday Ball is every year in April. Submarines were born on April 11th, 1900 (Yes, unbelievably they are that old!)
They have been on hold for the last couple years, but this year we pulled it off (despite a couple captains having COVID and it basically turning into a super spreader event).
The sub ball was Saturday so we booked a couple nights stay at the hotel and thankfully we did because check-in lines were INCREDIBLY long; we would’ve been very delayed had we checked in the day of. Friday night we barely made it to our dinner at Roy’s. I thought it was just ok for the cost.
The next day was pretty crappy weather. We only had the morning to hang out because I booked a hair appointment for an “Uptini” at DryBar in Honolulu. DryBar is a place where you can get a drink and your hair done (not cut). Well, apparently they are not known for their Uptinis and they re-did my hair not once but twice and it still did not look great. I walked into the hotel in tears over that and a lot of other drama happening that just all cumulated. All that to say Brian cheered me up and I fixed up a couple things of my hair and we went on with the night. This is the second time this has happened; Brian is not allowing me to go get my hair done anymore, ha.
On to happier things, we started with a pre-game party in our Captain’s suite which had a great balcony and view of Diamondhead and took some pictures along the way.
The men have the option of changing out their dress white sleeves and back with Hawaiian shirt print. I think theirs came out really classy. Pictured below are the Department Heads (Brian, Avery, Chip)
We probably should’ve taken a better picture of the whole officer crew in a wider space but oh well.
And the females
One of Brian’s right hand men
Every boat makes their own centerpiece. Ours was a water fountain and a vicious barbie. The boat “icon” is a sea faring version of Lady Liberty so I think that’s what they were trying for.
Someone else’s was a lego Submarine.
We start with food, then there is a ceremony part after. They ring a bell and have a slideshow for all the Submarines that have not returned. There’s a speech from someone. And the officers walk down the middle of the ballroom and introduce the captains. Here’s the recording of ours:
Then there was dancing and formal pictures and of course cake.
Overall I enjoyed myself. I’m glad for an excuse to dress up, but it was definitely a lot of money and a lot of work and honestly I didn’t have a ton of fun. But, I’m glad we went.
Brian hadn’t been here before and it’s cheap enough to enter so I thought I’d take him. Disappointingly cloudy, but overall an adventure for him to knock off the list.
That night I was invited to go to an officer spouse social with just the incoming and outgoing governing board (I’ll be communications next year) to check out the Queen Kapiolani Hotel. The military liaison is trying to build relationships with the military network, so we were wined and dined. They have a beautiful view of Diamonhead you can kinda see in the back. It was a great time; they fed us a lot of appetizers (my favorite were chicken wings!) Behind us is a pool. We got a tour of the hotel- the theme is retro Hawaiian which is fun. The rooms were small for families but it’s locationally a great area. We had champagne and valeted our cars. They were very nice to us!
There were gifts for our outgoing president-will miss her!
Mindy had Monday off so naturally I played hooky so we could go for a walk up to the lighthouse. I did an amazing edit of this next photo if I do say so myself.
I haven’t noticed the tide pools before! They look beautiful from above.
Getting that exercise in while we can! (She has since had her baby, yay!!)
This year Brian was on duty on Easter Sunday (yes, I was sad about this). Anyway, I went over to my friend Catherine’s who has three kids and brought a bacon, egg and spinach casserole and it is delicious. We just hung out with her kids, her cousin (our age) and another officer spouse, Brooke, joined us. Brooke brought a great salad that I have had ever intention on replicating but haven’t yet:
Spring Mix
Arugula
Walnuts
Goat Cheese
Green Apples
Pickled Beats
Champagne Vinaigrette
Here is the egg aftermath
Catherine and IBrooke, me, Catherine
I know I’m late, but Happy Easter! It’s still Easter Season!
They made it without a hitch! They arrived on Thursday very weary in well doing, so I gave them some leis and they were off to their hotel
Friday Faith and I did a bit of shopping while my parents relaxed on the beach. That night Brian and I shuttled them all to Tiki’s for dinner and cocktails!
That’s all until they get back from their cruise on Saturday. Phew!
The trailhead to Likeke falls is at the same parking lot as Old Pali. I did this before with Jess on my birthday. It’s a wicked quick hike “usually done in 24 mins” according tom AllTrails. So we knocked it out after we finished Old Pali. Not much to say about it, it was certainly busier (typical for a Saturday) which didn’t make for much fun when we got there, but we came, we saw and had another adventure. It was pretty muddy and slippery today.
