We keep trying out new beaches since there are tons to choose from all around us. This one was in Hauula, a town about a 4 minute drive south of us. We are learning which beaches have showers to wash off the sand- a must!
To those who've asked, if we revise our rent contract, we can get an air conditioning unit, which will cool one room only while it's running that moment. We can't really cool the kitchen/ living room area because it's too large of a space for the unit. Our house starts out at 80 degrees in the morning, and then the temperature rises to about 89 or 90 in the afternoons inside. I turn on a fan and drink lots of ice water while I cook dinner. The no air conditioning has been an unexpected adjustment since I like the heat, but I've always had air conditioning to live in.
We decided to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) on a week day so we got the kids out of school one hour early so we could enjoy a full day there. I went to pick up Coen from his classroom and his cheeks were bright red (he doesn't usually get flushed) and his hair was sticking straight up from all the sweat. He told me he had a headache. They had just been playing outside for recess and the kids' school also doesn't have air conditioning. Poor kid! After that I've been sending him with an icepack so he can put it on his face after recess.
Learning how to weave a fish out of palm leaves at the PCC:
Tattoos from Fiji in the PCC:
Brent calls the PCC the Disneyland of Hawaii because it reminds him of EPCOT. All the workers (BYU-H students) are so friendly!
We had a great time going to a lot of presentations and doing activities. Ava is the perfect age and was mesmerized by everything. She volunteered and got to peel a sweet potato with a shell in New Zealand.
I love that my kids are getting to experience different cultures.
We made appointments at the temple on Wednesday evening for stake temple night. That day Audrey started complaining about her ear. We don't have a doctor here yet and I text someone to ask where we might go to an urgent care for an ear infection. They said the closest one is in the town 45 minutes south of us. I debated what to do, and gave Audrey tyelnol, and showed Ava where the ibuprofen is in case Audrey needed a little more pain meds. And then Brent and I went to the temple around the corner from our house, while Ava babysat. That is the most beautiful sentence I have ever written. Did you all read that?
We discovered that the pool on campus has family swim time 3x per week for those associated with the university. The kids are thrilled to have a pool to swim in! This day we went to what we thought would be swim lessons, but they were training for a triathlon in the lanes, so that's why the pool looks empty.
On Sunday morning before stake conference we went for a walk at a new beach in Hauula, which is about 4 minutes south of us.
The kids cannot take a walk on the beach without getting in the water.
After our walk, we went home to get ready for stake conference. Brent and I were questioning- did they say stake conference was in the Cannon Activities Center? There were no cars at our stake center, so we went to campus, and there were so many people filing into the Cannon Activities Center, which is the basketball arena. What a stake to live in, where there are so many active people, that we fill half an arena!
Our stake has a couple Tongan wards, and the stake choir was a Tongan choir. They were all dressed in white and sang in Tongan so loud and with such power! I don't think it was possible to be in that arena and not be moved.
I was feeling homesick and wishing we could just go visit family after church, but I have to remind myself, we're trading comfort for some of these amazing experiences. After church I was feeling kind of lost- in Oregon we always stayed busy on Sunday by inviting people over to dinner, but we haven't figured out how to do that yet since we don't have a lot of space in our house, and I also haven't quite figured out how to cook my normal meals here. I told Brent, "I wish we could invite friends over to play games, but we don't have any games. Or friends." Haha! Why did I not pack any of our card games?! There are a few things that I really wish I had packed.
I took this picture to remember that we accomplished the unbelievable on a Tuesday after school, when we went to the DMV and got both of our drivers licenses and registered our cars.
You might not think that's much, but let me tell you, that was an amazing FEAT. Making the appointments is a complicated process and they're booking over a month out, so you have to get on the day before at exactly 4:30pm to get someone's cancellation (so yes, we got three cancellations back to back- one for me, one for Brent, and one for the car registration- at the DMV over an hour away from our house). You also have to bring all the official documents to prove your identity and address- more than you can imagine. Luckily I heard from my friend that she had to go back THREE different times, so I brought everything I could think of, including our marriage license, and Brent's passport, etc. And we used and needed every last document I brought.
To register our car, we had to first go get a failed safety check- yes we had to drive 45 minutes a few days prior and pay $25 to get a failed safety check (it had to fail because our car was not licensed in Hawaii). Once we had our car licensed in Hawaii, we could go back to the safety place and get it re-checked and it could pass now that it's registered in Hawaii. So after we got all of our stuff done at the DMV (Zootopia nailed it with their DMV scene), we raced to the safety check place to get that re-checked. Brent was like, "I'm not driving 45 minutes back here tomorrow!" We got there 5 minutes before closing time, and as we were waiting in line, a guy in front of us lent us a screwdriver and we switched out our license plates just in time for it to be our turn and pass our safety check because now we had Hawaii plates.
On Wednesday morning Brent and I went on a tour with the new faculty and spouses. We rode on a tour bus from the PCC around Laie to see all of BYU-H campus and the temple. We learned about the church history of Laie, and the prophecies that are being fulfilled in this area. After the tour, we had a typical Hawaiian meal that included pulled pork, pork wrapped in seaweed, rice, poke (raw fish), passion fruit juice, and guava cake. Everyone shared their stories of what brought them to BYU- H, including Brent, and it was a really beautiful experience.
Brent has been staying late working on campus getting ready for his classes, and some days I'm tuckered out and the kids are maybe showing their stress of moving to a new area by being grumpy and naughty. One evening Coen was being so unreasonable and frustrating. At one point he got his finger stuck under his closet door. I tried to lift the closet door but it wouldn't budge, and then I didn't try again. I took this picture and sent it to Brent and said something like "Coen got his finger stuck under the closet door and I'm not very motivated to help him, because at least this is making him stay in his room." Not my best mom moment- emotions are high when we're all adjusting here.
Ava and Coen went to play at a friend's house and Brent and I went to the PCC to get annual passes. We went in for a little bit with Audrey. Audrey saw this hat in the gift shop and really wanted it. It says "You had me at Aloha." So, Audrey got her first hat :)
We met a new friend in Tonga and she made Audrey a windmill.
Picking up the kids at our friend's house, they showed us a banana tree growing out back. I showed Audrey, look, that's how bananas grow!
Coen loved climbing this tree.
Brent and I started going on evening walks on the beach sometimes after we put the kids to bed. It's about a 5 minute walk from our house to the nearest beach. We turn on the flashlights from our phones and wear flip flops, because we do not want to step on a blue bubble! We've seen a couple here and there, including this one.
On Saturday we went to Turtle Bay, which is about 15 minutes from our house. We were aiming to go for a walk along the beach out to Kahuku point, which is a point of land where you can see both the sunrise and sunset. But we had only walked a few hundred yards when the kids had to get in the water. We found this tiny little bay that had no waves and Ava swam around it like a swimming pool, looking at the fish through her goggles.
Brent continued the walk by himself while the kids and I sat here like this:
Audrey just living her best life in a new swimming suit, eating cheetos, and dipping her toes in the waves.
I really want to come back to this one.
Mermaid Audrey!
Blue bubble injury update- here's how Brent's marks look after over 2 weeks from being stung:
On Saturday evening we went back to the PCC and we took ukulele lessons. Coen got his very own ukulele for his (early) birthday present. That evening we saw the night show again because it was just that good. As we watched I thought, I think I am in love with the Polynesian culture!
Despite all of these amazing experiences and pretty beaches, I've still been having a hard time adjusting to some things. It feels like everything is different here. From the way that I can't curl my hair (too much humidity), to not having my normal pots and pans for cooking, to having no playground to take Audrey to, to having to drive an hour to go to the store, it's all just different. So many of the different things are fun though, like no shoes in the classroom at school, geckos on my washer outside, and having a temple visitor center nearby. I know soon I'll adjust and find my new normal and make friends. Luckily the beach is so close by and makes me feel happy every time we go!
