Oahu: Day 4
Day Four: Saturday 4/26/14
We slept in a bit more this morning but it was still pretty early. After such a successful day at the beach the day before, I thought I’d take Kumquat out to the beach again so keep the momentum going. We packed up some pineapple and another Spam musubi(!) and headed out to see Mr. Ocean. Kumquat walked down to the sand without even a hesitation that morning. She sat down and proceeded to eat her pineapple with the ocean crashing right in front of her. Amazing!!
It was so quiet and empty that morning and I just loved watching her play in the sand. She still wasn’t ready to go in the water but she watched me scoop up water for her in the bucket and when I dropped off in front of her, she sweetly said “Thank you, Mama.” My heart just about melted at that moment.
Huy later called and said he was hungry. So, came over and we had some coffee by the pool and read the paper while we waited for Sam’s Kitchen to open. I got the garlic shrimp, aloha chicken, and an island iced tea. Yum. Not a bad meal for being just a block away from the hotel.
After lunch, we went back to the beach for a little dip in the water. Kumquat actually walked down to the water’s edge with Jes and stood in the water like a big girl! I couldn’t believe it. She’d let the water rush up to her knees and she didn’t see bothered at all.
We also went to the pool for about an hour before having to head upstairs to get ready for Yoon’s wedding. Kumquat spent some time with Uncle Huy in the pool and went down the little tunnel slide without a floatie this time! Wow, two big accomplishments in one morning for this girl.
The rest of the day was filled with wedding festivities. The first part of the adventure was heading out to Hale Koa to catch the shuttle that Yoon had booked for us all to get to the wedding at a Country Club. She booked a much smaller bus but the company had run out and gave us the super tour bus.
The wedding was set right next to the beach and there were only a small number of chairs for the family. 
The rest of us stood in the back and tried to catch what was said in the super-short 10-minute wedding ceremony. 
I snuck up a little closer and watched most of it through my camera’s zoom lens. Isn’t it cool how close I can get with it?!
Surpisingly, Yoon got a little choked up during the vows but she held it together really well.
Here’s the kiss at the end of it all.
There was a little time after the ceremony to hang out and take photos. 
Here is Yoon’s family: dad, mom, Yoon, Kurt, and two younger brothers.
I thought this moment between Andrew and Holly was very cute and caught it in a photo!
Shortly after the ceremony, the bus took us back to Hale Koa. We grabbed a couple drinks and snacks at the bar before heading to the reception inside.
A few of us had to drop off our kids upstairs to the nanny waiting for us in Yoon’s hotel room. She was nice but I barely really talked to her. All I know is that she had been babysitting Keenan for the past two mornings while his Kevin had to work and Jen was busy with the baby. I had never dropped Kumquat off with a complete stranger before and I wasn’t sure how she would do. Luckily, she had eaten and was already rubbing her eyes. So, we took her up along with Holly, Roy, and Andrew, showed the nanny where everything was in the stroller, and I snuck out before Kumquat could notice. I don’t know what she did exactly but Yoon was there to distract her while she was freshening up. We got an update from Kevin and Jen who dropped off later and said that Kumquat was already asleep and Andrew was watching The Little Mermaid on the bed. Keenan was having a hard time separating but Andrew was sweet enough to offer his train to him and that did the trick. An hour later, all three kids were asleep and the grown-ups were free for a couple more hours.
It was a fun reception including a Hawaiian feast complete with lomi lomi salmon, mac salad, kahlua pork, crab legs, and prime rib just to name a few. Holly was all over the giant dessert table filled with tiny versions of cheesecake, cream puffs, chocolate cake, and fruit tarts.
The booze was flowing and it was all paid for by Yoon’s parents! There was table service and the waiter did a really good job getting all out orders straight.
By 9pm, the nanny was done with her shift but all the kids were sleeping. Jes went up to roll ours down in her stroller while the Lams and Kwaks took 20-minute shifts hanging out in the dark with the kids. It wasn’t the most ideal situation but it’s what they came up with and it worked.
Our kid just slept right through the music and drunk shouting. This kid really does have my sleeping genes.
There was plenty of dancing that night and an event wouldn’t be complete without Dayantha doing a little “Ditty”.
Here’s a group selfie that we took at the end of the night. It was the best one out of the 4 that I took. We managed to squeeze in 10 people. Someone should have snuck in right next to Yoon on her left!!
Mahalo for a wonderful night, Yoon! We were so happy to celebrate this special day with you. Congratulations to you and Kurt!
On this day, we were up early again but sorta slept in until 6. I guess Kumquat was getting adjusting one hour per day. Once again, we had breakfast by the pool and it was looking a little cloudy. We were supposed to go to Yoon and Kurt’s BBQ today with a forecast of 40% rain. Yikes. This is one of my favorite photos from the trip.
We took a little walk by the pool and then said “hello” to Mr. Ocean again. Still scared.
Once Jes was up, we walked to McDonald’s for the Spam and Eggs Platter.
Afterward, we went back to the hotel and just hung out on the couches at Rum Fire. This had become our spot for reading, relaxing, and hanging out in the shade.
Once we arrived, Yoon had a full-on spread under the large tree complete with BBQ’d meat, mac salad, chili from Zippy’s, noodles, and pretty much everything else we were craving.
The beach was a nice lagoon with gentle waters. It was perfect for Kumquat and was her first introduction to how fun the beach and water can really be.
By the end of the afternoon, she had soaked through her non-swim diaper (I didn’t think she’d actually go in) and couldn’t get enough of the wet sand.
After the BBQ, everyone headed back to the hotel to wash up. Yoon had planned Round 2 at Uncle Bo’s and had a reservation for 25 people to show up at 7:00. We were all late and some people arrived before they gave the tables away. We had a ton of food and plenty to drink.
It was so nice to have everyone together again after so many years. Lots of people arrived this afternoon and half didn’t make it to the BBQ so this was a lot of fun.
The happy couple received some “special” shots that evening and we all got a good laugh.
After dinner, a bunch of us went singing at a place Dayantha and the guys found the other night. 
Kumquat rode in the minivan taxi with everyone and also joined them in the singing room for the first half hour. What a trooper.
We were up by 5 (not too bad) and Kumquat did a decent job not waking Jes.
Most mornings we would go down to the infinity pool for breakfast. This infinity pool is so pretty. 
It looks like Kumquat could roll right into the ocean if I didn’t have the brakes locked on that stroller.
Lawson Station is the general store at the hotel and it’s awesome. They have just about everything you need to survive: milk, fruit, toiletries, souveniers, oh and did I mention Spam musubi, made-to-order udon, manapuas, and BUBBIES MOCHI ICE CREAM?!?! 
This day was designated as our pool day and after the beach, we rented a cabana (basically two cushioned lounge chairs with a shade) for the day. It was going to be our homebase from 8am-6pm today and it was awesome.
After a morning at the pool, we lucked out on having a sleepy toddler passing out in her stroller so we got a nice quiet lunch at Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin. I had a tasty katsu-don with an oozy egg on top. Yum. It was delicious and big enough to have some left over for Kumquat to eat later when she woke up.
The location of our cabanan turned out to be the perfect location for relaxing, hanging out near the wading area, and enjoying a few drinks.
The Lams and Kwaks also joined us and it was like our own little corner of paradise.
Before dinner, we hung out near the hammocks and Kumquat enjoyed swinging with Daddy.
We were also greeted by a rainbow that evening!
Eventually, Kumquat had fallen asleep so she missed out on another dinner. She would have loved this one too.
We went to Marukame Udon, which has a cafeteria-style service and a line out the door all day long. The noodles are handmade in the store and it’s so cheap!!
The broth is very tasty and was even better with the soft egg added to it. Andrew ate up all the egg yolk before Holly could even try some.
I also picked up a Spam musubi for Kumquat’s breakfast the next morning. Yes, this kid ate a lot of Spam (aka “bacon” to her) on this trip.
We flew on Hawaiian Airlines (our usual) on Wednesday (4/23) and stayed in the Sheraton Waikiki this time. The flight went pretty well with the exception of when we were boarding the plane with a toddler who was screaming and refusing to walk and a husband who was on a conference call and couldn’t help.
I loved that Kumquat had her own seat and I came well-equipped with food, toys, and the iPad loaded with new apps and videos for her.
1) Kumquat puked in the car on the way to the airport (gross) and 
2) I spilled half a glass of mimosa all over my lap and didn’t have a change of clothing (stupid).
The Lams joined us on the flight, which made it an even more interesting flight. I think they had it pretty rough considering they were flying with an 18-month-old who didn’t want to nap and a 3-month-old who had to be held the entire time.
Luckily, they did get a moment of respite when Keenan finally fell asleep. They were exhausted that afternoon when we arrived in Honolulu.
Instead of renting a car for the week, I made arrangements for Roberts Hawaii to pick us up. It was great, they greet you at luggage claim, take your bags, and whisk you away to your hotel lickety split. Kumquat especially enjoyed the bus ride and Jes took a nap.
When we arrived, Dayantha and Krissy were out front and we we went to have lunch at Ramen Nakamura. 
Here’s my kimchee miso ramen with a side of fried rice. The ice-cold beer from the ABC Store threw it over the top for our first meal on the island.
The rest of the day was spent at the pool. Jes took his usual monster-long after-flying-to-Hawaii nap while Kumquat and I met up with the Fernandos. It’s fun having other friends in the same hotel – especially when they’re able to be an additional set of eyes on a constantly-moving toddler in a pool. Fortunately, she liked the pool and having the 1/2-foot wading area was perfect for her. The pool at the Sheraton is definitely a +1 over Moana Surfrider.
Dinner was at Duke’s and we stayed longer for drinks. I got my first order of poke and it came with furikake rice. Nice touch, Duke’s.
Yoon came by after another social function and we were lucky to have a kid that sleeps well in a noisy restaurant.
I don’t know whether to cry or celebrate. I guess I’ll be doing both. I can’t believe my little Kumquat is two years old today. It’s true when they say the days are long but the years are short.
Happy 2nd Birthday, KK. No matter which name you choose when you grow up, you’ll always be Kumquat to us. Love you to pieces!!
Since Humphry Slocombe opened in the Ferry Plaza, it was the perfect opportunity for the girls to meet up with me for a Saturday morning food crawl. 
Ranee and Stephanie brought their families over from Walnut Creek and we had quite a feast.
It started out with Roli Roti. You can never go wrong with starting your day with a porchetta sandwich.
Next stop was Blue Bottle for some coffee and a piping-hot waffle straight out of the griddle.
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