Kaniakapupu

Today we visited the ruins of King Kamehameha III's Summer Palace. He picked a nice place for his summer home. Nu'uanu Pali is tucked in the Ko'olau Mountains in a dense forest. There are abundant breezes and enough shade to bring the temperature down significantly. The ruins are pretty intact, probably because they are relatively young, and include a kitchen and a heiau, or temple.

The rumor is that there are a lot of spirits here, so we got ourselves pretty spooked. It is the week before Halloween. We were careful not to let X steal any rocks.

The plaque says there was a luau with 10,000 people here. That must have been crowded.

Heiau

Kitchen house

Kakaako Waterfront Park

We decided to go exploring on Columbus Day. We ended up at Kakaako Waterfront Park. What a find! Not only is there ample picnic space, there are beautiful views of the water, complete with surfers and boats. There were some kids sliding down the slopes on cardboard. I think we'll try that when he's a little older.

Swimming hole

Watching with envy

There's like ten feet of rocks past the barrier. He's not leaning over the water!

See!

Questing to throw things into the water.

Big day.

Our Staycation

I had another daycare imposed week off from work. We made the most of it with errands, chores, and some trips around town.

On Wednesday, we visited the Oahu Urban Garden Center. These gardens, which are owned by the University of Hawaii, are free to visit (!) and have a very nice children's section. We did have to prowl around a bit to find the kid's area. A lot of it is undeveloped land.  When we did, X was thrilled to find a butterfly garden, a tunnel, a little play house and some furniture, and a fish pond. I had to drag him out.

On Friday, we went to the beach. X made some local friends. He just walked right up to them and sat down to help with their castle. The aunties remarked at how bold he is. I don't know where it comes from, but it works. By the time we left, they were all yelling goodbye to him.

On Sunday, we went to the zoo. Bobby is dismayed that X does not love reptiles. In fact, he loves giraffes. We had to tear him away from the giraffe enclosure after we just couldn't watch them any more. He asked us to go back to the giraffes as we tried to distract him with zebras and ostriches. He also loved watching the monkeys swing around and playing at the playground. He made a friend when we stopped for snacks. He's such an extrovert.

The Pizza Garden. It's full of ingredients you would find on a pizza.

A little play house.

Running through the serenity garden at top speed. No enjoying the scenery for me!

Kid loves fish ponds.

Look! It's me sized!

He loved that house.

At the Makapu'u Tide Pools

Maribou storks