A Sean-Filled Weekend: Stairway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs)

So of course the first item of business on Sean's visit here was college game day. That doesn't get any pictures. I'll sum it up by saying it consisted largely of a lot of screaming, high five-ing and fist bumping.

After they milked that for what it was worth, they spent the evening visiting Sean's old haunts- Pounders Beach, La'ie Point, Pizza Bob's in Hale'iwa. They brought me home some mouth-watering white chicken artichoke pizza as well.

Bright and early next morning at 5:30am, before the guard got there, we set out for Stairway to Heaven. We quietly snuck into where we thought the trail head would be and walked up a drive.


Enjoyed the sunrise from the drive... while it wasn't the same as it might have been had we been on the stairway, just look at that golden sunlight...

On our way up, a group of rather disgruntled looking hikers were heading out. Thinking that it was strange that they were leaving and even stranger that they didn't say anything to us (you know, like "The guard's there, he won't let you pass."), we went on our way. Noticing lights on a running car up ahead, we did the only thing that made sense-- we dove into the ditch and hid in the bushes.

After waiting a moment, the truck slowly drove our way, and as we held our collective breath, passed us by. Relieved, we quietly climbed out of our hiding place and continued up the drive.

The road forked up where the truck had been parked and the fenced off fork had a path leading off right before the fence. We decided it looked unlikely and took the other fork. Unfortunately, it led us further away from the stairway till it dead-ended at some strange-looking compound. Discouraged, we turned back the way we had come. We noticed a few trails branching off, but decided they probably wouldn't lead us to the stairway.

We went back to the fork and decided to try the "unlikely" trail.

Success!

Well, of a sort. Yes, it led to the trailhead. Yes, there was a huge fence with barbed-wire running across the top. And yes, the guard was there and heard our not-so-silent approach.

So when he came to investigate our noisiness, Derek tried the "hey, we're lost can we hop the fence and you can show us how to get out?" routine. Yeah, that didn't work. He told us to turn around and go back the way we came.

Now, we could have done that. But since Derek was annoyed at being thwarted, what did he decide was the next best thing? Of course, why not go ahead and irritate the guard further? Provoke him until he threatens to call the cops if you try to get in again?

Naturally, Sean found that irritating (as did I, but I go with the flow a little more) and they bickered like an old married couple as we turned back.

We tried another trail, and another, each leading us to a bamboo hell, full of dead, cracking bamboo. When Derek would lose interest and be ready to quit, Sean was there spear-heading the next try. And when Sean got discouraged, Derek was ready to push again. On our third or fourth try, after crossing paths with some other eager hikers, we opted to try one last trail. Oddly enough, it actually worked. We found the fence. It was near the guard, but not so near as to be noticed. And it had been bent up so one could Down Dog into Up Dog under it. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Well, maybe if it had a little less sh** rubbed all over it.

Yes, someone or something had decided to climb up and take a dump on a clamp on the fence. Maybe they weren't that ambitious. Maybe they just picked up the feces and rubbed it all over. In any case, we all squeezed under the sh** fence as delicately as possible. We were committed.

For the next 45 minutes or so, we hiked, climbed, and clung to young trees as we scrambled over the next ridge or two in search of this so-called "stairway". At long last and after a few close calls, the stairway finally came into view.

We climbed over to it and amazingly enough, there was a little ladder up to it. We didn't actually use it, just the "trail" that led up to it. Someone insisted it was a trail we'd been following that whole time. I still think it was rain run off.

Finally, though, after many, many set backs and adventures, we were on the actual stairway. We actually could look down and see the guard pacing angrily at the trail head. Fortunately there were plenty of hikers on their way down the stairway to slow down the guard should he want to think about pursuing us. I quickly put out of my head the nervous thoughts of what would happen when we got back down after the hike and tried to remind myself that Derek was the only one the guard had seen and all us haoles probably look the same anyway.


So onward and upward.

Time for a water break. Sean and Sheen looking oh-so-casually out at the view.

This is the view from the first landing. I don't think I mentioned there are 3,922 stairs on this hike. Yeah.

So casual. This one goes out to Devin.

After the next landing, we came to this bunker. In it was a giant winch used years ago to haul a cable car up and down the mountain. Of course the graffiti made it a fantastic photo opp, so we snapped a few.

Contemplating the hike.

Derek breakin it down on the winch.

Any guesses on what this room was for?

And finally... shortly after the bunker, we made it to the top of the harrowing ridge hike. I kid you not, people, I am so grateful for those rails because I believe my death (or mere maiming) would have been long and painful otherwise.

H-3 from the back of the building

The View From the Top

Amazing. Gorgeous hike, though slightly terrifying at times. The trip down naturally went a lot faster. And the bottom?

Sean went down a little bit ahead of the rest of us. Feigning great fatigue and thirst, he begged some water of the guard. Naturally concerned, the guard quickly and eagerly obliged. Derek had switched shirts (Jason had an extra) and was a little less recognizable in a subtle white marathoner shirt instead of a bright orange Donkey Kong tee. We all trailed back in and picked up on Sean's story of getting the wrong GPS coordinates and getting lost and miraculously finding the stairway anyway. And yeah, there were still a few people behind us. And great, thanks for showing us the way back out!

Beautifully played Sean.

I would have been fine turning around and heading home or going to the beach or trying another hike. But I'm so glad those two nerds are so persistent that they found the trail and we did the stairway. Good times.

A Sean-Filled Weekend: The Beginning

A couple of months ago, Derek did something or said something (I can't remember what) that pissed Sean off. So to apologize, Derek sent him over 2,000 texts in the course of two days repeatedly asking, "Why you so mad?" Naturally he thought it was hilarious, but Sean was "sulking and being a little girl" and even though I heard later he thought it was funny, still gave Derek the silent treatment. Well, with no response to his texts, Derek lost interest and decided two can play at the ignoring game, so when Scarlett finally decided she still wanted Rhett, Rhett was no longer interested in the drama.

In any case, Stefanie and I both grew tired of their annoying little feud or whatever it was. Especially since neither of them were actually mad at each other, just vaguely annoyed. So for Sean's birthday, Stefanie decided to fly Sean out for Columbus Day weekend. I chipped in a bit and had quite a time keeping it under wraps so Derek wouldn't suspect anything.

So worth the reaction.

Zoo Day

So this is yet another long-time-in-coming post. I'd actually forgetten I hadn't posted our trip to the zoo, but honestly it was in July.

Anyway. Let's pretend that didn't just happen.

We decided that it would be a good idea to walk to the zoo with our hotel friends (same friend from high school-Melissa, plus another-Charlie and kiddos). In the middle of the morning. In Hawai'i. A mile away.

Not as great an idea as I first thought. A LOT of whining, very sweaty, red-faced and tired children by the time all was said and done. But I didn't take pictures of that- I only took fun pictures. So we'll focus on that.

The zoo was a lot of fun for the kids and even though it wasn't super impressive and we made the mistake of going left instead of right at the fork (I'm not really a bird person. I mean, they're KIND of interesting, but I don't go to the zoo to see birds.) There were a couple that were really cool, though.

The flamingos were right at the entrance and the kids loved em. I'm particularly fond of flamingos myself and was pleased with their pinkness. Roman also approved.

As I said-- birds. Oh and you may notice that Roman was the only male in our trip. He did well to represent though, men.

See, kids, wasn't that long walk SO WORTH IT?

But Mom, where's the bird?

I found it, guys!

This is pretty cool, I guess....

Oooooooo! Guinea pigs!!

This was actually a really cool petting zoo. The guinea pig display had a kid-size guinea pig maze/tunnel where the kids could crawl through and poke their heads up inside to look at everyone and the guinea pigs (which were of course relaxing in the shade of their hatch instead of energetically running around their maze and wheel and whatever else.)

Roman and N. checked out the llamas for quite some time. Rather than chase our own kids around, we eventually figured out it'd be easier to divide and conquer based on the speed and interest of the kids. I think I got the easy ones.

There were goats all over in this section and the kids loved getting all close and personal and touching them. Xandri especially loved washing her hands afterwards in the trough they had set up for it and held up the line pretty well until I "helped" her move it along.

One of my favorite things was how close the tiger display was to the playground (which was also amazing... totally kicking myself for not getting a pic!) Seriously though, I basically got a year membership to the zoo (like $30 or something) for the playground alone. The kids all loved checking it out, but of course Roman was particularly interested and watched them closely when he wasn't chasing the girls around the playground.

By this point, I was fed up. The kids kept running away (Roman in particular) and trying to push two umbrella strollers sucked. Charlie devised a strategy to tie them together, thereby creating a double stroller. Kind of. The wheels ran into each other a lot. So while it seemed like a good idea at the time, it soon became apparent that I would never be walking the kids to the zoo again.

But anyway, in addition to these, we saw elephants, alligators, crocodiles, turtles, koi, ducks and geese, giraffes, hippos, tortoises and some other things I can't remember. Anway, the kids enjoyed it and it was fun. But yeah. No more long walks with the monkeys.

Although lately (October, no longer July) Avril and Xandri have been going on "runs" with me. Lacing up their running shoes and going to run and do our "workouts". Even though my workout lasts twice as long, it's cute and fun and I'm glad my commitment to exercise and health is rubbing off!

Surf Day

A couple weeks ago we took my new-to-me fish board out for a spin in Kailua. It was a great day for surf practice, with plenty of great waves and a lot of fun. No, I didn't get all the way up. Just to my knees-- but I caught a couple of waves in and it got me excited to keep it up and get better. My arms wore out before my interest did, though and I begrudgingly gave up my new toy to Derek to try out.

Meanwhile, however, the kids were back on shore with Daddy playing in the shelter our friends Jeremy and Monica had erected,

running barefoot along the beach, you know, just getting some exercise...

and sippin a cold one.

This guy finally decided (or so I gather from the pictures since I was out in the ocean at the time) that the girls were having a lot of fun and maybe he should check things out, too.

Yep, definitely fun.

The girls love the beach and have finally moved from complaining every time we go to getting excited when I say "beach". This is no doubt due to the fact that every time we go we somehow manage to miraculously (believe it or not) have FUN!

He got right to work and built a pyramid. Look how proud he is of his work!

Anyway, remember what I was saying about giving up my board to Derek? Yeah, well, wouldn't you know it-- he got up quite a few times on it. Show off. Sadly, I didn't get any really good pics since of course he decided to get up after I'd put the camera away (trust me having a camera handy at the beach would be a nice thing, but it wouldn't last long. The camera, that is.)

So while Daddy was out showing Mom up, Mom and Roman were back on the beach- too cool for school. Or maybe the sun was really bright and all he wanted was to hold the camera. But I'm not gonna tell you which.

The Thing.

Funny story. He got The Thing in a happy meal and was kind of scared of it at first- when you turn it on and shake it (it actually works best if you hit something with it. Not a fan.), he growls and says, "IIIIIIT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

Well, of course he adjusted to it really quickly (by the way, the fear relates to a Big Foot toy that was on display at Target that was huge and terrified him) and started hitting things with it. So he was sitting on my lap with it and what happened? He smacked me in the eye with it. Well, more on the brow bone, but you get the idea. And what did that stupid toy growl as a result?

"IIIIIT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

And now it's his new BFF.

I thought about posting the series of pics that led up to this one- she's such a ham! I love it. She kept posing and being silly with these big, happy grins, just eating up the attention. I hope that never changes.

And I hope I don't live to regret saying that.

Of course, Xandri had gotten all tuckered out, so when I got back on the beach, this is what I saw.

Too bad I didn't get a pic for you later, she was lying down wrapped in a towel and if you hadn't known she was there, you never would have guessed.

Pretty Girl

On our "hike" slash nature walk to Waimea Falls, Avril found this once pretty, but now sad-looking flower- which, of course, she still found beautiful enough to pose with. And somehow she manages to pull it off.

Our New Home {set 3}

Now for the bedrooms. I know you are all wanting to know where you'll be staying when you get here, so I saved the best for last :).

Anyway, we decided to convert the third bedroom for guests, so the girls now sleep in here (we did promise them bunkbeds):

Just kidding. But kind of not.

Here's the real deal:

Note the awesome built-in dresser, mirror and cabinets- thank you for saving us on furniture costs!!!

And just in case we didn't have enough storage space--- a bunkbed with lots of drawers. Seriously, it's almost hard for them to mess up their room cause they love putting all their crap in special drawers. (On a side note, those windows are called jalousies to refer to my last post.) And yeah, they like their bunkbeds.

Roman's room-- saddest day of all. Note my lovely Amish-crib not set up in the corner. That's because the other side of it got broken in the move. It was a clean break so I'm holding onto the hope it can be fixed. I gotta get around to filing my claims....

Our room for the first two weeks while I got everything else settled in and arranged:

Our room at the present:

It's huge! Btw, your thoughts on the parasol over the bed? I'm not sure I'm loving it, but I want it somewhere cool and there's an ugly window AC unit there that we have yet to use. I have a couple other ideas for covering it (mainly a tapestry thing or something). So. Your thoughts- please!!! By the way, did I mention how much I adore these built-in drawers?! There's a his and a hers in here. As well as another closet. We FINALLY have enough space for our obscene amount of clothes.

The Guest Suite:

Ok, we'll fix it up for you. Are you ready?

Don't worry, we'll move the wagon for you. And hopefully paint. Ugh this yellow hurts me!

Our New Home {set 2}

First to clear up some confusion: we didn't buy, we're renting. And although I would love to take credit for the landscaping, it preceded us.

Here's the yard we get to enjoy.

Roman loves the ample hose opportunities at varying intervals around the property. He takes full advantage of them whenever I'm not looking and usually winds up very happily soaking wet.

Caught you, kid!

Along one side of our house we have this wonderful clothesline that I've been putting to use to save on our electric bill. Along with this, please note some leaps I've made in forgoing some modern conveniences with this home and my resulting attitude shift:

1) Clothesline: Hanging my clothes is somewhat therapeutic. I enjoy it, I like saving the energy and using the sun's power, being part of my environment. I love the smell of hung laundry. Yes, it's a little stiff and rough hanging outside, but I don't find it to be a problem by the time I'm ready to wear or use whatever. And if it bothers me-- air fluff in the dryer for 5 min!

2) No AC: Yes, in Hawaii this can be a travesty. But you know, I had AC in Missouri and I was a Nazi about keeping the doors closed, the windows closed and not going outside for fear of sweating. Granted I'm covered with a light sheen of sweat most days, but now I enjoy our yard more fully, again I feel more part of my environment and I enjoy tradewinds through the jalousies (check out windows in interior pics). I don't mind the doors and windows being open and I don't feel like a prisoner in my own home at the mercy of the weather.

3) No dishwasher: Again with the savings on the electric bill. Plus, I always had to rinse my dishes first anyway, so now I just add soap and I'm done. This one is less fun hippy for me, but cutting energy costs out here is a big deal since utilities can be very spendy, so it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Our backyard goes up a hill and the owners have utilized the space well by terracing. They've left the terraces on the sides empty of concrete so we have plenty of garden space which we've filled with tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and herbs- as well as added a lemon tree and a clementine tree. Hopefully we'll add some delightful pineapple plants to the mix as well- although in a period of three years we'll only get three pineapples per plant!

The top of our backyard leads to a fenced "wilderness" that is technically Tripler property but is outside the Tripler fence since they didn't want to mess with the landscaping that had been done by the time they were putting the fence in. So lucky us- more garden space, outdoor entertaining and/or.....

A workshop for the kiddos!

Immediately behind our house is this wonderful covered patio with plenty of storage and geckos (see Gecko Hunters along the top of the wall). This also has a clothesline for those rainy days.