A Visit from the Grandparents

We had the awesome chance last month to have Kelson's grandparents come from San Diego to spend 2 weeks playing with us and getting to know Sarah. We had a great time showing them around Hawaii. Here are a few of the things we did together:

 USS Arizona Memorial. It is amazing that we drive by this bit of history every day. Being there, you can feel the reverence of the place. There is still oil leaking out of the ship under the water. It is still in the same place it sank on December 7, 1941.

 We picked up a couple of Hawaiian treats at the swap meet to taste test. The first was pickled mango, which they sell everywhere here. When Kelson and I tasted it, both of us reacted by saying, "Why would someone eat this on purpose?". It was not good. Really though, why would you expect pickled mango to taste good? Why would you ruin a perfectly good mango?

 Next, we tried pineapple with li hing seasoning, which is kind of a sweet & sour flavor. Kelson described it as tasting like Mexican candy. It wasn't bad, but regular pineapple is definitely better. We hooked Kelson's grandparents on fresh Hawaiian pineapple while they were here. I think they had pineapple with almost every meal.

 Since Kelson had to work during the week, Sarah and I did some exploring with her great grandparents. This was on our drive around the southeast shore of the island. Excuse the random ribbon dangling in Sarah's face.

 Another day, we went to the Dole plantation. We learned about all of the different kinds of pineapple and introduced Kelson's grandparents to the deliciousness of Dole Whip. Yum! Sarah had some too.

 Sarah loved having extra people here to love her and give her attention. She especially loved the green teddy bear that Great Grandma carried on the plane to bring to her.

 One Saturday morning, we all did a zombie 5K race together. It was fun. Everyone started the race with 2 flags, and the goal was to finish the race without your flags being captured by the zombies hiding along the course. Kelson finished 2nd, but he didn't get a prize because both of his flags were captured. Kelson's grandma managed to keep one of hers simply by refusing to give it to the zombie. Apparently zombies negotiate. 

 That afternoon, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had a great time watching all of the shows and learning about the different Polynesian cultures. The Tonga show and the Samoa show were our favorites.

 For dinner, we went to our first real Hawaiian luau. The food was delicious...except for poi. We weren't big fans of the poi, although Sarah thought it was pretty tasty. Kelson got a little bit full. 

After dinner, we went to their awesome evening show. Sarah was pretty worn out from our fun day and slept through the whole thing even with all of the singing, yelling, pounding, and loud drumming. Then she slept all the way home. It was a great way to end the day.

We had so much fun having Ed and Elaine here for 2 weeks. We miss living near them in San Diego and stealing yummy fruit from their garden. Thanks for coming to visit! Mahalo nui loa!