Tag Archives: things to do with kids

Spring Break is here! Day 1…

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It’s that time again where I trade in the drudgery of early mornings and packing lunches  for the drudgery of keeping my children entertained for the next week and a half.

Day 1, we started off Spring Break with a bang. Dave and Busters for lunch and games. In hindsight I should have probably held off on this one as a bribe until the end but oh well. They have actually been fairly decent to each other lately.

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Look they are even sitting on the same side of the booth, that NEVER happens!! I love Dave and Busters Military discount, especially since I have banned them from drinking anything but water when we go out (I am sorry, $3 for a soda or juice that is hardly touched? No thanks!) Our lunch ends up being quite the deal… Of course I took NO pictures of us playing games, the lighting up in the arcade is horrible anyways. We didn’t hit any jackpots on anything but we had a good time playing.

As we were headed out to the car I decided to take a little detour and hit up Menchies.

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Seems like we are one of the last to hop on this new trend of building your own dessert… There was nothing like this in Spain and we really don’t go out for dessert much. The kids LOVED it and can’t wait to go back!

menchiesIf you haven’t been to this type of FroYo shop before, you get to pick your flavors and topping and add whatever you want to your bowl. Then you pay by the ounce. Needless to say, keep a sharp eye on your kids so they don’t fill up the entire bowl! I went simple with cheesecake flavored frozen yogurt with fresh strawberries, while the kids had some interesting combinations. Mckenna got red velvet and mint with red velvet cake chunks, Omar got mint, ice cream sandwich and coffee with sprinkles.

We will be back! Must try everything!

 

Honolulu Zoo

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DSC_0130aOne of our last ‘fill up two weeks off of school with fun’ fun days was to hit up the zoo. Of course when I suggested it you would have thought it was the meanest thing ever. They were turning into mole people in the days after Christmas, blinds closed, eyes glued to tv and video games. I finally dragged them out of the house and made it to the zoo all on my own, no gps needed. What a great feeling that is! Also bonus #2, I found a parking spot in the lot right next to the zoo. $1/hour parking, heck yes!

Let me go ahead and get my flower photos out of the way here. Can I just say that I love how well landscaped this zoo is? It is so beautiful and lush.

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First up, the Keiki Zoo, or petting zoo (keiki means kids/children in Hawaiian). One of my favorite parts is the koi tank that the kids can crawl through. The koi are huge and beautiful. The first time we came here Omar refused to go in so I am happy he actually decided to do it this time. Don’t my kids look like they like each other in that picture? False!

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It wasn’t too crowded which was great, we took our time and walked and walked and walked. One thing that drove us crazy was the lions! You could hear them calling from all over the park but we could never catch a glimpse. I know some new cubs were just born so maybe they were still inside but I wanted to get some pictures of mom or dad making all that noise!

We saw pretty much everyone else though. Thanks for cooperating zoo animals!

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The meerkats were cracking me up, they looked like three little old men on a park bench. And the baboon was mid-yawn, he just looks menacing but was in fact being very sweet, although look at those canines! Yikes! The lemurs and turtle were having a standoff which was quite amusing, they couldn’t get to their island and he was very contentedly sunbathing. And Ms. Rhino, well she was posing pretty!

And of course the awesome trees that are all over make for a perfect backdrop, I love the banyan trees!

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If you live here make sure you take a trip out to the zoo, they have military and kama’aina discounts! We paid $8/adult $4/kid. Not bad! Also you are allowed to bring in your own food and drinks so pack a picnic lunch and a blanket!

 

Diving into Christmas Break

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I don’t know whose idea it was to let the kids out already for break but it’s killing me.

Two and a half weeks of days to entertain my kids. Honestly it would be that bad, except for the fact that I have one child who wants nothing but to stay home, and one child who wants to be going, going, going.

This was our fourth day off of school. So far we have painted pottery, gone out for lunch, gone to the movies and checked out a stack of books from the library. I have a stack of Christmas craft ideas that I want to pull out, cookies to be baked and, if the weather would warm up, beach days ahead.

Of course I still have boxes of gifts that HAVE to be mailed TOMORROW! I tried going to the main office today but the line of cars to get into the parking lot was blocking street traffic and the post office on base was closed already. 4pm during the holidays? Absurd! Oh and I have to go to the commissary tomorrow too, crap.

Also my poor dog is going a little stir crazy I think… I’ve been taking him for a walk around our neighborhood while the kids are in school and haven’t since they’ve been out. Plus with all the rain the dog park is too muddy. I might have to drag the kids along for a walk so he’s not stuck in the house for another day either.

I got my Christmas cards today, I am really bummed by the way they turned out. I get the majority of them sent straight to my friends but have some come to me for all of my local friends. They were really dark. I do not love the printing job. So I am going to call Hallmark and yell at them. Which is pointless because they can’t really fix it. All the cards are out already. But I am upset because I loved the pictures I took of the kids!

It’s my Blogoversary!

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So an entire year of nonsense. Who would have thought? Honestly, I have NEVER been one who has been able to keep up a diary or journal – and Lord knows I am not a writer – so I am pretty proud of the fact that 180-some posts later I am still enjoying this.

I am only kicking myself for not starting sooner. I’ve been reading blogs for years and was very intimidated. Finally decided to jump right in and I am so happy I have. I hope that people reading get a peek at our life and maybe learn a little about living in Spain or Hawaii.

So onto our day today!

Veteran’s Day so the kids were out of school. Once again I am sitting there wracking my brain trying to find something fun to do.  I have to try and force my children out of the house or else we will never go anywhere, become hermits and I’ll never shave my legs again.

So google, various military wives forums and bingo, out to MCBH to hit up their Tiki Island. I love this side of the island, it is just so beautiful and EVERY time I come out of the tunnel I just can’t believe I get to live here!

Started off with a little mini golf. Omar had never played before, and it was only a tiny bit frustrating to try and get him to hold the dang club the right way! There weren’t too many people there so it was great.

 

 

 

 

Here is Omar after hitting his hole in one. Guess he caught on pretty quickly, he was the only one to get one!

 

After a round of mini golf we hit up the bumper boats. Oh. My. Goodness. I don’t know when I last laughed that hard.

 

 

 

 

The boats have squirt guns on them. We were soaked.

 

 

 

 

Mckenna. Soaked.

Omar. Soaked.

 

Adios Tiki Island! If you go do boats first so you can dry off during golf!

After that I drove around the base a bit, ending up driving up this hill? Not sure if it was legal or whatever, but there were no signs and no one stopped us. And the view was spectacular!

 

We ended up having a great day (after a mandatory commissary run that was painless! A miracle!).

On to a busy week, thankfully it’s a short one!