Here’s a funny video we took during our vacation, when Mio picked up my iPod Mini and started treating it as if it were a phone. We don’t blame her for mistaking the two different types of electronics. iPod, iPhone… what’s the difference, right? 😛
Mio
Maui 2012: Day 2
With the rest of the family having arrived the night before, we could finally get our vacation off to a start with everyone on our second day in Maui. We fixed breakfast together, took a dip in the pool at our lodging, and then set out to hit the beaches!
A video of Mio giggling while playing on the beach with Uncle Ted:
After a couple hours at Kaanapali Beach, we moved a little further south in West Maui to Launiupoko Beach, which had a rocky cove, and had sand that was a lot darker, almost like a black sand beach. It was different from Kaanapali but still very beautiful!
Later in the afternoon, we drove over to downtown Lahaina area to visit the Banyan Tree Park.
We then walked around downtown Lahaina and did some souvenir shopping, and enjoyed an afternoon snack at Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice stand.
We had heard from our friend that Ululani’s had the best shave ice in all of the Hawaiian islands, and we were at first skeptical. Our favorite shave ice during our last trip to Hawaii was Waiola Shave Ice in Honolulu, which we’d found out about from our friends who had lived in Oahu who told us it was so much better than the more famous Matsumoto’s Shave Ice (and sure enough, Waiola was 10 times better than Matsumoto’s)! Dan and I have been having cravings for Waiola since our trip two years ago, so it was hard to imagine any shave ice could be better than Waiola — but we were pleasantly surprised to find that Ululani’s ice was really similar to Waiola, but even better! The ice was really fine and soft, the flavor variety expansive with their locally made syrup, combined with lots of great topping choices (like sweet cream, azuki beans, mochi pieces, and the option of adding ice cream at the bottom), and they poke holes throughout the shaved ice before pouring the syrup on so that it gets evenly saturated. It was truly shave ice perfection — so amazing! Ululani’s has since dethroned Waiola in our minds, and it’s now the new shave ice we dream of tasting again. (Thank you Komy for recommending it to us!)
Obligatory pictures of every one with their shave ice…
After a fun-filled day, we headed back to the condo to wash up, cook and eat dinner, and play board games at night (our favorite thing to do when we’re reunited with my siblings). I’ll post about Day Three next, in which we explore more of West Maui! 😀
(Special thanks to my brother Ted for taking some of the amazing photos that were used in this post.)
Maui 2012: Day 1
It’s been almost a week since we returned from our family vacation in Maui, and I’m finally getting around to uploading pictures and videos! We got to do a lot of things while we were there and there are so many photos we want to share, so I’m going to split the trip up by days, like I did with our previous vacation in Hawaii. Two years ago, Dan and I got to experience Hawaii for the first time when we traveled to Oahu and Kauai for our belated honeymoon, and we fell in love with the islands! We’d since been dying to go to Maui, as a lot of our friends (including friends who were originally from Hawaii) had told us that Maui was the most beautiful island in Hawaii — some even told us it was the most beautiful island in all of the Pacific Ocean! After spending a week and a half there, we could understand why. Maui has such a rich variety of different landscapes and gorgeous views! Last time we were in Hawaii, we felt like we experienced two opposite ends of a spectrum, with Oahu being uber-touristy and Kauai being much more rugged and rural; I enjoyed both, but a lot of friends had told us that Maui was a great balance between the two, and they were right. There are definitely resort-like offerings there, but very rugged and undeveloped terrains as well, and I really appreciated that multifaceted experience.
Our trip to Maui was also markedly different from our honeymoon trip two years ago, as we invited along my three siblings from Virginia, and because we had a toddler in tow. It was definitely a very different experience — it changed the type of lodging we stayed in (we opted for private cottages with kitchen and washer/dryer, instead of hotels), how often we ate out, what kind of vehicle we needed to rent (a minivan for our party of six), and what sort of activities we planned. Last time, we really packed each of our days full of activities, but this time, we focused on only one or two major activities/locations per day, and didn’t adhere to a strict schedule. It ended up being a really memorable and relaxing family vacation, and while we definitely faced certain unforeseen challenges of vacationing with a young child, we’re so glad that we went!
On the first day, we took an early morning flight out of Oakland airport and arrived at Maui’s Kahului Airport in the early afternoon. My siblings’ flight wasn’t coming in until the evening, so we had several hours to kill while we waited and didn’t have anything planned, so we mostly wandered around and took Mio to the local park and beach, and went shopping at Costco and other stores to gather groceries and supplies.
Our first order of business upon arrival was lunch! We couldn’t wait to grab some poke from one of the local markets…
After some beach time, we took Mio over to the nearby playground.
After spending the afternoon running around the beach and playground, we treated ourselves to some shave ice!
Later in the evening, we went back to the airport to pick up my siblings (who were understandably exhausted after over twelve hours on the plane) and drove over to our lodging in Lahaina, where we’d stay for the next three days. Stay tuned for our adventures in West Maui! 😀
16 Months Old
We just got back from our vacation in Maui on Saturday night, and have been getting adjusted to life back home. We have lots of photos and adventures to share from our trip, which we’ll post in the coming days. Mio just turned sixteen months old last Thursday, so I wanted to jot down what she’s been up to before I forget. 🙂
The Rundown at Sixteen Months…
Stats: You now weigh 23.4 lbs, and it’s been getting harder for us to hold you for extended periods of time because you’ve gotten so heavy! In the past couple weeks, your canines have started growing in, which means that you now have what looks like all of your baby teeth in.
Things You’re Doing Now: You’re not learning as many new signs lately, but are instead trying to vocalize what you are trying to communicate. Your favorite words are “ball,” “bubble,” “wan wan” (for “dog” – more accurately, it’s the Japanese word for a dog’s barking sound), “min-mi” (for “milk”) and “nen-ne” (Japanese baby word for “sleep”). You say “kko” when you see a cat and touch your cheek to illustrate a whisker on the face (the Japanese word is “neko” but you can’t quite say the first part yet). You’re starting to take an interest on parts of the face, and point to your eye and our eyes and say “meh” (“eye”), and point to your head when I ask you where your “atama” (“head”) is, and your ears when I ask you where your “mimi” (“ear”) is. And of course, you always say “hi” and “bye” to friends and strangers alike. You like to come over to us and say, “Dai~” as you wrap your arms around our neck, hugging us. (You can’t quite say, “Daisuki,” which is Japanese for “I love you.”) It makes our hearts melt every time! You seem to be more emotional and sensitive these days, as well as stubborn and independent. You are imitating a lot of the things we do lately, especially the things that involve taking care of you. You like to try to feed us your food, brush my hair with a hair brush, scrub my arm with a sponge in the bathtub, and try to brush our teeth for us. You also like handing us things, whether it be something practical (like the remote control) or something useless (like the gravel in the front yard) – you love to share. It’s really endearing and heartwarming to watch, because it shows that you are learning to think of others and are developing a heart of giving.
Mountain View Obon Festival
On Saturday afternoon, we drove down to go to the Mountain View Obon Festival. We’d always heard about it and had wanted to check it out, but it’s about an hour drive away for us so we hadn’t gone until this year. We originally wanted to attend on Sunday because that’s the day they have the bon-odori, but Dan had an obligation that day, so Saturday was the only time we could go together. We had a wonderful time experiencing Obon together as a family!
Mio has been doing this funny thing where she pretends to sip water, and then afterwards lets out a big burst of breath, like it was really refreshing. I’m not sure where she learned it from… I have a feeling it’s from this beer commercial, which comes on a lot when I’m watching Japanese TV shows. Here it is on video.
Around 6pm, we headed over to the stage area where Jun Daiko was going to have a taiko performance.
Here’s the last half of Jun Daiko’s finale performance of “Inazuma.”
Afterwards, we headed over to downtown Mountain View for a ramen dinner and frozen yogurt for dessert!
I’m really glad that we made the drive down to go to the festival this year! It was memorable, and I think it’s great to give Mio exposure to Japanese culture and traditions so that she can develop an appreciation for her ethnic heritage.