Happy Halloween!

I used to love making costumes and dressing up for Halloween!  However, the past few years I have been so caught up with school and midterms that making time to create costumes just wasn't realistic.  This year, though, I was determined to find time to make Bailey and I some coordinating costumes!

It was quite the struggle deciding what we'd be.  I wanted to be a Disney princess, but Bailey didn't think that being a prince would be "cool" enough.  We almost went with Mulan and Mushu (because somehow Mushu made it onto the "cool" list), but got  little confused about how to make a Mushu costume.

Eventually we came up with the winning idea.  Chihiro and No Face from Spirited Away!  Spirited Away is a popular Japanese film.  It is very mystical, mysterious, and honestly pretty eerie.  I love it!  If you haven't seen it, I recommend it.

I sewed my costume from some polyester I already had, so my costume was really cheap.  Seiji helped Bailey make his mask out of foam, and then Bailey painted it and I attached the black sheet.  Super easy and cheap!  I think that our costumes turned out pretty alright!

It was a Ghibli sort of Halloween!  Seiji made a knight costume to wear to school, which was unrelated (but super cool!) but Kylie and Warden were Satsuki and Totoro!  The pictures I snapped of Warden are pretty much my favorite pictures ever.

Today my dad and I visited my mom's class.  Isn't her costume awesome?  Also, I can't believe that I convinced my dad to wear a Halloween costume haha!  We also visited Seiji in his classroom with Kylie and Totoro.  When everyone got off work, we had a chili eating and Ichabod watching party complete with peach pie, sherbet in Sprite, and pumpkin cookies.  We had so much fun spending the evening together.  I don't think I've ever had a better Halloween!

October

Though I'm a summer sort of girl, I am a huge fan of October.  I love the colors, the smells, and everything about it except for being cold!  Luckily it hasn't been too cold this month,

We kicked off the festivities with a visit to Cornbelly's.  We got in free for my work party and were able to get our friends in for super cheap.  We had a ton of fun, even though it was super crowded and definitely made for kids haha.

Warden continues to grow!  I love spending time with him!

This month we celebrated Seiji's birthday.  Did you know he is only about 18 month older than me?  I'm so grateful to have him as my brother!

Bailey and I have been hard at work making our Halloween costumes.  Can you guess who Bailey is going to dress as?

It has been a busy but awesome month.  Visiting Hawaii and our friends there was definitely a highlight! I can't believe that the year is already coming to an end, but I really can't wait for this semester to be over.

Pearl Harbor

We are so sad that it is our last day in Hawaii!  Luckily this trip has not gone fast.  I feel like we have been here for a long time, and that is a good thing!  During that time we fell in love with the island and are seriously considering moving here short term sometime in the future.  Who knows!

We spent our last day with a must-see, Pearl Harbor.  Currently the USS Arizona memorial is inaccessible which is unfortunate.  But we enjoyed the little video they showed us about the events leading up to Pearl Harbor and the significance of the memorials they have in the area today.  It was very moving!  Then they took us on a little boat ride and got us as close to the memorial as possible while a nice volunteer told us some more about it.  Very cool but very sad!

We then explored the USS Missouri.  It was not cheap, but we think it was worth it.  It is huge!  We could probably spend longer there than we did, but we were kind of short on time.  It was cool to learn about the different wars it had participated in, and what life would have been like for the people living on the boat.

While we were on the top deck, Bailey peered over the edge just to see how high up we were.  He got an extra surprise when below us he saw a sea turtle swimming about!  He quickly got my attention and we watched the cute guy for a couple of seconds before he swam away.  We were literally the only ones who saw him.  I felt so lucky!  Also so happy because I have never seen a sea turtle in the wild before!

By then we had been at the site for 4 hours already and had to head out!  We were a little bummed that we didn't have time to see the submarine and the aviation museum.  But at the same time, we were kind of tired.  If I were to plan an itinerary for someone who likes museums and history about the same amount as I do (which is a lot, I think!) I would have them hit Pearl Harbor on two separate days just so it's not just one full exhausting day of education.  If we could go back tomorrow it would be perfect!  We aren't too worried though, we will just hit it next time we are here.  Which hopefully is soon!

We headed back to Laie for one last stop at Seven Brothers with our friends.  Shey also recommended that we try Ono Yo's frozen yogurt.  As a frozen yogurt enthusiast, I could not disagree.  It was delicious!

Shey needed to be dropped off at the airport a little earlier than us, so at that point Dillon drove us all to town to drop her off.  We were so sad!  At least last time we said goodbye, we already had solid plans and plane tickets for when we would see each other again.  Shey and I have made lots of travel plans over the past week for the upcoming months, but nothing is set in stone.  So who knows when we will reunite!  So sad!

To kill some time, Dillon took us through Waikiki so we could experience the most touristy part of Oahu.  I would not like to vacation there!  There were tons of people everywhere and lots of high end shopping.  We walked to Waikiki Beach, which I'm sure would have been a lot more beautiful without so many people on it.  Interesting fact, it isn't even a real beach!  It is completely man-made in order to appeal to the tourists of the city.

I'm glad we visited Waikiki because now I know about it, but it made me so grateful for our awesome friends who have been the best tour guides!  It is always difficult to plan a vacation for a place you are unfamiliar with, but Shey and Dillon took it upon themselves to take us to the best places and restaurants.  It was so low-stress for Bailey and I, and I feel like we were really able to get an insider's look at Oahu!

The rest of the night will be spent relaxing at the airport.  We have a direct flight leaving at 8:45pm which will get us to SLC at 6:55am tomorrow.  Bailey and I will head straight to work and school from there.  We will be exhausted!  Overall, though, we do feel refreshed.  It is in the middle of the semester and we have been so stressed.  It has been so nice to be able to take a break and just play and relax!

Diamond Head & Snorkeling

We hadn't planned on having this extra day in Oahu, because according to our original plans today was supposed to be spent in Molokai.  But I'm so grateful that we had this extra day because it gave us a chance to do some of the things we thought we'd have to miss out on!

We started the day with the Diamond Head hike which was really cool.  Really cool but really hot.  And crowded!  It was very much like a Chinese hike, all paved and including stairs.  Overall I liked the Lanikai Pillbox Hike better because it was less dry and more tropical looking.  But the view from Diamond Head was amazing!  We could see all of Waikiki which was cool, but I preferred the other side with the gorgeous view of the beach and ocean.  I can't believe how blue the water is here!

 

We thought we were hilarious taking this picture.  We felt like we were 12 years old!

We then went to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch because why not (their miso salmon is so good!) and then spent the rest of the afternoon at Hanauma Bay.  We had stopped by the other day hoping to snorkel, but were too late.  So I am extremely grateful that we had a second chance!  We all swam around for a minute, then Bailey, Shey, and I snorkeled for several hours straight.  Snorkeling always takes me a second to get used to because it is kind of freaky not being able to breath very well.  But if I get distracted enough by the cool fish I can calm down and stay underwater for a long time!

I went to Hanauma Bay with my family when I was 12, and remember there being a million spikey sea urchins and the water being so shallow that I was right up against the reef.  It was just about as shallow as I remembered, which is pretty scary honestly.  Especially because they tell you that the reef is razor sharp!  I didn't believe it but Bailey has a cut on his finger to prove it.

When I was 12, I remember seeing an eel right in front of my face and somehow screaming through my snorkel.  Luckily that did not happen today!  I saw lots of beautiful, colorful fish.  Some were pretty big and scared me a little bit, but I just swam around them while pushing Bailey into them.  Overall I very much enjoyed our snorkeling adventure!

We were all feeling pretty hungry by that point, but wanted to wait until we got back to the North Shore for dinner.  So we stopped by this cute little shop and bought some mochi ice cream.  So good!  I got my usual favorites, strawberry and vanilla, but I switched it up a little bit and also got chocolate coconut.  It was so tasty, I'm bummed I won't be able to find that flavor at home!  Bailey got guava, sakura, and something else that I don't remember... but we all enjoyed our ice cream treats!

The night ended in the best way possible.  With garlic shrimp!  We went to Ted's Bakery.  The meal consisted of some extremely buttery and garlicky shrimp plated with mac salad and rice with mae ploy.  It was probably my favorite food of the whole trip so far!

Molokai, Hawaii

We got up bright and early to catch a plane... to Molokai!

Now what is a Molokai, you ask?  Well, it is the island next door to Oahu.  I had never heard of it, but many of Shey's friends have been there and loved it.  Shey and Dillon have a goal to hit all of the Hawaiian islands, and Molokai is one of the few they had left.  So a weekend trip it was!

We arrived at the airport and were told to go to Terminal 3, which is a mystery terminal because where even is it?  We were kind of running late and freaking out, but eventually we found out that we needed to take a shuttle there.  So we hopped on the shuttle and it dropped us off at Terminal 3... which was 2 trailers connected to each other.  We literally just showed them our licenses and hung around until 8:13 for our 8:15 flight.  No security or anything, I had dumped out my water bottle for nothing!

Boarding the plane was an interesting experience.  We walked out to this tiny little airplane on the runway and had to duck climbing in.  There were literally 9 people in the plane, including the pilot and copilot.  There was only one empty seat!  I about had a heart attack taking off, I thought I might pass out with fear along with not having eaten breakfast!  The plane got off to a rocky start, wobbling, creaking, cracking, and dropping.  I thought we might possibly die.  Good news, we did not die, and soon enough I was comfortable enough to enjoy the beautiful views!

The ride was only 38 minutes long, and soon enough we were pulling into Molokai.  Immediately I was shocked by how different it was from Oahu.  Oahu is lush and green, and Molokai has more of an African vibe to it.  Honestly it made me think of Fillmore, Utah!  The dirt was red and the only coconut trees to be seen were on private property.  I regret not taking pictures to illustrate what we saw, because it was much different than the pictures Google pulls up for the island!  Here is one that Shey got.

We rented a minivan, which was one of our most stylish moves yet.  That minivan took us from one end of the island to the other.  At one point we stopped "in town" at a little market that was set up for the morning.  Shey bought some lilikoi to share, which was delicious.  We also stopped for breakfast/lunch at one of the only restaurants in town and ate fried eggs, spam, and potatoes.  We stocked up on snacks in fear that all of the food places would close in the early evening!

Our drive took us to some beautiful sights like these black rocks.

We also saw a waterfall from the road which we were hoping to hike closer to.  To hike to it, you have to reserve a time for a guide to take you through some private property.  Unfortunately we were unable to do the hike today because of a sign that said "no hiking today for risk of flash flood".  There was definitely no rain all day long.  It's okay, though, apparently you can get leptospirosis from that waterfall.

We decided it was time for a beach break, so we headed to the "best" beach on the island.  This beach was definitely beautiful, but much too dangerous to swim in.  The waves were huge!  We hung out for a long time on the sand before getting wet.  We were careful not to go too far in, but had fun playing along the shore!

By that point, we felt like we had experienced all that Molokai has to offer.  We had plans to camp on the beach, which would have been fun, but decided that perhaps going back to Oahu sounded like a better idea.  So after much more hassle than necessary, we got our flights switched to tonight.  By the time we got to the airport we felt so done and ready to be back on the North Shore.

Soon enough it was dark outside and we were once more on a tiny plane.  This time we couldn't see anything, and all three pilots and copilots couldn't have been much older than us at all.  They graced us with some tunes from the radio along with some of their own singing as we flew through the clouds, safely back to the Chosen Island.

Do we regret going to Molokai?  Well no.  We definitely wish that we knew we would only need one day and had planned accordingly.  It ended up costing more than anticipated to switch up our flights, but we had so much more that we wanted to do in Oahu that it was worth the money.  If you go to Molokai, I recommend doing it just as a day trip and preparing yourself for lots of relaxing (which I'm not good at!)  The beaches are not the best ones we've seen, but are still beautiful.  Honestly, though, I'm never planning on going back, and Shey and Dillon said that it doesn't compare at all to the other Hawaiian islands.  Sorry Molokai!