Stationed in Hawaii with Kids: Tips for Traveling with Kids by Air

As much as I love living in Hawaii, it is nice to get off the island and take the kids to do something different.   This year, we were fortunate enough to make two trips to the Mainland.  The first was San Diego in March (which you can read about here, here, and here).  The second was to visit some family in Florida.  Total travel time (door to door) in either direction ended up being roughly 20 hours.  

This was our 2 year old's first cross-country trip but my 12 year old has been back and forth 6 times (4 round trips prior to his 5th birthday!)  So, how do you make it there in one piece?  Here are my favorite tips for surviving long plane rides with small children.

1.  Travel as light as you can possibly stand to.  Trust me, it's just better this way.  Carry on snacks, diapers, wipes, a change of clothes for everyone, and some activities... if your luggage gets lost, there are stores where you're going.  If you want to carry on your car seat, fine, but you might want to make sure it fits through the xray machine at the passenger security screening station (or find out what happens if it doesn't fit).

2.  Feed the kids a full meal prior to getting on the plane (even if it's chicken mcnuggets) and pack snacks that are lower in sugar.  Sitting still is hard enough without the sugar rush and being quiet is hard enough without the sugar crash.  Yes, they even make sugar free chocolates.

2.  Bring a leak proof drink container.  You can fill it with something once you make it through security if you want to or wait until you get on the plane.  Try to avoid sugary drinks or cut them with water.  They do make disposable plastic cups with lids and straws.  The idea is to minimize spills so you don't have to change clothes.

3.  Let them run around at the airport while waiting for the plane.  Walk back and forth.  Run in circles.  Make new friends.  Anything.  Kids' brains are wired to need physical activity.  You can't be out of your seat and playing at the back of the plane like you may remember doing as a kid.  (You know, the whole post 9/11 security thing.) 

4.  Have a plan for keeping them occupied inflight.  Whether it's loading free tv shows on your iPod or a new coloring book, don't assume they'll fall asleep or watch the inflight movie.  Sometimes little ones can't see the screen, sometimes the features really aren't kid friendly.  Bring a favorite story.  I always make a trip to the dollar store and spend about $10 on cheapy new toys (card games, mini coloring books, small plastic figurines, stickers, temporary tatoos etc)  and wrap them all in several layers of off season tissue paper.  Then I break them out as needed.  The wrapping keeps them occupied for a few minutes.  If something gets left on the plane, no big deal.

Some of our favorite time killers on long plane rides:

• Mini Magna Doodle
• Color Wonder art kits (some are pretty small)
• Mad Libs
• Finger puppets
• miniature card games

Hopefully that helps get you started on figuring out your own game plan.    Traveling with kids isn't as hard as it seems.  Make it a positive experience for the kids and yourself with just a little bit of planning.

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Testing

The new camera has a panorama feature. Just testing it out to see how it messes with the blog layout.

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Thursday Teas: Anela by Lupicia

Lupicia describes this tea as a "Lychee flavored jasmine tea with pink argents that look like flying angels." I am really not so big on jasmine tea, but it smelled so gooooooood... like lychee, which reminds me of all those summers of gorging myself on sweet, juicy, tree ripened lychee. So I had to try this one out.

To be honest, I am not a huge fan of this tea.  It is probably because I don't like jasmine tea to begin with.  One thing I've noticed is that although Lupicia teas have very exotic, non-tea smells, they do generally taste very much like the actual tea.  I probably should've realized that this wouldn't be one of my favorites... but it was pink and sparkly and smelled of lychee with beautiful dried jasmine buds.

It's not bad enough that I'd throw the rest out, but I doubt I'll be buying more of this one on my next trip to the store.
 
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Doggie Triage - The Cone of Shame

Unfortunately, even with my super resourceful doggie bandage and diligent foot washing, it turns out (after two rather expensive trips to the vet that included x-rays, cultures, lancing, wound cleaning, and anesthesia) that my poor fur baby had an abcess. (We were never able to find a definitive wound or insect bite.)  Here he is, the giant in the back of my car... (BTW, the car is parked in this picture.)

And on our 2nd trip to the vet... poor guy.  Look how swollen his paw is.  Turns out the cracks I thought I saw in his pads were due to swelling, not the actual wounds causing the swelling.  The vet also wanted his x-rays sent out to a specialist for another 2nd opinion.

Here's a close up of the paw, prior to the vet putting him under and lancing/digging out the abcess.  He was not putting any weight on his paw at this point.

So anyway, she took him back, shaved his toe down, put him under, and dug out the abcess.  So it looks much worse now (it's draining as it heals from the "inside out), and he is now wearing the "cone of shame."  I'm just glad he doesn't have a broken toe.  The first visit took 2 hours, and two dogs were carried in (one having seizures, the other poisoned by a toad) as emergencies, so I had to leave him for a couple of hours and pick him up.  He was still groggy and disoriented when we got home.  Poor baby.

The good news is that although he is still knocking into all sorts of furniture with the cone (the dog is big, the house is small, do the math) he is placing weight on the foot again.  Of course, this has to occur days prior to a family vacation to the Mainland, meaning the dog is now on meds with an open wound on his foot and more than likely will have to be medically boarded at the vet instead of at the MWR kennel (which is a MUCH better deal).  So not only are we whacked with the vet bill, we are looking at more expensive boarding costs AND losing the deposit we put down at the MWR Kennel.  I am hoping the results of his culture (from the abcess) are in before we leave (so his meds/antibiotics will be set) and the MWR Kennel will still take him with the wound on his paw and cone of shame.    That's five calendar days.  Joy of joys.  I am washing his foot out with Betadine twice a day, along with all of his meds.

But this is my fur baby and I wouldn't want to worry about his foot getting infected again while we're gone... and so at the risk of sounding like one of those crazy people who treat their animals better than they treat other people, no expense will be spared... at least not yet. 

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Stationed in Hawaii with Kids: Hideaway Club at Barbers Point

Even though the Naval Air Station at Barber's Point is closed, there is still a small USCG Air Station... and there, we find the Hideaway Club.

This place has a really nice, beachy feel to it... sand volleyball court, horse shoe pit, basketball court, and pavilion for parties.  The parking lot is a little tight for larger events, but hey, it's not that big of a place anyway.  Great place to get together with other families on a Saturday afternoon.   There is plenty of space for the kids to run around and it's pretty easy to keep an eye on them.  The bathrooms are typically reasonably clean, too.

Just remember to bring your own food (which is totally allowed).  This place is not a restaurant.  The bar is fully stocked but the food offerings are  pretty limited and I am not a huge fan of frozen food cooked by bartenders between drink orders.

Now, this is a bit out of the way for me, so I don't really make it out here too often.  However, it is also the closest decent bar for folks who live out this way.  (So in case you were wondering whether or not to live in Ewa Beach, Kapolei, or Makakilo, consider whether or not you really feel like being that cut off from any sort of night life.)  It is also a military/MWR facility, so no worries about folks coming around to pick a fight with drunken soldiers/sailors.  (Which, I am sorry to say, would still be a possibility in parts of Ewa Beach and Kapolei.)  Getting back to the Hideaway Club, at night, this (being a bar) is not really place to bring the little ones. Most weekends there is a local band playing loud music and people are mostly here to hang out and drink. It's a mellow crowd most of the time, but still, you can typically count on one piss drunk idiot in every crowd of drinkers.

One thing that frequently is overlooked at Barber's Point is that there are still beach cottages and pavilions that you (if you happen to be eligible for MWR benefits) can rent... more or less right across the street from the Hideaway Club.  These seem to be less crowded than the ones at Bellows. 

How would you like to wake up to this?

Not too shabby.

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Thursday Teas: Lanikai by Lupicia

This week's selection is Lanikai, an exclusive blend for Lupicia in Hawaii. 

Lanikai is the name of a beach over on the Windward side where all the "high end" beachfront homes are.  (Let's just say that if I had $5 million dollars to spend on a house, I might have one of the smaller homes on Lanikai Beach.)  The literal translation is "heavenly sea."  Anyway, Lupicia describes this tea as a "blend of pineapple and scents of coconut and sweet vanilla, takes you to the beach in Hawaii."

When you open this one up, it has a very delicious vanilla scent.  It does have light pineapple and coconut notes that come from dried pineapple chunks and coconut shavings, and some pretty blue flowers that look about the same color as the water at the beach in Lanikai.  I could drink this tea ALL DAY.  This is my new favorite, that's fo' shizzle!  And it goes very nicely with the lovely handmade truffles my hubby bought for me at the Sweet Stop, but I'll review those separately.  :)

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Doggie Paw Bandage

Now here's something I never expected to need around the house, but the dog started limping and favoring his left front leg on a Sunday morning. There was no apparent blood or swelling and he didn't whimper at all when I poked and prodded his leg. He did, however jerk his paw out of my hand when I tried to inspect his foot. As it turns out, he has two torn toe pads. Not sure how he did it, but it wasn't crusty or anything so I rinsed it out with some peroxide and water, then let it dry.

Meanwhile, I did a quick search on how to make a dog bootie. Most of them are geared toward folks with little doggies that live in extreme cold weather. All I needed was something to hold the gauze on. (After cleaning, I dressed his paw using a triple antibactirial ointment, a 4x4 inch dressing sponge, and wrapped the whole thing with 1 inch self stick gauze to hold it on without pulling out his fur. If the cut was oozing, I would've also needed to use some sort of gauze pad under the dressing sponge.)

Since my dog is pretty big (he's just under 90 pounds) and has some pretty big feet, I actually had to dip into some socks I stashed away for my daughter to grow into. So in this case, the sock I used is a Hanes Girl's small. Any appropriately sized sock would do, but the idea is to use something breatheable (ie cotton) and padded. The other thing is that the sock should fit snugly around the bandage to keep it in place, and also be long enough to cover at least 1-2 inches past the end of the main paw pad (the one that would be sort of like your palm). Reason being, to secure the sock onto the dog's foot, you should secure it in the space right behind that big paw pad. Use your thumbs to gently stretch the sock around the paw and try not to disturb the gauze dressing as much as possible, much in the way a woman puts on pantyhose. (IE Don't try to pull/drag the sock over the whole foot and dressing.)

Now, you can secure the sock in a couple of ways. I happen to have double-sided velcro, which in my opinion, is the easiest to adjust for the dog. You could also use regular velcro or even thread/weave a ribbon through the neck of the sock and make a drawstring to tie it to the paw. In a pinch, you could even use tape. But back to the double sided velcro. If you've never heard of it before, google it. This stuff is cool. They use it for reuseable cable ties and attaching things like soccer goal nets. I used it to attach toys to the stroller. I measured a piece long enough to go around the dog's foot at the aforementioned spot (right behind his main paw pad) and added a couple of inches for adjustability. Then, I hand stiched about a 2 inch section to the sock with the hook (hard) side down. This allows the velcro to hold the sock in place snugly around the leg, rather than slip out. The softer loop side won't hold the sock if it gets pulled.

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Stationed in Hawaii with Kids: Island Hopping- Kauai

A couple of weeks ago, we packed up the fam-bam, hopped on a plane, and visited some family on Kauai.

One of our favorite places to go on Kauai is a little beach called Salt Pond.  It's got a natural breakwater with some great tidal pools to explore.  So it's relatively safe for the little ones but still interesting to the older ones.

On this particular day, we got there at low tide.  When the tide is high, the waves do break over this area, so smaller kids shouldn't be walking around on it.   But, today was a low tide, low wind, low key day.  Here are some kids trying to catch fish using a net.

There are lots of different, colorful types of seaweed growing on the breakwater, which attracts all sorts of critters.  On this particular day, we saw baby fish, sea cucumbers, a couple types of urchins, opihi (limpets), a variety of small crabs, among other things.

Can you see the little baby fishies?  They're just above the edge of the rock.

There are at least two dozen little babies in this shot...

And the world's tiniest baby crab.  This guy was about the size of a dime, legs and all.

And here's a shot of the other side of the beach, where the stand up padders, etc are.  The airfield is in the distance behind the beach.

There is also a deeper side which is commonly used by surfers, kite surfers, stand up paddle board folks, etc.   It should be noted that this is not like Waikiki Beach in that you will not be able to show up and find someone to pay to teach you how to do any of these things.  There aren't lifeguards here to bail you out if you do something stupid or reckless.   Sometimes you can buy lunch or shaved ice out of a truck, but don't count on it! 

But that being said, there are a number of picnic areas, a nice sandy beach with some shade and grass to set up camp on, and all in all a nice family vibe to it.  If you happen to already be in the area (there is a small airfield nearby where most of the helicopter tours run), this would be a great place to round out a relaxing day with the family.


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Thursday Teas: Anuenue by Lupicia

This week's selection is Anuenue, another exclusive blend for Lupicia in Hawaii.  (In case you haven't guessed yet, I bought a gift sampler on my last trip to Lupicia.)

"Anuenue" means rainbow, thus the brightly colored label.  (Doesn't Lupicia have the prettiest tins?)  Anyway, this one is a Japanese green tea with seven different colored leaves and petals.  The flavor is very subtle.  It's delicious but mellower than the previous Lupicia teas that I tried.   It is really pretty to look at- my son commented that he felt a little odd in the store, opening tins to smell and look at the teas, but they are all so different that he couldn't help himself!

Anyway, this one is very pretty and colorful even after brewing.  Just like a rainbow!  It would make a great choice for a tea exchange as a "Hawaiian" tea.
 
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Not Sew Fast! Front Tie Spring Dress from Make It & Love It

About two months ago, I found this cute little tutorial on Make It and Love It for a "Front Tie Spring Dress."

It was so cute I went out and bought some pretty pink material with an ecru medallion print.  The instructions are pretty clear and the techniques are pretty basic, so I prewashed and preshrank the material, then measured the Girl, and started sewing.  That was 2 weeks ago. 
So far, you can see how far I've gotten.

Not sure if you can tell in the photo but two things are going on here.  1.) My buttonhole maker doesn't stitch well on the return side of the button hole (and the thread keeps breaking because I haven't got the correct tension), and 2.) I'm about to run out of thread.  I had enough to make the dress but completely forgot about those pesky button holes.

*sigh*

I really want a serger.  :) 


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All You Need Is...

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Thursday Teas: Lokelani by Lupicia

This week's selection is Lokelani, an exclusive blend for Lupicia in Hawaii. 

This is was my favorite of all the teas I originally sampled from Lupicia and the reason I went out of my way to visit Lupicia in the first place.  Lokelani is a small pink rose which is the official flower for the island of Maui.  This tea has dried mini rose buds in it and a very strong rose scent and a light fruit and spice scent.  (The company insert says it is flavored with bergamot oil and passion fruit.)

I am normally not a fan of flowery teas.  I especially dislike jasmine teas, but this tea tastes like tea and smells like a rose.  It's really pretty.  The instructions said to steep for 3-5 minutes but I like a stronger tea and leave it in an extra minute.  Yummy yummy yummy!!! 


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More Kumihimo Projects

A trio of bracelets I finally got to finish up.

These two look almost identical- they are composed of the same quantities/colors, but I played around with the pattern a little. It's a subtle difference.

And one made out of some "leftover" pinks and reds, with pearls for contrast. Love the look on this one. There is actually a pattern here, it just looks a little random.

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Stationed in Hawaii with Kids: Bellows Beach

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! We are off visiting relatives on Kauai, but here's one of our favorite family spots in the meantime. When stationed in Hawaii, the Commissary perk is really fantastic, but access to Bellows AFB is equally as fantastic.  I mean, really- I could tell you about it but this picture says it all and then some...

A lot of folks with smaller kids prefer the sheltered (and man-made) beach at Hickam or the coves (also man-made) at Ko'olina. But my son loves to boogie board and this beach is GREAT for that.

It's also great for cookouts, parties, there's a small campground down the road a bit, and a huge area for the kids to play in (which includes playground equipment).  There are generally 2-3 birthday parties with bouncy houses and the like every weekend.

So anyway, a lot of families are scared off of orders to Hawaii based on the schools and other concerns for the kids.  Hey, no place is perfect, you know, but this place is still pretty nice.  And there are opportunities to create some unique family experiences here.  I'm just saying.

And if you aren't military, there is public access to this beach on weekends.  So no more excuses!

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