Outer Banks

Cụ, my mom's sweet and adorable mother, turned 90 on January 13th.  To celebrate, we had a family reunion in Corolla, a town that encompasses the Northern section of North Carolina's barrier islands known as the Outer Banks.  We rented a 6 bed, 6.5 bath beach house named "Ocean Vista" for the week, which also included a recently remodeled kitchen on the top of 3 floors, several balconies, a screened porch, an outdoor pool, and a hot tub.  In addition to the guest of honor, three of her children attended.  That generation included Mom and Dad, Cậu Tung, Cô Mai, and Larry.  My generation was the largest, comprising Bê and Nam, Alli and Scott, Karen, Matt, George and me.  Bê's grandfather is my maternal grandfather's brother, which makes her my second cousin.  Her two children are Na and Cam, and they are my second cousins once removed; Drakeson and Milli are their third cousins.  I know this is all very interesting.

On Saturday, June 17th, we made it into Raleigh/Durham and then took a road trip that lasted from 21:29 to 1:42.  It was an exhausting day of travel, which is why I remember the specifics.   The next morning, the group took a tour with Corolla Outback Adventures to see several feral Banker horses.  The tour guide, Edna, is good friends with Cậu Tung, and she was very generous with her time.

Before the day was over, it became clear that Drakeson & Na would become nearly inseparable for the remainder of our vacation.

Ocean Vista is a five-minute walk to the beach, so we visited often.  Our family went swimming a couple of times every day, and Drakeson even completed a workout sheet I wrote up in lieu of the swim team practices he missed.  As his biggest fans, Dad and I were pretty proud of him.  Dad brought a Reese's for every workout Drakeson completed, which is what he bought when I was learning how to swim in Urbana, IL 30 years ago.

Throughout the week, the rest of the family explored Corolla by visiting Kitty Hawk (put on the map by the Wright brothers), going shopping, walking at the wildlife center, jet skiing in the Currituck Sound, and seeing the local lighthouse.  George and I stayed home with the kids and went grocery shopping for the most part, but on our last day, we took Na and Drakeson to the Corolla Aerial Adventure Park.  Dad came along and held a screaming Milli while the four of us climbed the obstacle courses and ziplined on the lower level.  See if you can spot Na, George, and Drakeson in the picture below.  The following picture shows Drakeson on the zipline.

George's favorite parts of the trip were sleeping in, baking 12 baguettes from scratch, and learning Vietnamese with Mom.  I spent some quality time with Mom myself, looking at properties online over the occasional glass of wine.  As for my other projects, I gave 5 haircuts and helped Dad in the daunting task of completing and labeling a tricky 1,008-piece puzzle.  I'll remember that for years to come.  Another point of significance was how well we ate; a different family prepared dinner each night, and this crew really can cook.  Going into the vacation, I had wanted my dinner to be impressive, but after a couple nights in, I just didn't want to come in dead last.  But what's more important than dinners or projects or exploring or activities are the people.  Here are the people, and I love them all.  Until next time.

Alli & Drakeson

Alli & Scott

Milli, George, Na, Dad, Mom, & Drakeson

Cụ & Mom

Mom & Dad

Cụ & George

Dad, Cụ, & George

Cam, Drakeson, & Na

Milli, George, & Cụ

Cô Mai, Mom, & Cậu Tung

Mom & Milli

Matt & Karen

Drakeson, Na, Nam, Cam, & Bê

Cụ

Sherwood Forest Faire II

The title of this post is a string of words I never thought I'd write.  For as George said to Drakeson just moments ago, "Mama can't stand being surrounded by losers."
To be clear, it's not that everybody who goes to this thing is a loser.  It's just that the percent of losers at such an event is roughly equal to the percent of losers in an HEB at 2:30 in the morning, and I'm more of an HEB-at-2:30-in-the-afternoon-loser-percent kind of a lady.  There's a window of comfort, and that window ends at 10 pm.

But I can't keep complaining like this much longer in good conscience; I just have to start off that way because my instincts are overwhelmingly strong.  Truth be told, the weather was lovely, the place wasn't overcrowded, and we were there with our good family friends, the Healys.

Drakeson & His Not-Girlfriend Ripley 

Red Dragon, Tinkerbell, & Trogdor

The place was bustling with live music, curvy women, extravagant costumes, eccentric actors, and talkative vendors (many of whom were losers, and many of whom were surrounded by the like).  Understandably, Drakeson maintained a cautious attitude until his first chance at a pony ride.

 What Is This Place?

Pretending to be Scared Too

All Better

As soon as Drakeson dismounted the pony, he chased after some people in costumes and posed with them for pictures.  Such bravery awarded him a face painting and a dragon shield because George loves spoiling his children.

Not Shy Anymore

Red's Wolf

Dragon Eye

Not Wanting Kisses

Matt's Shoulders

If $15 was reasonable for five-minutes of face painting and $20 was okay for a wooden shield, one might draw the line at $12 for a 5-second camel ride.  That's $47 in six minutes of George-decision-making bliss.  Damnit if his smile isn't worth $47, though.

Just Like Two Years Ago

More Bravery 

Musicians 

Along the way, we did a fair bit of shopping, drank some beer, ate a most excellent turkey leg, and watched a "Dirty Wench Show."  Someday I'll have a talk with my children about the idea of shaming women for perceived promiscuity, but they'll probably be like, "Mom, what are you talking about?  Only old people do that."  Then I'll show them that we went to this loser faire and saw a "dirty wench show" when they were kids, and they'll be like, "Gross, Mom.  Why did you support that?"

"Dirty Wench Show"

 "Hmmm.  Promiscuity."

We ended the day with jousting, and it was a total bore.  Last time, it was the highlight of a miserable morning, and this time, it was the let down of a decent day.  Decent, of course, only if you have the ability to tune out "good morrow" and "goodly" and "henceforth" uttered about by people who have no business saying these things.
But I'll end this post on the highlights because I'm such a positive person.  First and foremost, my family enjoyed themselves and my friends are great fun to be around.  When the Healys walked through those front gates, they brought that HEB-loser-percent of the whole place down by a good half hour.  Secondly, all the fat men in drag were adorable.  They weren't there last time because of the 38 degrees that I have not forgotten, and they were a welcome addition to the mix.  Lastly, there was Robin.  I don't know what his real name is, but Robin is what I have affectionately named the man who danced to the music of a spirited accordion player named Amanda Kitchens and her band, Duende.  Appearing extremely stoned and tirelessly enthusiastic, he was the tall and narrow master of his own brand of dancing.  As Malinda put it, he put Napoleon Dynamite to shame.  He was like a combination of Jack Skellington and the Energizer Bunny, but with jazz hands.  His handsome boyish face wore the same stupid expression at all times.  Anybody who has not experienced Robin may find the ending of post this post tiresome, but for the lucky few of us that lived it, we know that this was a time that shall never be forgotten.  Thank you, Robin-Napoleon-Dynamite.  You made my day, and you are amazing.  May you touch the hearts of many more.

Twice as Old as Last Time

(Sherwood Forest Faire)

Hawaii III

George and I first visited Hawaii in March of 2012.  In January of 2014 with Drakeson in tow, we returned to Hawaii in a combined trip to Washington State.  That post would have been titled something like, "Hawaii II/Washington I," had it been written.  It wasn't, which makes our memoirs a little confusing.  This is our third visit to Honolulu, and this time, there were four of us.  Let's hope we don't show up with five in January.  That's not the plan.

15 Mar 17

Our family, Mom, and Cụ arrived in time for Liên's Pi Day Party.   Her best friends, Jenn and Joe, brought salmon fig tarts, a bacon lattice lamb pie, and a baked Alaska.  Never one to be outdone, Liên had prepared a lattice li hing mui apple pie, a cottage pie, and a chicken camembert pie; for insurance, she had also bought a hot coconut pie and a chocolate haupia pie.  After the eight pies had been sampled by one and all, Liên and Jenn played their ukuleles while the out-of-towners went to bed at an unsociably early hour.

 Mom & Drakeson

Cụ & Milli

Cụ, Lan, Milli, Mom holding Mabel, & Liên holding Zoltan & Pixel

16 Mar 17

The morning began with a trip to the Kaneohe Bay Sandbar with Jenn and Joe.  Jenn used her military status to get us into the base and rent a boat.  The sandbar is unlike anything I've seen: the floor of the bay rises towards the surface of the water, creating a large floor for wading.  We borrowed Jenn's snorkeling equipment to see many fish in the neighboring reefs and enjoyed a picnic on the boat.

Milli on a Boat

Sandbar Stripe 

Sisters

 Mother & Daughter

Jenn & Joe 

 Drakeson on a Boat

Snorkelin'

Pouting 

Cụ with Pearls

16 Mar 17
Leaving the sandbar by noon, we should have had plenty of time to make the 13:00 tour at the Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Farm.  We took the wrong way and got caught in a traffic jam, but they rewarded our efforts with our very own tour bus.  The charming guides, dressed in traditional attire, made fire from wood, performed a fire dance with drums, opened a coconut with a rock, and made coconut milk with a sharpened stick and coconut husks.  It was entertaining and very impressive.

Jenn and Joe brought broccoli cornbread over for a light dinner of George's pork ribs and Liên's five-cheese spätzle.  (That was a joke.)  We played the board game Avalon, even though half of the participants didn't understand the rules, and then I stayed up with Liên and Jenn for ukulele time.  After Jenn went home, Liên and I continued to play, delirious from fatigue.

 Ti Plant

Dragon Boat

Fire Dancing

Shredding Coconut

Souvenirs 

Turtle Island

17 Mar 17
Cụ stayed at home while the rest of us took a five-mile hike at the Kaena Point Seashore and Albatross Sanctuary.  Although we didn't see any whales, we watched a very elaborate albatross mating dance.  George and I carried the kids the entire time, and treated ourselves to boba teas on the way home.  Liên picked up cupcakes for her anniversary, and we spent the afternoon at home.  Liên played her ukulele while I sketched an octopus onto a canvas.  The evening was spent seeing the Hilton Friday night fireworks and dining at the elaborate Japanese food court, Shirokiya.

George & Drakeson

Milli & Sisters

Albatross

End of Hike

Climbing Structures

Climbing Rocks

Sunscreen

Sea Breeze

Time with Uncle Bill

18 Mar 17

Saturday morning was my only real opportunity to paint an octopus, so that's what I did while Liên and Bill attended their friend's wedding.  Everybody else went to the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum to watch a lava show, and I managed to get most of the paint onto the canvas before George brought home a lunch of poke and udon.  In the evening, Jenn and Joe met us at Cirque de la Symphonie, a Hawaii Symphony Orchestra pops concert combined with the breathtaking skills of Cirque du Soleil veterans.  The conductor, Stuart Chafetz, was quite the show himself, doing impressions and offering friendly opinions along the way.

Sleeping In 

Ready for Ron's Wedding

Bishop Museum

Whale

Exhausted 

Painting like Mama

19 Mar 17

Sunday was a whirlwind.  Ron's after-wedding party was held at Bellows Field Beach Park, another treasure that requires military access for entry.  He and his wife Dana were gracious enough to allow our entire family to attend the party and enjoy their beach picnic.  We spent the afternoon at a matinee performance of "The Little Mermaid" at Mililani High School starring Ron's daughter as Ursula.  There was a bit of a fiasco in first arriving to the wrong venue, but we didn't miss too much, and from there, we drove straight to Aulani.

Bellows Field Beach Park

Aulani

20 Mar 17
Aulani is a Disney Resort.  It has 359 rooms, 460 Disney Vacation Club Villas, 16 suites, and 4 restaurants.  A paradise of lush manicured greenery surrounds a lazy river, water slides, children's play areas, pools, hot tubs, and the manmade lagoons beach area.  I'm such a proud Mama that I got a kick out of shoving my 16-month-old down a long, dark water slide all alone.  After the kids had worn themselves to a frazzle, we took a terrible picture with Pluto.

Water Slides

Slidin' with Cô Tins

Tubing with Dadas

Cold & Cuddly 

Lazy River 

Hanging Baby

Splashpad 

 Sand Casltin'

 Lagoon Ladies

 Hugs & Kisses

Injustice 

Too Tired for Pictures

20 Mar 17

There were too many art projects awaiting our arrival at home.  Mom, Liên, and I wasted no time in making bath bombs and preparing dinner with each of four macadamia nut oils before it was time to have a movie pot-luck night at Jenn and Joe's.  Liên and I sent the rest of the family to the party while we stayed back to make a video recording of "The Roseville Fair" with ukuleles.

Rehearsal

21 Mar 17
For our last hurrah, Mom, Liên, and I went hiking on the Makapu'u Point Lighthouse Trail.  Although the hike was rushed, we were able to see several whales.  We ate chocolate macadamia nut pie and wrapped bath bombs before Liên dropped Mom and Cụ off at the airport.  While they were out, I put some finishing touches on the octopus painting and made a few shrinky dinks.  In our final hours together, Liên gave Drakeson and me pedicures, and then we all went out for snow.

Lighthouse 

 Three Ladies

Summit

21 Mar 17

The flight home was terrifying.  I've been on many plane rides, but never one in which I've endured half an hour of such extreme turbulence.  It felt as if the plane wouldn't hold, and making matters much worse, the pilots were in no way reassuring.  Panic-stricken passengers repeatedly paged flight attendants, who were instructed to remain seated.  We were hours away from land while George and I considered the increasingly real possibility that this was our end.  Probability was on our side, but much less so than when our flight had begun.  I stared at my sleeping children with cold sweat on my palms, wanting more than anything to protect them.  I knew where the infant vest was.  The kid in front of me was watching "Pete's Dragon," and I wondered if that kid would ever get to see the end of the movie.  I thought about all the money United was going to lose, and how the headline wouldn't create any sort of emotional stir amongst the unaffected.  I thought about how the mystery of my own death might no longer be a mystery.  I wondered if my dad was going to be involved with writing a program to help find the plane, and I wondered how our assets would get divided between our siblings and our parents.  I thought about how this octopus - hardly a masterpiece - might be the last painting I would ever create.  It's a true story - a true ending to our week in paradise.  Jetlagged and emotionally drained, we fell into our own bed at 10:30 am the next day.  It was a moment of pure bliss.

Morning Octopus

Evening Octopus

Glowing Octopus

Constellation Octopus