Food here is expensive! Everything is expensive...supply and demand I guess. If you can only buy certain things at one place, they can charge whatever they want and you have to pay it or go without. The pillows in the house we are staying at are not great. Andy went down the road to buy a new one so he could get some decent sleep. No pillows for sale anywhere on this side of the island. Maybe we could open a pillow store and get rich?!?
So back to the food and money issue...
We bought some bread, peanut butter, and jelly to make sandwiches and take them with us in case we were ready for lunch and there was nowhere to eat. And if you know the Stam family, you know one of our boys is the perfect model of the term "hangry". The worst part is that he doesn't feel hungry. He just growls at everyone and refuses to eat. So the solution is sandwiches at the ready! Well, the debate started with the peanut butter. I like to make the sandwiches with a little bit of peanut butter on each piece of bread and the jelly in the middle so the jelly doesn't soak into the bread and make it soggy. My kids like it that way, Rob likes it that way and my mom likes it that way. Eric and Ashton started making the sandwiches with a big pile of peanut butter on one side and jelly on the other side because the jelly soaks in and makes it soft. And thus ensued the great peanut butter debate. How do you make your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches???
My drink of choice is Diet Dr. Pepper. Last time we were here, there was no fountain choice for Diet Dr. P. The only other drink I like is Diet Coke but I don't love it. I managed to struggle through. Imagine my surprise and delight when we found out our favorite 7-11 now has Diet Dr. P in their fountain!! And Rob's choice...Coke Zero. Yay!! 🎉 It's the little things! Love a 7-11 stop on our way to the adventures!
Our first adventure of the day was the Dole Plantation. Two words...Dole Whip!! Yum! Last time we went there J was 4. He tried the Dole Whip and did a little happy dance. He said, "This ice cream makes me dance!" So cute! The three littles went on the Pineapple Express.
That was the main thing J wanted to do. And Soph had to sit on one side and Mav on the other. The train crew was amazing! They helped us recreate a family picture we took three years ago.
T got an airbrush tatoo and J got a new addition to his hat collection.
On the way to Dole, we stopped at Turtle Beach or...something like that. We saw several sea turtles swimming around but none on the beach. We did recreate another pic from our previous trip. One of just the kids.
On the way back to the house, we stopped at a beach near Sunset Beach. Chuns Reef, according to Google Earth. The waves weren't big as all so the kids were able to snorkel. D tried it but didn't really like it. T hated the tightness of the mask. J was too nervous to try. I tried it last time and felt way too claustrophobic! So I haven't tried it this trip and I don't know if I will. But I'm very happy my boys gave it a try.
I did try a new thing again today! The brothers rented a paddle board. They took turns trying out stand up paddling (SUP) and mom even tried it. A couple of the kids sat on it and went for a ride. With ten minutes left for the rental Eric asked me if I wanted to do it. I told him no. Then as he walked away I told myself (and those around me) that I was going to regret that decision. So I did it!! I sat on it and paddled! Eric, loving brother that he is, swam out with me and taught me how to steer with the paddle. I'm not sure how I felt about it. While I drifted farther out into the ocean, I was terrified. But when I was finished, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. I don't feel the urgent need to do it again but I'm glad I did it.
After the beach, we headed back to the house for a sun break. I sat and visited with mom for a bit and I was so hot and tired. She told me to go rest on her bed in front of the fan. I crashed out! I was so tired!
After we all had a little rest and snack break, we headed out to find another beach. It was called Kokololio Beach Park. This trip was a perfect example of the water calling us. Even though we were burnt, we went anyway. There was one moment when our whole family was in the water at the same time. It was awesome! While in the water Eric came over to me...very quickly...and told me to move. He yelled "watch out"! I panicked and started running. For a moment, I thought I was being chased by a shark! Eric used the boogie board to pull a jellyfish away from me and Ashton came running over with a coconut shell and scooped it up out onto the sand. I narrowly escaped with my life!! T was really scared to go back in so we asked a local lady what to do in case a jellyfish stings you. She said it was really weird but works...rub sand into it and then pee on it. Hmmm...I don't know about that. 🙄 We left shortly after that!
As we all walked into the house moaning and groaning from itchy sand and sunburns, Andy asked D after he overheard him pointing out to me, "Do you know what a sunburn is?" Pause and we looked at him. "A sure sign of a good time!" Love it!!
After dinner, we went around and asked each person's favorite part of the day. There were some really great answers! T brought up a conversation from earlier in the day. "Today I heard the weirdest thing I've ever heard Eric say. Eric asked "You want to touch my belly?" Eric was being so funny! Eric told us that T laughed the hardest he had ever heard him laugh and he loved how funny Trenton's reaction was. It was a tiring but fun day! Might be taking it easy tomorrow depending on our sunburn survival through the night!
Awesome read, glad to hear your brothers were on their toes and looking out for you. Rubbing sand on it after being stung is one thing but peeing on it afterwords, hmmm it would have to be very life threatening. Glad you did not get stung, but that nice looking burn is gonna hurt in the AM, keep on having fun in the sun.
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