Last but not least...part V of V!!
After mothers day, my dad schedule a special day for us and we all went out on our own little boat right out past waikiki!! (all of those pics are on my gopro which I'll hopefully post soon!) It was such a fun time being out on the open ocean. After a long morning out at sea, we grubbed on some amazing food at Nicos. Clockwise from top left: my amazing BEEF STEW! Katsu for the kiddos, jens crazy furikake covered fish (ahi?) and stac's loco moco! A hit all around.
Right down the street from Nicos was another HE>I shop and then....DuH*DUH*DUH*.....
LILIHAAAAAA BAKERY!!!!!
Everytime auntie Julie goes to Hawaii, she brings back a box of frozen liliha cream puffs and they taste amazing. So, you could imagine my excitement when I finally got to try them fresh for the first time. INSANE. The cream on the inside is what really gets me. Also, their donuts (that look like the ones from Mr. Donut in Japan) were bomb and so was the guava cake. AHHH!!!
Koko head right in front of our house!
A big reason why we went to Hawaii at this time was to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday! (she doesnt look a day past 45 though). My dad planned an awesome dinner with everyone at SIDE STREET INN and we had a straight FEAST! Two of the standout dishes were the fried pork chops and the really really good brownie dessert. I even had a beer with my brothers for probably the first time in my life - special moment haha!
Happy birthday mom!! we love you!!!
The next day...we all woke up early a hit BOGARTS right away. Their acai bowl are amazing and I really wish I could start every morning eating that! Lenny was lookin so cute posing for photos out in front of the store!
love them! After fuelling up on b-fast, we all drove through the island (beautiful drive up towards Pali) and over to Kaliua beach, which has got to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
Right when I came up over the hill and looked out over the water I just started jumping like a mad woman. haha. I could not believe how CLEAR and BLUE that water was!!! MANNNNNN!
A really fun part was that mom was able to take her scooter out to a lookout point and watch us play in the sand a little. I loved that moment.
Hunty is really turning into a little man! Love him so much.
Cam was fearless and wanted to splash all in the waves without his floatie on! We spend a few hours playing in the insane water at Kailua. After a while, it started to get too windy so we called it a day and headed to our next stop...
DAHHH ISLAND SNOW BRADDAHHHH. Classic snow cone. cant be beat. Also, shoutout to the HIC slippers I bought at Alamoana. I remember making slippers at that exact spot 10 years ago and I used them every day growing up. I love how you can pick any color strap and sole and make it your own. A Hawaiian staple!
This was so cute...we said, "Komae pic!" and Len jumped right in! haha.
We had been teaching them SHAKA all week and they finally sorta got it!
Man, that drive back the coast is insane. Hawaii- you're outta this world.
Ok not sure where my dad got these from...but he somehow bought the most amazing POI DONUTS....REAL REAL REAL REAL GOOD.
alright...so here we are on my last day in Hawaii. so sad :( The kids had such a good time at Hanauma Bay on our first day, so we decided to go there again. We made sure to go before 7am to beat the crowd and not have to pay to enter.
My mom had been wanting a shot like this so we finally got it by coaxing them with tic tacs haha!
Cam lookin so handsome with his sunscreen face and Eden giving me the smolder!! hAHHA she cracks me up.
I was really grateful to spend some quality time with my siblings. We've been so fortunate to grow not only as a family, but as friends as well. We often joke, make fun of each other, complain about pet peeves and what not, but truly- my siblings are my favorite people in the world and theres no one else I'd rather spend time with than them!
We spent a few hours there and then rolled outta there so I could go back and finish packing. Then we hit up our last food spot ...
Okata bento!! A true hole in the wall place that makes everything to order. Legit mom and pop kinda place.
It took a while, so while we were waiting my bro got a nice coffee frapp at Coffee Talk, which is also shown on Terrace House Aloha State! haha.
The food was really saucy and amazing and true home cooking. But the funny thing is...or what you can't tell by looking at these photos...is that...
...at this precise time I was having a mild panic attack. Ok, more like emotional panic mode. Let me explain...The food took wayyyy longer than expected. Mind you, it was 11:30am or so and I had to catch at flight around 3:00pm. On top of that, I was sad to leave my family and head back to Japan and I was bummed they were all going to stay on the island a few more days and experience Aulai Disney Resort while I went back solo. So anyway, we're rushing outta there trying to figure out if we'd eat at a park or what not, and my dad ended up scratching a parked car on the way out of the parking area. Right as I heard the sound *crunnchhhhh*, I could feel this flood of emotion just swell up inside of me!! It was crazy. That's probably the first time, or one of a very few times, where that kind of emotion just came over me and I couldnt hold it in. It was a combo of being sad that my dad scratched the car, with panic about the time frame, with having to leave my family, and no one else feeling that same way since they all see eachother every day at home anyway! haha. So the tears came and I mean, they reaaaaally came and I think I scared my family a bit because they were probably thinking "what the heack amie? it was just a little scratch"
so anyway through my tears I tried to explain what I was feeling. How the love I had for my family kind of overwhelmed me, and how I wanted our last moments on the island together to be chill and fun and not full of insurance talk or trying to calm down a very obviously angry man and woman whose car we hit. The time felt so precious to me, like every moment I wanted to keep in a capsule forever...and that was all heightened because I live in Japan- just me. Like I said, for my fam it's different, since they're always together at home. But for me, the time felt extra special and meaningful so to end on that note just tipped me over the emotional edge! haha...well I said my goodbyes through teary eyes (this is becoming my go-to farwell routine, oh sheesh) and mom and dad drove me to the airport.
and that my friends...is the truth behind the photos that you could never tell just by looking at them. But despite those unexpected last few hours of the trip, those tears felt good, they felt like love...you know those tears you can't hold back because your heart just swells with gratitude. Yeah, those tears. And those are good tears to feel!!
so Hawaii 2017 with the Komae crew...that's a wrap! What an incredible week. All glory to God for blessing us with family, for providing us with every need, for keeping us safe, for showing us His beautiful creation, and for showering us with His unending love!!! What a God we serve!!!