Hawaii Vogelzangs

Had our much anticipated arrival of PopPop and Bev in January. Was so fun to show them around and explore some new HI things together! Highlights:

• Polynesian Cultural Center visit with luau and Breath of Ha show
• Beach time with Poppop’s famous sand building
• Pearl Harbor and Battleship Missouri
• Trip to Maui with a whale watch
• Adult kayak trip to the Mokolua islands in Kailua
• Hike to Lanikai pillbox with just PopPop & Lish

Final stop on our trip: Kyoto. Then bullet train back to Tokyo and the 7.5 hr flight back (thank you jet stream!) left us all exhausted – dealt with jet lag for a good week…but all worth it. Highlights in Kyoto:

• A cold and rainy Kyoto walking tour but our guide David was great – showed us spots off the beaten path (no crowds!), told stories about the history that made the temples interesting, and took us to find some traditional food!Kiyomizu-dera temple – lots of history and legends about this place
• Sannenzaka – traditional shopping street
• Fushimi Inari gates
• Nintendo Museum – kids loved playing with the giant controllers and playing retro games on old consoles; was cool for mom and dad to see the history of the company and all of the different versions of consoles and games along the way (unfortunately no pictures allowed in the museum part of the building)
• Sushi train restaurant for mom and dad
• Micro-pig cafe. You heard it right…the kids were so excited. It was as you’d expect

Second city stop was Osaka. Took the bullet train and basically only had one afternoon and then did Universal Japan! It was cold, and Aaron and Graham got flu-like symptoms but we powered through. Two main highlights:

1. Tried the onsen at the hotel: a public bathhouse…the catch is you can’t have any clothes on! We all changed into the PJs the hotels provided and the kids were nervous to go at first, but ended up liking the “pools” (typically a few options of hot, warm, cool) and sauna and the girls liked the amenities – felt like a spa!
2. Universal Studios Japan!
   • Got to check out the new Super Nintendo World! Donkey Kong coaster and VR Mario Kart rides were super cool, and all of the details of things going on around the world were so fun
   • Hollywood Dream roller coaster was the highlight for the 3 older kids and mom; Flying dinosaur was Dad’s favorite, and Brooks was too short but got a Mario Bros. bomb stuffy so he was happy!
   • Harry Potter world was super cool too – we all loved the Forbidden Journey ride
   • Despicable Me and Minions was a fun area and the ride had us all laughing

After Christmas we left for Japan. 9.5 hour flight from Honolulu to Tokyo on the Japanese airline was smooth! Highlights from Tokyo:

• Free snack time at the hotel each day, including a cotton candy machine where they kids could make their own
• Visited Tokyo Disney Sea and Tomyo Disneyland! Tokyo Disney Sea was super impressive with all of the buildings, worlds, landscapes, and detail.
• Shibuya Crossing – world’s busiest pedestrian crossing
• Kids learning 100 Yen is actually not a lot of money
• Harajuku shopping streets
• Meiji Jingu temple where we accidentally hit major crowds since everyone goes on Jan 1 to pray for good fortune for the new year
• Pokemon Center store – Brooks got his book he was hoping to find
• Little coin operated toy machines and entire stores of claw machines (kids won large stuffed animals they were excited about)
• Trying new food: ramen, udon, curry, sushi, mochi, takoyaki (look it up!)
• Shinkansen ride (Bullet train) from Tokyo > Osaka; passed Mt. Fuji at 200mph!

Beginning with a Christmas Eve service and a living room sleepover, we had and got lots of presents, fun, and a surprise question for the kids from Elle! A different but fun Christmas for sure. So fun to have family in town with us!

We had Elle visit again…but this time with Darla and Tess, our cousin and aunt, after visiting Kauai for a few days. We went to the beach, worked on a puzzle, had a gingerbread house competition, and celebrated Christmas! ( more on that later). The gingerbread house competition got judged from family from both ends of the country – Darla, Grammy, and Dorene!

Elle and Jill came for a few days before their trip to Kauai. Enjoyed showing them around the island and we tried to get in the Christmas spirit with a (very) scaled back version of our annual cousin Christmas cookie party🎄

Girls’ enjoyed the 5th & 6th grade dance! Olivia helped plan it at student council with a theme of Candy Cane Lane 🎄

Uncle Dwane and Aunt Jen visited after their trip to Maui! So fun to show them around and enjoy time catching up – beach time, hiking, shopping and lots of good food together!

4 field trips last week and I got to go along for 2!

Olivia went to the Hamakua Marsh to plant and learn about the wetlands and endangered birds.

Graham went to the Marine base to board the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s boat, the Hōkūleʻan and learn about how ancient Hawaiians navigated the oceans and also how to tie boating knots.

Brooks went to the Hawaii Youth Symphony orchestra Kids holiday concert where they learned each instrument in the orchestra and enjoyed sing-a-longs and Christmas music.

Graham went to Hoʻokuaʻāina, a community non-profit where the kids learned how to grow and care for taro and its importance and history to the Hawaiian culture. The kids helped pull weeds before having a mud pit race.

The Carusos came to visit for Thanksgiving! It’s been so fun to show people around our spot here and it was a new and different Thanksgiving experience here in Aikahi. We cooked our meat (turkey and brisket!) on the school Imu (the kids had worked to carry the lava rocks during school that week and others helped to dig the whole for the pit), we got our sides from Whole Foods (highly recommend!) and enjoyed a hike and the beach on Thanksgiving day with very minimal time in the kitchen. A great few days connecting with friends and enjoying the beautiful weather and surroundings here – lots to be thankful for!

Nov 14-18

We had an exciting long weekend in Colorado celebrating Josh & Callie! An epic airport reunion started the trip when we arrived 2 gates down from the PA flight carrying 16 of our Balmer family members 😁

The kids had so much fun back with their cousins and Poppop, and we all enjoyed the time with family. It was a weekend of missing Mom, but such a beautiful and special celebration for Josh and Callie. The Vail backdrop felt like something out of a Hallmark movie 😍 congrats to the newlyweds!!!