Entries about grandma

We started our day with mass at St. Raphael’s in Koloa. Afterwards we went to the “leftovers” brunch hosted by Daniel’s Aunt Jackie.

Dalton with Gretchen’s daughter Maddie, and Darryl in the background.

Aubrey explaining that her cats sleep the entire time she is gone. She found the idea that Flora is an “energy ball” immensely funny.

Catherine practicing hula with Daniel’s mom and Jackie.

After the party we went to Sueoka’s to get a car picnic lunch of Spam musubi.

We stopped near Kealia Beach for our picnic. It was a beautiful spot.

We then arrived at our destination: Hanalei Bay! Daniel’s parents met us there but they didn’t want to swim. It is an amazing bay with gentle waves and warm water, at least today.

Us about to swim in the bay.

After we swam we headed back through the traffic to Poipu. The traffic was only really bad on the bridge. After that we could move freely.

We walked down to Poipu Beach for the sunset gathering with Daniel’s family.

From left: Eric, Gretchen, Hilary, Darryl, Jerry, Hillary, Robbie, Shane, Catherine, and Daniel.

From left: Vickie, Grandma Jackie, Kate and Ed (Daniel’s parents), Peter, and Jackie.

Aubrey digging for “buried treasure” on the beach. She always finds some if Grandpa is around.

Around sunset time.

Kate, Jackie, and Catherine doing the hula they learned.

Back row: Daniel, Shane, Peter, Dalton, Darryl, Hilary, Kevin, Ed, Jerry, Eric, and Robbie.
Next Row: Charlotte, Catherine, Jackie, Kate, Grandma Jackie, Vickie, Hillary, Gretchen, and Maddie.
Front: Aubrey.

We want to take this opportunity on our blog to thank Grandma Jackie for this wonderful trip. We have enjoyed every minute of our time in Kaua’i, and loved spending time together!

Us on the beach at sunset.

After it was dark we decided to have dinner at Brennecke’s. Kevin and Charlotte and Robbie and Shane came with us. It was a fun night and we enjoyed visiting with them.

We started our day with a brunch of blueberry pancakes (made by Daniel’s mom), some leftover linguiça, and some pineapple.

After brunch we made banana bread using the apple bananas from the Grove Farm. It turned out to be delicious. Daniel’s dad, who loves banana bread, said it was the best we’ve made. The apple bananas might make a difference, as might eating it on Kaua’i.

After finishing that we headed off for Polihale State Park, which is the farthest you can go along the south shore (although it is actually on the west coast of the island.) along the way we saw some beautiful scenery...

And learned that it is apparently oatmeal time.

Us during the journey. Before we left, Aubrey saw we were both in baseball caps and asked if we are going to play baseball. We told her no, we planned to go to a beach.

The drive to Polihale involved a several-mile pothole-filled dirt road. At times it seemed like we should turn back. But when we arrived, it was one of the most spectacular beaches we’ve ever seen. The sand was soft and perfect and the water was warm but refreshing. The surroundings were incredible. There was some kind of canoe club at the beach doing some kind of races, as well as people fishing, surfing, paddle boarding, and swimming.

These are the last pictures taken of Catherine in her straw hat. This hat has served her well on various vacations through the years, and she was wearing it in the water today. A wave came up and she went under, and the hat was lost (Daniel also lost one of his water socks, but they are not visible in the picture).

Daniel was stung by this creature. While we were swimming, Daniel suddenly felt a painful burning sensation, and told Catherine. Catherine believed it was a “purple necklace from Hilo Hattie’s.” She said she saw it wrapped around his arm. He went up to the beach to put sand on the wound (which we later learned is not advised, but which seemed soothing at the time. Catherine was certain it was a necklace. Daniel worried that it was somehow a fishing line and hook. It was only after we finished swimming that Catherine saw this creature washed up and realized that the “necklace” must have been a tentacle of the creature. (If anyone knows from the image what kind of animal this is, please let us know in the comments.)

The only possible course of action was to head back out the way we came. We started driving along the dirt road, and got stuck because a pedestrian walked by and we stopped. Thankfully one of the canoe club members was standing nearby and helped us push the car out. We got on our way and hoped Daniel wouldn’t have any reaction to the sting.

Some views of the scenery from the dirt road as we left, with a slight rainstorm coming in. Despite the losses and stings, this excursion felt well worth it.

Afterwards, we went to the party at Daniel’s grandma’s house, which will be the last party of our time in Hawaii.

Catherine talking to Daniel’s cousin Kevin and Kevin’s girlfriend Charlotte.

Daniel’s cousin Robbie and Robbie’s friend Shane, who were the cooks. We had some delicious tostadas.

From left: Hillary (Daniel’s cousin Jerry’s wife), Daniel’s Uncle Peter, Kevin, Daniel’s grandma, and Charlotte. It was a wonderful party and we were happy to have the chance to spend more time together.

After the party, Daniel made a small batch of guacamole from the avocados we got at Grove Farm. Sadly one was bad, but one was good and we made a nice batch of guacamole mostly from leftover ingredients.

The day started with Aubrey and Dalton wanting to go outside. Once outside they found a lizard that was staying “very very still.” They got this lizard several leaves to eat and rocks to use as pillows. When Daniel’s dad went out to remove the dead lizard, it was actually alive!

Hilary had arranged a hula lesson for the group at our house. The group learned to do a dance to the song “Hawaiian Lullaby.” Everyone enjoyed the class and they are planning on practicing and maybe performing at one of the coming parties.

We had lunch of spam musubi, chips, and some leftover watermelon from the party.

After lunch we drove to the Grove Farm plantation. Daniel’s grandma had done the tour last year and decided to do it again this year. The grounds were beautiful as we walked up to the office.

Some pictures of the office and the landscape of the plantation.

George N. Wilcox started this plantation, and one of the first stops on the tour was his own house. There was a large plantation house, but G.N. decided to build himself a house where he could be alone. This was his library/reading room.

Wilcox’s turtle-shaped spittoon.

Wilcox’s summer bedroom, which is basically a screened patio. It seemed like such a pleasant place to be able to sleep.

Wilcox’s hat collection, which Catherine felt Daniel would like having.

The garden outside Wilcox’s house.

One of the cottages by the house.

The beautiful interior of the plantation house. It was full of incredible art, books, handmade pieces from the plantation days, and the most beautiful koa wood fixtures around the house.

Miss Mabel was the last member of the family to live on the property. Her 1974 Buick Skylark is still in working order in the driveway.

This piece of art was made entirely of butterfly wings.

This cabinet was won in a contest and was made in Japan. It reminded us a lot of the Asian artifacts that Catherine’s grandmother was given by her own aunt, who ran a store on a liner that travelled to Asia and brought home a lot of items.

The library inside the plantation house is amazing.

This large “rock” is actually an old sea sponge. One of the family members would use it to trick people into thinking she was carrying a heavy rock.

Next we visited the kitchen, which had a wood burning stove which was being used. A woman who had worked in the kitchen when Mabel was still there gave us an explanation of everything.
Daniel’s grandma and his Aunt Vickie with their fans in the kitchen.

We had the chance to try the mint ice tea and icebox cookies that have been served at this plantation for years.

Catherine doesn’t usually like mint, so she wasn’t sure about the tea. She loved it! More importantly, we both loved the icebox cookies. Catherine has loved her Aunt Helen’s icebox cookies as a child. When her aunt died she wanted to find the recipe but was unable to do so. These cookies tasted the same! Thankfully, the plantation gives out the recipe to everyone who comes through! We will be enjoying icebox cookies and mint ice tea when we get home! The lady in the kitchen also gave us some bananas and avocados from the farm.

This chair converts to a ladder. We were able to get the plans for the chair before leaving. Apparently people all over the world have built them from these plans.

Some books, a picture of a school class, a World War I helmet, an old shave ice machine, and what Daniel called the Wheel of Misfortune.

The blacksmith’s shop and the woodshed, which is also home to some of the feral cats around the property.

The banana fields.

The laundry at the plantation was done by a woman from Japan who lived in this house.

Some beautiful views around the plantation.

All of us at the end of the tour.

We came back to the house and had a relaxing evening. We went to the pool and saw Aubrey and Dalton’s swimming “tricks” (mostly just swimming) and then came in to have burritos and/or leftovers for dinner. It was a wonderful day!