A Night on the Beach

As we were leaving Hubby's office party, we swung by the office at Bellows and checked cabin availability. They run full occupancy almost year round in their 100 beachside cabins. A cabin was available for one night a couple of weeks later, and we made our reservation.

Hubby and I did not want a repeat of our first anniversary. Everyone's clothes, all of our food, and beach gear were checked and packed into the van. Hubby started to pack the laptop, but I protested. Oh no, we couldn't give into the available free Wi-Fi, I argued. Noooo. The article we read was completely against that. This was supposed to be about family time, about getting close to nature, about being closer to God. Surely we could do one night without Wi-Fi and we didn't need to watch a movie. Noooo.

We climbed in the car and made the thirty minute drive to Bellows. Aaah we all seemed so relaxed, too relaxed. In a panic I bombarded Hubby with items from my mental list. Yup. They were all in the car. Imagine that.

We entered Bellows several minutes later and Hubby checked in. We scored a two bedroom handicap (read: B.I.G.) ocean view cabin. Man oh man someone cancelled and made our night! Our cabin was one of a handful that shared no walls. It was its own quaint house with a covered lanai!

The kids were jumping for joy at the sight of the ocean steps from our cabin. They wanted IN RIGHT NOW. We insisted on an early dinner first. Getting them out of the water requires ripping them from the sand. It is not pretty. Hubby and I unloaded the van by the armfuls, and broke out with their dinner favorite, macaroni and cheese. We set them up on the front lanai with the tantalizing ocean as a bribe to hurry and eat. While they were shoveling in their dinner, I ran back in the cabin for my camera. I flipped open the camera bag and reached for my DSLR. I called for some big smiles. I waved wildly for everyone's attention. I focused, snapped, and checked the display. But there was no picture, just a blank screen. Then some teeny tiny words appeared. No CF card. I about fainted. Hubby threw back his head and laughed, and then pulled himself together when my face crumpled. "I am not buying you another CF card," he said seriously. Well, that was ok, because I still had my point and shoot. I ran back in the cabin a second time, posed everyone, focused, and snapped. I blinked. No SD card. "OH NO. There's no SD card!!!! Can I please, please, please, drive back (35 miles) to the house and get one?!?" Now before you pass any judgement on my beyond generous husband, you must know I own SIX SD cards. That's because he buys them for me every time I forget my SD card. I was supposed to put one in my purse, like he had asked, but you know I didn't. My CF card and my SD card were tucked into the side of the laptop, the laptop I insisted stay home. The closest mall was still several minutes away. Sigh. Hubby tried to rescue me. He had slipped my old digital camera in the camera bag. He ran in the cabin this time, and fished it out. What do you know, it was yet a third camera without an SD card! I took a few pictures with the internal memory from this camera, and the rest with Hubby's cell phone camera. So y'all get to enjoy the not so clear pictures as an absolute hilarious memory from our mini camping trip. Well, it was funny to us, anyway. Hubby offered to check the shopette on base for an SD card. No such luck. Then this thought came over me. This little trip wasn't about me. It was still all about family time, about being closer to nature, and closer to God. I will be really honest, though. Living on a tropical island, it's pretty easy to be close to nature, family, and God right at my own home. But I was going with the article, and trying to forget my beloved SD cards, and forgive myself for vetoing the laptop. Instead I pulled out our underutilized cam camcorder and said our names thousands of times, like I won't say on the blog. I trolled them off my tongue, and divulged some confessions for the camera I would only admit to my family because the video was just for us! Hubby and the kids got great kicks from my antics.


This is your one and only chance to check out our cabin.
See the shower on the outdoor post on the right? It spouted hot water which was so nice after returning from the beach. We used the hose below the shower to wash sand from our boogie boards. The cabin had a full shower inside, too. The outside shower was just to shower off the sand, not our birthday suits. Below was our view from the lanai.

Soon enough the kids finished dinner, and we bounded down to the beach, lighthearted. The beach was deserted. We were alone, just the four of us, with only the company of the sunset, the breaking waves, and the warm salt air. Everyone else must have been having dinner.At the edge of the beach is a water jetty, confined by rocks on either side. It is exceptionally shallow for several yards. This was safer for our children than the rougher high tide waters at the beach. We crossed over the rocks at the edge of the beach and into the jetty. Along the rocks we spotted dozens of sand crabs. We watched as they scurried sideways out of our sight.

Son1 wasted no time. He jumped on his boogie board, determined to ride some waves before the sunset. His daddy grabbed the leash on his boogie board. He guided Son1 gently into the waves at first. Then he and Son1 got this idea. Son1 laid on his back on the board while Hubby pulled, just like an inner tube pulled by a speed boat. So Hubby led Son1 over the lightly clapping waves with unexpected twists and turns. Their laughter was swallowed by the sound of the impacting waves. I beamed. My sweet son esteems his father. He is his hero.

Son2 and I hung back at the mouth of the jetty in several inches of warm ocean water. He dragged his small kickboard along the sandy bottom, twisting and turning it, just like the big boys. We dallied in the water until well after the beautiful sunset.

We finally called time when I spotted a Portuguese Man O'War floating past. He was alone. A lot of people mistake them for jellyfish, but they are actually 4 dangerous polyps. Their jelly bellies (full of gas) float at the surface, and those long blue stringy things can be as long as 30 feet below the water. Their sting causes whip like marks on humans that sting and burn and get into the lymph nodes. They are particularly dangerous to small children and can cause them to go into anaphylactic shock.

Hubby caught the Man O'War and laid him on one of the rocks. The tide would take the Man O'War out later. We have seen the tentacles come loose and sting people on the beach.

We explained to the kids about the Man O'War and his danger, and why it was time to get out. We climbed back over the rocks, out of the jetty, and onto the beach. The waves clapped crash, crash, crash at the shore as we padded along the sand to our cabin.

After showers and jammies, Son2 snuggled into his pack n play. Son1 and I slung and pinned our towels and suits on the clothesline behind our cabin while Hubby fired up the grill. Son1 was still too excited for bed. We grabbed his flashlight and our shoes and walked to the edge of the beach in front of our cabin. We stood goggling into a dark black sky, filled with infinite stars. I asked him if he could count them all. He tipped his flashlight skyward, aiming at the stars. He counted 23 stars, he announced. I smiled and hugged him. I didn't tell him he was right. I didn't tell him he was wrong. I just said WOW!

It was bedtime. Before I had put Son2 to bed I showed Son1 his bed in the light. He practiced sneaking into a dark room without waking his brother. But that didn't work so well when it was actually his bedtime. Those boys had plenty to talk about in the dark. They were as quiet as two boys could get, and Hubby and I were starving. So we just let them chatter. Eventually they would fall asleep.

I told you how much I L.O.V.E. charcoal grills. Aaah but they are so rare these days. Everyone has gas portables. These cabins are equipped with charcoal grills, though! So Hubby grilled us flank steaks, prepped by Costco. He also steamed broccoli in the kitchen.

We packed two kinds of cookies for dessert. But at the end of dinner Hubby pulled out a carrot cake he had picked up at the shopette. He knows I L.O.V.E. carrot cake. Aww folks, now that is romance. You must know we were without children for nearly 8 years from the day we met until Son1 arrived. We ate out all of the time over those eight years. Going out to nice restaurants, seated next to strangers at the nicest table with the most awesome views just doesn't qualify as romantic to me as blatant thoughtfulness, now that I am a mom. Maybe it's because I am out of the work environment where I was used to tons of recognition and affirmation. Hubby filled my love tank so much more with charcoal and a carrot cake. And I am not saying I am giving up on nice dinners out. No way. But charcoal and carrot cake warmed my heart.

We were exhausted. The kids were still awake giggling and laughing, jumping up and down, and opening closets in the dark. We had gone in to regulate a few times. Finally Hubby and I laid in bed, and he said they would fall asleep eventually. They were just having fun in a new place. Sigh. They finally laid down some time around 10 at night. We prayed for them to wake up late.

I fell asleep quickly but used "the facility" a few times that night. I drink a lot of water when we go to the beach, and I had my fill late at night. It was a little frightening. The toilet wasn't bolted to the floor. The floor wasn't quite dry from the showers, either. I almost fell to my death more than once. Hubby's sleep was rough. The bed was no Heavenly Bed. Ohh it was far from it. And the sheets were sandpapery. But it really wasn't about the bed, and the whole idea of sleep was overrated. The kids were up just after 6am, when the sun rose. But I was nowhere inside the cabin. On my Hawaii Bucket List was to watch a sunrise on the beach. Hubby never really knew that. I just hadn't figured out how I could manage that with small children.

The last time I woke up was about 530am. I dressed quickly, and grabbed the cell phone for pictures. I walked along the beach alone, uneasy in the dark. I could see where the ocean touched the shoreline over and over. I knew the rapid movements riffling from the sand into the water were sand crabs. I barely made out their bodies. I wanted to test the water in the dark. Was the ocean as warm in the early hours as it is during the day in Hawaii? I am not sure, but it definitely was warm, much warmer than I thought. The sky opened, and the clouds separated. I could see a little light. I had an idea. My best chance at decent pictures with a camera phone was to stand above the water's reflection and below the sky's reflection. I treaded toward the jetty and climbed onto the rocks. I cannot imagine a better place to see an unobstructed sunrise.

As the sun rose higher the beach glowed. The clouds pushed open, the sun's rays kissed the top of the rumbling ocean and gleamed on the warm sand. I sat high on the sand, quietly, alone, reveling in the stillness of the beach. I looked down and saw this pint-sized mound of sand with a hole alongside. Oh! A sand crabbed peeked out, and ran furiously into the surf. I laughed and looked up to see another mound, another hole, and another crab make the same break for the ocean. I looked around and around. Up and down the beach were hundreds and hundreds, maybe even a thousand of these mounds with holes alongside. Then I noticed some of these crabs were not so small nor so cute. Some were the size of apples. Some granddaddy crabs were the size of grapefruits. Now they were bordering on creepy.

I was startled by the sound of the cell phone. The kids were up. I brushed myself off, said goodbye to the stillness of the early morning, ready to greet my kids.

We had planned to eat breakfast at Boots and Kimos in Kailua. Eating there was also on the Hawaii Bucket List. It is one of the infamous places on Oahu that people say you HAVE to try. It is a small local homestyle place, and the breakfast line is usually an hour long on the weekends. It has been voted best breakfast place several times over. Since we live several minutes away, we have been discouraged by the long wait with small children. But Bellows is just a few minutes from Boots and Kimo's.

The restaurant is named for two brothers, "Boots" and "Kimo." The restaurant opened 14 years ago. Boots and Kimo have since passed away, but Boots's sons run the place now. People make the long wait for the infamous macadamia nut pancakes. They are made with super creamy macadamia nut sauce. Hubby and I ordered a plate to split.

We each ordered the "Pakalolo Omlette". Pakalolo literally means marijuana in Hawaiian, but all substances in the omlette were completely legal. It was filled with tomatoes and onions and other veggies. My omlette came with a side of fried rice. But that went to Son1. Hawaiian fried rice is Son1's favorite breakfast food in the world. He made sure a thousand times over we did not forget his sacred fried rice. Poor Son1. Whatever will he do when we leave the island? Hawaiian fried rice is a breakfast staple in the islands.

Hubby clicked my photo, and in the background caught a photo of the asst. manager's arm. I wanted to share this tattoo with you, for a couple of reasons. First, I don't have any tattoos at all, which means I don't have any Hawaiian tattoos to show you. Second, Hawaiian tattoos have been culturally relevant to the Hawaiian people for thousands of years. Originally the Hawaiian people used bird beaks, claws, and fish bones to make tattoos. Hawaiian tattoos usually have geometric and symmetric designs, and were a tribal way of marking themselves. Now they are part of cultural pride. People do entire limbs, across their chests, or torso, or small areas. Tattoos are very common in the Polynesian Islands.After a filling and delicious breakfast, we drove back to Bellows. We packed the car so we could check out and spend the entire day on the beach. As I was cleaning the kids' room, I noticed a hulking millipede slither past my bare feet! Eeek! They aren't really harmless. Usually they just curl into a tight ball if they are scared. But if you make them mad enough they can emit a gas that can cause blisters. Ewww! We said aloha to our cabin, which made Son1 terribly sad, until he saw the beach.

The water was really toasty and as clear as swimming pool. This is why we love Bellows. Son1 and Hubby headed for the water to boogie board. Son2 and I camped up on the sand. He is going through a sand phase. Son1 went through a sand phase, too. I bring some of their jeeps, flatbeds, and monster trucks for the sand, and Son2 prefers to race his trucks through the sand than to play in the water. Hubby and I grew concerned after a little while. The striking waves were a bit rough after a few minutes. The wave breaks were deliberate. We noticed that the waves calmed a little up the beach. We gathered our things and started to walk farther from our car for a few minutes, until....UH OH. Hubby spotted a Portuguese Man O' War riding a wave lapping at the shore. We stopped abruptly. We looked up the beach, only to spot a handful more right in our walking path. We looked back across the way we came. We saw dozens more Portuguese Man O' Wars dotting the water's surface and the shore line. This was not good. This was very, very bad. It was 12 days past the full moon. Usually box jelly fish and Portuguese Man O' Wars appear 9 to 10 days after the full moon. We were too close. Son1 started to whine. He didn't want to go. What did Daddy mean that we were leaving? We stopped and told him it was too dangerous to be on the beach. Hubby scooped each child up in his arms, and carried them off the beach. I grabbed our things. Beach time was officially over. But we had a plan.

We planned lunch at Teddy's Bigger Burgers in Kailua. Teddy's has won best burger on the island for the last five straight years. There are a million reasons we ended up on the South Beach diet. When plans go awry, a great meal can fix everything. But our great meals are smaller and smaller these days. Hubby and I split (we never used to split these burgers) a hand pattied 9oz western bacon cheeseburger, crispy fries and a pineapple shake. Ohhh the pineapple shake was so sweet and creamy and so sweet and creamy AND SO SWEET AND CREAMY!!!!!

Son2 had conked out in the back seat, so we took advantage and decided to drive the long way home. Rather than drive through the Ko'Olaus on the H3, we decided to drive the scenic route on the 2 lane highway around the coast of the island. The drive was well over an hour on the way home. We rounded the Eastern shores up to the North Shore, and then through Hale'iwa. Hubby hoped we could stop at the North Shore Chocolate Factory. It was raining hard when we drove through Hale'iwa, so we kept chugging along. Son1 begged and begged us to go back to the cabin, our cabin. He was sad to settle for our house and his own bed. Our 24 hour adventure was over, and we were home.