Aloha Hawaii

          We are going to leave Hawaii soon.  I will miss Hawaii.  I will miss going to the beach because it's fun to go  to the beach and there is no beach in Phoenix.

          I will miss Shave Ice because I really like Shave Ice and it is fun to eat Shave Ice.   There are probably no Shave Ice stores in Phoenix.

          When I get back to Phoenix, I will play with my toys and sit on every sofa and chair.   I will be happy to have my own room.  It will be nice to get home.


     

Pali Lookout

             We went to the Pali Lookout because my brother and I wanted to go again before we leave Hawaii.  There are a lot of mountains that we climbed.  It was hard because there was no trail.

us on a mountain

     

I did not like the mud or the mosquitos but there was a good view of the windward coast of Oahu.  At one part, there was a big and slippery rock that was hard to get across.  Pali lookout is fun.

view from Pali lookout

       
     

Paddling

        This week, we went kayaking.  This time, we went into the ocean.  Kayaking in the ocean is harder than in canals or rivers because there are waves.

me kayaking

First, we kayaked to flat island.  It is a tiny and flat island.  Flat island has a lot of birds.  We also kayaked to a beach where we played.  The sand was very soft.

Flat Island

         We also went stand-up paddling.  It is like surfing, except there are no big waves and you have a paddle.  It is hard to stand up paddle.  I crashed into a lot of parked boats.   Stand-up-paddling was fun.

       

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

        Can you say Humuhumunukunukuapua'a?  Humuhumunukunukuapua'a is the Hawaiian name of the state fish, the reef trigger fish.  A lot of  Hawaiian fish names are long and hard to pronounce.  I can pronounce a lot of fish names.  My favorite fish name is Lauwiliwilinukunuku'oi'oi  because it is really long.  Lauwiliwilinukunuku'oi'oi is the longnose butterfly fish.

        Humuhumunukunukuapua'a means reef fish with nose like pig and this is how you pronounce Humuhumunukunukuapua'a:

hoomoo hoomoo nookoo nookoo ah poo ah ah

         It's a lot easier to pronounce Humuhumunukunukuapua'a if you break it up.  When I get back, don't be surprised if I ask you to say Humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Poems 

by Alex Desch

a haiku:

Look a cherry tree

Somebody has cut it down

It's George Washington

another haiku:

The bears are sleeping

Nobody should wake them up

I'm getting attacked

a limerick:

There once was a ball named Bally

A lot of the time, he was jolly

It happened one day

He did roll away

To golf ball that was named Fally

       

Maui

        We went to Maui for a vacation last week.  On Saturday, we went on a boat ride.  We made two stops to snorkel.  We snorkeled at a tiny island called Molokini.  We saw fish we've never seen before.  We saw trumpetfish, kikakapu.  We even saw a spotted eagle ray.

Spotted Eagle Ray

         We also went to Haleakala, the volcano.  It was a long drive because Haleakala is very high, 10,023 ft above sea level.  It was very windy and cold at the top. 

Me at Haleakala

There is a plant called the silversword that only grows on Haleakala.  It is a bush with spiky silver leaves.

Silversword

        On our last day in Maui, we went on the Atlantis submarine.  We had to go out on a boat to get to the submarine.  We saw a lot of fish, coral reef and eagle rays.  We even saw a sunken ship.  It was cool!

School of Kikakapu from submarine

Polynesia

        This week, Joseph and I went to a school where we did science activities.   We learned about oil spills and expanding marshmallows.  We put a marshmallow in a vacuum and when we took the air out of the vacuum, the marshmallow grew.   We made phytoplankton models  out of random materials that had to sink in water and sink slowly but we had to use a metal rod.  We also did circuitry with a set that had a light bulb, a beeper, a buzzer, a switch, alligator clips and batteries..  Circuits are wires that go around in a circle.  We completed circuits that lit up light bulbs and buzzed buzzers and we took a quiz about circuitry.

        We also went to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It is a place with Polynesian activities.  We did spear throwing.  You throw a spear by making a tunnel for the spear to go through with your hand and you use your other hand to push the spear through.  We also wove fish out of palm leaves.  We could cast the line and the fish slid down the line.  I also went real fishing.  There was bait on the fishing pole.  All the fish came toward the bait.  The fish ate the bait but I wasn't supposed to catch any fish.

We also learned to play the ukulele.  A ukulele is like a guitar, but it has four strings instead of six.  It is a Hawaiian instrument.

We also went to a show where we had a chance to do a Tahitian dance.  The performers taught us the dance and then  they picked three people in the audience to dance on stage.  Daddy was one of them.  He did a really good job.  I also made a bracelet out of colorful kukui nuts and wooden beads.  The Polynesian Cultural Center is cool.

     

Parasailing

        On Sunday, we went parasailing.  Parasailing is where you are on a parachute attached to a boat.  The boat moves and you go up in the sky.  It is like being a kite.  When I went parasailing, half of my body got dipped in the water.

        I also had science class this week at the park.  I found a lot of things at the park.  I found a button, a dime, a thing to close bags, a broken rubber band, and 5 legos.


     

Pancakes

Pancakes are yummy

Pancakes are a circle or puff

Syrup goes on pancakes

Butter goes on pancakes

Bacon goes with pancakes

Pancakes are breakfast

Pancakes are fun

Pancakes are cooked

They can be burnt and the opposite of burnt

Pancakes are cool

  

Fall Break

        We attended a lot of camps this week.  We did Bishop Museum camp.  We studied Hawaiian words.  Then we studied the Hawaiian phases of the moon.  We went to a room where we learned about lava.  Someone who works at the museum put lava rock in a furnace and later we saw lava coming out of the furnace.  The lava rock melted into glowing lava.  We went to a building that had marine life exhibits about abysses, which are deep trenches in the ocean.  

        We also went to Hawaiiana camp.   We learned a chant.  We made poi by taking the skin off of taro roots and then pounding it.  I do not like the taste of poi and it looks disgusting.  We played a game where you match the Hawaiian word with the English word.  My favorite part was the game.

        At another camp, I learned how to make a balloon dog and I learned card magic tricks.  A video of me doing a trick is shown below.

          

My Birthday

        We went to Waimea Valley this week.  It was a place with activities to do.  First, we wove fish out of palm leaves.  It was fun.  We also made Kukui nut tops.  It was fun to spin them.  We went to a pool under a waterfall.  You could go under the waterfall and get wet.  After that, we went to an area with Hawaiian games to play.  In one of the games, there were 2 poles that you throw wooden discs through to get a point.  Whoever gets the most points wins.  The game was called Moa Pahe'e.

Me playing Moa Pahe'e

We also took a Hula lesson.  It was fun.

Me doing Hula

        On my birthday, we had pancakes for breakfast.  I had four pancakes.  It was yummy.  I played the Wii for a long time.  It was fun.  We also went 3-D mini golfing in the dark.  It was cool.  I bought 3 lego people, a lego car, a puzzle and a fan light with my birthday money.  I like to play with them.   We had Shave Ice instead of cake.  It was yummy.  We went home, had macaroni and cheese then went to bed.  My birthday was fun!

Me eating Shave Ice

    

Kauai

   Last week, we went to Kauai for a vacation.  On Monday, we hiked up part of a mountain and I found a walking stick.  We went to play on a really cool tree that was like a jungle gym. 

Me on the really cool tree

We also went kayaking.  We kayaked in the Hanalei river.  At one point, we parked our kayaks and swam a tiny bit.  We also kayaked to Hanalei bay.  Then we had ice cream and went home.

Me Kayaking

        On Tuesday, we went to a lighthouse in a wildlife refuge.  It was cool because we could see the ocean.  Then we went to the beach.  There were some fish to see, but not many. 

        On Wednesday, we went on a boat ride.  It was a small boat and only 13 people could fit on the boat.  We went under a waterfall and got soaking wet.  At one point, the boat stopped and we went snorkeling.  There were a lot of sea turtles.  On the way back, I sat on the shakiest seat. 

Me on the shakiest seat

We also played at the beach in Hanalei bay.  After that, we went to Wailua falls.  It looked like it was two waterfalls. 

Wailua Falls

Then we went to a big playground.  It was so big and a lot fun.  Finally, we went to the airport and flew back to Oahu.

Lei

Wearing lei is a tradition in Hawaii.  When you come to Hawaii, you are often given a lei.  I was given a flower lei when we arrived.  The plural for lei is lei.  Lei can be made of flowers, nuts and seeds. This week, I made a Lei out of sparkle Nani yarn that's blue.  It was a lot of fun to make the lei and wear it.  My lei is 34 inches long.  I also have a kukui nut lei.

This is me wearing my one-straw lei

We went snorkeling on Thursday and this time, we saw a green sea turtle (honu) and snowflake moray eel (puhi kapa) and more.  It was fun. 

Water

        We went snorkeling this week.  Here are some of the fish we saw:  needlefish, reef triggerfish, spectacled parrotfish, Achilles tang and Moorish idol.

Moorish Idol (Kihikihi)

We also played in the waves.  At first, I did not want to snorkel because there were rocks, but we walked to the part of the beach where there were no rocks.

          We also went to Sea Life Park.  We saw a show with bottlenose dolphins.  We fed sea turtles and saw a lot of fish.

          I made a new shirt.  Here are some things I put on it: I put some gumballs, a black hole, trees, 2 suns, some mushrooms, some stars, somebody juggling on a unicycle, a maze, two houses, confetti, and on the back a lot of dots!  The shirt has a lot of cool and fun ideas.

I have a cool shirt.


   

Doing Fun Things

This week, we went snorkeling.  It was cool because we got to see different kinds of fish, like Achilles Tang (Paku'iku'i). We also went to the Bishop Museum, which is about Hawaii's history.  We saw a planetarium show about how the Polynesians used the stars to navigate.  After that, we had shave ice.  It was yummy.

We also went to Manoa Falls.  It was so muddy we had to take baths when we got home.  It was also rocky and slippery.  We got to see a lot of different plants and animals.  The waterfall is very big and we saw it from a close view. 

Here are some things I miss about home:
I miss sleeping in a bed and being at our house
I miss my toys and my room
I miss waking up early
But I still like it here because we can go to the beach and snorkel and eat shave ice and go to the volcano.

The big Island

8/25/2010 --  Today we went to the visitors center at Volcano National Park.  I wove a star.  Next we went to a crater.  There used to be a lava lake in the crater.  After that, we went to see petroglyphs.  We had to walk 1.4 miles to get there and back.   Then we went to a sea arch.  It was made of igneous rock. 

Holei Sea Arch

We had lunch.  Finally, we went to the rainforest zoo.  I want to live in the monkey cage because it is a playground.


8/28/2010 -- We went to the Big Island of Hawaii.  We did a lot of fun activities.  We went to Kilauea, the volcano.  It was cool because we got to see glow from the lava.

Halema'uma'u Crater

I also liked Coconut Island, a tiny island in Hilo.  It had a tiny beach, and falling coconuts, and trees to climb. 

Alex at Coconut Island

 Another thing I liked was the pancake house.  I had three pancakes with coconut, pineapple and guava syrup.  It was yum yum.  I did not want to leave the Big Island because it was fun.

We Arrived in Hawaii

      We're in Hawaii and it is fun.   The time here is 3 hour difference than Phoenix.  I really like our apartment.  It has a small balcony and we're on the 20th floor.  The view is cool.

      We went body surfing on the second day.   Body surfing is really fun.  I think it's like driving a car because the waves push me as fast as a car.  We also swung on a Banyan tree.  The branches are like vines that you can swing on.

      
       On the third day, we hiked Diamond head.  It is a non-active volcano.  I did not like walking uphill.  After that, we went to Costco and we had pizza.  Then we went home.

       The fourth day, we went to the pineapple plantation.  There was a maze, a train and a garden tour.  I thought the maze was a lot of fun.  It took us one hour to get through the maze.  After that, we went to the North Shore and bought snorkeling gear.  Then we drove to the Pali lookout.  It was very gusty.  Finally, we went home.

        It's only been 4 days and we did a lot of fun things.  I want to do more fun activities in Hawaii.


 

Going to Hawaii

We are going to Hawaii on August 18, 2010.  I am excited about it. Come back later to see my blog.  I'll have a lot more cool things!