this guy was hanging out on the cottage stairs this morning

Today we woke up around 8 and made eggs and toast with some honey from the big island that Nancy was nice enough to give us, and took it over to the house to eat with her and Bobby.  Nancy made an amazing mango, papaya, banana fruit salad, which is saying something considering the fact that I hate fruit salad.  We decided to go on a hike today, and almost went on one recommended by Sister, but were diverted by Nancy’s recommendation to do the Pillbox hike right up the hill.  We walked all the way to the turnoff of the main road before we decided we needed water and sunscreen, so Boyfriend went back to the cottage while I went on to Kalapawai Market, and we met back at the base of the trail head.

It was a pretty good hike for us since we’re not very athletic recently, but it was definitely worth it: the view was incredible.

view from just below the first pillbox, which was a gunnery station during WWII

wtf is this?

On our way back home we walked by a tree with some fruit I’d never seen before.  Boyfriend suggested that it might be a guava tree.  I forgot to ask Bobby and Nancy what it was.

Back at the cottage, we changed into our suits and rinsed off at the outside shower to get all the sweat and dust off.  We were starving and wanted to try the “beach burgers” from the Kalapawai market, which Nancy apparently loves so she came with us and bought lunch for us.  We sat and chatted about Cambodian art history and American politics before heading back home with a burger to go for Bobby.

hit the spot

We were going to visit Tutu (grandmother in Hawai’ian), who I haven’t seen since we had a family reunion here over a decade ago.  She’s aged a great deal since then, and Dad thinks she won’t remember me.  Bobby got caught up with work stuff (he’s in real-estate), so we decided to go see her tomorrow morning instead.

With our afternoon freed up, I looked through the other lectures being offered at the social sciences conference I’ll be speaking at, then decided to help Nancy with whatever we could.  She was doing taxes while Bobby took a nap, and asked us to take Bella for a walk.  Nancy recommended that I do what she does: keep Bella on my left side and give her a little yank if she pulls on the leash.  Bella did very well most of the time, and when she pulled too much and ignored my little yanks, I had us stop, told her to sit (which she did immediately, good dog), and just ignored her for a few seconds before rewarding her with affection, and then letting her know we could walk again.  We took her down a couple of paths the beach, but it was crowded and the tide was all the way in, and Bella got overexcited and was a bit intimidated by the water, so we went back to the house the long way to give her a chance to explore and get some exercise.

so good blehhhh

Boyfriend and I helped make some salad to go with the AMAZING lamb shanks she made yesterday in a giant red Le Cruset pot in the oven.  We had them with potatoes, it was like a medieval meal, and the meat fell right off the bone.  It might be the best lamb I’ve ever had, so tender and delicious, mmmmm.

Last night after dinner we watched the first episode of Sherlock, and tonight Nancy suggested that we watch a second one.  Boyfriend and I of course said yes, but couldn’t make it through it.  We were totally wiped out from the hike and still had to shower before bed.

Tomorrow we’re taking a day-trip to Haleiwa with Bobby and Nanners, where Bobby says there are shops and shave ice to be had.  We were gonna do that today, but Bobby had to work.  It seems like whenever we make plans, they get put off due to a combination of Bobby’s work and our flexibility, which actually works out great.  I don’t want him to feel pressured to take care of us, and we don’t really care what we do with our time, as long as we’re experiencing island life and getting lots of family time.