For the time we had available, I think we did pretty well exploring Oahu. The biggest things we wanted to do were Pearl Harbor and the Diamond Head hike, and we’d managed to cover a lot of ground and see a lot of scenery as well. Now, it was time to enjoy our last night at Aulani.
Already? We have to leave already? Well…that sucks. At least our buddies were still hanging around ready to greet us.
For our first order of business, Julie and I decided to do something we’d never done before:
Sit through a time-share presentation.
Ok, it was for
DVC, so it wasn’t that bad. And we were solely motivated by greed. They’d placed a card in our room saying we could attend a presentation and receive a $100 gift card for the Aulani gift shop. We figured: well, 1 hour of our time is probably worth $100 in this case, considering we were going to spend it on souvenirs anyway.
The only monkey in the wrench was that we both had to be present for the presentation, which meant we’d have to find something for the kids to do. We hadn’t registered them for the activities at Aunty’s Beach House because we hadn’t planned on them spending much (if any) time there, and we thought Sarah might be a little old for it anyway. So we talked with them and decided to let them play the Menehune Trail game…
by themselves (insert scary music sting here).
We felt that Sarah was just about at babysitting age, the kids were trustworthy, and they would be in a controlled environment where only guests were allowed. Flame away if you must, but we decided to give them some rope as a test run of independence.
So, Julie and I went to the DVC desk at our appointed time and sat through the presentation. We were up-front and honest with the guy right from the start—we were there for the gift card. He said he understood, he gets that a lot, but wanted to try and change our minds anyway. He was a nice guy with a good presentation, but we still couldn’t do it. I’d love to be a DVC member if money were no object, but unfortunately, with one salary, no second income like we’d planned and a baby on the way, money is very much an object. The only debt I carry is my mortgage and I’m not ready to add more. Also, we like to vacation by seeing many different places, spending a couple of nights here and there, and the DVC model doesn’t really fit that style. So…it’ll have to remain a “someday” dream.
$100 richer, we went to see if we still had kids. We figured if they hadn’t been kidnapped by now, they would be at each other’s throats fighting over the game. Or maybe splashing around in the pool, acting like THAT family. Or maybe they’d found the charge privileges on our room key and had gotten a head start in the gift shop.
We found them in the pool area, having an absolute BLAST. They ran up to us and breathlessly updated us on their progress, having completed every single mission in the game. This was a level of enthusiasm for the game we hadn’t seen the previous day.
I’ll put another
SPOILER warning here for the Menehune game.
They had a couple of favorite events the game had triggered. Remember the cave area over the pool? Seems that if you reach a certain part of the game, you trigger a waterfall in there that just so happens to drench everyone in that part of the pool. When it was over, the screen on their phone asked: “Do you want to see that again? Y or N.”
Sarah: “I didn’t even wait to see what the boys thought. I just pressed Yes.” Apparently the people in the pool were waving their arms at the cave roof after that, trying to figure out how the waterfall got triggered.
The kids had the small waterproof camera and tried to document some of the things they saw for us. This was a cool trick: you can see the big rock in the pond here.
Part of the game causes it to sink into the water, leaving the outline of the Hawaiian Islands. This was one of the kids’ favorite events.
End
SPOILER
They also saw a very short line to greet Stitch and, not wanting to disappoint Kathy, took the initiative to go pose with him on their own.
They shared all of these stories and pictures with us in the breathless excitement that only kids can produce. We think they were so much more excited about the game this time because it included a taste of independence. For the first time ever on a vacation, they had been free to do things on their own, without mom and dad in sight. I think the freedom was exhilarating. They had also experienced some elements of the game that we hadn’t seen, and so this was a rare moment when they had discovered something first and were able to share it with us, rather than the other way around. For our part, we were proud that they’d obeyed instructions, gotten along well with each other, and not hung themselves with the rope we’d given them. All in all, a successful test of future independence.
All of this sentimental parenting crap is making me hungry. Let’s eat!
It was around 4:30-ish in the afternoon, and those Dole Whips were but faint pineapple-scented memories lurking in our digestive systems. Happy hour deals were still in effect at Monkeypod, so we walked across the street from Aulani to grab a table for dinner.
I mean, sit around a table for dinner. We’re not actually eating the table.
Monkeypod Kitchen is a fairly new restaurant and bar that has received many favorable reviews on the DISboards. It’s generally cheaper than the restaurants in Aulani, so the fact that it’s within walking distance makes it a great go-to spot if you want a good meal and don’t want to take out a second mortgage for it.
The NBA finals were on while we were there, and it was a bit jarring to be sitting in a restaurant seeing a prime-time event in the middle of the afternoon. Additional entertainment included “live” music during happy hour. In our case, we got a gentleman singing pop hits and playing his guitar. You can see him in the background here:
You’re probably wondering why I put “live” in quotes when describing the music. As this guy was playing and singing, we noticed that every once in a while, he’d move his right hand or let it drop to rest, and the guitar strumming would keep right on going. Faker!
Even though he was outside and we were inside, they piped his music in through the speakers in the building. Unfortunately, they had the volume up so loud that it was difficult to hold a conversation. This is not helpful when you’re trying to break the news to your kids that they’re going to have a baby brother or sister.
Yes, this was the time and place when we gave the kids the news. In between mouthfuls of appetizers and the lyrics and air-guitaring of “Brown-Eyed Girl”, we told the kids that Mommy was pregnant. “I knew something was up!” said Sarah. I don’t know if that’s really true or not, but the kids were excited. More than anything, I was relieved not to have to keep a secret any longer. Julie will tell you: I am the world’s worst secret-keeper. Don’t ever tell me anything important.
Pizzas were $9 during happy hour, so we figured that would be perfect for the kids. Appetizers were half price, so we put in an order for some hand-cut french fries as well. Finally, draft beers were also on sale, so I got my first
Kona Longboard Lager of the vacation. You can’t say we’re not frugal diners.
Ok, we did splurge a little. Julie and I each got the BBQ pulled-pork sandwich. Julie splurged even more on the garlic-truffle fries on the side. What am I going to do, say no? Like I can tell a pregnant woman what she can and can’t eat. Here’s the dish:
This fell into the Holy @#$%! That’s Good! Category of Deliciousness. In case you were wondering, here’s the scale, from best to worst:
1. Holy @#$%! That’s Good!
2. We Are So Coming Back Here
3. I Can’t Complain
4. The Indifference Zone
5. My High School Cafeteria Was Better
6. I’d Rather Eat The Crickets I Caught In My Basement
Then we ordered dessert: we got a slice of chocolate cream pie to pass around the table.
This pie was so perfect, so good, and had such a perfect balance between rich chocolate and light cream, we might have needed to create a new Category for it. I will order this every time I eat at Monkeypod. Which probably won’t be much, but if I lived in Hawaii, I’d weigh 350 lbs. eating this every day.
The rule was that we had to take 1 bite and then pass it on around the table. David quickly deduced that there were 2 empty chairs next to him, and therefore he would need to take a bite for each of those chairs’ share. We’re going to have to keep our eye on this kid. Anyway, Julie and I quickly ix-nayed that idea and stole his fork. He may be a genius, but I’m still bigger.
We had a lot of good meals in Hawaii, but I’ll spoil the TR now by saying this was probably our favorite. The food was just terrific, and we’ll go back every chance we get. Highly recommended.
Continued Next Post
Just checking in to see if I had missed any updates. So are we gonna get one soon, Koko Head???
Obviously if they are with me they can see that. No greater panic than a parent in the waterpark who cannot find their child. We always find them, and generally see them with only a description because the parent is in a tizzy. 
for sitting through a presentation and scoring a gift card.
