Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Last Day of the Christmas Break

We went fishing in the morning - I caught a papio and a hinalea and let the kids play with them. Noe caught a few hermit crabs for the tank. It was pretty windy and the tide was coming up fast, so we had our fun and left. My phone battery died, but La and I did finally take a short ride on the Ducati and got a Chai Tea Latte (just like the old days when we were dating ;) What a great weekend!!!

Christmas Malama Na Honu

Christmas Day, La and the kids did their volunteer time for Malama Na Honu. No turtles basking, but lots of curious folks. Strong winds and a big swell made for a nice day. The guys riding Himalayas were getting double over head rides and no one was out at Lani's. I did bring a rod, but all my casting was in vain. I've never caught a fish up at this spot... still was a good time and wonderful surroundings.

The Old Truck and a Long Planter Box

Saturday was Noe's 11th Birthday, so Noe and La did some ceramic painting with friends, while I grabbed some last minute groceries and got Marlon a haircut. While we were walking in the parking lot, I saw a truck that looked like the one that got stolen from me two Aprils ago. I miss that truck... I'm pretty sure I went surfing with Marlon at White Plains (either Saturday or Sunday... no pictures unfortunately), but before that I installed a new sink in the kitchen and I finished one of La's presents - this planter box. It felt good to go surfing again. I need to do it more!

Playinig Catch Up Again - Friday Fishing

Busy weekend and Christmas... Among all the errands and chores (I installed a new sink in the kitchen, built La a long planter box, washed and waxed both vehicles and the motorcycle, repotted a bunch of plants, cooking lots of fish and a lot of other stuff), I did manage to get out on the water with Marlon everyday. And Noe and La a few times too. Here's Friday's fishing results - Marlon got a papio early on, and I got a papio and a coronetfish. And on the way back in, we stumbled on a couple of mantis shrimp - these had eggs otherwise we probably would have taken them home to live in the tank for a bit. Fun day!

Monday, December 19, 2016

Fishing with the Kiddoroosters in High Winds

On Saturday afternoon, I took the kids out to the flats to get in some fishing. It was fishing and not catching - got skunked again. We saw fish - some big bonefish, a bunch of mullet, a decent sized snowflake moray eel, some lizard fish - but no takers on the hook. Darn skunks!!!

More Fish for Dinner and a New To Us Grocery Store

This was lunch on Saturday - pompano. We bought these at the "Seafood City" store near our house. And they were imported - we've caught these on the East Coast. Noe said "I like the way Lola cooks it better". She still ate it up ;) Here's some other pictures from the store. We'll definitely be adding this place to our list of places to get groceries (La liked the cleanliness especially - but ensemadas didn't hurt either).

Fish for Dinner

I bought a few slabs of mahi (this is a catch up post - I actually bought and cooked the fish two weekends ago), and taught the kids how to make baked fish. Salt, pepper, crushed garlic and butter. Yummy with mashed potatos!!!!

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Finally the Curse has been Lifted!!!!!!

I took Marlon fishing at Hickam Flats this morning. The weather conditions were average low tide and just a slight breeze. The sun was mostly out, but every now and then a cloud would roll in. We waded out to the edge of the flat and started casting. After a few casts, this papio hit and the curse that has been around my neck for the past several months has finally been broken!!!! Marlon followed this up with bringing in a roi. He got a big strike on the line - a good sized papio, but he had asked me to crimp the barb on his hook and the fish managed to get off just as Marlon got it to his feet. And then he landed a hinalea. I picked up this kona moano pretty close to where I was standing - I drug my line three times through the spot and each time I saw a different fish go for the ika on the hook - a big humu was first, followed by a papio - then this guy was the unlucky one. And then the fish that really made the statement my curse was gone and replaced with lots of fishing mojo - this guy was pulling against the drag for quite awhile and gave a great fight!!! So much fun today and so glad to have the curse lifted!!!! All fish were released (we were going to eat the roi and the big papio, but the make shift stringer I made broke - better for all I guess).

Monday, December 5, 2016

Marine Ecology Studies

La has been homeschooling our kiddoroosters for quite some time now, but I like to swoop in out of left field on occasion and augment her efforts. As of late I have been contributing through PE (surfing, flying kites and snorkeling), ceramics and other art (gyotaku making, dioramas and others), and science (when asked by La) - but every now and then I just bust out the sledge hammer. I've been bringing the kids out to the beach and helping them create an environment to study the littorals. Our latest finds include crabs, blennies and mantis shrimp. After a week or so, we'll send these guys back out to the ocean. Their observations will involve keeping a log and noting daily changes and behavior. I'll post more as this develops. We've seen several species worthy of studying over the past year - for starters check out this tiny crab. We're excited to be able to sit down and finally do it!

Hawaiiana from Foodland Farms

Now that we live on Oahu, I don't have the compulsive urge to consume all things Hawaii. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate looking at all things related to life in Hawaii. Walking around through the new Foodland Farms at Ala Moana Center, Noe and I stumbled on this stuff - And we left without spending a cent!!!