The Camaras

The thoughts and lives of the camara family. Ross Camara Nicole Camara

Posts Tagged ‘hawaii’

Polihale for the 4th

July 19th, 2010

For the 4th of July my extended family headed down to Polihale to camp for the weekend. Polihale is at the end of the road on the west side of the islands and is a beautiful beach that is mostly dominated by locals since rental car companies don’t allow their cars to go out there. It was a ton of fun to spend two days down at the beach with most of my family showing up at one point or another. Nicole did a good job roughing it at the beach and I think some of my family were impressed with Nicole for handling it so well. The weather was perfect while we were down there as the waves stayed pretty mild so the kids could stay in the water all day long. Plus there was a nice breeze during the day so it didn’t get too hot. Surprisingly for all the time we were out on the beach we managed to not get burned.

Yes this is how we camp at the beach. With cots and air mattresses

Our camp site at night time.

Jake and his boogie board

Dad and Phyllis enjoying the beach from the shade.

Chad’s boat. One of the multiple boats that were there that we used.

Karen, Seth, and Keoni checking out stuff caught along the shore.

Nicole and Ross at the end of the beach.

Nicole, Cheryl, and Rhonda

Uncle Dwight and Aunty Audrey with their newest grandson.

Fireworks for the 4th

Ross caught asleep….

Goats that came down the mountain right behind our campsite in the morning.

Seth playing with some crabs

Nicole and Ross at Polihale as we were leaving.

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Posted in Family

Tags: beach Family fun hawaii vacation

Beach and Dinner

July 16th, 2010

Thursday was our last day on Oahu before we went up to Kauai. We took it easy by going to Ala Moana for a few hours. We got there plenty early and after some early clouds we got a good amount of sun. Unfortunately Ross managed to give himself a pretty good sun burn on his back. For dinner we met up with my high school classmates Keane and Kristyn at Wah Kung. Although service was a little slow at the restaurant we had a great time and got to catch up with them.

Nicole on the beach

Ross after a swim on the beach.

After dinner with Keane and Kristyn.

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Tags: beach food fun hawaii restaurant vacation

Swap Meet and Pagoda

July 16th, 2010

Wednesday was a day off from the beach. In the morning we got up early to head out to the swap meet to buy stuff to bring back with us. Nicole bought some malasadas at the swap meet but they turned out to not be very yummy, (should have gone to leonard’s). For all the vendors there, they all sell mostly the same things and the trick is to find the best of each type of vendor. Mostly we bought some snacks to bring home and some gifts for friends with young children. We were beat by the time we were done since we had gone around Aloha Stadium twice.

Nicole buying her malasadas

Looking for gifts for people

Ross with his haul of snacks

After the swap meet we went home and took it easy for the rest of the afternoon. I rearranged my mother’s living room and then went with her to costco to get her a new flat screen tv. For dinner Nicole and I headed back into town to use a gift certificate that Ray and Alice had won but were unable to use for a free two person dinner at Pagoda’s. We hadn’t bothered to make reservations since it was a wednesday but when we got there the place was pretty busy. Thankfully we got a table without too long of a wait and got to enjoy the Japanese buffet. I’m not sure how much of it Nicole liked but I had a blast with all the food.

Nicole in front of the koi ponds around Pagoda

Crab Legs!

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Posted in Family

Tags: food fun hawaii shopping

Bowling and Beach

July 15th, 2010

A bit out of order but on our second day in Hawaii Nicole, my mom, and Phyllis went to Ala Moana too get a manicure and pedicure. While they were getting pampered I picked up Jake to go bowling on the base with Dad. Jake had joined a summer league and needed to do some bowling for practice and to make up some games he was gonna miss while on Kauai. Although neither of us bowled very well we had a good time and it was nice to spend time with just the three of us. After bowling Dad took us to a lunch wagon that was just off the base where we got some great cheap local food.

Dad helping jake

Now for some lunch from the lunch truck right off the base

After bowling I swapped Jake for Nicole and Mom back at Ala Moana. Nicole had had a really good time and looked very pretty with her new nail colors. (pictures of her toes can be seen on the previous post). We dropped mom off at home and headed to Ko Olina thinking it would be a safe bet for a nice beach with good sunshine. Unfortunately the rain clouds followed us out there and it was mostly overcast while we were at the beach. In the couple of hours that we were down by the beach we saw 3 separate bridal parties come down to the beach to take pictures. I guess Ko olina is a bit of a wedding factory as they have a wedding every hour or.

The rain/clouds followed us to Ko Olina

Ross trying to hide from the occasional shower that came through.

One of the numerous japanese brides that came down to take pictures. Really that kind of a dress for a beachy wedding?

Nicole and Ross at Ko Olina

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Posted in Family

Tags: beach bowling fun hawaii vacation

North Shore

July 13th, 2010

Day 3 of our Hawaii Vacation took us up to the north shore. It was overcast for a good portion of the morning and we had the occasional shower but we still got plenty of sun. In fact Ross managed to burn the back of his legs since he didn’t put any sun screen on back there.

Ross driving towards the north shore

Ross at Haleiwa beach.

Nicole’s pretty toenails she had done the day before with Janice and Phyllis.

Enjoy a quick nap

Ross enjoying the view.

For lunch we went to Macky’s Shrimp truck in Haleiwa. I don’t think Nicole was overly impressed with it but that may be because their specialty of garlic butter is not Nicole friendly. After lunch we went to grab dessert from Matsumoto’s which was so yummy. Nicole decided to branch out and try two flavors but I stuck with my traditional strawberry.

Ross can’t wait to get into the food

Nicole with her strawberry and pineapple shave ice.

Once we had our shave ice we headed back to the beach to catch a few more hours of sunshine before we headed home. While we were there in the afternoon we were lucky to see a bunch of turtles come all the way up to the edge of the water. Ross even managed to catch a couple of pictures of the turtle.