camping...hawaiian style

Last weekend we were invited to go camping with a few families at Hukilau Beach. We were told that the Pukahis were having a family reunion out there and that food would be taken care of. It sounded like a lot of fun and we were excited to take baby T camping for the first time. We really didn't know what to expect because our idea of a family reunion is just getting together with our immediate family. To our surprise, there are A LOT of Pukahis. When we pulled up to the campsite, we had a difficult time finding parking and we soon realized that the parking lot/campground was reserved just for the Pukahi's family reunion. There was a big tent set up for the luau, a generator running to light up the tent and to power the speakers and mic at the front of the tent, and a long buffet table of local Hawaiian food!

We were immediately welcomed to the Pukahi Family Reunion. Everyone was great. The food was so ono. Christian felt cool because he knew some people there. We set our tent (which hadn't been used for about 10 years) up a little ways away from everyone for some privacy before dark. It seemed to not like the constant on shore wind blowing there and looked like it may collapse, but we didn't let that bring us down. We partied with the others.

Hastings ohana, after the tent was set. Tristan and his movie theatre suit. (christian doesn't just believe in looking sharp for a camp out, but we came straight from work)

This picture was taken towards the end of the night as the Luau was coming to an end.

We ate and listened and watched the performances for a while, loving the authenticity of it all. Tristan was excited to be able to wear a lil' sweat suit that he hasn't been able to wear, due to the warm weather. We call such clothing our 'movie theatre' clothes, but since Tristan has been having issues with movie theatres, he hasn't been able to utilize his.

We put Tristan to bed in his vibrate chair in Hiram's tent and we broke off from the reunion party to start a fire with our friends we went up there with and made smores. The weather had been a little ominous all evening and finally during the smore festival the pouring started. It had been off and on all night but usually didn't last too long. But this rain was serious, so most people went off to bed and we went to check T-bone in Hiram's tent. The tent was pretty flooded, but Tristan was safe in his chair. Even though his face was right next to the tent wall that was flapping all over, he didn't wake up. When the rain stopped we transfered Tristan to our tent that had handled the rain ok so far. There was a puddle on the windward side we had to soak up. We put Tristan in and went for round 2 of smores. Watching the tent, we become concerned that it was getting more and more flat and if another big rain came we might be in trouble. After much (those of you who know us can imagine how much) deliberation, we decided to take the rain fly off and try to fix the tent. So at about midnight we took it apart and carefully reconstructed it. Thanks to our friends who helped, it looked much better. Tristan slept through it all again, like the champion he is. Shandra went to bed around this time (that's right, Christian is typing now).

By now pretty much everyone was in bed, but with a fire that could still be played with nearby, I couldn't yet. Hiram and Josh came back and we began our marathon camp fire hangout. I told them my favorite things about camping were smores, fires and ghost stories. So we stood and talked for a long time, taking cover whenever a rain squall would hit. Josh turned in next and finally Hiram and I gave in and went to bed at about 3. By then our fire had started burning the tree trunk next to the fire pit, so I think it was a success.

mahalo for removing your shoes

The next morning we were pretty lazy and stayed in the tent for a while. It was overcast and didn't look too appealing.

Tristan's sleeping quarters. Me trying to scare him.

After breaking camp and thanking the Pukahis, we headed over to Goat Island for some sun and surf. By now the day was actually looking pretty nice. We set up a shelter next to the water and Shandra stayed on the beach with Tristan while I went out for a quick surf.

Hiram and me.

Teaching Tristan.

We always love the drive home because the Ko'olau mountains are the most amazing things to look at. I almost crash every time because I can't stop looking out the window.

It was so fun to get out to the country and camp, it had been a long long time. Tristan's first camping experience was a success. We're excited to start going more often.