Aloha Friday: Mother's Day Edition

1989: Paradise Cove Luau, O'ahu



My mother is a ham. A total goofball ham. I mean look at her. There she is again, hamming it up with the slap dancers. And look at the guy next to her. Can you imagine what he's thinking?

My mom was hooked on Hawai'i the first time she visited. She'd start planning our next vacation pretty much the day after we got home from our last vacation. And her enthusiasm and love for the islands was highly contaigious. Within a few years of our first visit, she had the whole family, second and third cousins included, meeting up for Thanksgiving in Hawai'i. I even remember the time we had to go to the airport so she could buy our airline tickets at an extreme value. Geez. And I wonder where I get it from?

Mom's favorite island activity? Sunbathing. At the pool. At the beach. It didn't matter. She'd oil up, stretch out and soak in the rays.  She'd cool off in the waves or in the pool, but only briefly, and then back to the lounge chair or beach mat she'd go. Somewhere in one of my albums, I have a picture of her yelling and waving her hands at us, shooing us away, back into the ocean so she could relax. It's a hilarious picture. I'm sure she loves that I took it.  That particular day, we were suiting up to go snorkeling off Magic Sands beach on the Big Island.

Now I understand that day on a whole new level. With all of us in the ocean, she could finally relax. Smart move mom. Smart move.

Want to know what we loved to do to mom on these trips? Lure her into the ocean, usually at Hanauma Bay where the fish were so tame they'd swim right up to you, then all at once, we'd throw fish food or frozen peas at her. We'd create a ring of fish bait around her and then laugh as the fish encircled. She'd scream like a little girl and we'd laugh. Kinda cruel, but really hilarious.

Happy Mother's Day Mom. Thanks for the great Hawai'i memories. Sorry about the peas.

 1981

1991

1993

 2004