Day 14 – Saying goodbye to Aulani

Today we sadly have to say goodbye to Aulani, but luckily not quite yet. This morning I did the usual write up of the blog, then did most of the packing before indulging in a nice cool bath (I was hot) with a cup of tea. Before we knew it, it was 9.30am and time to finish up the packing and get our stuff to the car.

We then headed to the Makahiki restaurant for breakfast. We got checked in, saw Moana off in the distance.

We then got to meet the main mouse himself. Still can’t believe we’re in time for actual character interactions. He was impressed to find Kevin dressed in a similar style shirt to he was and he loved my ears.

We then had a little wait before being taken to meet Chef Goofy – who we actually got to hug,

before being taken to our table, which was outside by the koi pond. Such a beautiful and peaceful place. There was a wandering musician singing and playing the ukelele. Breakfast is three courses, one is a pastry basket, one is fresh fruit, and then you make a choice of your main meal.

While we waited we got to see the fish feeding. Funnily enough I was watching them while waiting to see Mickey and they had all come over to me super fast hoping for breakfast :-). It was cute seeing them lift up a little out of the water to wait for the food. There was also a lot of little baby fish/tadpoles in the pond.

We also had a visit from Pluto while we waited for our food.

Kevin had ordered the french toast and I ordered tofu rancheros. Mine wasn’t that great – it was pretty tasteless. Kevin’s toast was nice but super sweet. We weren’t too worried though as we really enjoyed the whole experience.

After breakfast we had a last visit to the shops to pick up some things (mainly board games) that the kids wanted.

A few last photos and it was time to say goodbye Aulani for this trip. We will be back :-).

Shortly after we left I started to feel really yucky – fibro pain, upset tummy and the beginnings of a headache. Kevin was also have a pain day. What a pair we are !!!

I was still on the hunt for some new tea towels (I’d gotten some from costco on our trip to Maui a few years back) so we decided to stop in at TJ Max. I enjoyed a wander around looking at so many things I would have wanted to buy back before I became a minimalist. As it was I left with just two things – one of which was a set of 4 tea towels. The tea towels here aren’t linen like most of the ones you find in Australia and they are much more absorbent. Loved that they had a section for pride dog toys.

Beside moving accommodations, the main goal for today was to visit the Outlet Malls. Not a great thing to be doing when you’re not feeling well. But luckily this is a pretty small mall and we really only wanted to check out a handful of stores – Tommy Bahamas (where we got Kevin two shirts), Kipling, Sketchers and Crocs. I came away empty handed.

Next stop was Down to Earth where I had fun looking around, being envious of all the things we can’t get in Australia, and making a few purchases. We bought lunch from here and sat outside at their table to eat. I had a yummy rice paper roll and Kevin enjoyed some mushroom soup. We were both starting to feel a little better at this stage but still not the best.

From here it was a 50min drive to our accommodation right on the opposite side of the island to Aulani. It’s a nice drive though, through the mountain and then along the coast, right beside the water for much of it.

We drove right past where we were staying so we could get groceries for our stay. Instead of getting frozen meals this time we got some stuff to put meals together ourselves. We then drove back to accomodation.

Now I did know that it was an older building but nowhere did the airbnb listing mention there was renovations going on. But that’s okay, it’s good they updating the building – it definitely needs it. We found the lockbox with our key and made our way up the lift to the second floor where our apartment was. There was a lot of building material around which we didn’t understand.

The apartment itself is really nice but it’s a lot warmer than the one on Kauai (again no air con, just fans, but no through breeze here). The doubts really began when we had just sat down and a loud rotary hammer drill started. It was about 4pm so luckily it didn’t go on for too long before they knocked off for the day. Then we realized we were basically on top of the end of the pool that people hang out in. I actually got out my laptop to look for somewhere else to stay, but there aren’t many options. Since we’ll be out most of tomorrow and the next day is Saturday we’ll just make the best of things. It was just a lot with both of us not feeling great and having come from Aulani.

I did try to sit outside for a bit, but it was very warm and people were in the pool (you can see the chairs where they sit). So I moved back inside and sat in front of the fan with Kevin.

Just after 6pm we went out for a walk out to the front. The place definitely looks a lot better from this side. It will be nice to spend some on the beach on Saturday and hopefully I’ll get to enjoy a few sunrises.

As usual we watched a bit of YouTube before I made som Veggie Fajitas for dinner.

Funny food Friday

Today I bounded out of bed ready to tackle another I want my bikini body workout. Good stuff indeed. Then it was time for a green smoothie.

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It was a hectic morning as we all had to be out the door at 8.30am so breakfast was packed to eat in the car. I had a small multigrain sandwich with spreadable cheese, tomato and cucumber.

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If you want to read about my crazy be sure to visit my main blog.

My morning snack with a few corn thins with cottage cheese. I didn’t end up eating the banana.

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I bought a skim iced choc and salad for lunch but I didn’t end up eating the salad. Strangely enough I really didn’t feel much like eating today. Shock horror!!

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I think my chickens enjoyed the salad though :-).

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My afternoon snack was another green smoothie.

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For tonights dinner guests I served some nibbles. I had mainly hummus and vegetables, plus a few tortilla chips and a few pieces of cheese.

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Dinner was a BBQ with baked potatoes, sweet potatoe, pineapple, onion and my new favourite salad.

My selection…

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I really didn’t feel much like desert (apple crumble) but since Amy had made it I felt I should have some. It was yummy and I ate about 3/4.

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Lastly I served tea and coffee and a platter with some bicuits, dark and milk chocolate and some fudge (bought from the farm last weekend). I had a tea and minute piece of fudge – with was so very yummy.

Weekend Food Fog

Okay… we’re not going to dwell on how bad eating was over the weekend and i hardly took any photos – so I’ll just give some highlights.

Lunch on Saturday was leftover pizza..dinner was tacos made with TVP…

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Sunday was Mothers Day. I was bought tea and freshly baked cookies in bed. I didn’t eat all of these mind you :-).

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Later we had breakfast…

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my portion..

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We then headed off for a day at Belgenny Farm. Lots of fun but nothing proper for me (being vegetarian) to eat so I kind of snacked…

an icee…

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chocolate covered strawberries…

Chocolate covered strawberries

and some cookies in the car on the way home. Needless to say I rather starving when we got home at 4pm so enjoyed some cheese and crackers.

Later I dug out some fried rice from the freezer which we enjoyed for dinner.

 

Home made dressing delight

Had a lovely morning walk with the dogs followed by the upper body part of my workout. Then came a green smoothie – using freshly ground flaxseeds cortesy of my new grinder.

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After dropping the girls at school I had a cup of tea and a slice of grainy bread with hummus.

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Spent the morning doing random jobs around the house. Lunch was a salad with egg…and homemade dressing. I finally got around to making a honey mustard dressing with equal parts (1 tbsp) dijon mustard, honey, olive oil and lemon juice from Kath Eats Real Food.I fully expected not to like it – after all I do like a creamy dressing – but this was REALLY good.

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Afternoon tea – a cup of tea and a chocolate muffin (homemade this morning and on the healthy side).

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This afternoons snack was pita bread with cheese, hummus, carrot and sprouts. Yum!!

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Served with tea, of course.

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Tonights dinner was a lentil bake. I’ve made it before and I love it. But unfortunately I’m the only one who does…

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You can find the recipe at Attic 24. If you like lentils you’ll love it. I even forgot the peanuts and it still tasted great. Real comfort food.

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And lastly…

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