I'm in the blogging mood. When it rains it pours!

Here is the infamous cinnamon tree that we have looked for...

So we have some friends who Aunty has a home with an orchard of all sorts of trees and they let us go up there and pick what we want. This time I brought my camera but only took a few pictures because I get so excited about picking everything. We found the Cinnamon tree and picked a bunch of leaves for tea and the kids gathered sticks to shred at home but the old stick just taste like cinnamon and dirt so we are done with the sticks for now.
This property is about 10 minutes away but it feels like you are driving on a forbidden road, winding road that is basically a one laner and if there is a windstorm you might want to bring a chainsaw along. At the top of the hill you see a beautiful view all the way to the ocean. Very peaceful at the top and well worth the journey since we get to enjoy oranges, guava, limes, jabons, and starfruit fo days. It's broke da mouth.

Some things are so much easier as a kid. I remember catching my own fish and cleaning my own as A KID. So you would think that when your neighbor gives you four fish that he just caught, you being AN ADULT would be able to prepare them for cooking yah? Let me tell you it looks so much easier on Youtube. Those guys just simply slice and pluck out the guts so fast but when I did it, well there was blood everywhere and I really butchered the poor thing. I was using a recipe that calls for leaving the heads and tails on but this fish is a Big Eye, which it literally has huge eyes so off with the head. Next time I will have to ask my landlord to come and coach me through it since she is married to a fisherman.

The legend of moose kaka... I mean naupaka

I've been told a few different versions of this story but I like this one the best. There was a beautiful Hawaiian princess known as Naupaka. One day, the villagers noticed that Naupaka looked very sad. They told her parents, who approached Naupaka and asked her what was troubling her.

"I have fallen in love with a man named Kaui," replied the princess. "But Kaui is not of noble birth—he is a commoner." According to Hawaiian tradition, it was strictly forbidden for members of royalty to marry people from the common ranks.

Distressed, Naupaka and Kaui traveled long and far, seeking a solution to their dilemma. They climbed up a mountain to see a kahuna who was staying at a heiau (temple). Alas, he had no clear answer for the young lovers. "There is nothing I can do," he told them, "but you should pray. Pray at this heiau."

So they did. And as they prayed, rain began to fall. Their hearts torn by sorrow, Naupaka and Kaui embraced for a final time. Then Naupaka took a flower from her ear and tore it in half, giving one half to Kaui. "The gods won’t allow us to be together," she said. "You go live down by the water, while I will stay up here in the mountains."

As the two lovers separated, the naupaka plants that grew nearby saw how sad they were. The very next day, they began to bloom in only half flowers. That is how you find them today growing half a flower with a stamen that is curved like half a heart and you will only find them growing on the beach or in the mountains. PS if you ever visit Hawaii and go snorkeling this is the leaf that you use to de-fog your goggles.

Field trip to cover bird study and learn about lighthouses

We headed to the northern most point on Kauai where in 1913 the US purchased all this land for $1. They then brought in a lighthouse lens made in France that cost $3000. The lighthouse isn't used anymore and the coast guard has replaced it with a shorter but more powerful light which is not so exciting to look at. As we parked at the bird refuge we saw the endangered Nene goose with it's babies waddling behind. It looks similar to a canada goose but is not scared out of fields with C O2 cannons here.





We learned about the Albatross, Nene, Fridgate, and the Red footed Booby... which is always fun to tell your 5 and 7 year old about. You also learn about some of the native plants that grow here which are not the Hibiscus or Plumeria but instead a plant that sounds like moose kaka. I will tell you about that next...