Day Four: Saturday 4/26/14

We slept in a bit more this morning but it was still pretty early.  After such a successful day at the beach the day before, I thought I’d take Kumquat out to the beach again so keep the momentum going.  We packed up some pineapple and another Spam musubi(!) and headed out to see Mr. Ocean.  Kumquat walked down to the sand without even a hesitation that morning.  She sat down and proceeded to eat her pineapple with the ocean crashing right in front of her.  Amazing!!

It was so quiet and empty that morning and I just loved watching her play in the sand.  She still wasn’t ready to go in the water but she watched me scoop up water for her in the bucket and when I dropped off in front of her, she sweetly said “Thank you, Mama.”  My heart just about melted at that moment.

Huy later called and said he was hungry.  So, came over and we had some coffee by the pool and read the paper while we waited for Sam’s Kitchen to open.  I got the garlic shrimp, aloha chicken, and an island iced tea.  Yum.  Not a bad meal for being just a block away from the hotel.

After lunch, we went back to the beach for a little dip in the water.  Kumquat actually walked down to the water’s edge with Jes and stood in the water like a big girl!  I couldn’t believe it.  She’d let the water rush up to her knees and she didn’t see bothered at all.

We also went to the pool for about an hour before having to head upstairs to get ready for Yoon’s wedding.  Kumquat spent some time with Uncle Huy in the pool and went down the little tunnel slide without a floatie this time!  Wow, two big accomplishments in one morning for this girl.

The rest of the day was filled with wedding festivities.  The first part of the adventure was heading out to Hale Koa to catch the shuttle that Yoon had booked for us all to get to the wedding at a Country Club.  She booked a much smaller bus but the company had run out and gave us the super tour bus.

The wedding was set right next to the beach and there were only a small number of chairs for the family.  The rest of us stood in the back and tried to catch what was said in the super-short 10-minute wedding ceremony.  I snuck up a little closer and watched most of it through my camera’s zoom lens.  Isn’t it cool how close I can get with it?!Surpisingly, Yoon got a little choked up during the vows but she held it together really well.

Here’s the kiss at the end of it all.

There was a little time after the ceremony to hang out and take photos.   Here is Yoon’s family: dad, mom, Yoon, Kurt, and two younger brothers.

I thought this moment between Andrew and Holly was very cute and caught it in a photo!

Shortly after the ceremony, the bus took us back to Hale Koa.  We grabbed a couple drinks and snacks at the bar before heading to the reception inside.

A few of us had to drop off our kids upstairs to the nanny waiting for us in Yoon’s hotel room.  She was nice but I barely really talked to her.  All I know is that she had been babysitting Keenan for the past two mornings while his Kevin had to work and Jen was busy with the baby.  I had never dropped Kumquat off with a complete stranger before and I wasn’t sure how she would do.  Luckily, she had eaten and was already rubbing her eyes.  So, we took her up along with Holly, Roy, and Andrew, showed the nanny where everything was in the stroller, and I snuck out before Kumquat could notice.  I don’t know what she did exactly but Yoon was there to distract her while she was freshening up.  We got an update from Kevin and Jen who dropped off later and said that Kumquat was already asleep and Andrew was watching The Little Mermaid on the bed.  Keenan was having a hard time separating but Andrew was sweet enough to offer his train to him and that did the trick.  An hour later, all three kids were asleep and the grown-ups were free for a couple more hours.

It was a fun reception including a Hawaiian feast complete with lomi lomi salmon, mac salad, kahlua pork, crab legs, and prime rib just to name a few.  Holly was all over the giant dessert table filled with tiny versions of cheesecake, cream puffs, chocolate cake, and fruit tarts.

The booze was flowing and it was all paid for by Yoon’s parents! There was table service and the waiter did a really good job getting all out orders straight.

By 9pm, the nanny was done with her shift but all the kids were sleeping.  Jes went up to roll ours down in her stroller while the Lams and Kwaks took 20-minute shifts hanging out in the dark with the kids.  It wasn’t the most ideal situation but it’s what they came up with and it worked.

Our kid just slept right through the music and drunk shouting.  This kid really does have my sleeping genes.

There was plenty of dancing that night and an event wouldn’t be complete without Dayantha doing a little “Ditty”.

Here’s a group selfie that we took at the end of the night.  It was the best one out of the 4 that I took.  We managed to squeeze in 10 people.  Someone should have snuck in right next to Yoon on her left!!

Mahalo for a wonderful night, Yoon! We were so happy to celebrate this special day with you.  Congratulations to you and Kurt!