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Healthy Child Healthy World

Take a tour of the Health EHome to see how you can make your home a healthier place for the whole family.

Cleaning products can be scary, they contain lots of harmful ingredients so a few years ago I stopped using them. Now I clean everything with just a few essential ingredients;

Salt, Lemons, Vinegar, and Baking Soda

They work great and it's much more enjoyable for me to clean when I know I am not polluting myself, my home and the environment.

From La' ie With Love

Hello friends! We had planned on doing this hike with a bunch of friends but at the last minute they all ditched us!! Soooo we were forced to make the exhaustingly beautiful climb up the rugged terrain of the mountain by ourselves. Thankfully about three quarters of the way up the exposed dry eroded earth turned to a lovely stroll through cook pines and strawberry guavas. We made a quick right turn at the nicely marked side trail and lowered ourselves down the steep path to the most serene waterfall of them all. This may be a new favorite! The only bad part was we weren't the only ones there. There was another couple that arrived just after us. Still it was so peaceful and secluded. The tree canopy opened up to let the sun shine down and warm the rocks and the pool offered a refreshing coolness. We wanted to stay forever but we predicted correctly that it would soon turn dark and we didn't want to be shot on the way out as the signs warned. Just kidding, that would only happen if we ventured onto the neighbors property or stole a coconut. This right here is what is going to make May 31st a very difficult day.

Over looking the windward coast and the towns of La'ie and Kahuku.

No jumping on this one, there is a rather large boulder right at the base of the falls.

There are lots of orchids on the sides of the trail throughout all the different terrain. Some are purple there's also white and tiny little yellow ones. To quote a song "This is the life, the life we are livin'."

Olomana

One of our favorite things to do on this island is hike. Hawaii is breathtakingly beautiful at every angle but from the top of a mountain you get THE BEST views! We hiked to the top of the third peak on this 6 mile hike on windward Oahu. It was difficult to say the least, we scaled near vertical cliffs with the use of a handy rope system and crawled across 2 ft wide sections of the ridge. It is to date the hardest hike I have ever done but it felt so good, I was so focused on making the correct steps and holding on that my mind was completely clear and thinking only of climbing. There were times when I had to wait for others to finish on ropes and I would sit on the rock looking out over the east shore telling myself to breathe and not look down. The elevation gain is 1600 feet. Not the highest we've been but the hardest.

Big Surf On The North Shore

Since we arrived in Hawaii witnessing some of the North Shores famous big waves has been at the top of my to do list. As we near summer there are fewer and fewer opportunities. We lucked out this week and caught Waimea Bay at 20 to 30 feet.

A Word About BPA

It has come to my attention today that China is banning the use of BPA (bisphenol A) in items made for children. BPA is a chemical found in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. In other words it is in plastic drinking bottles, baby bottles, food storage containers, lining of canned foods, even receipt paper. BPA mimics the hormone estrogen and has been linked to early puberty and reproductive harms in animal studies. BPA can lead to pre cancerous changes, early onset puberty, obesity and chromosomal abnormalities in eggs.

Ways to avoid BPA:

Use glass containers to store your food (we use pyrex)

NEVER reheat in plastic containers!!

Limit your use of canned foods or eat only canned foods that do not use BPA in the liner

Use a stainless steel or BPA free water bottle

Use BPA free baby bottles and toys

Educate yourself!!

Excellent Web Resources

Environmental Work Group

Healthy Child Healthy World

Skin Deep

Sunscreen Guide

Crazy Sexy Life

I hope you have asked yourself some serious questions especially why is China more progressive than the US when it comes to BPA? If you don't like the way things are, we have the power to make change. "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step" -Lau Tzo, The First Step

By now you all know that there was only minimal damage in our area from the Tsunami. It was a pretty surreal adventure! This is how it went down;

At 8 pm just as we were having dinner we began receiving text messages from friends here in Oahu telling us of a Tsunami watch due to the earthquake Japan experienced. We started checking the internet and NOAA to get details. It took a while for it to sink in, the gravity of it at least. It's not like a hurricane, they are better predicted and you can make decisions based on the category. With a Tsunami you just know that you are in it's path, there is no way to predict how big or small it will be.

At first we discussed staying here in Waialua and evacuating to the Sugar Mill which is our designated area. I was thinking we would wait until it got closer to 3 the time NOAA was saying the Tsunami would hit or maybe more like 1:00 and head out. The more we talked about it the more reality set in and it became clear we didn't want to be anywhere near the shore. Especially after the Tsunami alarms started going off, that was the turning point where we all looked at each other and didn't even have to say anything. The vibe changed and we started getting stuff done! But not before we walked down to the beach out of habit I think, it's what we do before a hurricane hits back home. We have several friends who are living at higher elevations and farther inland (or mauka in Hawaiian) who offered for us to stay with them. We packed literally everything that we wanted to see again. Which was basically everything we own here. Except the surfboards and a few pairs of shoes. They had to stay behind because space was limited. It was hard especially the surfboards for obvious reasons.

We didn't know what to expect traffic wise, it seemed like the streets were empty around here. Once we got on the road it wasn't bad, we drove from Waialua to Kapolei in virtually no traffic. We arrived at the home where David and Tammy Molnar have been staying along with 4 other families. In total there were 20 people staying in this place. Matt and I chose some prime real estate on the floor and fell asleep pretty quick. The Tsunami alarms woke me up a few times as they went off every hour. I also kept waking up to check my phone and respond to messages and phone calls, I didn't want anyone to worry. 3:00 came and I woke up to a text message and checked outside to make sure it was still there and it was, so I went back to sleep. Around 7 we all woke up and they announced the all clear on the news to return to your homes. So we went back and got some good footage of the tidal surge that was still happening. The worst damage in Hawaii occurred on the big island in Kona. A house fell into the ocean along with a few cars and there was damage to buildings on the coast. We are extremely fortunate that the damage was minimal!!! Thank you to all of you who kept us in your thoughts and prayers!!!!

As usual the Prices like to experience all a location has to offer that is why the first thing we did here was to learn what to do in case of Tsunami!! Here's our evacuation map, we live off of Apuhihi Street, the letters are small but it's petty much right on the ocean! This link will take you to a video where we documented our experience.

Sorry for the delay folks, we try to go non stop around here to fit everything in! It's tough to find down time to post. We made it to the waterfall but only one since we got lost looking for Manoa falls. The beginning of this video  is Pali lookout we ended up here on accident looking for Manoa Falls. The second part is Maunawili Falls it was a muddy slippery hike back there but fun. We even swung from rock to rock with a vine. At the falls there were a bunch of people jumping in from the height we did and a much higher spot to the left. I pretty much thought I did a totally rad jump off the falls into the water only to find out that I actually stepped in. I laugh every time I see the video! Next time it will be better! The rest is us snorkeling at Turtle Bay and right out in front of our place. The sea turtles are pretty chill but don't like to get too close, although one did swim right under me. Look for the massive turtle on the video, there is just a small section of it and it's pretty bad quality because I was freaked out! It was HUGE!! Bigger than Matt for sure. Matt bought a car, it's a real find. Fully equipped with vintage surf racks, vintage tape deck, can be turned into a camper and automatic roll down windows. You don't even have to push a button!!

The Waialua farmers market at the old Sugar Mill. Excellent source of local fruits and veggies! Matt always gets some tasty treats from the Baker Dude, they look and smell amazing.
The new (old) ride!!
Byodo-In Temple in Kaneohe on the windward side of the island.