Field Trip to Pu'ukohola Heiau

Today the boys' preschool took a field trip to Pu'ukohola Heiau, which we have been to before.  In fact, we have gone many times to enjoy the wonder of Whale Hill (name translation) at Kawaihae.  It is, after all, part of the National Park Service, which appeals to my inner nerd.

Puukohola was built in 1790 by Kamehameha I (before he set out to conquer and unite all the Hawaiian Islands) as a gesture to the war god Ku.  The restoration work that has been done on this site is nothing short of incredible.  All the rock walls have been restored using traditional method (no mortar) and if you have ever been to any other heiau, you know that most of them are just sparse rock piles out in a field.  This is like the Yorktown of Hawaiian temples!  

The boys had fun, although Koa wasn't exactly being cooperative about walking or sitting in his stroller.  And it was hot as Hades.  I always complain about it being freezing in Waimea...until we go down to the coast and I'm hot/sticky/sweaty.  Ugh.  Anyway, there is an underwater heiau called Hale o Kapuni, which is dedicated to the shark gods and we saw a few shark fins swimming around in the bay.  Its also whale season so we got a great view of humpback whales breaching (and some mean waves/people surfing)

They were showing a History Channel video about Hawaiian warriors and Ikaika thought that was super cool.  Opa had actually taped that exact episode and I thought we had all watched it together, but apparently Ikaika was asleep.  I'll have to see if I still have the tape and maybe we will watch it tonight. 

Here's Ikaika just bein' silly.  Crazy kid.