Complete Pineapple Experience

Dole Plantation

Wahiawa, HI

November 2016

Kellisa has always loved riding on a train and Laurel also shares the passion for riding the rails. We are always on the lookout for a train ride and found one at the Dole Plantation on Oahu.

The plantation was so much more than just a train ride. Who knew there was so much to learn about pineapples and how much fun could be had? The pineapple ice cream was out of this world! Both girls enjoyed the world's largest maze with eight secret stations. Laurel enjoyed getting a spray-on tattoo.

Hale Nalu 1

Wai'anae, HI

November 2016

We booked our trip to Hawaii (state #49) for the beginning of Thanksgiving week at the end of September. With such late planning, I didn't have any options to use hotel points I earn while traveling for my job. In addition, I didn't really want to pay high hotel prices during a holiday week when all we really do is sleep and shower in our rooms. I also knew that Lisa would not want to spend her trip to Hawaii camping. 

I decided to give Airbnb a try and quickly found a nice looking duplex close to a beach, but far from Waikiki. It seemed like the best option available, so I booked. We were a little nervous when we struggled to find the place (confusing street numbers), but we called the owners who were able to direct us to the property. It was approximately 45 minutes from Waikiki Beach, but only a few houses from a beach.

When we walked down to the beach, we were the only ones on the sand for the entire afternoon. We are not exactly a beach family, but we found our own little paradise without any complaints. It was nice to step out the front door, walk two minutes and be all alone on a secluded beach. Maybe even more nice was the fact that we walked back and were able to hose off without every getting in a car or walking through a room. The duplex we rented is called Hale Nalu 1 and we would recommend the property if you are looking to get away from all the tourists and have your own private beach. 

March 25th

Cerebral Palsy is one of the things Kellisa has been diagnosed with in her early years. In fact, with hydrocephalus, it has the greatest impact on Kellisa's life. It's the reason her lower body is so weak and she can't walk. Her brain has the ability to tell her legs what to do and it's our understanding that this connection in kids like Kellisa is rare. We had a lot of hope in the early years that Kellisa would some day walk, even with equipment and/or assistance. 

Paul Gross, in the Pacific Northwest is going beyond his part to raise awareness and improve treatment options. 

Please check out the Cerebral Palsy Research Network.

Back to Kellisa's Path Blog

Alyeska Resort

Girdwood, AK

November 24, 2016

We spent an amazing Thanksgiving evening at Alyeska Resort just outside of Anchorage, AK. The resort is a short drive down the beautiful Seward Highway. We didn't let the freezing cold prevent us from enjoying the scenery (mountains rising straight up from the frigid water) and riding the tramway for top of the world views. We saw a couple of moose grazing on the mountainside from inside the tram. Hot chocolate helped extend our visit along the walkways high on the mountain. 

We didn't plan ahead for Thanksgiving dinner and got lucky when there was a cancellation of a party of four at the 8pm sitting in the resort dining room. It was an all you can eat traditional Thanksgiving feast and after a few days of adventure in Alaska...we got our money's worth. We would have been OK with dinner from McDonald's (like we did for Thanksgiving 2010 in Las Vegas when we weren't willing to pay $65 for each kid when Laurel was a baby and Kellisa with her usual petite appetite), but it was nice to enjoy a fancy dinner for the holiday.

The Alaska Zoo

Anchorage, AK

November 25, 2016

In late November, it's almost always dark in the final frontier state making it difficult to tell the time of day when outside. Our visit to The Alaska Zoo was in the evening, from 8 until 10pm to enjoy the start of the Holiday Lights season. It was just a few degrees below zero with a constant, but slight wind blowing which edged the wind chill factor to -12F.

In addition to the holiday light display, The Alaska Zoo is home to one of the state's most famous native residents which happens to also be Laurel's long time favorite animal- the polar bear. Finding the polar bear exhibit in the dark with falling snow at an unknown zoo was more difficult than we would have ever imagined. We wandered around through the natural setting of the zoo for nearly 30 minutes before we finally found the polar bear exhibit.

We were more excited than the bear who we found fast asleep. The sleeping bear didn't disappoint either girl as they withstood the freezing nighttime air to quietly observe the sleeping giant. Close to 10 minutes passed and neither girl would budge from their observing positions. We were the only ones watching the polar bear sleep. I tried to tell them that the bear would probably sleep until the morning, but we stayed a few more minutes anyway. Just as we they were ready to leave, the polar bear raised his head and looked right at us for a few minutes. Unfortunately, I only had my camera phone and wasn't able to snap a quality picture. The lights were nice as was the complimentary hot chocolate (which we found shortly after our visit with the polar bear), but the polar bear was by far the highlight of our evening visit to The Alaska Zoo.