Aloha!

Yesterday, Dustin, the girls, and I went to the Aloha Festival at Tempe Beach Park. It was a total hit! We started our morning by parking at the Police Station in Tempe and hopping on the light rail. It was a first time for all of us, and the girls really enjoyed the ride. I was concerned Laila would be scared, but she got on and held on like a trooper! It was adorable seeing her comfort Kenadi, even though Kenadi hardly needed comforting!

The admission to the festival was free, the entertainment was free, all we had to pay for was the food! The smells were so amazing, I wanted to dive into every booth out there and sample one of everything, but naturally, that wouldn't fare well with the owners, so we settled on just a few things...I say "few" pretty loosley here, these types of festivals only come around once a year, and with Dustin's schedule at work, it was such a treat to go as a family, so I brought extra money, I know this was going to be an all day eating and snacking event!

We started with this Hawaiian/Korean plate: it was chicken, rice, a bbq rib, macaroni salad, and long rice. We ordered 2 of those and they were gone before either of us could say how good they were! Laila even used chopsticks!! We didn't try the "long rice", I'm not exactly sure what it was, but it was a clear, squigly substance that resembled noodles. I bit one by mistake, it was awful! The barbecue was delicious, I just wish there was more of it on the plate! But the sticky rice and chicken made up for it. At $10 a plate, it was money well spent. We all were so stuffed, I thought I was going to have to be rolled down the hill!

I noticed a booth for making lei's. They were paper cut outs of flowers and neon straws cut into short pieces. The yarn was pre-cut, one end tied in a knot and the other taped off to make it easy for the kids to string the flowers along. Laila made one for herself, and I made one for Kenadi. It was pretty windy outside, so they didn't get to wear them, but we did bring them home. Did I mention how much I love free crafts? And not having to clean up the mess made it even better!! We got to enjoy the music of some Hawaiian music and string our lei's together. What a blast.

Next, I had my sights (and my pregnant tummy) set on some butterflied potatoes. They were just calling my name, I couldn't leave and not try them! Lucky for me, Dustin had decided on some Banana Eggrolls for dessert, and they happened to be in the same line-or so we thought! We waited in a big long line for my potato crisps, only to get to the front of the line and realize the booth was split into two and the other side, which had the banana eggrolls, was line-free the entire time! Well, at least we enjoyed our food! There were so many potatoes on that plate, all 4 of us dug in and we STILL ended up throwing some of them away. They could have used more salt, but who's complaining! At $5 a plate, it was well worth it, and worth the wait! The banana eggrolls were equally as delicious! Mixing the salt and the sweet, these two treats went together perfectly! There was no photo of the eggrolls, just a yellow sign with a bunch of bananas and a $5 price tag. We took a gamble, and came out on top. They were so darn good, poor Dustin had to share, we all couldn't resist! With powdered sugar and chocolate on top, it was a pregnant woman's dream come true! I couldn't have asked for more, but Laila sure did! We had to get her special treat before we left, so on we went.

Our last stop before trailing off back to the light rail was to get Laila a snow-cone. The signs were everywhere, there was no way to lie my way out of this one! I couldn't imagine spending $5 a piece for a snow cone, but the signs swore that "Size Does Matter!" Well, I'll be darned, size sure does matter! They were the biggest snow cone I've ever seen! Laila picked strawberry, not a family favorite, but no one disliked it. It was so big, they gave us 2 spoons, and Laila couldn't hold it and eat it without help. It was the softest, tastiest snow cone I think I've ever tasted!

With red lips and a bright red smile, we all headed back toward the light rail for a ride back to the Police Station where we parked the car. The walk down Mill Ave. was interesting, to say the least. We saw someone playing a guitar with an empty (haha!) coffee can in front of him. Laila giggled about it, and asked why he was singing so bad. Dustin and Laila walking together was such a cute photo-op, I couldn't resist. Neither of them know I took this picture, maybe one day when we talk about our day out together, I'll show them, and they'll smile. I had a blast, spending the day with my family.

Lightrail pass - $3.50

Food and treats - $35.00

Batteries for the camera - $2.99

Time spent with my beautiful family - priceless