As the summer is coming to an end and I was at Dollar Tree, I was inspired to have a Hawaiian weekend within my home.
I went to Maui in June of 1997. My dad was lucky to win a trip through his work. He was nice enough to bring my sister and me along. There are a few great memories I remember, such as driving in a convertible, swimming in a waterfall, going on top of a volcano at sunrise, throwing up while returning from the volcano (a mix of warm coke and altitude change), and seeing a pig that was cooked inside the sand at a luau. It was also the first time I spent my birthday somewhere else. Earlier in the trip, we explored the nearby hotels. In a gift shop of one, I found an authentic Hawaiian dress for my Barbie doll. It was white with hints of white Hawaiian flowers throughout. I wanted it so bad that I threw a fit and cried inside the gift shop. Now I know what you are thinking, but I actually wasn't one of those kids who threw a fit to get what she wanted. But that dress was going to make my Barbie look amazing and have culture! I was devastated, but I knew that my parents had already tried their best to make this the best family vacation that they could. A day or so later, it was my ninth birthday. And although we were in the prettiest place we could have imagined, they still gave me a few gifts. One was a ty beanie dolphin named Echo, which was so cute and made perfect sense to receive this in Hawaii. (Keep in mind below photo was a scan from a scrapbook page - we only have a few hard copies left from that trip).
Then to my surprise, I RECEIVED THE BARBIE DRESS! I was so happy! Not only do I still remember that great gift, but that dress is now in a shadow box in my bedroom 23 years later!
Theme
I found some great items at the Dollar Tree in my hometown! There I bought a grass skirt for a table, a Luau sign, a photo backdrop, a 2021 tropical calendar, coconut cups, pineapple cups, and a sandcastle bucket that I used as a container for the Hawaiian Salad. I am using the tropical calendar's photos as placemats.
Food
One of the memories I have from my childhood visit to Hawaii was going to a Luau. I remember having fun mocktails and watching them reveal a pig that was cooked in the sand! Pork is a custom on the Hawaiian Islands. I gave up pork a few years ago, but I had to make something in their honor (I also gave it a taste)!
After searching through Pinterest I found No Biggies's Slow Cooker Kalua Pork. It could be eaten as pulled pork or added to some Sweet Hawaiian Rolls for a sandwich.
I used Salty Side Dish's Hawaiian Rice with Crushed Pineapple as a fun side dish. Although not Hawaiian, I figured The Recipe Critic's Loaded Creamy Ranch Dip (Poolside Dip) would be great before the summer ended! It was so hard trying to come up with recipes that didn't include pineapple, Hawaiians even put it in their baked beans! My sister made My Recipe's Hawaiian Asparagus! It was very tasty, probably the best way to serve asparagus!
Growing up I remember having Hawaiian Salad in the summer on special occasions, so I had to make sure we relived that! I used the Campfire's Hawaiian Salad Recipe, just like mom used to make it! Then my mom made white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.
Since I had leftover pineapple juice, I decided to make Vodka Pineapple Screwdriver Cocktails! It's simple just mix 1 part pineapple, 1 part orange juice, and 2/3 part vodka.
Music
If you haven't noticed, I'm an Amazon Prime member. I love how I can get items so quickly and I especially love their music library! Here are my suggestions for some fun Hawaiian style music to play on the background:
Activity
If only we could take part in being in Hawaii to do some beach activities. But since we are stuck at home, we'll have to get creative and connect to our silly side!
Hawaiian Word Search - I made a special Hawaiian word search that you can download below. Make the game more interesting to see who finished first or who can get the most within 3-minutes!
Movie / TV Show
There are quite a lot of movies that are based on history or a vacation destination within the Hawaiian Islands. Here are a few popular suggestions:
It was fun to relive some fun Hawaiian memories and make new ones while we stayed at home! Mahalo!
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