Oahu Newborn and Family Photographer Hawaii | Little Bird Photography » A modern, fun approach to family photography in Hawaii.

Painting with shaving cream! | Oahu family activities

Our Oahu family activity is keeping us inside today because sometimes you just can’t make it out the door. Especially with all the rain lately (is winter over yet?). Instead, let’s get messy. With shaving cream.

Shaving cream is an unexpected art tool for kids. There are approximately 1 million different uses of shaving cream for art, play, and learning. Or at least 67 (P.S. this links to a really fantastic blog). All those options were a little overwhelming, so I decided to start simple with bathtub painting.

Micah was intrigued, delighted. We get to do what with it?! We added a few drops of food coloring and made a lovely shaving cream palette. The colors are vibrant, really satisfying. I put the kids in the tub along with the “paint” and a couple brushes and they went to town. Squishing it, painting with it, mixing the colors. They super loved it.

I highly recommend using the unscented shaving cream. I also think it was silly to add water to the tub since I had to clean the kids afterwards anyway. Next time, we’ll try the shower or painting the side of the house (and I wonder why my kids are always coloring on the walls. Oh well, that’s what rentals are for).

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If it’s a beautiful day and you want to get outside instead, check out the Keiki Monday archives for more toddler activities on Oahu.

 

Moanalua Gardens | Oahu family activities

I thought I had been to Moanalua Gardens before, but when a friend mention that it had koi ponds, a taro patch, a small stream and giant trees, I realized it was something new. I packed up a pair of excited kids and set off on an adventure. Oddly, we were greeted by tour buses when we arrived. That was a surprise. How did all these tourists know about the garden?

It turns out that Moanalua is famous for a particular tree, a massive monkey pod that sits in the heart of the garden called the Hitachi Tree. This tree is the corporate symbol of the Hitachi Corporation in Japan and has been featured in their regular television commercials for forty years. If you’re curious like me you can check out the commercial here. The Hitachi Corporation pays a hefty $400,000 annually for exclusive worldwide rights to use the tree’s image for promotional purposes. That’s right, $400,000 … A year. Wow, just wow.

I have to admit, I never managed to get a picture of said tree. We started at the koi ponds feeding fish, chasing ducks and snacking on the very cool monkeypod benches. We met some friends, ate their snacks, and chased each other as we looped around the perimeter of the park. By the time we got back to the Hitachi tree, we were done. I can tell you this though, it’s a big tree.

 

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I had a hard time finding the gardens because my GPS insisted that it was located at Pineapple Place. At Pineapple Place I found a large sign that said, this is not the garden, go away (or something to that effect). And then my GPS died leaving me lost in Moanalua Valley. Fortunately, there were a lot of people walking around and it only took 5 of them to get me to the right place. 5th time’s a charm, right? Don’t be like me. Follow these helpful directions I found on Yelp :

Directions:  Entrance can NOT be accessed via Pineapple Place, as this is the Monalua Gardens Foundation’s administrative offices.  Better to enter via Moanalua Freeway (H-2) westbound, take Exit 3.  Entrance is immediately on your right after you pass the second Puuloa Rd/Tripler Hospital sign.  Coming from the west side, best to take Exit 3 and head left towards Tripler Army Medical Center.  Take a left onto Mahiole Street then left again; keep going straight and you will enter into Moanalua Gardens’ parking lot.

If you’re not in the mood for a park, you can always check the Keiki Monday archives for more fun Oahu family activities!

Exploring Nuuanu | Oahu family photographer

Keila told me that she was surprised to love all the photos from her session because her family doesn’t photograph well. How can that be possible? I mean, they’re a good looking family. Maybe that sounds a bit weird, but it’s true. We enjoyed a very laid-back, toddler-led session. We explored some extremely cool trees, played with a wagon, shared lots of tickles and did a bit of reading. How can you not love a family that carries around a copy of Everyone Poops? A classic.

They are expecting baby #2 later this year and of course everything is going to change. These moments of just the three of them are limited, so I was so thrilled to capture some of these memories!

 

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Contact me for more information about booking your own family photography session on Oahu!

Living Art Marine Center | Kids activities on Oahu

I was really excited when I heard about the Living Art Marine Center in Honolulu. It’s an interactive marine science center combined with marine-themed art projects – sounds like a great kid activity, right? Reservations are required, so we signed up for the Splash Tour.  It’s a 90-minute guided tour which includes access to the touch tanks and time for an art project (extra fee).

I wanted to love it, I really did. It’s a great concept and it has great potential, but … it seems like they’re not trying very hard or they have no budget, or possibly both. It’s set up in a poorly-marked warehouse and we were greeted by piles of dust and rusty key chains in the gift shop. It didn’t bode well. For the tour, we were lead through a series of rooms, each with an aquarium and some posters depicting a different geographic area. We learned about a few animals in each area with a focus on corals. At the end there were boxes to stick your hands in for a guess-the-coral game. Although, I thought the tour was lame, Micah was excited. Actually, many of the kids were excitedly raising their hands and asking questions.

Activities for kids in Oahu

The craft break came next. We chose the Gyotaku t-shirt printing, but there was also jewelry making and shell imprinting. It only took a couple minutes, but Micah was in heaven. He had to wear the completed masterpiece immediately and again the next day to show his teachers. He has also graciously offered to teach everyone he encounters how to make their own blue t-shirt with a red fish and black fish. I cannot overstate the level of excitement here.

Living art marine center

In the end, we had about 15 minutes to spend on our own checking out the touch tanks. My favorite was the baby pencil urchin. Micah votes for the box crab. But seriously can’t they come up with something a bit nicer to use than a bunch of barrels sawed in half? Maybe someone could have told us about the animals we were seeing? The touch tanks at the Maui Aquarium are wonderful. These are not. No matter, Mila decided it was a lovely time for her first full blown temper tantrum and we gracefully exited the building.

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So I guess it’s a mixed review. Micah loved it. Mila was too young (but I expected that). I thought it was disappointing, and a bit pricey at $35. There are many other classes offered for older kids and they might be fabulous. We’ll probably come back in the future.

If you have you have kids younger than 4, you may want to explore the Keiki Monday archives for alternate kids activities on Oahu.

 

Baby and the beach | Baby photography Hawaii

When I met baby Ella at our consultation, I knew we were going to have a great photo session. Only 8 months old but this little girl is packed full of personality and joy (and beautiful blue eyes)! We headed to Bellow’s Beach on a most beautiful Friday afternoon for some photos, sand eating, and wave watching (from a distance – Ella didn’t want to get too close to that water stuff). Look at that sweet face. I could photograph her all day!baby photography hawaiioahu family photographeroahu family photographyhawaii family portraitshawaii family portraitsoahu family portraitsfamily portraits oahu

Do you have a sweet baby that’s growing too fast? Contact me to customize a photo session and capture these precious moments forever!