Giveaway - Family 4-Pack of Movie Tickets at Regal Pearl Highlands

Photo credit: Pearl Highlands

What better way to beat the heat than to spend some time in air-conditioned comfort at Regal Pearl Highlands?

The theater recently completed renovations, and it's one of my favorite theaters to visit (you can never go back to "regular" seats after experiencing the luxury recliner seats!).

Visit Hawaii Mom Blog on Instagram to enter to win a family 4-pack of movie tickets (not valid for special events or private screenings) so you can enjoy a movie at Regal Pearl Highlands!

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Visit Omaha: La Casa Pizzaria

While in Omaha, we knew we had to try Omaha-style pizza at La Casa Pizzaria.

Classic Hamburger

BBQ Chicken

La Casa Pizzaria does offer a kids menu, but we decided to just order two pizzas, which was plenty for our family of 5.

The Sicilian-style, thin crust pizzas were yummy!  The Classic Hamburger consisted of beef browned with onions and seasonings, plus cheese.  The BBQ Chicken is a best-selling summer-time pizza, topped with housemade BBQ sauce, chicken, roasted garlic, red onions, mozzarella, and smoked gouda.  Of the two, I liked the BBQ Chicken the best.  

We couldn't skip dessert! 

Snickers Pie

Neapolitan Cheesecake

The Snickers Pie was good, but I love cheesecake, and the Neapolitan Cheesecake, with layers of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry cheesecake was my fave of the two desserts.

Service was excellent, and we had a great dinner at La Casa Pizzaria!

La Casa Pizzaria
4432 Leavenworth St

Omaha, NE 68105

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Four Seasons Presents Race Ko Olina September 22

Ohana fun, fitness and the finish line entertainment return to Ko Olina as Four Seasons Resort O’ahu at Ko Olina proudly presents the 2019 edition of Race Ko Olina, taking place on Sunday, September 22nd.

Celebrating its third year, Race Ko Olina promises a day of races and family events all surrounded by the natural beauty and world-class amenities of Ko Olina Resort on the island’s serene and captivating Leeward coast.

Presented by Four Seasons in partnership with Ko Olina Resort and Boca Hawaii, Race Ko Olina will allow adults to test and showcase their endurance by participating in an individual or relay Sprint Triathlon, an adult aquathlon and/or 10K and 5K runs. An Aquathlon and 1K Run formats are also available for keiki, which allows for the entire family to have a fun and active time on race day. Race Ko Olina is a benefit to Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

The triathlon includes swimming in the resort’s lagoons, biking resort and neighboring Kapolei roads, and running the shoreline pathways, ocean front lawns and even the white sand beaches of Ko Olina’s Resort lagoons. Each event will finish at Four Seasons’ Ko Olina Ballroom lawn with a plethora of family activities, tasty treats by Four Seasons’ Executive Chef Richard Polhemus and live music.

Four Seasons General Manager, Charlie Parker, expressed excitement with the partnership to once again bring Race Ko Olina to the community. “At Four Seasons, we are elated to support such a community driven event once again,” Parker explained.

“Community members of all ages and fitness levels are all invited to share in the true spirit of Ko Olina and test their endurance in a world-class environment and, after the race, experience our hospitality with aloha.”

Registration is now open, and special participant room rates are available at the luxurious Four Seasons Resort O’ahu at Ko Olina. This includes complimentary overnight valet parking daily for one car*. You can register and get more information by clicking HERE.

For room reservations, call 679-0079 or toll-free +1 (844) 387-0308. Please refer to “Race Ko Olina Room Block” when calling in. For more information, email beachandsportsclub@koolina.com or boca@bocahawaii.com. Or call 808-679-3723 or 808-591-9839. *Rates are subject to availability; restrictions may apply. Call 808-679-0079 for reservations. This offer is not bookable online. Hawaii resident ID (driver’s license) and race entry confirmation required at check-in.

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Visit California: Din Tai Fung

We hadn't really planned to eat at Din Tai Fung during our recent trip to Los Angeles. It was Saturday morning and we were deciding on where we would eat dinner. Din Tai Fung was one of many places on our list of possibilities, and after causally mentioning to my friend who lives near Torrance that Din Tai Fung was one of the places we were thinking about going to for dinner, she said "we'll totally meet you there!"  And so that's how we ended up here.

I'm so glad she decided to join us, and offered to go early to put our name in to get a table, because the process to get a table is both long and head-scratching. First you give your cell number to the hostess out front, and then you wait for them to text you.  Once your phone buzzes, you go back to the hostess, but WAIT, that doesn't mean your table is ready.  They hand you a menu and say they'll call you when our table is ready.  What?!

The entire process took over an hour, in addition to however long my friend waited on our behalf before we even got there.  So yes, people aren't exaggerating when they say it takes an hour or more to eat here!  But sit tight and be patient, because the food is well worth the wait.

Once we did get seated (we lucked out with a private room since we had 8 people in our party), we put in our orders and in no time the food started arriving. Considering how crowded it was, I was quite surprised and pleased at how quickly the food came, especially since we were all starving by now.

Here's what we shared family-style:

Cucumber Salad

Chicken Fried Noodles

Sauteed String Beans with Garlic

Noodles with Minced Kurobuta Pork Sauce

Braised Beef Noodle Soup

Shrimp Fried Rice

Kurobuta Pork XiaoLongBao

Shrimp and Kurobuta Pork Pot stickers

I had only heard great things about the XLB (which were amazing!), so I was pleasantly surprised by how good everything else was! We doubled the orders for the XLB and fried rice, and it came out to the perfect amount of food for our party of 8. As for the XLB, I'm now a believer! They probably would have tasted even better if I had eaten them the proper way (apparently you're supposed to poke a hole in the dumpling and drink the soup first!).

DIN TAI FUNG

Del Amo Fashion Center, 21540 Hawthorne Blvd #519

Torrance, CA 90503

(310) 214-1175

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Visit Maui: Bistro Molokini

It's been nearly three years since I dined at Bistro Molokini at the Grand Wailea.  I really enjoyed the food, especially the pizza and onion rings, and on a recent visit, I didn't hesitate to order pizza and onion rings again, along with a couple of salads.

Hamakua Mushroom Pizza

Housemade Maui Onion Rings

Local Wild Arugula Salad

Hamakua Springs Bibb Lettuce Salad

I loved the Hamakua Mushroom Pizza.  The crust was crispy and flaky, and the aioli and caramelized Maui onions only added to the deliciousness!  It was one of the best pizzas I had in a while.  

The panko-fried Onion Rings were enormous and messy, but they were quite yummy.  I ate nearly all of them myself!    

Of the two salads, I liked the Hamakua Springs Bibb Lettuce Salad best, probably because it was full of bacon, red onions, and avocado - my faves!  We opted to add on fresh fish of the day, which was mahi.  A friend commented that the mahi was cooked perfectly!

The Local Wild Arugula Salad consisted of goat cheese, pomegranate, heart of palm and mandarin oranges, and was drizzled with a fig balsamic.

Our server was very friendly and accommodating, and the meal was ideal - nothing too heavy, yet simply satisfying and tasty.  

I look forward to returning on a future visit to Wailea!

Bistro Molokini

Grand Wailea
3850 Wailea Alanui Dr

Kihei, HI 96753
(808) 875-1234

Mahalo to Grand Wailea for hosting the meal. Gratuity was paid on my own.

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Visit Kansas City: Kaleidoscope

One of the coolest places we visited in the Midwest was Kaleidoscope.

This creative space, a vision of Hallmark, is a magical place where kids can let their imaginations run wild to craft all sorts of masterpieces - puzzles, hats, books - whatever they can think of!

Hallmark supplies a variety of materials so kids can create their works of art.

And the best part - it's FREE!

Kids can make all kinds of fun objects with the supplies at Kaleidoscope - picture frames, visors, newsletters, puppets, crowns, and even televisions.  There is no limit to what the kids can make!

Each Kaleidoscope session is 50 minutes, during which time kids can craft and color to their hearts' content.

It was so fun to see what kinds of things the kids created.  Some kids had so much fun, that they got tickets for the very next session so they could create more!

Kaleidoscope is such a neat place!

Kaleidoscope 
PO Box 419580
Kansas City, MO 64141

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Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum's New Fighter Ace 360 Flight Simulators

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum recently introduced the Fighter Ace 360 Flight Simulators.

I recently attended an event where I got to experience the 360-degree, two-passenger flight simulator, and it was so much fun!

Visitors can choose from two simulated experiences - Thunder in the Pacific, where you take control and try to overcome your enemies, or Quantum Star Fighter, an outer space adventure in which the simulator is controlled via computer.

I tried out Thunder in the Pacific with my son, and we were quite steady during the five-minute challenge, as my son had control over the simulator a majority of the time. However, once I took control, we'd often move abruptly to one side or the other - it was a lot harder than I thought to maneuver!

We were unsuccessful in shooting down the enemy, but it sure was a fun experience.

It's even a lot of fun to watch other riders, especially as they scream while flipping over (you can watch them on an external screen; click here to watch a video).

Pricing for the Fighter Ace 360 Flight Simulator is $10.50 per person on a two-seater, or $21.00 per person to guarantee an exclusive solo flight.

Tickets are only available at the front desk, and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Only 150 tickets are available per day.

I love that the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum added the new Fighter Ace 360 Flight Simulators.  The Museum already has so much to share both aviation and history buffs, and the addition of this new experience is a welcome element to the overall visit.  

For more information on the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, click here.



Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
319 Lexington Blvd

Honolulu, HI 96818

Additional information from the website: All guests must observe and follow all rules and regulations. The ride does go upside down. Guests should not ride if they have a health condition that will expose them to risk in high-movement environment. Visitors must be 48 inches tall to fly solo or 42 inches tall to ride with an adult. Maximum height allowed is six feet tall and the weight limit for the Fighter Ace 360 Flight Simulator is 500 pounds. Single riders may not exceed 250 pounds.

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