One of Ensen’s favorite birthday gifts he received was a Little Champs Sports Center from his Aunty Karen and Uncle Preston. From the video below, could we have a future Michael Jordan or LeBron James on our hands?
-NGK
Ensen enjoying lunch at Mei Sum with Uncle Jon and Aunty Sarah.
We met up with Kelly’s brother Jon and his girlfriend Sarah for lunch yesterday at Mei Sum in Chinatown which is always a treat. The dim sum there is tasty and affordable which is the reason I eat there quite frequently. Everyone enjoyed the meal, especially Ensen who ate like there was no tomorrow.
Following lunch, we all headed to Hula Boba right down the street for a cold treat. They serve a delicious snowcone with ice made from soy milk (so even lactose intolerant people can enjoy). Kelly, Ensen, and I shared a lilikoi/lychee, while Jon and Sarah had the strawberry/honeydew. The combination of sweet, creamy, and cold made it the perfect snack on a hot Honolulu day.
But the most memorable part of the outing came towards the end when Ensen figured out a new way to enjoy Chinatown…being pulled around by Jon on the sidewalk in our portable pull cart. The video below says it all. Priceless!
Just a couple of our favorites in Chinatown in addition to shopping for inexpensive/quality produce. Care to share what you like most about C-town? Leave a comment.
-NGK
Blog followers will remember our first visit to Bishop Museum with Ensen last September didn’t go so well. You can read all about that experience here. But with nine-months passing, Kelly and I were determined to get back there with the little guy since he can now walk, mumble, and understand the world around him much better. Boy did we have a blast!
After having a quick lunch on the lawn, we headed indoors to explore the “Whales: Wonders of the Ocean” exhibit currently on display in Castle Memorial Hall. Who knew whales were originally land based creatures many moons ago? We do now. Ensen enjoyed looking at the whales and singing with them on Cetacean Idol hosted by Lion Seacrest (no joke, you read that correctly…watch the video below).
The one thing we didn’t get to see the last time was the planetarium, so we weren’t going to leave before doing so this time. The “Science on a Sphere” display in the waiting area is quite interesting with lots of great information about the solar system. Then it was into the planetarium for the show. Ensen was well behaved and enjoyed observing the heavens with us. The “Explorers of Polynesia” show featuring Nainoa Thompson’s historic voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti aboard Hokulea put the difficulty of star navigation into perspective. Watching and learning how they used the sky like a compass was amazing. Now, I want to be an astronomer or master navigator when I grow up.
Bishop Museum is a great deal and place to spend the weekend with the family. We took advantage of becoming members this time which is only $50 for the year. Can’t beat a deal like that. We’ll be back soon!
-NGK
Under normal circumstances, I would never (I repeat NEVER) spend $65 on a pair of boardshorts for me or anyone else. But last night’s trip to Pealridge Center ended up being no ordinary trip. Those who really know me and my heavy metal history know Metallica is my favorite metal band of all time! Here’s how things went down…
The first store we entered was Up & Riding, the awesome clothing store for kids, when my jaw almost hit the ground. “Are those Metallica surf shorts for toddlers?” I asked Kelly. After further inspection, my suspicions were true (see photo above) and 10 minutes later we were walking out with a new pair of boardshorts for Ensen. These things done come cheap. Toddler size (2T) as regularly priced at $48, but with a 20% off sale going on and a couple of store credits, we walked out paying a little more than $12. SCORE!
But Mission: Metallica was not over! I needed a pair for me and got my wish when we walked into Honolua Surf Co. Only problem was the shorts were $64.50. WHAT!!! But these were no ordinary short and Kelly completely understood. Thank goodness Honolua has an Ohana Card which gives you 10% off all purchases. So out we walked with $60 boardshorts.
Can’t wait to sport these shorts at the beach with Ensen. Oh, I should mention these Billabong limited edition boardshorts were designed with the Surfrider Foundation in mind. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to the foundation, so I’m considering this my charitable contribution this month. 
-NGK
It’s become a Kam family tradition to spend Fourth of July in Kailua at Kelly’s parent’s house. Not only do they have an awesome backyard with a pool to BBQ, but Kel’s dad was born on Independence Day! So we get to celebrate two major events in one day. Everyone had a blast swimming, eating, drinking, and watching the Kailua fireworks show (despite all the pauses in between) with family and friends. But for some strange reason, we failed to take any photos so I don’t have any to post. Not sure how that happened…
So I figured the next best thing would be to post a couple photos of Ensen the day after. Despite a long night in Kailua, the little guy was all smiles as he woke up this morning. No hangover! These were just taken about 30 minutes ago.
-NGK
Ensen having fun with Maui Grandma and Aunty Kim.
At the conclusion of Ensen’s birthday party in the Dave & Busters Show Room, the fun continued in the arcade with the little guy trying out a few games himself. As you can see from the photos and video in this post, he didn’t waste any time jumping right into the action.
Baby Lia stayed for the after party too with her parents Tricia and Brad. My mom even got into the action!
-NGK
We had a “rockin” time celebrating Ensen’s first birthday this Saturday at Dave & Busters with nearly 130 of our closest family and friends gathering in The Showroom for the “rock n’ roll” themed party. We decided to keep things fairly simple and straight-forward…no formal program, play a few games, provide a delicious lunch buffet and open bar for all, sing Happy Birthday, then give all the kids Power Cards and turn them lose in the arcade. That formula seemed to have worked as everyone said they had a good time. Mission accomplished.
Getting ready for everyone to arrive. The tables are set with the favors and goodie bags for the kiddies. Everyone getting seated and ready to party.
Truth be told, Kelly gets all the credit for the success of this event spending the past five months planning and executing with her sister Kim. My sister Erin and her friend Kim D. helped out as well, but the bulk of the work was really done by my awesome wife. She did it all…invitations, slide show, favors, and everything else in between..all while transitioning into a new full-time job. KELLY ROCKS!
Kelly and Ensen greeting people as they arrive. Glen putting the finishing touches on the birthday cake. Those awesome guitars were made by Kelly’s sister Kim out of fondant. Yes, Kim and Glen are both pastry chefs…our personal Ace of Cakes!
As for me, I attempted to keep Ensen out of Kelly’s hair (most times unsuccessfully) so she could get everything done and helped out when asked. I think I was also supposed to take photos at the party, but managed to fail at that task too. 
However, I did manage to get a few good photos, but we’ll need to rely on our friends and family to send more.
Brad and Lia say “hi” to Ensen and my mom (aka Kona Grandma). Ensen celebrated by having lunch with Kaui (the first girl he kissed…other than mom). The birthday boy and me.
Kona Grandpa and Grandma strike a pose with Little E. Kailua Grandpa capturing Ensen taking a swipe out of his birthday cake.
Ensen always enjoys spending time with Aunty Kim and Uncle Glen. Same can be said when he sees Maui Grandma. By the end of the party, the little guy was spent. Always a sign of a good party!
A huge mahalo to everyone who helped celebrate Ensen’s first birthday with us and thanks for all the gifts. Stay tuned for more photos throughout the week.
-NGK
Ensen has somehow learned that by placing his mouth on someones leg and blowing, he can produce a pretty loud “artificial” fart. How would you rate this on a scale of 1-10 (10 being a pretty authentic sounding fart)?
-NGK
My theory on taking pictures with our Canon PowerShot SD750 digital camera is the more photos you take, the better the odds that one will come out good. Which properly explains why our iPhoto library has over 10,000 photos taken since the beginning of the year. If we could only remember to delete the bad shots…
For a $200 camera this compact piece of equipment takes some pretty awesome photos. I’ve learned how to tinker with some of the settings and try to wait for the right kind of natural lighting. I continue to be amazed at with how good the pictures turn out. Here’s some taken yesterday at Uncle Glen and Aunty Kim’s house. Could these pass as professional photos?
-NGK
Following Ensen’s one year check up last weekend, his pediatrician cleared us to start feeding him cow’s milk. He’s been on soy milk formula to this point which he liked a lot! So it was going to be interesting to see how he would take to switching to whole milk.
Good news is Ensen absolutely loves the stuff we affectionately call “ba ba” around the Kam family household. He’s even become quite a little comedian when drinking it from his sippy cup. As you’ll see, you don’t necessarily need to use your hands the entire time when enjoying a cold cup of milk.
-NGK
I’m stoked to be celebrating my second Father’s Day as a dad myself. Words can’t explain how much joy Ensen has brought into our lives. In honor of this day, I’m going back to the Kam family vault and pulling out some photos from a year ago.
A big Happy Father’s Day to our dads Gary and Dave (pictured below with Ensen) as well. Thanks for everything you folks have done and continue to do for us. We love you!
-NGK & KK
It’s been a while since we got together with friends at our place, so we had an impromptu gathering to grind, play some Wii, and have some fun to kick off the weekend. While the competition between couples got quite heated playing bowling on Wii Sports, the main focus of the night was our friends Brad and Tricia’s 6-month-old daughter Lia and our dude Ensen (12 months).
From left: Ensen with Uncle Chris and Aunty Kris, Lia, and Uncle Regan.
From left: Ensen with Regan and Aunty Cathy, everyone having a good time playing Wii, and Brad trying to roll a strike.
From left: Ensen handing out with Chris and watching Aunty Tricia play with Lia. Our cat Jabbey making sure Lia sleeps peacefully.
-NGK
Ensen turned the big “1″ yesterday and the Kam family celebrated the very special occasion at Farrell’s in Pearlridge Center. This was just the “warm up” party with family for the big gathering coming in a couple of weeks. Ensen was super happy to have everyone come celebrate with him, including Kona Grandma (no Kona Grandpa since he was busy working), Kailua Grandpa and Grandma, Aunty Kim and Uncle Glen, Uncle Jon, and Grandma Ishii.
This place is the perfect venue for kids with a lot of noise and action going on every minute of your meal. The staff sings to everyone celebrating a birthday which Ensen just loved. We managed to have a great meal and even had room for the Pig’s Trough dessert at the end. So ono!
In typical Kam Family Blog style, here’s a bunch of pictures from last night.
From left: Mommy and Ensen on our way to the party. Ensen, Kelly, and Jon. Ensen eating dinner…baked potato.
From left: Glen, Kim, Ensen and Kelly. Everyone enjoying dinner. Ensen checking out the other babies at the restaurant.
From left: Singing “Happy Birthday” to Ensen. The Pig’s Trough dessert enough to feed up to 10 people. Glen, Kim, and Ensen.
From left: Kona Grandma with the little man of the hour. Kailua Grandpa showing Ensen all the toys. Everyone happy to be celebrating with the little guy.
-NGK
-NGK
Ensen’s pal Dane came by last night with his parents (and our friends) Julie and Brandon after cutting his hair at Pigtails & Crewcuts. The two kids played like there was no tomorrow and Kelly managed to snap this sweet shot of Ensen going a little bit nuts. As you can see, Dane was not phased by the madness.
-NGK
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