Mr. Gibbons loved the Lyon Arboretum.
The adoption was unexpected. At the end of a Sacramento Social Media Club event my name was called for the raffle and I was awarded a little gibbon monkey from the Sacramento Zoo. In social media fashion, I tweeted that I was the proud father of gibbon reared by Wild Republic which has the tag line of Spark Your Imagination.
Welcome Mr. Gibbons
As a family vacation loomed in the near future, it seemed only natural to include Mr. Gibbons, our adopted pet’s new name, in all the family travels and adventures. I was relieved that our 15 year old son, Walker, was not jealous of his new brother, since he is an only child, but actually bonded with our new addition very quickly. Mr. Gibbons’ natural curiosity was sheer joy as he reveled in all the activities on our trip to Hawaii.
Walker and Mr. Gibbons bond on the flight to Hawaii.
Hawaiian history
Mr. Gibbons was a little nervous when we first boarded the plane because he didn’t know why everyone was staring at him. When ever he got a little scared he would sit with Walker. As we walked around Waikiki, Mr. Gibbons scrambled right up a statue of Bernice Pauahi Bishop to learn a little history of Hawaii. He learned that she was the great-granddaughter, and last heir, of King Kamehameha. I think he liked that representation because Princess Bernice was reading to a little girl. We found out that her estate is used to support the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii.
Rain forest arboretum and eating orchids
We learned that orchids are edible.
After we “monkeyed” around at the hotel gym in the morning, we all road the bus up to Lyon Arboretum and Manoa Falls Trail. Mr. Gibbons loved the arboretum with all the neat flowers and plants. He thought the little ornamental mini-plantain plant we found meant it was time for lunch. The Manoa Falls was less fun because the trail was so muddy. As we walked through the hotel lobby he ran right over to an orchid. Mr. Gibbons told us the orchid flower was edible. Later at dinner, Walker ate an orchid from the salad plate. From that point forward, we all consumed our orchids when they were offered in drinks or appetizers.
Spam musubi, yum
Mr. Gibbons likes spam musubi.
The next morning Mr. Gibbons wanted to take surfing lessons with Walker. While I let him test out the surf board, I had to tell him he was just a tad too small for the big waves his brother was going to tackle. Mr. Gibbons decided to hang out with mom and lounge pool side on a recliner. For an afternoon snack we decided to try a local favorite of President Obama’s called spam musubi. A big scoop of white sticky rice, topped with a slice of brown sugar glazed spam, wrapped in sea weed is spam musubi. We all agreed that it was tasty and filling.
Big sea turtles a treat to touch
Mr. Gibbons was pretty excited to go snorkeling with us the next day. He really enjoyed sailing on the catamaran out to the snorkeling spot. Unfortunately, none of the face masked would fit him. It all worked out because when Mr. Gibbons saw how big the sea turtles were, he decided to hang out on the boat. He had fun listening to how Walker got so close to the turtles he could pet them.
Mr. Gibbons though the Cannon Ball Tree was funny.
Cannon balls at college
Mr. Gibbons had the choice of either going to the spa with mom or taking a bike ride up to the University of Hawaii. He opted to forgo the macadamia nut salt scrub at the spa and walk around campus. Mr. Gibbons found he really liked some of the art they had on campus and trying to figure out what it represented. At one point we lost Mr. Gibbons, but found him snoozing on some chemistry books. The big hit of the campus was swinging around the cannon ball tree. Even though University of Hawaii was nice, Mr. Gibbons doesn’t want Walker to go to school there because it would be too far away.
Mr. Gibbons, meet Mr. Cat
Mr. Gibbons really wanted to learn how to surf.
The next day we stopped off at the Honolulu Zoo so Mr. Gibbons could see some distant relatives. In the morning, after a quick swim in the ocean, we packed up and got on the plane to fly home. Mr. Gibbons really enjoyed the family vacation. He was a great traveling companion and helped us see, and eat, some nature that we might have missed. We are all looking forward to our next family vacation. Although, the next big adventure will be getting our cat to love Mr. Gibbons as much as we do.
Most of these pictures were originally posted to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Foursquare, keyword Mr. Gibbons.
