Hawaii: Kid Gifts

I tried an experiment this past trip. My husband had been brining home gifts just about every business trip. More often then not it is a new toy for each of the kids. This trip I tried getting the kids clothes instead. Before leaving, my son put in a request for a t-shirt with a monster riding a motorcycle making a funny face. My daughter said pretty flowers. So I was on a mission to find flowers for her and a motorcycle riding monster for him.

I flew through Arizona for my trip and I found a wonderful black t-shirt with all of the ‘terrifying’ critters of Arizona including a Gila monster. It even glowed-in-the- dark. Okay no motorcycle but I was hoping the glowed-in-the- dark feature would make up for it.

Who ever said all the chain stores are the same hasn’t realized the stock is partially dictated by the location. For some stores it might just mean which colors or sizes it is sent and for other it means the location has its own unique items. The Sears on Maui have a wonderful selection of Hawaiian print shirts and dresses, with many of them made in Hawaii. This is where I found a Hawaiian print shirt for each of the kids and a pretty pink dress for my daughter. The shirts were a hit since they had a bonus of cool Hawaiian turtles between the flowers. She calls her new dress her princess dress.

My host suggested getting the kids shirts which change colors in the sun. He knew they had to have at least one design with a ‘monster’ to keep my son happy. He took me to Del Sol on Front Street in Lahaina. I tested my host’s fashion sense and had him help me pick designs for each of the kids. For my son we picked one with a dragon and for my daughter we picked one with hibiscus flowers (Hawaii’s state flower).

I had found my pretty flowers for her and several monsters for him. They loved their new clothes so much they completely ignored the matching glow-in-the-dark turtles I slipped in. I was even forgiven for not finding a monster riding a motorcycle on a t-shirt. He says he’ll wait to see if we can find one at the Maryland Renaissance Festival this fall. (I hope the dragon print vendor returns.)