Home Again.

We had a delightful time eating in the formal dining room at PacCom overlooking all of Pearl Harbor all the way to Diamond Head. The "local plate" was delicious and an iced tea to die for! Dave showed us around where he works and we almost got to meet the Admiral, but he was on the phone with someone important. We left there and headed to the airport and gave kisses and hugs and got "come back soon" comments, so are working on our next trip! What a fun time. Great family time and lots of great shared and John and Jean adventures. This is a marvelous place to come visit! Truly one of God's great achievements! The flights home all went well....amazing how quiet LA airport is at midnight! That wonderful Pam Chapman was there to pick us up armed with muffins and cold water....bless her heart. Took us home and we got moved back in. John mowed the lawn and we got unpacked and a little settled in before our next adventure. It will be hard to beat this one! We had a GREAT time! Thank you Jill, Dave, Colin, Ryan and Riley! Mohala!

Hanauma Bay

Our final full day here :-( We were all going to head out to Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve but both boys got up with a fever so John and Jean went. It's a marvelous place to snorkel...or just walk around the sand by the reefs. Today was an extremely low low tide so the fish were easily visible just walking around. But when John went snorkeling it was outstanding. We headed home just as the boys were going down for naps. The rest of the afternoon was getting stuff together and a few last minute errands. Had a great family dinner and watched a brief show of our Patagonia pictures. Up in the morning and packing and then we're going to lunch with Dave at PacCom Headquarters and then the airport for a very long journey home. It's been a wonderful fun-filled adventure with lots of great family time together and we can hardly wait to return!!!

Sunday at St. Clement's and Aiea Loop hike

We had the privilege of attending St. Clement's Episcopal Church this morning. Rev. Michael Barham is the Associate Rector there. Michael went to Belize with John and other Duke students 7 or so years ago and worked on a cantina at Gracie Rock. It was a great reunion! Now the whole family is off for a hike along the Aiea Loop.

The hike was super and just up the road. We were in trees almost the whole way...and the last half was most ferns and tree ferns. There were some gorgeous overlooks of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. Colin walked almost the whole 4.5+ miles and Ryan rode on Dave's back and enjoyed at least half of the hike. One dramatic moment when he grabbed a branch that was overhanging the trail with both hands and about took both of them out. It was a delightful afternoon and we came home and Mom treated us a homemade smoothies - YUM! Another fun day in Hawaii.

Ka'ena Point Trail from the leeward side of Oahu

We had a grand hike along the rugged coastline of the leeward side of Oahu today. It was about a 2.5 mile hike to the point where the Ka'ena Point National Wildlife Reserve is located. After a great walk along the amazing coast with gorgeous water and huge volcanic lava flow beaches we were treated to courting and nesting Albatross and a couple of chicks as well as Monk Seals at the very end of the point! It was a gorgeous day with great breezes off the water. We also saw a good number of Black Noddy's on one of the cliffs. The tide was out when we started and coming in when we were walking back so the sea urchins were beginning to be covered. The difference between low and high tide is fairly small here so you don't have the extremes we're used to. Also the tidepools tend to have only small fish and an occasional urchin or coral. The reefs however, are quite another story. This weekend they were having a fishing contest so there were lots of fishermen and sons out. It was interesting talking to them. Most were native Hawaiians and they shared alot of their culture with us. Very nice folks. We returned home after a brief stop at the lagoons and chilled the rest of the day. It's certainly fun getting exercise around here!

USS Arizona Memorial

A very solemn place.

Bishop Museum, Art on Lanei and Officers Club for dinner

Woke up to rain so decided it was a good day to go visit the Bishop Museum, begun in 1889 to "enrich and delight" the people of Hawaii. It was a right squeeze under the frog umbrella! They have a new Science Adventure Center where this great volcano erupts with great rumbling, steaming and spewing of water. A place we returned to time and again! They also had an animation exhibit. Unfortunately a lot of the historical area was being renovated so didn't get to see it. The last thing we did was go to the show about the stars in the Hawaiian sky in the planetarium where Colin got to see how the big star projector worked following the show. Then home for lunch, rest time and then some creative art work on the lanei before Dad got home and we headed for the Hickham Air Force Base Officers Club for Thursday night Mongolian BBQ! YUM! Ryan tried his hand at chopsticks...after he finished most of his dinner! Another delightful fun day. Boy, we'll be heading out of here before we know it :-( so are working on the calendar to get in a few more things before heading home next Tuesday.

Makapu'u Point Lighthouse Hike

It was a leisurely morning as Daddy didn't have to be in to work until 9:30 :-) The five of us decided to return to Makapu'u Point Lighthouse and hike up to the overlook and was it beautiful! We were now in desert conditions with loads of prickly pear cactus, century plants and aloe plants. Colin walked almost all the way up and took alot of great pictures. Ryan did great on the top climbing around the rocks. Jill got a real workout pushing the stroller up the hill and back down the 2 1/2 mile trip! Then we stopped at the Halona Blowhole and watched her blow her steam and then great spews of water. Another brief stop was made to check out Hanauma Bay where there is supposed to be superb snorkeling....another day. We returned home with two boys asleep and three adults ready for a nap so had a quiet couple of hours. A great evening with Daddy home :-) More great Hawaiian adventures!