Hi Five and Fish!

A day of very important errands! We gathered all the bottles and aluminum cans and headed for Hi-Five to collect our deposit money! Colin gets to keep this for his bank and he does a great job making sure all of them make it to the recycling bin! Then we headed for the pet shop to buy new fish for the fish tank. They had fish in Va. Beach but we waiting for us before they bought news ones so six new goldfish and an algae eater came home today and were installed in their new home. They seem to be very happy. We also stopped at the library to pick up some new books and Colin used his new library card. A very fun day...and best of all Dave just walked in the door at 8:15! Yea!

Shark's Cove on the North Shore

We found another great spot today on Oahu - Shark's Cove! It was another enclosed area with wonderful fish. John, Colin and Jean snorkeled today and saw great fish. A new one we saw was a Christmas Wrass on this page. Also lots of sea urchins and quite a number of fish we can't identify--to the library tomorrow to find out their names! Colin met some kids that were finding snails so he was explaining them to his Mom and Ryan. As we were leaving the tide was coming in and there was a great waterfall as the waves began to crash over the rocks. It was a great day of adventure on the North Shore. We snorkeled and then returned to Haliewa to the Bakery and had a wonderful Hawaiian fresh fruit smoothy from a local store....sublime! Then we decided to go to the end of the road on the North Shore and it was wonderful volcanic rocks with small tide pools. We found crabs and alot of coral as well as great waves. Headed home to a fun rainstorm and Colin and Grandma did some great rain splashing. They don't seem to have thunder and lightning storms here so it's great to go out in the rain and have fun. A more restful day but full of excitement and fun. The boys were great--and Mom too! Daddy home tomorrow :-)

East Oahu

We went to church this morning at St. George's Episcopal Church in Honolulu, just a few minutes from Jill's. It was a nice service and we returned for lunch, a quick rest time and then headed to the windward side of Oahu. We drove through the mountain in a new tunnel and came out on the other side to beautiful turquoise water looking down on Kaneohe Bay. We then drove further down into Waimanolo where Magnum's house was and on to an absolutely stunning beach. Talcum powder sand, blue green water, calm seas, islands, a lighthouse to the right and a long tree lined beach. A real find.....a return sight. As we were on a schedule, we headed further on and found the path to the lighthouse and drove on with the resolve to return this week to climb to it and then on to the North Shore and back into Honolulu. Jill had a class that started at 5:00 and she was only 10 minutes late after she dropped us off. We had a fun dinner and evening with the boys all to ourselves :-) It was another beautiful day in Hawaii!

The Lyon Arboretum

After a nice leisurely morning with the family, John and I ventured off to the Lyon Arboretum in Honolulu. It's associated with the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is a research center. It's located way up the Manoa Valley. The flowers were incredible. Huge philodendron with 100' aerial roots hanging down, giant Begonia bushes, Indonesian cockatoos screaming throughout the rainforest. Hot, humid and loaded with mosquitos, but a great afternoon walk! A new adventure around every corner. Then home to play with the boys....who could ask for a better Saturday?

Headed back to Oahu

The sunshine was bright and welcoming this morning as we prepared to leave Kauai after a wonderful week! We watched the doves and red headed cardinals enjoy the remains of the bread on our porch and then had breakfast. We finished packing and got on swim suits for one last swim in the pool. Both boys have turned into water bugs here. They were having a surfboard demonstration this morning and they got to stand on the surfboards...quite a thrill. We loaded up the car--and it was loaded and headed for the airport. We made a couple a great stops on the way. We visited Wailua Falls and then drove to Lydgate Beach where they have a marvelous playground. Had a quick lunch and then played on all the climbing apparatus. Then time to head for the airport. John dropped all our "stuff" and us off at the departure area and returned the car and then we checked through and waited for the plane to come. We got to watch several planes land and take off. It was a very fast 30 minute flight home and then loaded everything into a taxi. There was this elderly Chinese gentleman that was the driver that kept saying "need bigger car", but we made it! It was a glorious stay and a definite place to return to! A must see if you're heading to Hawaii!

Tunnel Beach and Kilauea Light House

We had another great day today! Sunshine and great beaches! The breakers at Tunnel Beach are way out, but the surfers were having a ball! Fortunately, there is a small reef between the shore and those great breakers that left Tunnel Beach fairly calm. Jill and John did a little snorkeling but it was too rough for the little guys except right by the shore....but we had fun anyway! We spent the morning at the beach and returned home and had lunch and then rest time. The pictures from the beach are of Bali Hi--from South Pacific and some of the tremendous waves as well as a pipe fish that John got while snorkeling. Jean and John headed back to the Kilauea Light House and Wildlife Refuge to get more bird pictures and got some really good ones.













The bird pictures from the lighthouse are 2 Albatross, a red tailed tropic bird, a nana goose (State bird) and a red footed Boobie on her nest. We saw one egg but not sure if she had more. We came home and Jill and the boys were at the pool so we joined them and then returned to leftovers....back to Oahu tomorrow afternoon. It's been a glorious stay and we all agreed it was definitely a place to return.

Colin's first day of snorkeling

Decided to try Tunnel's Beach today. Boy, what a great decision! The reef is way out with great breakers so you can enjoy watching the waves but be in a very large pool area with a lava flow running through it so nice sandy areas to walk through the lava rocks. The snorkeling was GREAT! John and Jill went out first and then Colin got ready and headed out on Mom's back and ended up snorkeling by just holding on to her arm! Congratulations Colin! He loved the fish he could see with his head under water! Ryan also had a ball just jumping and playing Ring around the Rosey. He's a water bug! What a great morning! We headed back to Bali Hi for lunch and rest time and then took a hike down to the Queen's Baths (above). On the way back Colin and Grandma saw some Albatross, one on the roof of a house and another in a driveway. One of them waddled away which we thought was very funny. John and I went out to dinner and had a delightful evening. Great day!