Haleiwa to Waikiki

Monday morning we went into the town of Haleiwa (the "w" is pronounced like a "v"). This is the town where we are staying and where John and Laura live. It's a cute little westernie sorta town but with surf shops instead of rawhide shops or whatever a western town would have. We did some shopping, watched a man making glass what-have-ya's, and the kids and Dad got a shaved ice with beans (? N8 said it was good) while Mom did yet a little more shopping. Back at the condo, we put on more "skumcreme" as Jill says and spent the afternoon on "our" beach. The greatest thing about Haleiwa is that there is hardly anyone on the beach and it's beautiful! Most of the time we basically had the place to ourselves. This afternoon we did share it with a monk seal, however. They are endangered so we were privileged to see it. Monday evening the gang came over for pizza. The owners of the condo we are staying at also own an Italian restaurant in town. Uncle John bought Lucas a "Lukulele" which absolutely made his day. We've been playing "guess what song I'm playing" ever since. As you can imagine this can be quite difficult since they all consist of strumming the same string over and over.

Tuesday we decided that we needed to get out and see the countryside. Surf was up so we headed up North to Waimea Bay, Sunset Beach, & Pipeline....for those of you not married to a surfer, those are big time surf spots. Pipeline was big but poor shape so only boogie boarders were out. All I have to say is that they are all nuts and I was glad my nut was sitting beside me on the beach. For lunch we grabbed some food at the local grocery store and headed across the street to Shark's cove. We found this really neat spot of beach off by itself and once again we had the place to ourselves. The waves looked like they would come up on the beach and take us out but instead they would crash on the rocks and send spray flying in the air. It was really awesome to watch their power.

That evening, Laura invited us over to their house for another yummy home-cooked meal. Once again we had a really nice time with them. I'm glad we had this chance to get to know Laura a bit.

Wednesday dawned beautiful. The big waves of yesterday were replaced with nice little rollers just perfect for the kids to play in and wouldn't you know, we have to leave. We regretted leaving the country for the city but as Lucas put it, "I'm glad our vacation isn't over or else I'd be really sad!" Lucas had made friends with the grounds keeper of the condo complex so we had to get a picture of them together. Most every day Lucas would start helping him pick up leaves or whatever with great gusto which quickly faded to just jabbering the poor man's ear off. We got to our hotel around 3 o'clock and got settled in our room on the 30th floor. It is a little unnerving looking over the edge of our balcony. We had to answer a barrage of questions as to the consequences of anything going over the railing ("but what if I had a parachute?"). After being assured that either death, imprisonment or sever punishment would have to be endured if anything found it's way over the top, he settled down to serenading the neighborhood - someday a video will follow.

Thursday, Nathan finally had to go back to work. As he put it, he had to go through "family withdrawal". The kids and I did some shopping or more accurately looking and saying "no, we are just looking". When we got back to the hotel we took our lunch to the pool area. Unfortunately, while we were there the sun was elsewhere and with the ever present breeze, it was downright cold. After a few dips in the hot tub we went back to our room for naps. When Nathan got back it was off to Duke's for dinner. I guess we should branch out but every time we are here we have to go to Duke's.

Saturday morning we headed to the beach first thing which still wasn't soon enough for the kids. When we got there, Lucas saw his friend, Tyler (Doug), and they both ran across the sand with there arms open wide and met with a big bear hug! They played all morning. Nathan was able to rent a surf board so he and Colten caught a few waves. Eventually, the rest of the clan showed up and we had a lovely day sitting in the sun, snorkeling and generally doing as little as possible. For dinner we grilled up hot dogs & shared some good laughs. Kit, Laura, Lucas and I walked up the beach a bit and saw some sea turtles making their way up the beach (Randy and I also saw one snorkeling). Very cool.

On Sunday we woke up to pouring rain. Thankfully it stopped long enough for us to get to John's for Breaking of Bread with out getting too drenched. Afterwards, we all went out for some delicious fresh fish. Colten had to leave for the airport after dinner, so we all went our separate ways. When we got home, realized the kids were not inclined to take their naps and saw a little sun poking out, we headed for the beach again. Lucas worked up the courage to go snorkeling and surprised his Mother at how well he did. He saw "hundreds" of fish but didn't get to see a turtle. Maybe tomorrow...

Showering off - a highlight for Jill.

We made it!

We, by the grace of God, made it to the airport with 2 hours to spare even though it was pouring rain on the 405 during the beginning of rush hour, only to learn that our flight left at 8:45 instead of 9:45 (it is going to be a good long while before someone lives that down). Amazingly enough we still got on the plane in time and all was well, except we didn't get our morning cup of coffee. The rest of our trip was uneventfully and we arrived to beautiful warm weather with just a touch of lovely Hawaii humidity. I could tell Jill was reaching the end of her travelling tolerance when she asked, as we were travelling down the highway, if she could drive the car and then burst out crying when we said no.

Our condo is decidedly not the lap of luxury but nice enough and the sound of the waves makes up for any shortcomings. As soon as we arrived Nathan took two very excited kids down to the beach. Lucas is all jazzed because he met a new friend whom (who?) he called Doug but his Grandma called him a diffrent name that I can't remember now so we will have to figure that one out today. We had dinner at John and Laura's with Randy and Kit, Colt O'Brien, and Steve (Miller). They have a really cute little house just a couple of blocks from us. We are looking forward to spending more time with them today!

One last note...when I woke Lucas yesterday, I whispered in his ear "time to go to Hawaii!" and almost before his eye opened he raised both hands above his head and said with a big smile, "Yes!". =)