Hawaiian Beach Bum Wanna Be's

The Bellows

Our last day in Hawaii we decided we should try and get some family pictures on the beach. We headed over to the bellows which is a military facility mainly used for vacations for military personnel. It has some really pretty beaches and views. It was a little windy though so hair was flying everywhere and Brindi had a hard time looking into the wind. That is probably why she didn't smile much. But I think some of them turned out pretty good.

Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay is a Nature Preserve thats main purpose is to preserve the reef in the bay. It is the best place to go snorkeling. This was probably my favorite thing we did in Hawaii. The first time I went under I almost head bunted this two foot long teal looking fish. It was crazy. I think I also saw every fish that was in "Findind Nemo." It was pretty cool. The kids continued to love to play in the sand and I am sure Brindi consumed way more than she should have but what are you going to do.

I love this picture. You would think it was cold in Hawaii or something.

Sand BarOne day we headed over to the other side of the island and entered the marine base to rent a pantoon boat for the the day. About a mile or more off the shore there was a Sand Bar. When we arrived there was a portion of the sand bar about the size of a half a basketball court that was above the water. The rest of the sand bar was only about ankle deep which was pretty cool. We brought our lawn chairs and put them out in the middle of the sand bar where the water was barely covering the sand. It was actually a pretty cool little spot. We also brought the wake board to pull the kids around on. We had both, Bryant and Brindi on the board for a little bit. Brindi however would not get off the board. She loved being pulled around all over the sand bar. Some of the pictures you can see how excited she was. She was waving her arms, smiling and her ankles were turning as fast as I have ever seen them. A sure sign she is enjoying life. She is such a cute girl. After about a hour at the sand bar the portion that was above the water was not covered and it just kept getting deeper as the tide kept coming in. So we took off and headed back to the Marine Base. On the way we circled around coconut island the famous island where Giligan's Island was filmed.

Just chilin at the Sand Bar

On the ride back to the shore

Just hangin out on the boat

Wameai Beach

After our walk through the Wameai Valley we crossed the street to the beach on the North Shore. This is actually a really dangerous beach for kids. The water acts as a suction cup. The splashes up on the beach and the beach does not gradually decline into the ocean it has a pretty steep drop off so when the water reseeds it is actually sucked back into the sea practically pulling anything in the water into the ocean and sort of drags you under if you don't move. That is why you see Taryn giving Celeste the bear hug. And if you notice you can see Celeste's toes and that is because they are actually getting drug into the ocean. That is also why the water looks so dirty. You really have to grind your feet into the beach or drag your butt hard to stop yourself from getting drug in. Taryn had fun holding tight to Celeste and I but it was a little scary.

The first time we drove by this beach Celeste told this story of how when she was in Hawaii with a basketball team she jumped off this big rock into the ocean. Naturally I had to raz her a little bit. Its amazing what peer pressure can do. The above picture is my beautiful wife contemplating wether its worth jumping or living with her husband making fun of her for not jumping. She picked the first choice. She indeed jumped, but I missed it on the camera. I am just not as good as Celeste at taking pictures as you can see from the one she took of me below.

Laie Point

One day we took a quick trip to Laie Point. No beach but its close to the water. This hole in the rock was pretty sweet looking. The water around Hawaii is amazing. Towards the end of the point there were a ton of crabs as big as your hand. I tried getting a good picture of them but was attacked by a crashing crab. Also the rocky island that is shown below has this weird looking rock formation on top of. I can't imagine what idiot swam in the crazy water to get to the island to construct the formation. Oh well, it was cool to see.

Shark's Cove

After the Dole Plantation we made our way to Turtle Beach and Shark's Cove. Sad to say the turtles were not out so we didn't stay there long. We did try and get Brindi used to the water and as you can see she didn't want anything to do with it. But it must have been since she didn't have her swim suit on. Once we arrived at Shark's Cove and changed her into her swimsuit she was ready to go. She also learned how yummy sand tasted and seemed to not get enough of it even though Celeste and I tried really hard to prevent her from eating it to no avail. Once she was in the water she loved it. She really loved trying to walk in the water. But her and Bryant seemed to have a blast. We were able to stay there for quite a long time. Eventually the clouds decided to come in and we were rained out but it was great to be on the beach in such a beautiful place.

Finding more sand to eat!

Brindi helping cousin Bryant into the water.

Playing together in the water.
After a day at the Beach we had to stop by Matsumoto's for some shaved ice. Several people highly recommended this place and after my first sample I tried to convince Celeste and Amber to go to North Shore everyday just so I could get me another Shaved Ice. It is the greatest thing since sliced bread! If your ever in Hawaii make sure you stop by and don't forget the Ice Cream and Condensed Milk.

Hiking in Hawaii

Wameai Valley

This is our Anne Geddes picture of Brindi.

The Wameai Valley was a nature preserve that had a ton of trails going all over the place and botonical gardens throughout. There were also little stands here and there telling little known facts about the area, plant life, and what the natives used the valley for. It was fun going off on all the little trails. The main trail was paved and led up to a big waterfall.

Amber and Celeste strolling down the boardwalk.

The whole crew. Joe, Brindi, Celeste, Amber, Bryant, & Taryn.

This peacock was kind enough to strut his stuff when we were around and cocking and a crowing. It was pretty cool.

This is the waterfall at the end of the paved trail. This is also were a portion of the TV show LOST was filmed when the survivors returned to the island during the current season. It has this huge pool that your allowed to swim in as long as a lifeguard was on duty. We really didn't know what the hike would entail so we didn't bring our swimsuits but that didn't stop me from taking a swim. I was able to get right up into the waterfall. It reminded me a lot of the Spillway in Leamington.

Manoa Falls
Amber, Brindi, Celeste & Joe were the only ones that went on this hike.
Manoa Falls was the probably the prettiest hike we did, muddy but pretty. It was really green and thick with a lot of bamboo all over. The falls were pretty sad looking though, more of a trickle then any kind of waterfall. But at least it was a 100 foot trickle:) Is was was a fun hike.The Fam in front of the Falls.Manoa Falls and BrindiAmber Swinging Away.
Celeste Swinging High.
Joe's impression of Tarzen.

Diamond Head

One of the favorite places for tourists is to hike Diamond Head and hike up to the the abandoned bunkers. The picture below shows the top of the hike. Diamond Head is part of a huge crater and the park is inside the crater. Its a pretty cool hike. There were a ton of people on the trail and Celeste was on a mission to get a good work out so she carried Brindi up the mountain and passed as many people as she could. It was kind of funny and sad to see all the people out of air at the first corner and throughout the hike. The hike had a lot of switchbacks, a passage through a tunnel, up stairs and an almost crawl out of the bunker to get to the top. At the top of the crater you could see some of the prettiest views in all of Hawaii. Some of the pictures below show some of the views.

On top of the Bunker over looking Waikiki Beach. A view of Waikiki BeachThis is the lighthouse right below the bunker.


Kole Kole
We started off our Hawaiian vacation with a little hike to the top of Kole Kole. Because of Rick's (Celeste's brother-in-law) military rank we were able to do a lot of things that are only accessible to military personnel. Kole Kole being one of those places. Half way up the hike we passed by a large rock that had a small flat platelike area. Rick told us that there used to be an old Polyneisan lady that would sit there and tell visitors how this rock was used for Human Sacrafices and that it was mainly used for beheadings. Crazy Crazy! Brindi is sitting on the beheading spot. It was a pretty fun hike and once we got to the top we had a great view of the valley and ocean. It was great weather but one thing I didn't realize was how windy it is in Hawaii. The video below will demonstrate how windy it was and to think there are places with stronger wind. But as you can see Taryn almost had to hold on for dear life or she was going to be blown off the mountain.

Pearls before Sand

On our way to the beach we stopped off at the Dole Plantation. We didn't do any of the tours but walked around the gardens to see all the different variety of pineapple. I didn't realize how many different kinds there were. The coolest ones were the red ones as you can see in the picture. Unfortunately they turn to a regular color when they become ripe. When we were in the gift shop there was a lady selling clams guarunteeing that their would be a pearl inside and if we were lucky enough their may even be two. The lady did say she has yet to sell one with two pearls. Well Celeste decided to try her luck and luck would have it her clam produced two pink pearls! The lady drilled a couple holes into them so that she could make earings or a put them on a necklace. But my lady is quite the lucky one.

Pearl Harbor

One of the main places I wanted to see was Pearl Harbor. Celeste has already been to Hawaii so she had a lot of other information that she remembered that she could tell me. We walked around the museum for a little bit waiting for our turn to visist the Arizona Memorial. We watched a quick film on the history of how and why Pearl Harbor was bombed. The Arizona had the majority of their crew still on board sleeping when the bombs hit. That is why the Arizona is so famous because that is where the majority of the causalties happened. One thing the film didn't mention but Celeste told me was the reason all of the crew members were still on the ship was because they won the music band competition the night before their prize was to sleep in the next day...the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. After the film they took us by boat out to the Memorial. It was a touching experience. This is the piture of what the USS Arizona looked like.

This is the actual anchor of the USS Arizona.
Behind us you can still see portions of the Arizona above the sea level. Another interesting thing is the ship still leaks oil into the ocean. You can see the contrast floating out from under the memorial.

This is the wall with all those who died aboard the USS Arizona
We also stopped by the USS Utah, again a place/memorial only accessible by military personnel. The USS Utah was also bombed by the Japanese. As you can see it's remains still float above the sea level. There were 53 soldiers that lost their lives aboard the Utah.
This funny looking object is huge and rests in the Pearl Harbor bay. No one seems to know much about it or what it does except sometimes it floats out to sea for a few days and then comes back. People told us they think it is some type of satellite of radar device. I personally think its part of the Dharma Initiative:)

Slid'n and a Cruis'n

We headed over to the park the other day and gave Brindi her first opportunity to take on the slides. Were pretty sure she liked by looking at her hands and feet. Those movements are our indicators that she enjoyed it. Were looking forward to spending a lot of time there this summer as Brindi learns how to walk.

Brindi also loves her little car. Usually Celeste or me are pushing her around but she must of grown an inch because now her feet reach the floor and she can get around pretty good. When she doesn't have anything on her feet she really cruises.

Beautiful Surprise

This spring brought us a great surprise. In our front yard we have a big flower bed that leads up to the front porch. Well I kept thinking all winter that once spring came we needed to do something with it so that our house looked more presentable. Well lucky for us and to our great surprise once it started to warm up we began to see tons of little flower buds popping through the ground. It was actually kind of exciting because neither of us are very plant smart and so we didn't know what was growing...but we do now and I absolutely love them!!! They are so bright and beautiful and when you walk out our door they smell so good! Brindi loves them too!!! I don't know who planted them...but I am so glad they are there. It has been the best surprise since moving into our new home. We still have some work to do, but at least we have somewhere to start!

Doctors appointments, Interviews, haircuts, and becoming a cookie monster.

This week Brindi has been dragged around and around. Tuesday she had her 9 month check up. She is 27 1/2 long (50%), I honestly don't think she grew at all. She weights 16 lbs 11 oz (10%) and her head is 43.7 cm(45%). She had to get three shots, I think she knew they were coming because she did not want to lay on the table, but she was all better and happy when the nurse gave her a vanilla wafer...the nurse knew the way to her heart. Thursday she had to come along with me to do some interviews for the two final papers that I have to write for my classes. The ladies at the TH loved her! They kept taking turns holding her and each of them had to give her a hug before we left. She did pretty good considering that we were there for over two hours and she had to just sit there and listen to mom ask questions. Of course it helped that the program director kept giving her girl scout cookies. She was of course in heaven! It was kind of funny actually. The lady I was interviewing left to get me some papers so I would know what she was talking about and the PD came in and saw the cookies on the table so she started to open a box, Brindi was sitting on my lap staring at the PD, the PD then went to the kitchen to get some scissors to open one of the bags of cookies and Brindi kept pushing me away and trying to look into the kitchen. When the PD came back out Brindi kept going "huh,huh" that's her way of saying she wants some. So of course the PD gave her not just one, but two and then when we were walking out the door she gave her another one for the road...I don't know if she's ever had that much sugar before, but she loved it! I really think we have created a cookie monster between the doctor's office and the TH. Joe and I really do try to feed her healthy, but it was a room full of Grandma's so there wasn't much I could do...you know Grandma's they get their way with their grandkids and everyone else's grandkids. Afterwords we went to Costco and the mall since I was dying to just go anywhere(oh the joys of one car) And before I knew it, it was time to pick up Joe. After picking him up we stopped by this salon and spa where I had a coupon for a free haircut. Well they said that they could cut right then so I said okay since Brindi was asleep in her car seat and Joe said he had work that he could do while they waited. Needless to say after our day of running around she was beat! I'm sure glad she is a good baby and will just indulge her mom a little.

16...Yeah Right!

We have been lucky to get a few 60 or higher degree days and so we decided we better take advantage of it. Our nice neighbor has a girl who is too old for her baby/toddler toys and decided to give them to Brindi. Lucky Girl! So when the weather started to get nice, Brindi was not going to wait until she was 16, it was off to the race track (cult-a-sac). Brindi loves cruising around the cult-a-sac in her new ride. As you can see she already has her rancher/farmer look with the one hand on the wheel and they other out the window. We are ready for Spring to come and stay!

Too Cute!

This morning when I got home from running I walked into the kitchen and this is what I found... a cute little girl...pantless and all...it was just too cute! Plus the fact that she looks like she just woke up. She is so funny about her little car. Joe pushes her around when he gets home and she usually cries when he stops. She loves it. Oh yeah, she also has two top teeth starting to peek through. I couldn't get a picture of those though.