Another beach day with Grandy (Grandma and Randy)

We were determined to get Grandma snorkeling.  She said she liked being on top of the water lots better than being in the water, but Three Tables is the perfect snorkeling beach so we pushed her into it, and she ended up loving it.  We had planned a whole beach day on Saturday after a whole day at the PCC.  Saturday it was raining, but luckily we were just planning on being wet, so we kept swimming.  It rained all day and all day we swam and snorkeled and kayaked and it was a great day, it kept all the locals away, and most of the tourists.  It was all lots of fun quality time with Grandy!

 First- more snorkeling pics, because I love taking pictures of fish, and Jillyn learned to love being under the water just as much as she likes being on top of it.

This was the first time I had seen this fish, he is called an orangespine unicorn fish. 

I love this guy.  He is a bullethead parrotfish and he is over a foot long.

Matty was a little nervous about the idea of fish swimming below her and didn't want to go out where the fish lived, but I finally got some goggles on her and we saw some fish.  She was especially excited to see her humuhumu!

I went out snorkeling by myself, which is a treat, since I am usually on Matty duty (which is also fun) but I can't take pictures when I am fishing with her.  All of the sudden this whole school of Convict Tangs was coming at me! The other fish were the warden fish I guess (ha ha ha!)

It was so fun to follow them, I yelled up at Randy, Kyle and the kids who were boogie boarding nearby and Randy was the only one that came to see them.  It was thrilling.  

 We also took the kayak out for the first time on the rain day.  Kyle and I went out on it at 3 Tables and paddled it all the way to Waimea.  It is a great boat.  Everyone had a blast in that thing.

When we switched beaches, Kyle, Emily and George paddled it over so we didn't have to get it back on top of the suburban.  Kyle and I took it straight out from Waimea until the water got really blue and I got really nervous.

Another awesome foot selfie.  Only 46 and a half miles to go and we will be in Kauai!

 We turned it around and Kyle jumped in.  I took this awesome picture from INSIDE the boat, just sticking the camera under the water.  I love that his reflexion is above him.  I also am continually in awe of how blue and clear the water is.

 Luckily I took the picture before he did this!  A little too much freedom. I am sure I made some kind of remark about his shark bait....
 Redressed and back in the boat, we headed back for Waimea.  It rained on us nearly all day, but if we had planned anything else for that day it would have been ruined.  I saw a big rock jutting up out of the water right in front of us as we were about half way back to the beach and told Kyle to steer clear of it.  He said, that is not a rock, it is a turtle.  It was a big one!  His head was the size of a softball.  They are really fast, finally after 4 failed attempts at getting his picture above water, Kyle stuck the camera under the water and just clicked and this is what he got!

Perfection.  This one is getting framed for the boys room when we get home! Even though this underwater camera has proven itself time and again, I was especially grateful Jillyn brought her big fancy one so she could capture the cliff jumping. (and so I could be in a few pictures too).

 The local boys think they are so cool, hanging out on the rock all day and every time, Kyle impresses them.  This time I think George impressed them too.

They have all become beach bums, okay all of us have become beach bums!

Here are a few more great pictures from another beach day that I hijacked from Jillyn's blog!

We went to pipeline to find some waves and found a seal (or sea lion) instead!  He was awesome and as I was running down the beach trying to get some pictures, Jillyn just took this fantastic one with her giant lens.  He was huge! and awesome!

They did find a few waves too and even though they were few and far between the rush was worth it.

Parasailing...WWWHHHHHAAAT?

It was awesome.

I told the kids they could each pick one big thing to do while we were here.  Emily picked parasailing, then George and Evan decided that they wanted to do it too.  Matty was too young, or at least that is what they say on the phone!  We drove the windward side of the island down to Waikiki, found another bridge, the Queen's summer home (which was not that impressive), and spent a little more time basking in the joy of Kualoa Ranch.
I am not even going to post any of those because we were on our way to go PARASAILING!!!

We showed up early so we went down to see the beach...not a great sand beach, but we weren't looking for sand today!  We paid for 4 sailers and 4 observers, but then we got on the boat and told the captain that the three big kids were the only ones that wanted to do it, but they didn't weigh enough, so the grown ups had to go with them. He just basically told us: boys against girls.  Get them suited up, and just like that we were all going parasailing.  Randy of course was up for it, but Grandma was on the fence (as was Kyle) but when the captain said Matty could do it...no one had any excuses left!

The assistant took our pictures (for a small fee) but it was so great to have them, since this was something we all wanted lots of proof of for later!
The boys were first, after about 30 seconds of instructions they were on their way!

 Evan's eyes just kept getting bigger, and bigger..

 Kyle was trying hard up to this point to not look scared, but I think this picture revealed his true feelings! George was just excited.

 He took them up a little way and then dunked them in the water a little.  Then off they went.  750 feet of little yellow line between them and the boat.

Somehow after he had reeled them in about half way he just let them drop into the sea....it was a little scary but they just skimmed the top of the water again and then kept floating.

George took an awesome selfie while he was up there.

The water was so incredibly blue.  This toe shots really show how far up they were! So glad he grabbed his camera!

Now it is the girls turn.

 Matty was pretty nervous, she wasn't nervous about the flying, she was nervous about the dips into the water she watched the boys take.  She didn't want to fall into the water.

 Trying to keep Matty calm and happy was my priority so I was not as nervous as I probably would have been if it had just been me and Emily.  It was really really awesome up there.

 Finally a smile out of her!  She giggled when we got all wet.  She liked it all.  

 Really puts us in perspective, ya?

 Another picture, full of love and joy...priceless and an awesome view of Waikiki and Diamondhead in the background!

 Emily was in heaven.  She kept saying, this is the best thing we've ever done.  It was so worth it!

I took some selfies up there too but mine weren't as bright as George's.

Me and my Emy

 Nobody can beat that foot selfie!  I totally win!

 Good choice of adventures Em!

 This one is my all time favorite!  Look at the land in the background...we were SO high.  She was not sure about that, but she was a trooper. She just soaked it in.

 Coming back down to semi-solid ground.  Everyone was taking pictures of us while I took pictures of them.

 Jillyn and Randy were next!

 Randy is a little too fearless.  He has the heart of a 17 year old teenager.  He was swaying, and going no handed and just having the time of his life!

 Jillyn was so proud of herself.  It was the most daring thing she has ever done! We both made sure we took some pictures with our cell phones too so we could post instantly to Facebook and Instagram so the world would know how brave we are!

These experiences...there just aren't words....I have always been so concerned about the cost of things, but this trip has really made me realize that the benefit of the experience outweighs the financial cost e.v.e.r.y. time. (especially if a grandma helps with the bill -thanks Grandy) We have never been closer or happier.  I sure hope the aloha spirit comes home with us, and stays.