Something to Make You Jealous
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Is it cold where you are? Snowing? Raining? The grass is yellow and crispy and the trees are bare? Are you lips chapped? Your skin dry?
Well, then you'll love to see some photos from our family outing yesterday, right?
Hehe.
We stuffed our big black backpack with towels and sunscreen and snacks and books and other must-have beach items and headed out to Hanauma Bay.
The bay can be really crowded, so much so that the parking lot is full and no new visitors are allowed in until someone leaves, but we were fortunate. The parking lot had several open spaces, and there wasn't even a line for admission.
Except for the gas it takes to drive to Hanauma Bay, it is an essentially free day of fun in the sun. Parking is a beyond reasonable $1, and Kama'aina can play in the bay for free. We're technically not Kama'aina, but military stationed on the island gets free admission, too. And children are free. Pretty neat.
We had to watch the video...again...because it had been too long since the last time we'd visited, but the kids enjoy the short little movie about the formation of the bay with cautions about snorkeling and not stepping on the reef, harassing the sea turtles, or feeding any fish in the bay. The seating is just carpet-covered bars at about butt-height that you can kind of sit on or lean up against. A girl (early 20s maybe?) in front of us fell off her bar in the middle of the film. That was sincerely great. She wasn't hurt, and it was really funny.
The bay is pretty far down, Adrian estimated it at about a quarter mile. Going downhill is great, it's uphill that's a pain in the ass. Here's a pic of the bay from the walk down:
And here's a picture of an aerial image of part of the island. The bay is (obviously) the little open doo-dad near the bottom left. Pretty neat.
We had a lot of fun. Adrian and the boys played tag for and nearly knocked over an old lady. Adrian and I took turns snorkeling (I know you're really supposed to go with a buddy, but one of us has to stay behind with the kids).
Everytime I snorkel, I always have trouble getting used to it. The water is so shallow for the longest way out into the ocean, but when I stick my head in the water, I always breath like I'm about to be executed. I try so hard to suck in air like it's in short supply. I have to remind myself to calm down. Eventually my breathing will become more normal and I'll feel more confident about exploring. It's weird that I get so freaked out considering that if I really were having trouble breathing all I'd have to do is stand up. Haha.
The water was wave-y yesterday so we didn't go out too far. It's no big deal, really, since many fish will come almost all the way up to the shore. I swam (using the term loosely) out just a small bit and saw all kinds of fish. I saw tons of the white and black striped Convict Tang fish that seem to flourish in the bay. I also saw one that was mostly black with white stripes. And a cool black fish with a rainbow stripe on him. There was a great big scaly fish that was plain off-white. Pretty neat.
Then I saw this HUGE freakin' black fish with big eyes and a scary mouth. And the waves kicked up. And they pushed me toward him. I am scared of fish. I can snorkel so long as I don't come too close to the fish. If I accidentally touched one I might be traumatized for life. So I started pushing myself away from the big black fish, but the waves kept pushing me closer. You can't scream with the snorkel mouthpiece in your mouth. I was able to gargle "Oh no...Oh no...Oh no...Oh no..." over and over again until I made it to shore. I hate fish so much.
One time Adrian got chased by a Puffer fish in the bay. That was funny.
When I got back from snorkeling, Adrian and the boys were eating peanut butter snack bars and they were surrounded by birds. Seriously, surrounded. I handed the snorkeling gear to Adrian and sat down for a snack bar of my own. The birds are very accustomed to people and they will actually eat food right out of your hand. There were a ton of ugly pigeons around and a couple of what Adrian said were Finches. I wanted to feed a Finch.
Damn jerky pigeons were pushy, and they weren't going to let a Finch get anywhere near any food. I gave up and decided to just eat my bar. Bad idea.
One of those pigeons flew at me. Right at me. He tried to steal my peanut butter bar.
OK, I'm not really scared of birds per say, but I don't like having one of them flying close to my face. And I certainly don't like one of them taking my peanut butter bar.
Adrian was out near the water, adjusting the face mask, and saw the would-be pigeon attack. My knight in shining armor came to rescue me from the birds. He shooed them away, and just as he was about to head out for the water again, that pigeon bastard came back by for round two. He still didn't get my peanut butter bar. I ate it fast after that.
There was splashing and playing. Snorkeling and tag. Sand in places where it doesn't belong, and complaints that "he splashed water in my eyes." And there was the part where I stuck my finger in pigeon poop because I thought it was a rock and I planned to sweep it off the beach towel. Ugh. It was a fun day, though.
Not a bad way to spend a January afternoon. Hehe.
Well, then you'll love to see some photos from our family outing yesterday, right?
Hehe.
We stuffed our big black backpack with towels and sunscreen and snacks and books and other must-have beach items and headed out to Hanauma Bay.
The bay can be really crowded, so much so that the parking lot is full and no new visitors are allowed in until someone leaves, but we were fortunate. The parking lot had several open spaces, and there wasn't even a line for admission.
Except for the gas it takes to drive to Hanauma Bay, it is an essentially free day of fun in the sun. Parking is a beyond reasonable $1, and Kama'aina can play in the bay for free. We're technically not Kama'aina, but military stationed on the island gets free admission, too. And children are free. Pretty neat.
We had to watch the video...again...because it had been too long since the last time we'd visited, but the kids enjoy the short little movie about the formation of the bay with cautions about snorkeling and not stepping on the reef, harassing the sea turtles, or feeding any fish in the bay. The seating is just carpet-covered bars at about butt-height that you can kind of sit on or lean up against. A girl (early 20s maybe?) in front of us fell off her bar in the middle of the film. That was sincerely great. She wasn't hurt, and it was really funny.
The bay is pretty far down, Adrian estimated it at about a quarter mile. Going downhill is great, it's uphill that's a pain in the ass. Here's a pic of the bay from the walk down:
And here's a picture of an aerial image of part of the island. The bay is (obviously) the little open doo-dad near the bottom left. Pretty neat.
We had a lot of fun. Adrian and the boys played tag for and nearly knocked over an old lady. Adrian and I took turns snorkeling (I know you're really supposed to go with a buddy, but one of us has to stay behind with the kids).
Everytime I snorkel, I always have trouble getting used to it. The water is so shallow for the longest way out into the ocean, but when I stick my head in the water, I always breath like I'm about to be executed. I try so hard to suck in air like it's in short supply. I have to remind myself to calm down. Eventually my breathing will become more normal and I'll feel more confident about exploring. It's weird that I get so freaked out considering that if I really were having trouble breathing all I'd have to do is stand up. Haha.
The water was wave-y yesterday so we didn't go out too far. It's no big deal, really, since many fish will come almost all the way up to the shore. I swam (using the term loosely) out just a small bit and saw all kinds of fish. I saw tons of the white and black striped Convict Tang fish that seem to flourish in the bay. I also saw one that was mostly black with white stripes. And a cool black fish with a rainbow stripe on him. There was a great big scaly fish that was plain off-white. Pretty neat.
Then I saw this HUGE freakin' black fish with big eyes and a scary mouth. And the waves kicked up. And they pushed me toward him. I am scared of fish. I can snorkel so long as I don't come too close to the fish. If I accidentally touched one I might be traumatized for life. So I started pushing myself away from the big black fish, but the waves kept pushing me closer. You can't scream with the snorkel mouthpiece in your mouth. I was able to gargle "Oh no...Oh no...Oh no...Oh no..." over and over again until I made it to shore. I hate fish so much.
One time Adrian got chased by a Puffer fish in the bay. That was funny.
When I got back from snorkeling, Adrian and the boys were eating peanut butter snack bars and they were surrounded by birds. Seriously, surrounded. I handed the snorkeling gear to Adrian and sat down for a snack bar of my own. The birds are very accustomed to people and they will actually eat food right out of your hand. There were a ton of ugly pigeons around and a couple of what Adrian said were Finches. I wanted to feed a Finch.
Damn jerky pigeons were pushy, and they weren't going to let a Finch get anywhere near any food. I gave up and decided to just eat my bar. Bad idea.
One of those pigeons flew at me. Right at me. He tried to steal my peanut butter bar.
OK, I'm not really scared of birds per say, but I don't like having one of them flying close to my face. And I certainly don't like one of them taking my peanut butter bar.
Adrian was out near the water, adjusting the face mask, and saw the would-be pigeon attack. My knight in shining armor came to rescue me from the birds. He shooed them away, and just as he was about to head out for the water again, that pigeon bastard came back by for round two. He still didn't get my peanut butter bar. I ate it fast after that.
There was splashing and playing. Snorkeling and tag. Sand in places where it doesn't belong, and complaints that "he splashed water in my eyes." And there was the part where I stuck my finger in pigeon poop because I thought it was a rock and I planned to sweep it off the beach towel. Ugh. It was a fun day, though.
Not a bad way to spend a January afternoon. Hehe.
