London's Ears

Well, today we finally gave in to peer pressure and pierced London's ears. I tried to prepare her for how much it would hurt but I still don't think that she was expecting it to be as painful as it was! So here are the step by step photos so you can experience it with her. Luckily she had a birthday party to go to afterwards so the excitement of showing everyone dulled the pain.

SCUBA Dave

While Zach and Amy were here, Zach and I got SCUBA certified. We finished the open water certification about three days before Zach left so I had to get my advanced open water certification without him. (It was sad because Zach looked good in his wetsuit) These photos are from the five dives it takes to get the advanced. There are two required underwater navigation (swimming with a compass) and a deep dive. We went to the Corsair which is 107' deep. (small one-seater plane). After that you could chose three adventure dives. I did a night dive at Hanauma Bay, a boat dive and a drift dive (let the current take you along and the boat picks you up when you run out of air). All and all it was a lot of fun, but kind of expensive so I'm going to wait a couple weeks before I go again. For anyone who is upset about me riding the turtle, get over it.

White Plains

Dave had this morning off so we took advantage and went to White Plains beach so that he could surf and we could all boogie board. The kids haven't been boogie boarding for awhile so it was really fun for them to remember how much they like it. Jonas, however, was having an onery day so we were unable to get him near the water or even to sit on a board for a picture.

Hickam Air Force Base

After we had been here a few weeks Dave's commander took him to Hickam Air Force Base to go running. They have a great trail right along the water's edge. So Dave took us early the next Saturday for a nice morning walk and we ate breakfast outside at the Wright Brothers Cafe which has a bunch of outdoor seating so that you can just sit and look at the water and boats going by. The channel is used by the ships at Pearl Harbor and we were lucky enough to see a submarine going out to sea. I don't think I have ever seen Dave so excited! The picture makes it look small but it was actually quite big. The walk is pretty and peaceful and you see tons of cool birds all along the way.

Ko Olina

We try to make sure we go to the beach at least once a week. This past week we went to Ko Olina. It is a big Marriott resort that has 4 lagoons that are open to the public. It is perfect for kids since there are no waves. And it is nice for adults because you can snorkel. Jonas thought it was a perfect time to practice his swimming. He would walk out until the water was at mid-calf level and then get down on his belly and low crawl Army style out of the water. Any time we asked him what he was doing he would say that he was swimming. It was hilarious! We tried to get him to play other things with us but he just wanted to "swim". So he literally crawled on the sand for almost 2 hours straight!

Matsumoto's Shave Ice

Before we came to Hawaii we were told that the best place in the world to get shave ice (not shaveD ice-- the 'D' at the end is unacceptable here!) is Matsumoto's up on the North Shore in Hale'iwa. It is a tiny little store that always has a line out the door and down the street of people just waiting for a shave ice. If you want they will put ice cream in the bottom for you, sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top and if you are really crazy you can get beans in the bottom--tried it and I have to say it is NOT recommended. The kids love their shave ice and Dave loves it even more. If you go just make sure to spend the extra 25 cents and get a shield to put it in. Not only does it help make it less messy, but also saves your hand from freezing to death. Also, don't forget to look up on the walls to see the pictures of all the famous people, like Adam Sandler, that go there to fulfill their shave ice craving!

Surfing

Dave has a bit of leave that he needs to burn up so he took off the last couple days. So yesterday he decided to take advantage and go surfing. The kids were bored watching him so London took the time to find seashells for her collection. Dave surfs at White Plains beach since they have surf boards that military personnel can rent for only $5 an hour or $20 a day. So when everyone comes to visit they should take advantage and try out surfing!