Beach Babes

We went to Ko'Olina with the girls and relaxed for a couple of hours before heading home to take Joey to the airport. Here's Ella with her girlfriends:

North Shore

We went to the waterfall at Waimea Valley and swam in the lagoon.... beautiful! And then headed to Chun's Reef for some beach time. It's a very popular surf spot and along the same strip of coast as the infamous Pipeline; lots of surfers and paddle boarders today. It was a gorgeous day at a gorgeous beach.

Bellows Beach

We rented a cabin at Bellows Beach for a couple of nights. It was nice to BBQ, relax and listen to the surf which was literally feet from our back door. Yesterday, we were up early to watch the sun rise and then lounged around and napped in the morning. Joey took Ella to fly her kite before heading to the beach for the afternoon. We just purchased a new digital camera that is waterproof so we took it out in the surf with us... the waves actually come out how they are on this camera, usually the pics we take from the beach do not show the surf's true size and the ocean often looks flat.

Bellows is by far the most beautiful beach but we have just learned about all the Portuguese man-of-war (stinging jellyfish) that can infest the waters. For the last 3 years, we've had no idea and no incidents. I insisted on buying some Lanacane just in case Ella got stung, much to the chagrin of Ron. At the end of the day one of us got stung... can you guess who?

It was late in the afternoon and we were getting ready to head to the playground for a bit anyway, when Ron was stung on his lower back and arms. I was out in the water with him so we both bolted to the shore. Luckily, he has a very smart wife who came prepared. :) The jellyfish started washing ashore and they are only about a dime in diameter but the tentacles could be a long as a ruler. We let Ella play on the playground for a bit and it wasn't very long before we heard a child screaming from the beach... another jellyfish victim. I brought them the Lanacane and Ron apologised for giving me grief over the purchase. He still sometimes needs reminding of how smart I really am, and a little lesson in the "your wife is always right" category. hee hee

View from the back of our cabin:View from the front:The Beach:

Ko'Olina

Bellows Beach

This is my favorite beach on the whole island! White powder sand, tree-lined beach and a constant surf great for body surfing... and cleansing the sinuses if you go for a tumble :) Ella is getting braver with the waves and I've taught her to put her back to them when she sees them coming so that they will propel her to shore rather than tumble her about. This beach is especially nice because you can go out quite far and still be only waist/chest high. By the end of the day Ella was diving into the waves head on and even body surfing on a few, granted she looked like a turtle washing up on shore, but still super cute! At one point she was using her goggles and Ron's snorkel to brave the water:) As you can see from the photos, Ella and her uncle are often inseparable. :)

Sunset with Uncle Joey

Joey arrived this afternoon and Ella has been so excited to see him. After a quick dinner we headed up to the North Shore to enjoy some ice cream and watch the sunset. Uncle Joey and Ella managed to catch a few sand crabs to her delight and picked out some shells....

Swim Crush

This is Ella and Samson. He's been teaching her since the beginning of June but she finally moved up a level to Ms. Jen's class. It was time really. Ella has had the skills for a while but Samson has been teaching her because she is his favorite. The feeling is mutual and I believe him to be Ella's first crush. Her last day with Samson was the first day of this session and a class of 4 new little girls (up until this it's been just Ella or another boy or two.) For the entire class, Ella vied for Samson's attention : "Samson look at me!" "Look Samson, I floating!" "Samson, over here!"...

Now that she is with Ms. Jen and 3 other boys, her skills have continued to improve. She's not distracted flirting with Samson, and as the other boys are better, bigger and older, Ella is working hard to keep up. She's even able to go down the slide in the deep end and swim back to the ladder with no help. Of course she still gets 5 minutes before class starts to sit with Samson and tell him about her day :)

Hickam Beach

Seeing as we have only weeks left on the island, we are taking advantage of all the beach days we have left.

Beach Day

We were invited to a Shriner's picnic out at Waiamanalo Beach (the Magnum PI property) and had a very nice BBQ with one of Ron's co-workers. We were ready to hit the beach but the tide was in so the water was all the way up to the stairs/rock wall, leaving no sand to sun on. We decided to go to Bellows to enjoy the rest of the afternoon in the sun, sand and surf... I love this beach!

We've rented a cabin overnight while Joey is here next week. We'll be able to play at the beach all day, grill out for dinner and enjoy a gorgeous evening and peaceful slumber listening to the waves. We can't wait!