Detour to Hawaii

A very tired John Harrison

Amazingly, everyone was looking at the camera and smiling at the same time :)

What a sweet smile.....John Harrison did so well when we ate out the other night!

John Harrison playing in a hole that his Uncle James dug in the sand

One morning, Caroline got John Harrison out of bed as soon as he woke up so I could catch a few more minutes of sleep. Thanks, Caroline!!

John Harrison playing with coral

remnants of the sand face plant

Here John Harrison goes again, trying to make friends with anyone who will look at him :)

I have not finished my Alaska posts, but decided to do some posts about our current adventure. We are in Maui right now enjoying the breezy, sunny days; beautiful crystal blue water; shady beaches; relaxation; and time together. Actually, right now it is dark outside and John Harrison is down for the night so the time together and relaxation are true at the moment. We have almost driven around the entire island and visited quite a few beaches. So far, our favorite beach was one that even with our guidebook's help was difficult to find. Not too far off shore, we snorkled with sea turtles. The green sea turtles were HUGE, beautiful, and just looked happy. What's not to be happy about when you live in Hawaii?? We saw 6 different turtles, each a different size. David and I had paid to go on a sea turtle snorkel trip in Barbados several years ago, but that expedition was somewhat fake because the tour company fed the turtles to get them to come around and also, we were snorkeling with at least 50 other people. It was incredible being in the ocean and seeing a turtle in his natural habitat.

Like several of the other Hawaiian islands, the roads in Maui sometimes come to a dead end when inhibited by natural areas, lava fields, mountains, etc. The other day we drove to the end of the road in South Maui and hiked a path made up primarily of pebble to fist sized lava rocks along the jagged coastline. We enjoyed a small beach all to ourselves and had a picnic lunch. The currents were strong and the beach lined with lava rock formations, so we enjoyed the water through our eyes only....not through the lens of a snorkel mask.

My brother and his wife flew in for the week. We have been having so much fun with them and I also enjoyed having some extra eyes to watch John Harrison. Speaking of which, John Harrison loves the beach and ocean. The first day we took him to the beach, John Harrison stuck his head in the sand face-first and laid down. He loves seeing the approaching waves and often says "getcha getcha" as the waves get close.