A Sunday afternoon

After lounging around on Sunday, we packed up a bunch of stuff and got in the car and went where the road took us. I love trips like this. No plans. There aren't many roads here, so we headed towards North Shore. This was stop #1. I love this random tree full of bouys.


I found an empty snail shell! These boys live to collect shells.

Searching for treasure.

Stop #2. A awesome beach park.

I thought this was a shelter that someone built when I first saw it. I couldn't believe how strong they made it...it was the roots of this tree!

Building stick houses

There must have been some serious winter storms here. There were so many huge trees that were pulled up roots and all.

Stop #4. Sharks cove for snorkling. Stop #3 was a shrimp shack for lunch. This place is one of the best on the island for snorkling. We didn't have any reef shoes, so we couldn't take the boys out far. Apparently it is full of sea turtles and amazing fish. We need to go back.



Stop #5. The Dole Plantation. Way too touristy. We came for the ice cream. The boys said "what flavor can I get" Ummm pineapple perhaps. That's the only flavor there is. Tasty, but not a redo.


The boy enjoyed his ice cream and was sticky ear to ear.

Red pineapples

Hilton Lagoon

We spent an afternoon at the Honolulu Hilton Lagoon. These snorkles are attached to boy face nearly every day.
He's all fogged up.





A snow cone break, or Shave Ice. I lost track of how many we have eaten.

Byodo-In Temple

This place is so peaceful. It is a replica of a Japanese Temple built 950 years ago. This one was built to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. They say the entire thing was built without nails...maybe they didn't count the walkways because they were full of nails. You can enlarge these pictures by clicking on them.


No visit is complete with the ringing of the gong. The boys snuck in a few extra head ringing swings.

This guy sits on top of the gong. This place is full of cool carvings.



Finding their inner peace...do you see it? Well it didn't last long.







The boys bought some fish food and the water was boiling with fish. A couple of swans and a turtle joined in too.