Respect the coconut.

Today I decided to stay behind and relax while mom and dad went to the North Shore. On my walk I saw a sea turtle swimming and ran into this little coconut man.

Halloween Sunrise

Tuesday

We decided to ride through the south side of the island today. Stopped at a few pull outs and took pictures. At one point we realized Japanese tourists were sneaking up behind dad and having their photo taken with him. Once he realized it he was more than happy to pose for the ladies. It was so funny! We continued to make our way to Hickam Air Force Base for a water front lunch, shopping and water sports. Dad got to kayak for the first time and mom and I did some paddle surfing. It was interesting considering we had only done it before in a controlled environment (a man made lagoon). Paddle boarding was a lot harder out here and to make matters worse the guy who rented out boards freaked us out by saying if we did not stay away from a certain area we would be pulled out to sea with the submarines! He was not kidding either cause we really did see a submarine not to long after that. (In the last picture I am standing on what is known as a reef flat. It is also on Hickam and is a GREAT place to watch the sunset.)

Monday...

Still jet legged I did not sleep well, but I was awake to see an amazing sunrise and take a quiet walk on the beach. We spent most of that day swimming and later bummed around the near by town of Kailua and watched some kite surfers.

My Hawaii Ohana!

On Sunday afternoon my former coworkers from the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii came over for a cookout and catching up. It was so good to see them and felt like it had not been that long. Which is weird because one was still pregnant when I left and now as you can see has two children. Bernice (left) and Jill (right) are two of the greatest ladies I have ever worked with. There was a lot of laughing and goofing off in that office! Good times!

In case of tsunami: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

After being picked up at the airport on Saturday we went and grabbed a bite, drove by our old apartment complex then headed over the mountain to our cabin at Bellows. Halfway there I get a phone call from my friend/mission companion from the North Shore. She informed me that there was a tsunami warming in effect. Turns out there was a 7.7 earthquake in British Columbia and the waves were headed our way. It was not scheduled to hit until 10:30 pm so with 2 hours to spare we decided to get rations from our cabin (on the beach) first.  We past a ton of cars trying to fill up and get back home on our way there. Once at the gate we were told they were not letting anyone on! Mom told him that ALL of their stuff was in the cabin. They made a call and we got the clear to pack up some stuff and leave. We got the important stuff, as you can see, plus matches, etc, and a big knife to help us defend our loot in case things got crazy. Then we made our way for high ground and found a nice spot in a neighborhood right by Castle Hospital. It was a cool night so we opened all the doors and tried to relax while listening to tsunami warning sirens going on and off periodically. Mom and dad laid out a blanket on the ground until it started to rain. It was 2am Sunday morning when we got the clear from the Mayor to return. What a way to start a vacation!
Mom and dad chilln' on the lawn.

Aloha!

Arrived in Honolulu at 6:50pm Saturday and as I was walking through the open air airport I instantly felt that I was home. It's strange but it does not feel like I have been gone for over three years. Mom and dad were there to greet me and even brought me a kukui nut lei!