Hanauma Bay

You know you have been in Hawaii too long when you tell the kids to get ready to go to the beach and they whine and cry and say they just want to go to the swimming pool. This morning the kids took much more persuasion to get in the car than I have ever seen before. They had a good time once we got there but they weren't so sure this was what they wanted to do!

(I guess we will have to work much harder at not having so much fun at the pool!)

While we were waiting for our turn to watch the Conservation Video we took a family picture with the Bay as our backdrop!

Before we got in the water we went and looked at the treasures that had washed up on the rocks. The volunteer conservationist lady had told us that we could see crabs and things over there and to be sure and check it out with the kids. We had 3 of the 5 kids that were there today, so they were really good about pointing out things the kids would like. We walked over to the rocks and first thing James found a big black crab. It was much too fast to get a picture of but it was cool! All of the rocks had little ponds in them with water that had washed up in the waves and had little fish and things in them. The kids had a good time searching all the pools to find animals and fish. Some of the small fish could jump from pond to pond. It was pretty cool to watch.

Here is one of the ponds, pretty close to the bay. The coral had built up and the water would come in as the waves came in.

If you look closely in the picture you can see some fish!

This crab was just sitting on the rock, Sterling almost stepped on it! As we got closer it still didn't move.... it climbed up on that rock, who knows how long ago, and died! But it sure looked cool!

James REALLY didn't want to get into the water. First thing before you can get into the water you have to watch a conservation video and it tells about the reef and some of the fish and things. It talked about some of the fish that are in the reef and that some of them are predators. James was sure they were going to bite him! So, we drug him out there for a little bit, but decided it would be okay if he just played in the sand. So, Sophia and James played in the sand for most of the time. We started by covering James' legs in sand, Sophia didn't want to be covered but liked covering James. Once James was mostly covered she decided it would be okay if her legs got covered too! She is such a funny girl! She is so much like James!

Cute covered kids playing in the sand at Hanauma Bay!

They were having so much fun being covered by sand we decided to cover James even more! The only problem with being buried was the sun was right in his face!

Sophia thought it was so funny!

Sophia decided she had had enough!

She wanted to lay down, but don't worry she didn't fall asleep! (she might miss something!)

This is Daniel laying down too! He was the SNORKEL KING!!! He loved every minute of it from the minute he stepped foot into the water! He didn't have a mask, just his goggles from swimming lessons, but that was all he needed! He snorkeled for more than an hour! He would take turns going out with Sterling and I. He loved it! I think he may be part fish! After about an hour he decided he was cold and wanted to come back to the towels. Being the fair skinned kid that he is we covered him in towels and let him warm up out of the sun! He would peek out of the towel every once in a while just to check on where I was. He is still my Sunshine!

James was working hard building a moat, then a big hole that kept getting filled with water.

He had a good time, that was what was important!

James working hard!

Sterling leaving the water feeling ever so confident in his "mad snorkel skills!"

Right as I was cleaning up the towels and getting ready to go, James jumps up and decides it may not be a bad idea to get in the water. Sterling walked out with him to look at some fish, but James didn't want to put his head in the water. You could see some fish from above but nothing like you can below!

We had a good time! The snorkeling wasn't as amazing as the Snorkel cruise that we did, but this was free (because we are locals). This was still fun and we will do it again!