Thursday in Hawaii

So much to blog, so little time...

Gotta finish up Hawaii so I can talk about my NEW HOUSE!

So, Thursday was our VOLCANO day.  Since we stayed in Kona, the volcano was a ways away.  Therefore, trying to get the boys excited was next to impossible.
"We have to drive for TWO HOURS?  Why can't we just go to the POOL?!?!?"
Little ingrates!
But we shoved 'em all in the car and set off anyway.
To break up the trip, we made two stops along the way.  First, to the southern most bakery in the United States for some Hawaiian sweet bread.  (YUM!):

Handsome group!

 Next, to a volcanic black sand beach:

Neato!

Why yes, I did take a smidge for my sand collection!

Turtles chillaxing

(Aside:  So, we're standing around oohing and ahhing over the sea turtles, and a Japanese gentleman gets really excited to see them, walks over, and happily smacks one on the face to get it to move.  The Americans gasp and say "NO!", and my arms automatically come up and cross in front of me making an "X"; the universal Japanese sign for 'no' or 'stop'.  He didn't touch the turtles after that.) 

"I know I'm adorable!"

Yes, I did buy my shirt at Costco, and yes, Gray did eat more sand.

Playin' in the waves.

Finally, we arrived at the volcano visitor center.  They gave us maps and told us what the "must-see" attractions were for single-day visitors.  Here are a few:

In a lava tube tunnel.

The boys walked across this caldera.  I stayed in the car with sleeping Gray.

Barren landscape cleared by flowing lava.

Cute buzz boys.

Smoking volcano!

Smoking volcano after dark.  Sweet!

We stayed for quite awhile but only managed to see a little bit of the "park".  It was really amazing.  The boys were disappointed they didn't get to see an actual eruption, but seemed to think it was cool anyway.  The glowing crater was pretty close, so that got high marks.

We'd definitely recommend a trip to the volcano if you're ever in the area.

More tomorrow.  Hopefully I can wrap this trip up!

The Rest of the Trip

I've never been one to reinvent the wheel or duplicate effort.  (Read: I'm lazy.)  So now I'd like to refer you to my friend Diane's blog for details on the rest of the trip.  Just pretend I'm a gorgeous brunette who works out everyday and is all toned and healthy and stuff, oh and plus I keep my house clean 'cause I'm actually not lazy.  (You see, we're practically the same person.)

The only minor differences are these:  Doug and I didn't stay at the Hilton.  We stayed at the military owned Hale Koa next door.  (It was actually quite nice!)  We didn't paddle board.  (I'm pretty sure Doug was at the conference which means I was probably taking a nap.)  We didn't pose as statues.  (But I wish we did.)

The rest of the info from her last two posts is (practically) EXACTLY THE SAME!

Now to mention something of extreme importance:  My sunburn has turned into a surprisingly dark tan!!!  Unfortunately, due to the previously mentioned shoddy sunscreen application, I only got sunburned in random places, ie, a large spot in the middle of my chest, two slivers near my armpits, the top of my forehead, and two vertical stripes down my shins.  The rest of me is just a darker shade of pasty.  It sorta looks like I have issues with skin pigmentation.  

Oh well.  I'll take what I can get.  I'm lazy that way.

Definitely Day 4 - Last Day on North Shore - Oh, and I'm home now.

It's hard being as attractive as we all are. It's really a burden. Here we are visiting some (un-impressive) ancient sacred ruins. You can tell we were over-awed.

Next stop, the aptly named turtle beach. Where I really did say the following: "Where's the turtle?" Oh, THERE it is!!!  (Leave me alone.  I was looking in the water not two feet away from me on the sand.)

My awesome collection of sea glass and shells.  (And maybe a few pieces of sea plastic and sea garbage.)

A really sexy couple who enjoy long walks on the beach.

(Actually, after this long walk on the beach, I'm going to remove "Likes long walks on the beach" from my on-line dating profile since I found it rather exhausting.)  (The sand was really squishy and our feet were sinking in like two feet with each step!)  (No, I don't really have an on-line dating profile, so nobody panic and call my bishop!)

A few bonus pictures to make you extra jealous.

Now it's time to catch up on the rest of the trip.

(And I was doing so well at first...)

"Whachoo talkin' bout Willis?!"

Day 3? It's all a blur...

Based on the pictures, we did lots of stuff this day...

But this is really all I remember:

Hawaii Day 2

"Oh silly me! I got knocked down by a wave!" *giggle giggle*"Hey wait! Now I'm being dragged out to sea! Doug...? Anyone...?? A little help here...! Gahhh...!!"

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Turns out, SPF 4, shoddily applied, is not adequate for a pasty white goddess such as myself.

Doug claims this has been proven numerous times in the past.

I say "bah".

One of these days, Hawaiian Tropic will come through for me and I WILL get a natural dark tan of the Islands.

One day, Baby...one day.
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Getting Out of the Usual and/or Time Travelling to Hawaii.

Yesterday was Sunday.
We got up and went to church as usual.
We came home and had lunch as usual.
Then Doug and I did something UNusual.
We hugged and kissed our kids good bye,
left them with friends,
and went to the airport.

And flew to Tokyo.

And then flew to Hawaii.

Where we arrived at 9 a.m....Sunday morning.
(No. We did not go to church again.)

And now it's Sunday night late here in Hawaii. But it's Monday evening in Japan.
And we're all confused and out of sync.

But still happy to be here because, duh...it's Hawaii.
And not only is it Hawaii, but it's America.

And that means that when Doug roared out of Alamo's parking lot behind the wheel of our sporty red Mustang Convertible, (thank you for the great deal Priceline!) I had no problem cranking the rock station full blast, sticking my feet on the dash, and singing loudly to the music with my hand hanging out the window surfing the air currents.

Something I would never, ever do in Japan...
where I try my best to be civilized and quiet and polite and give a good impression of Americans.

And although we really do love Japan and we love the adventures we're having there...
I also really love America.
I didn't realize just how much I missed it until I got here!
---
If we had to turn around and go right back I'd be happy because at least I
1) Have eaten some DEEEEEEEE-Licious Sweet Bread French Toast with Mangos, whipped cream and Macadamia nuts on top.

2) Listened to some excellent radio at top volume.
3) Shared a Virgin Pina Colada with Doug
4) Seen and laughed with 3 other awesome couples, all from Doug's residency in Rhode Island. (And with whom we're now sharing a beach house.)
Sometimes unusual is really, really good.

(case in point --->)