Paradise

There is a reason they call Hawaii -- Paradise! It really is totally beautiful...even though it has been mostly overcast with some brief spots of sun. That is fine with us -- we get sun -- but not too much...and it isn't raining...which it is doing on Kuaii.

Visiting paradise is different with two teenage boys. It is more about planning the next days activities rather than how "inactive" to 40 yr olds can be sitting out on a lava encrusted point -- but it is so much fun helping them enjoy this island paradise for the first time that it is rejuvenating all in itself. Yesterday (after getting our lost luggage in the morning), I went snorkeling with the boys. We saw all kinds of fish and were absolutely exhausted after a couple of hours.

Today, the boys took surfing lessons...and Royce and I went on a whale watching boat. Here are a couple of pictures of the boys. I will save the pics of them actually surfing for later.





















I cannot even begin to describe how majestic the humpback whales are -- particularly as up close and personal as we were able to get today. There were three or four males fighting for the right to "escort" the female...(at least that is what the certified naturalist called it)...and they put on quite a display of whale tail. I caught this pic...imagine this tale being 15 feet wide...and then realize that the whale itself is 3-4 times that in length...and they were swimming right up beside us. They are very graceful...a bit shy...and apparently very flirtatious! The girl whales have it pretty good here. However, when I thought about it -- I am here in Paradise with three wonderful guys myself...so I am pretty happy about my own situation~

I have been taking LOTS of pictures with the goal of scrapbooking SOME of them...and reading THE BIG PICTURE by Stacey Julian....and working through Heidi Swapp's book on loving your handwriting. Fun, fun, fun!

Miss you guys. Hope all is well....