Hawaii - Day 3

The rain was a bit heavier this morning, but it is interesting that everyone still seems to ignore it.  We started the day by walking over to a local church and after the service, we went to a small outdoor market and did a little bit of shopping.  Grandpa bought the boys Hawaiian shirts and then we returned to the hotel for lunch.

After lunch we went out to the aquarium.  They handed out small handsets that would tell you about each exhibit, and Evan studiously ensured that he listened to each and every one, even when that meant he was being left behind by everyone else.  Jonathan loved all the fish from Finding Nemo, as well as the sharks and the jellyfish.  (Actually, the jellyfish were quite cool, as the "regular" ones were in a tank with purple lights in it, which made them glow in a cool purple colour.)  I personally liked the octopus the best, as it is always amazing to watch how fast they change colour.

After the aquarium, we took the kids down to the beach and let them play in the waves.  The first time at the beach, we went in the main area, where there are breakwaters and lifeguards.  This time we went to the beach closest to the hotel, which has neither.  However, Evan and Alex love waves, as they sit in the water and let them crash over them, and they spent a lot of time doing that.  I think it was a bit more stressful for my wife, as she kept imploring them to come shallower.

I swam in the ocean for the first time, as all the other times we've been at the ocean, it's been too cold for swimming.  It was fun and it was far easier to float than it is in non-salt water.  We have discovered that Hawaii has a communal set of beach stuff that gets passed down from tourist to tourist, as both times we were at the beach, we were approached by someone who was leaving the island and wanted to pass on something.  We now have a floating toy, two beach chairs and a beach umbrella that we will have to pass on to someone else by Friday.




We left the beach when the sunset (at 6:30pm) and then Charles and I headed out to Pizza Hut to pick up some pizzas for supper.  Unfortunately, the Pizza Hut did not exist anymore, but luckily, on our way back to the hotel, we encountered two English guys carrying a bunch of take out pizzas.  They pointed us to a pizza restaurant that also had takeout, so we headed there and ordered some pizza.  Unfortunately, it took quite some time for the pizza to be ready and we had four hungry kids at the hotel, who weren't expecting us to be gone so long.  We hurried back with the pizzas, quickly fed the kids and got everyone into bed.