Beach

In case you didn't know, we really miss the beach.
Even so, I was surprised the other morning to find Ella had put everyone in bathing-suits.
She said if we couldn't go to a real beach, we should at least imagine we were at one.
So here they are - enjoying the warm sun, sand, and waves.

Beach

Time to play.

Aren't little girls fun to accessorize - hats and sun glasses!

More Beach

Yes, we did a lot of snorkeling.
In the morning, Benj would watch the girls and play on the beach with them while I went out.
Then, later in the day when the girls were napping he would go out for a snorkel... great guy that he is! There were lots of colorful fish.
Benj actually ran into a group of sea-turtles (he literally ran into three!).
Plus, since we were right on the beach, we didn't have to worry about packing up the car, parking, bringing a cooler, or any of the troublesome parts about going to the the beach ...

we were on the beach!

Need a Popsicle? Bottle of milk? I'll run in and get it for you!:)

Now that is a vacation!

The Beach

Imagine how great these pictures would be if I went through and edited/enhanced them!

You can see why we spent so much time on the beach. Plus, when you've got great beach apparel (thank you "Aunt" Debbie), it really is the thing to do!

They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and I think that is true in this case. The girls loved being pulled around on their private "boat" - and if my belly would have allowed, I would have definitely been in line for a ride!

Mostly we just hung out on the beach, played "Stomp Around the Island" (our made-up vacation version of Ring-around-the-Rosie), and relaxed in the water.

A real life vacation!

Morning 1

Since we were staying on the east side of the island, we didn't have to go too far to watch the sunrise.

In fact, we were up, had breakfast and were on the beach by 7:30 each morning.

Our first morning we were up even earlier (thanks to a three hour time change), and went for a little stroll.

We met this friendly guy,

and watched as he made his way back to the water.
I guess there's a reason why they call it "Turtle Bay."

Baby Turtles

Anne loved playing in the sand - if you ask her about her trip, she'll probably tell you, "Hawaii! the waters" ... (some language I don't yet speak or understand) "shovels" (more of the unlearned tongue), and "bucket."

And, fortunately, she's pretty good about sharing, which makes making friends easier.

One morning there were two little turtles on the beach right in front of our cottage:
Ella was not so impressed, or interested with the little guys,

but Anne thought they were great.

Turtle Kiss:
Turtle Hug:
Following her new friends around the beach,

And just hanging out together in the sand.

Turtle Bay

I love vacation. We just got back from a week on the north-east shore of Oahu, and already I'm missing the island. We took a plethora of pictures, and since I'm not sure how to organize them all yet - I thought I'd do separate posts of each created file, not necessarily in chronological order.

We were here five years ago with Benj's family.
Then (2005):

Now (2010):

We tried to find the exact spot, and I think we came pretty close. So now we can swap pictures out of the frame in our bathroom. Maybe we'll be able to swap it out again in 2015:).
Ella and Anne ... "chug-a-chug-a - choo-choo!"



And the 26 week belly-bump shot: