Lagoon Lounging

After a little later wake up, we headed back to the Queen's Bath Beach, and most of the family joined us. The sun was out, the tide was out, and the water was calm. The kids spent nearly all their time snorkeling.

We ended up staying about 3 hours. The kids got a lot of sun, and ended up a little pink.

Afternoon in Kona

We made a run to Costco for supplies and a quick lunch, then returned with the mission to find a better (safer) beach. It took a while of driving around Kailua, but we eventually found a spot suggested by one of the locals called "The Queen's Bath". It was tucked away and not easy to find, but worth the trip. The water was much calmer.

(Note Tor's scrape on his leg that he got climbing the lava rocks ... he liked telling everyone that it was a shark bite.)

Of course, as soon as we returned to the house, the kids got right back in the pool, this time joined by their cousins for some games of football and volleyball.

The evening settled out with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs by Uncle Dan and Aunt Robin.

The family gathered around Grannie and Papa to hear them recount their first decade together (1959-1969), with many of us learning some shocking new details we had not heard before. Bridget took it all in, like the little family historian she is.

The kids wore themselves out and were ready for bed. Here's Tor in his happy place.

Morning in Kona

With the 3 hour time difference, the kids were up pretty early, and were in the pool before 8:00 am. It's small but warm.

Shortly after, we walked the 2 blocks to the Magic Sands Beach.

It's a small beach, and the waves crash really hard. The kids got knocked over several times, and Bridget definitely had the worst crash, going under and rolling around. She wasn't too happy.

Jillian spent most of her time working on body surfing. She's getting the hang of it

War!

While waiting for our flight to Kona, Tierney busted out the deck of cards and played War with the kids.

Miss Thunder Mountain Pro-Rodeo

Lindsey became the 2020 Miss Thunder Mountain Pro-Rodeo tonight! The kids were very excited. They celebrated with some ice cream cones.

Instruction and Games and More Games

Tierney gave Jillian a volleyball lesson and Brock, Bridget and Tor were the targets and shaggers. Tierney started out teaching passing and everyone got to run around a lot chasing the ball until Jillian got the hang of it. Later Tierney worked on her serving and setting so there was a lot of volleyball all day.

 For a break from volleyball there was a lot of badminton played.This was a lot easier for all of them.

 Later came games of Spikeball with Cale and Erika too. It was close to bedtime so the little ones got to play some before coming in, but the big kids went past dark.

 Then Wednesday the twins got to come play a lot. It was a hot day so they did some crafts with Bridget in the shade. (Jillian was still working on her volleyball with another lesson from Tierney.) These girls made signs with inspirational sayings on them, like "if things never go right, go left".

 Then some more volleyball, this time with Aunt Julie (former setter at KU) working on Jillian's setting skills. She learned so much in two days from all the great help she received.

4-hour Beach Day

It was so nice today at the beach, especially compared to yesterday when the wind blew so much, it kind of hurt. We stayed and soaked in the sun for 4 hours, spending most of our time in the water. The tide pools were warm (almost hot) like bath water. Here's Bridget and Jillian giving Tor a "spa treatment":

Daddy built some walls around our main tide pool that the kids played in.

The ocean water was pretty cold, but that didn't stop the girls from practicing their surfing.

There was a moment as the tide came in that dozens of shells were exposed, and we collected them as fast as we could. Jillian decorated the shells, then the kids took them around the neighborhood and left them at doorsteps.

Beach Playmates

Morgan and Gram visited us at the cabin in the afternoon. We biked to the park and played until we got chilled.

Dinner was hot dogs and s'mores at the firepit.

Tracy brought the game Skip-Bo, and the kids played a couple intense sessions.

Jillian got to have a sleepover with Morgan, causing meltdowns by Bridget and Tor. Those two were kind of placated with sleeping out in the living room and watching videos until late.

Warm Sand & Water

We timed it for low tide, and found some good tide pools full of warm water. The kids immediately got in the water, and played for awhile before getting chilled by the steady wind (especially Tor, who spent half the time hiding out in the car, shivering). The girls hid from the wind behind the body board.

We spent lots of time in the dry sand. Jillian scavenged for driftwood to sell at the garage sale. Then, the girls buried Tor nearly up to his neck in sand.

The kids got ice cream at Adelaide's (the one time this trip ... it's too expensive anymore), then washed up. Probably the last time Tor will wash up in the bucket; he barely fits. 

July Beach Trip

It looks like we finally got lucky with the weather this time ... warm and sunny. When we arrived at the cabin, Bridget found the little popup tent, so we set it up and the kids made it their base of operations for the evening.

Before we got there, we went with the usual Buoy Beer and Frite & Scoop (though Tor declined ice cream; he just isn't into sweets that much these days).

Berry Picking, Swimming, Crafts

They got to ride in the back of the four-runner when we were on the logging road going to pick berries. This picture is after the picking was done and Bridget was reacting to getting stung in the Stinging Nettles. That was the end of the berry picking for her. Tor really got the hang of picking with Brock on this trip.

 As soon as they got home from picking, Aunt called to say the twins were there and Rielee invited them all to swim. They had a great time, mostly playing Marco Polo. They didn't want to come out of the pool.

 Later Ava and Harper came down and they played outside for awhile then decided to do a craft. They all decorated a rock house to a theme and then made Aunt and I judge the winner. This never turns out well but they insisted so we chose the "crazy house". They weren't too unhappy with us? Then clean-up, which actually went pretty well. A crazy fun day!

Hair and House decorating, Shirts

I had some chalk pens to put streaks in hair so the girls talked Tor into doing it first. He was a good sport but chose his own colors.

Then Bridget got a B and some streaks too. Jillian declined since her hair is so dark.

 
 Then Bridget and Tor decided to decorate the house with an Hawaii theme. There was a bin of leis so they hung them around and then Tor found this circular wood and said it would make a palm tree. I helped him on some leaves and he put driftwood around it. Later he had sand, picnic tables, and grass.

 But he wasn't done being creative. Kevin gave him some sea animals, for his help watching their dog Bo, that grow in water so he made a whole underwater theme.

 Meanwhile Jillian was being creative by making shirts out of some old discarded JAL t-shirts. Hers had a shooting star, Bridget;s was a drop shoulder one, and Tor got a Ninja shirt. She is still working on another one for Bridget. Later they went to the JAL tournament and played the whole time on the playground equipment there.

Library Helpers

While Mommy slept after a graveyard shift, the kids went with Daddy to Kalama. They spent several hours helping to sort and reshelve library books, and did a great job. For their efforts, we went to Sweet Spot.

Adam is 15!

We celebrated cousin Adam's 15th birthday at Applebee's. He's sporting his new wrist watch. We are looking forward to playing with his lawn games gift ... corn hole, ladder ball, etc.

Bo, Volleyball, Badmington

Bo was a big hit with the kids when they came to spend the night. Bo is Kevin's dog and we are babysitting him while they're on vacation.  Bo got lots of exercise since he was easy to lead and so good natured.

 Jillian and Bridget decided to build Bo a dog house while Bo looks on appreciatively.

 Bo spent a lot of time in his house so they all decided to spend the night there. They put pads and blankets down. Jillian came in first but Bridget and Tor remained out for awhile longer, but then gave it up. The whole day wore them out so Bridget slept the next morning until 9 and Tor woke up just before 10.

 Later that day Rielee came down to work on Jillian's volleyball skills, the start of getting ready for next fall. They worked out for about an hour an then enjoyed some ice cream. After Rielee left they  all played a lot of badmington, so again a lot of exercise. When Daddy came they had to get him involved in a game too. At one point that day Tor said, "My legs are tired."