Hawaii Day 2 - Shark's Cove & Castles Beach

All the pictures look like postcards. 

We started the day at Shark's Cove - a fantastic snorkeling location. You have to catch it right when the tide isn't too high or too low.

It's a circle of reef. The waves come in through an opening and fish get trapped until the tide rises and they can swim back out.

The water was just right when we got there and according to Debbie, Jeff's wife, it was the best snorkeling she had ever seen there. We saw huge angel fish, parrot fish, a sea turtle and other fish that I don't know the name of. Sadly, I didn't have an underwater camera so I didn't get pictures of any of it. Swimming along with the sea turtle is one of the coolest things I've ever done.

I did go down on the reef with one leg. It wasn't a hard fall, but it bruised and scraped me up pretty good. I had a goose egg on my shin. Debbie gave me a special ointment to prevent infection. I was a little bloody on my leg and my arm.

A week later, the bruise was more visible. It stretched from knee to ankle.

One amazing story of the day was that Debbie was swimming and just happened to see a man's wedding ring in the water. When she got back to shore she showed it to us. David looked down and realized that his ring was missing. Debbie had found David's ring! What are the chances of any of that happening??!! Insane!

 

We were introduced to the "shrimp death camps" where shrimp are raised to die.

I think this is one of the areas where Jurassic Park and Los were filmed.

We went to see a huge banyan tree that was featured in Lost, Jurassic Park, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Our kids and the Christensen kids got along really well. Jonah and Jalen are almost the same age and Baylie and Chloe are just a couple weeks apart.

Banyan trees are amazing with roots that stretch from the branches into the ground.

The short walk to the tree was beautiful.

Coconuts

Our next stop was the fabulous Ted's Bakery and it did not disappoint.                                                      

David got their famous chocolate haupia cream pie and it was AMAZING.

I got coconut cake, which was good, but not as good as David's

Then it was off to Castles Beach. It's the Christensen's favorite place to swim and boogie board. We loved it too.

It was a beautiful day at the beach, although a little chilly.

For dinner, we went to Seven Brothers. Oh my heavens! It lived up to the hype.

David's burger.

Baylie's burger had onion rings on it. It was huge!

I got pineapple salad with coconut shrimp. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten.

We went back to the temple and toured the visitor's center.

You can barely see him, but there is a mongoose diving into the bushes. There are lots of mongooses on the island. Can you spot this one?

The Laie temple is beautiful.

There's another big banyan tree at the temple.

Jalen loved the Christus statue.

Plumeria

Ginger

We learned how to make earrings out of banana leaves. The tree only produces fruit one time and then dies. The Christensens wanted to learn how to make something with the tree.

Just by chance, my cousin Christina Willardson's (Cosby) family ended up being in Hawaii at the same time as us. We swang by to see them at their amazing place on the beach. They had been whale watching all day. Dennis and Cathy are two of my favorite people.

Then it was on to David's cousin Taryn Russell's (Aussem) house. She lives on Sheffield Army base because her husband is stationed there. He was in the Philippines doing training. It was so fun to see her and her cute kids - Hailey and Charley.

We couldn't believe how much we had done in just two days!