A couple more...

Ryan just peeked at the blog and is wondering where the close up of us is. Um, seeing as we had two nice close ups (thanks Julia!), I didn't know which one he's talking about. So here's both.

Last weekend we hit Bellows--LOVE that beach!

My crazy, crazy son

Jacob eating a snack before getting back into the water at Bellows. Maybe I should watch his sugar intake from now on? He was doing his own little song and dance on the shoreline....

"What, Mom?"

I'm totally whipping these out for his first date. :) Heheheheheheh.

Jellyfish alert

Our fun time was cut short (well, shorter than we'd have liked) when the kids started complaining that their feet REALLLY hurt. Then we heard some some people nearby who found a jellyfish on the shore right next to them. We did some looking around and found no less than 3 right in front of our towels.
The bluish/blackis dot near the bottom of the picture is a jellyfish that the kids discovered.
Here's another one--that tail is LONG!

And yet another--can you spot the white crab that came out to try to eat the jelly?

Needless to say, with all these jellies washing up to shore, we stayed out of the water and took to playing in the sand.

Playing football at Bellows

Since we had to exit the water, the kids decided to get some play time on the beach. Jacob brought out his football.

No such thing as tag football here. They went for all out tackles. Look closely--the ball is right next to Marcus's hip in front of him.
"Hey!"
Marcus takes advantage of the little cat fight--he grabs the football.
And go and get it!

Bellows

Here we are at Bellows. It's an military base that has its own private beach (open to all military members). It's always good some body boarding. Marcus eventually donned his floaties and even had some fun in the shallow parts. Pictures to come...for now, here's some fun videos.

If you're wondering, the guy out on the right is Ryan. And it's Julia who goes sailing towards the shore. (Julia has the big blue board, Jacob the pink, and Evelyn has the short board).

Jacob and Ryan having some good times in the water.

Keep in mind, Ryan is, what, 6'4 or 6'5? (The military can't decide). Some of these waves were as tall as him.

Marcus got his floaties on shortly after this--he wanted to play on the shoreline. Evelyn eventually figured out how to bodyboard on the waves and as she sailed to shore she was yelling "Complex thinking!!!" ??? When we asked what on earth she was talking about, she said that her teacher taught her class that term and that's what her class is learning to be. Uh, well, ok then!

Hiking Diamond Head

While the kids were in school, we decided to go on a hike (also since we still had most of the day til Randy and Joycelyn left to fly back home). Katie was a real trooper and hiked the entire way up and down all by herself.



You can see how the trail winds its way up and into the mountain.
Stopping to take a pic--it was so beautiful up there!
Grateful that we go through the cave--it was much cooler in there.
"Do we have to go up the steps?"
But hey, it was worth it! The scenery was amazing.




Papa, this one is for you...I saw it and just had to find SOME place on the way back down the trail to get the picture.

Staying hydrated while keeping our germs to ourselves. :)

Ko Olina Videos

Haleiwa

Ryan insisted that we needed to buy Ginger Beer (it's NOT BEER, just some funky Ginger Ale). It's one of McMom's all time favorite sodas and it's hard to find. I took one sip--and gagged. Sorry, Mom, but to me it was kinda like Pepto bismal. Blech! Ryan loves it though. Joycelyn was brave enough to try it too (although we quickly passed that bottle onto the guys).

We're sitting at the absolute best bakery in Haleiwa. The sandwiches and smoothies were absolutely delicious and they serve some of the yummiest cinnamon bread (which, if we hadn't gotten our hands on the ooey gooey reciepe, I'd have substituted these rolls for our Christmas/New Year's cinnamon rolls).

LOL--are we tourists or what?

Yes, if you look closely, it says "You are Here".

I've been hearing about this place called Matsumoto's before we even arrived on the island. Of course we had to make a pit stop while walking around.

Ko Olina with the other McIlquham's

Since we're getting into the fall season, the shores up on the north were pretty much off limits (while they were here, we saw some 5-8 ft waves at Waimea). But Ko Olina was sporting the perfect swimming areas.

You can see the waves that were crashing all around the rocks. They were some pretty big waves--but they didn't come into the lagoons.
I love Conner's expression here--it reminds me of Randy humoring anyone who's trying to take his picture.

The girls had fun making their own swimming pool.
Randy was actually smiling for the picture! But he was also being beyond goofy, too. Joycelyn couldn't stop laughing. Those two crack me up!
"Hey!"
All the cousins had so much fun together!
Conner enjoying himself in the sand--he especially loved that football.
Ryan and Randy were tossing the football around. They graciously let Marcus play with them.
Julia was teasing Randy and playing around. Who doesn't love to get thrown into the water?
Conner testing out the water.
I think he likes it!
I know this girl did!