Aloha Travelblog, Day 5

Day Five: With Grandma and Uncle Eddie helping John with the kids in the morning, Amy and I were able to sneak off bright and early to Kapaluu, a great snorkeling spot about a mile south of our condo. The visibility was great, the water was comfortable, and I even saw some fish I had never seen before. (Hello there, little fish with bright blue lips! That's quite a look, but it works for you.) The rest of the gang met us at the beach about an hour later, at which time Shea accomplished her first first of the day: crawling! Right there on the beach, after weeks of rocking back and forth on all fours and moving backwards, she finally managed to propel herself forward. We knew then and there that, with her newfound mobility, the parameters of the caring-for-two-children game had changed irrevocably. As soon as the kids realize their new collective power and conspire to flee in opposite directions, John and I will lose our advantage; our days are numbered.

But before everything went downhill, we headed uphill--to the grand resort, perched on a spectacular hillside overlooking the entire Kona Bay, that is Olivia's home. Woooohooooo! Time to celebrate John's birthday in super chill style. Olivia, as I mentioned in an earlier post, is full of the Hawaiian spirit and lives the Aloha lifestyle of grace and graciousness. And it's reflected in her home, which is landscaped amazingly with bright tropical plants, laid out in an open flow between indoors and out, and infused with the same calm geniality that fills its owner and decorator. Plus, it's a damn fine place to have a party!

So we spent the gorgeous Saturday afternoon luxuriating in the warm sunshine, enjoying pizza and birthday cake, cooling ourselves in the refreshing pool, warming ourselves back up in the jacuzzi, playing Frisbee, drinking beer and Kona coffee, listening to the giggles and scamperings of Finnegan and Jasper, and noticing the similarity of Ila and Shea's baby coos, cries and babbles. (Heather noted, "They go to the same [baby] school!")







After lunch, Shea experienced her second first: gnawing on her first cookie, which we bought to soothe her teething, aching gums. You can see from the photo at left just how much she enjoyed it.

After we all watched the sun set once again into the Pacific and bid adieu to the cruise ship that had docked in Kona Bay as it headed off to another port, Shea experienced her third and final first for the day. After being prompted to bid everyone farewell, Shea mimicked Grandma by waving her little hand and telling no one in particular, "Bye bye!"