Busy days

Seems like we've been out and about quite a lot lately. Last week I took the kids to the zoo, which was a lot of fun once I found my way down there and then found a parking place (no small task since the zoo is right by Waikiki beach). The zoo was nice, much smaller than the St. Louis zoo but a good size for small kids.

Last weekend, we found that reality hits you in paradise too. Wanting to finally do something about the leak that was intermittently coming across the garage floor, we started to look into the cause. It came from the corner under the water heater, so we had assumed it was just a leaky relief valve on the tank. Well, it was coming from the WALL not the tank, so that meant digging into the wall to see what was up. So Dan was busy cutting holes from the other side of the wall in my pantry wall on Saturday to track it down. A couple holes later, we found the leak and think we've got it under control.

On Sunday, we went to Ko'Olina beach and I went snorkeling for the first time. It was great! There was a nice area on the other side of the lagoon that had a coral bed 2-3 feet under the surface, so I could just float and watch the fish swim right under me, going about their business like I wasn't even there. That beach isn't even well known for doing much snorkeling, I had just planned on practicing with the flippers and mask, so actually getting to see some fish was a bonus. We also put the arm floaties on Cole for the first time (usually I just end up carrying him around in the water) and he just took to swimming like a pro. He really doesn't have much fear of water in the first place (except for waves - he does NOT like waves) and so once he realized that he could float he just started swimming around like a little fish. Adam was always a little afraid of the water at that age and so he never really liked the arm floaties that much, but Cole just loves it.

Monday I took the boys to a pumpkin patch. The farm workers had a little presentation on growing vegetables and then a hayride. After that, you got to walk out into the fields and pick your pumpkins. The boys had a good time, although it was a little strange to go out on a hayride and not bundle up in a turtleneck and sweater for the trip. I guess we'll have to wait until right before Halloween to carve the pumpkin, I don't think it will last long once we carve it unless I put it in the fridge!
Since I had my first taste of snorkeling and loved it, of course I wanted to go out again. So Tuesday evening, we packed a picnic and headed back to Ko'Olina, this time with the waterproof digital camera. I tested it out at home first and lo and behold, it actually takes pictures underwater (I've had it for two years and never put it underwater before). So I decided to take it to see if I could get any pictures of the fish underwater. We went to a different lagoon that evening, unfortunately that lagoon did not have any good coral up close to the surface so I couldn't get any good pictures with the camera, but I had a good time practicing snorkeling again and also got to try out some shots with the camera (see Cole below)
We stayed for sunset after our swim and it was beautiful. I think that was the first time I saw the sun set in the ocean since we've been here. From our place, you see the sun set behind the mountains (also quite beautiful some days).