Momma Amy: January 2009

Well, today my little boy turns 5! Five is a bit of a milestone in our family because that is when you are allowed to have GUM. Let me tell you, this boy has been waiting for 5! :)

I remember being so surprised when he was born. We decided not to find out what we were having. I already had 2 girls, I was raised with 2 sisters, and my sis-in-law had 4 girls at the time, so I was convinced that I would only have girls. So, when he was born and Daniel leaned over and said to me, "Isaac's here." I could hardly believe it! I was so shocked. A boy? Thank You Lord! He knows the desires of our heart.

Isaac has been such a blessing. He is an amazing boy. I love to see the natural boy things come out. He loves bugs/animals just like his Daddy. Any type of ball, car, truck, dinosaur, gun, or tool and he is thrilled! He also has a real sweet, kind personality. He has a natural caring for others, which just touches our hearts. He was born with manners. We didn't have to teach him to say "please" or "thank you" he just did it on his own.

Here are some more pictures of "the boy" from the last year or so.

Day 5:

So, we have already gone to the green sand beach, a white sand beach, and we wanted to be sure to go to a black sand beach. We looked in our travel book and there was one just off the road a bit on the way to our next snorkel spot. So, we detoured there. It ended up being a bit further "off the road" than we realized, but no worries. :)

On the way there.

The lava is quite interesting.

Our feet in the sand

white coral on black sand - nice contrast

You can see the texture of the sand - not real comfortable actually.

We took our pictures then went on to Kealakekua Bay right next to The Place of Refuge for some snorkeling. "The concept of the place of refuge is interesting. In ancient Hawaiian culture, certain areas were designated as places of refuge and no blood could be shed in its confines. If you had broken a law or were escaping from a war enemy and you could get (swim) to the place of refuge, you were protected and given a second chance."

Place of refuge - from a distance

Kealakekua Bay Beach

A Fisherman

Snorkeling time

Here are a bunch of fish and turtle pictures. This isn't all of them, though it may seem that way. :) It's just so hard to pick! You will see that depending on where we were snorkeling, our visibility varied.

We also saw an eel, which was actually kind of creepy. It reminded me of a snake. eeww

Then we saw the Place of Refuge a little closer.

Then we noticed, right there was a little beach with jet black sand. We didn't need to stop on our way here after all, because we were snorkeling right by some of the blackest sand we had ever seen!

Check out how black it is.

Some kids playing in a shallow area.

We were resting after snorkeling and waiting for Brian and Brenda and Daniel liked me looking all bedraggled, so he told me to pose. You know husbands, they think you look great just rolled out of bed and feeling sick! (Well, at least mine does. ;)

Just after snorkeling (I actually like the picture better than I thought I would. :)

Beautiful plumeria - they smell so delicious!

On our way back to the hotel.

I figure I'm in Hawaii, so I should have a flower in my hair, right?

We had heard that Kona Joe's was a great place to go, so decided to stop on our way back. We ended up getting there like 10 minutes after it closed. :(

Some beautiful flowers at Kona Joe's.

close up

coffee rows

coffee close up

We pulled off the road to see another wonderful Hawaiian sunset.

The end of another amazing day in Hawaii.

Day 6:

We were leaving in the afternoon to fly to Oahu for a couple more days. So, since we hadn't actually snorkeled at the beach right at our hotel, we decided to snorkel in the morning, then pack up and head to the airport.

Marriott beach

Can you see the fish? Daniel actually pointed it out to me, but our underwater communication can use some improvement, and I missed it. :( At least he got a picture of it.

I believe it's a flounder.

some cool coral

We saw a couple turtles, which was really cool. Well, this one was pretty friendly. I just stood still and waited to see what direction it was going. No lie, it came straight towards me, so I reached out and just lightly touched it's shell. Well, actually just the algae on his shell. He needed a bath. :)