Swimming with Sea Turtles...and a monk seal!

I had an amazing experience one morning last week when I took some friends who came to visit to swim at Paradise Cove.  There are often sea turtles there and I hoped they would be there that morning and they were!

I have always loved Sea Turtles and it's been a dream of mine to swim with them. Check that off the list!  I have seen them several times since we've been here and came across one swimming laps one morning but nothing like this!

Amazing to be this close to this endangered species!

Our friend Isaac with one of the turtles

Such amazing & gentle creatures.  Not too concerned about us at all & just kind of did their thing.

These cuties enjoyed the Sea Turtles for awhile but then decided sand castles were more fun

And if that wasn't cool enough, after we swam around with the turtles for 30 min or so a monk seal swam into the cove!

A life guard instructed us by megaphone to get out of the water & give the seal it's space.  Isaac's wife Kara & I ran for our cameras & Isaac moved the 3 girls who were right in the path of the monk seal!

Now we know why they have these signs!  You're not allowed to touch, feed or ride the sea turtles or let your dog near a monk seal-signs you don't see posted many places!

The seal looked around for a bit and then swam back out of the cove and we were allowed back in the water.  Monk seals aren't terribly dangerous but they can be if provoked and are an endangered species as well so every precaution is taken.  If a seal comes to rest on the beach a team of people run in & set up rope boundaries and signs so no one gets too close.

After an amazing morning we headed back for lunch via golf cart, the only way to travel here in Ko Olina!  I still can't believe this all happened within walking distance of my house!

Here is a link all about Green Sea Turtles if you're like me and can't get enough of these cool creatures: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/green-turtle/

Fun with Fran, our favorite British Girl!

This week a dear friend of mine from England came to visit and we all loved having her here!  We meet in 2000 at the MTC (missionary training center, where missionaries for the LDS church go to study the scriptures, start learning the language of the place they are going to etc.  We both served missions in Japan and were in the same group there) the We miss you Frannie, come back soon!  The girls will never accept my reading have Harry Potter again after hearing you read with the proper accent!

I guess they don't make burgers that large in England...at Seven Brothers/Kahuku Grill, the best burger place on the island!

Real Hawaiian Shave ice!

You know we had to!

Picnic dinner at sunset at Secret Beach with the missionaries serving in our area here.  We like to feed them as much as we can!

Fran is an excellent golf cart driver and even drives on the right side of the road!

Aya fell asleep on my lap on the back seat of the golf cart-so sweet!

And more golf carting. You can see the hibiscus we were collecting that day on the dash. Love all the colors!

Such amazing birds here on Oahu! These are Brazilian Cardinals. 

On our way to Paradise Cove

You don't see signs like these many places!  Don't ride the sea turtles or bother the monk seals!

Still can't believe we live here!  This is just a few minutes walk from our house!

Frangipanis for Fran!

Enjoying a BBQ at our pool.  Aya swam by herself in the deep end of the pool for the first time that night, thanks to the puddle jumper floaties she has now!  She loves it and was so proud of herself.  Before this she would always cling to mommy or daddy for dear life.  Yay, Aya!

And don't worry Fran didn't just go to the beaches and drive around in golf carts collecting flowers the whole time, we let her do plenty of shopping, tasting of yummy Japanese food and a full day at the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center).

We'll miss you Fran, come back soon!

Thanks so much for coming!

Happy Birthday to Aya Maureen! She's 4!

On August 16th Aya turned 4 years old!  The 16th happens to be Hawaii's statehood day so all the kids were out of school which worked out perfectly for the beach birthday party we had for Aya.  When I asked her awhile ago what kind of birthday party she wanted she said she wanted an "ocean party" which is pretty perfect since we live here by the beach! I bought a few decorations but didn't need much since we have real palm trees and the real sandy beach and the real beautiful ocean!  I did bring lots of food though because you can never have too much food, right?
 Here are some fun shots of the day...

I made the cake to look like a fish and I was happy that it turned out pretty well! It was decorated and undecorated a bit with the gummy sea life candies on the table before we took this picture but everyone still enjoyed it!

Aya LOVES her ketchup!

All the kids excited for Aya to open the presents they brought her.

Our adorable little neighbor baby. Love him!

Here we're "going on a shark hunt"

After eating  & presents we played "fish pond" and then we all headed to the water to play.  Such a fun party! Thank you so much for those of you who came! Wish all of you not in Hawaii could've come too.  It was a fun party & Aya seemed to love it.

Later in the day the girls decorated cake #2

It was so breezy at the beach we couldn't get the candles to stay lit so we did that at home with this cake.

Aya loves Daddy!

Aya with all her many wonderful gifts & cards!  Thanks, everyone!

Our lanai (patio) swing is inside because the outside of our building was getting painted so we had to bring in all the outdoor furniture.  The girls thought this was the best thing ever!