August 4

Today, we got up, had breakfast, watched as several impressive rainbows formed and faded over the ocean (see image one for one of the double variety), and then hit the road. Destination: the North shore of the island.

Stop number one was, of course, the Kilauea Lighthouse (see image two). The stop was notable for two different reasons: One, the kids earned cute little patches for answering a bunch of questions about native Hawaiian wildlife. And two, it poured down rain on and off, so I have a nice collection of "look, it's cloudy at Hawaii's most northern point" and "look, it's sunny at Hawaii's most northern point" photos.

We continued moving westward and stopped at the Hanalei Lookout point (photo three), which gives a lovely view of some taro fields in the distance. It's such a lush, green, lovely spot. (And a little harrowing, given that the cars speed by right next to the vista point.) By then it was already 1:30, so we drove to Hanalei and had lunch at Bubba's (photo four), where they like to cheat tourists (the sign says so). It rained on and off. Again. But we found a nice covered spot and there were chickens to watch so we didn't care much. After polishing off our burgers, hot dogs, fries, chili fries, and onion rings (man, that sounds like too much food), we drove all the way out to Ke'e beach, which is where the road runs out at the NaPali coast. We found parking easily and headed over to the beach for some ocean fun (well, four of us did. I'm not so big on the ocean). And it rained again, which wasn't a big deal for people who were already in the water. It was more of a big deal for those of us who were not in the water and who hadn't brought a change of clothes along. Oops. Anyway, the kids had fun splashing and digging in the sand (pics 6 and 7) and I was once again struck by the majestic beauty of the coast line.

On the way back to the house, we stopped at two beaches --Kalihiwai (photo 5) and Donkey (photo 8)-- to poke around for seashells. At home, finally, we closed out the day with s'mores over the fire pit (pic 9). I may have inadvertently set my marshmallows on fire, but hey, at least they were gooey underneath the blackened part.

It was a good day, and in my mind, good days are blessings, so that's why you're getting the details!