Sunday July 17, 2022
I woke up around 6am. Ian woke up just after, so I took him down to the lava rocks in the back of the house. While I was on the rocks, I spotted a sea turtle! I got a little closer and touched its shell! It swam away after that. I’ve touched two sea turtles so far; hopefully I won’t be banned from Hawaii lol.
I made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast for whoever was awake. Tootsie and Mark wanted to go to the art show just down the road. I wasn’t ready in time to go with them, but I was as soon as Erik came back from taking them, so he picked me up and dropped me off to meet them. The art show had some really neat artwork! I also tried a rose drink made with sparkling water, coconut milk, and rose flavoring. I didn’t buy anything, but it was fun to look around. Erik was getting everyone loaded so we figured we had time to walk to Sweet As Ice Cream shop and buy some more ice cream. I purchased a mango coconut keiki cone. I had most of it and gave the rest to Ian when Erik picked us up.
Our plan was to stop at the Laie temple, the Byodo-In temple, and then swim at the Kailua beach. We were able to stop at the gorgeous Laie temple and walk around and take a few pictures. Some of us got leis from the sister missionaries inside the visitor's center.
Unfortunately, Erik discovered that the road to the Byodo-in temple and Kailua beach was closed. Later, we found out the closure was a result of a broken water main that took out a chunk of the road. We thought about back tracking and going the long way around, but there were too many hungry tummies, so Erik rescheduled our Byodo-In temple visit for the next day. We drove (slowly, there was so much beach traffic) back to the house. We ate some watermelon and chicken Alfredo for lunch and relaxed for a bit before heading out to the “turtle beach” (Laniakea), which was just a 3–5-minute walk from our rental house. The beach was a little crowded at first, but a lot of people left not too long after we got there so that was nice. The water was a little chillier than I’m used to for a Hawaiian beach, and there were too many sharp lava rocks at the bottom. I cut my toe on one of them. There were some turtles swimming around just as we got there and a couple workers policing the people to make sure they weren’t getting too close to the turtles. If only they knew I had touched a turtle this morning ha-ha. I didn’t swim for too long.
Erik and I went back to the house while the rest continued to swim. I took a shower and helped toast and butter the ciabatta bread while Tootsie and Mark prepared their breakfast sandwiches for dinner.
Gabe, Elisa, and Ian stayed the longest at the beach with Grandpa. After dinner, we had the key lime pie that the Blaylocks bought from Costco. It was just okay for me. It sure got eaten up fast though. Most of us went to bed pretty early (for Hawaiian time at least). Ian and I hung out in my parents' bed. After getting his toes “eaten,” Ian fell asleep in the bed, and my dad had to carry him out.
That's a great video of a turtle in the water! Beautiful pictures of the temple and grounds! Wow, you were able to get the picture of the road damage on the blog. The kids sure had fun at Laniakea Beach!
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