Sunday, January 1, 2012

Hawaii: Part 3

September 19th was just a day of whatever. Mindy and Rillz had random stuff to do with family or for their wedding so we did our own thing. We packed a lunch and headed out. We wanted to head to North Shore and go to the beach. Along the way, we stopped at the Dole Plantation. I wanted to show Gunnar how pineapples grew. I remember when I went the first time with my family and was amazed at how they grew. I guess growing up I never really thought about it. I think they are cool. And to know that it takes about 2 years for one to mature is incredible.

As we made our way around the place, we knew we were in trouble. We had plans to spend like $0. When Gunnar heard the sound of the little train, we knew we were in big trouble. We ended up forking over $20 something dollars to go on that. We figured if that was Gunnar's big splurge, it would be worth it. It also rained while we were on it and cleared up some when we were walking around.

They have a huge pond with tons of koi fish. Gunnar and I had fun feeding them and watching them fight on top of each other for food. We also had fun taking pictures in those silly little displays.
After the plantation we made our way to the beach. The drive through the island this way is really pretty and rural. I enjoyed the drive. The weather was awesome again. We found a great spot to play. It was right next to these people running a board rental on the beach. It was really interesting watching people rent surf or paddle boards and give it a shot. This was also the day I rolled my capris up to my knees and didn't put a lot of thought into it...until later and I had burned legs from the knees down.
This little dude was not happy. He had sand in his mouth and all over so we would have to take him in the ocean and dunk him in the water and try to clean him off. He still hasn't learned on day 3. One of the problems is that he still crawled. He would crawl through the sand, then rub his eyes or get a little bit in his mouth, go to get it out but his hand was covered too. It was a never ending problem.
This guy and his wife were the ones that ran the rentals on the beach. He took his son way out there at one point to practice surfing. It was fun to watch and this little guy had great balance. This guy had crazy tattoos all over and was SO dark skinned. They also had a newborn. The baby looked to be a couple of months old. He also took the baby out in the shallow waters and laid him belly down on a board. It was so cute!
We had so much fun in the sand. Thanks to someone else the day before, we found sand toys unclaimed on the beach. They provided ours of fun for us. Gunnar also hit it off well with another little boy and loved playing with him. The interesting things was that their family including the little boy and girl did not speak any English. I love how language is not a barrier for little kids at all.
Our boys were so exhausted on the way home. I loved the picture of Brecken in the car seat. He was so relaxed making his face look so fat!

1 clever remarks:

HeidiT said...

Those pictures look SO good. I remember how amazed I was to see how the pineapples grew. Gunnar still always talks about how he went to Hawaii, what a fun memory for him to have.