Signs

While driving around the island we see many homemade signs.  Here are some that we have seen.  They all promote a great way of thinking towards life.  Island life definitely has its pluses.

More Sea Turtles!

On our first visit to the ocean we got to see our first sea turtle and since then they continue to amaze us with their prehistoric grace and laid back aura they seem to emanate.  Enjoy the views we have experienced with the green sea turtle (honu) here on the Big Island.


Our first sighting in Richardson's Bay.



Nana and Anika catching their aura.



Can life get any better!

More sun = more honus.



Eating on some seaweed in Kona.

School's Out for the Summer!

As Anika and I are going to bed on the eve of the last day of school here in Hawaii it makes me think of many different things.  Anika has thoroughly enjoyed going to school, liked her teacher a lot, and has grown with her abilities to read.  I think she will miss not seeing her friends she has met here at Pahoa Elementary.   
I wanted to make a list of similarities and differences between the school here and in WI.  However, my similarities are few and basic:  Kids are kids wherever you go.  You have some really good teachers (co-workers) and some not so good ones.  And the speech therapist gets housed (if we're lucky) in a room about the size of a storage closet or in an actual closet. 

Here is Anika heading to her classroom in the morning.  Notice all the steps up to the portables.



Anika's work on the wall outside a classroom.

Differences:
School started August 1st!  Portables are set up as classrooms and connected by covered walkways.  There are many ELL students from micronesian places I didn't know existed.  School hours were shorter.  You can start Kindergarten when you're 4 and it's not required.  There was no music, library, or art.  Physical education was once a month.  Vog lockdowns happened a couple times.  No Kindergarten field trips.  People who make enough money have to pay for bussing your child to and from school.  They had a Ho'ike (May Day) celebration.   There is only one recess a day (10-15 min) and the classes have designated play areas for the day. 
All in all it has been a great experience for me and I have met some wonderful people.

Farm fruit and flora

Lilikoi (passion fruit) flower

Cacao in various stages of ripeness.  They change from green to red to yellow.  We haven't cut one open, but you can see the insides on a recent Kashi granola bar commercial.

We have no idea what this is, but it looks good.

Strawberry papayas in various stages of development.  If you look at the top among the leaf stems near the trunk you can see some of the flowers.

Pineapples!  The one on the left ripened to a golden yellow when it was the size of a softball and was delicious!

Limes?!  Yes, they look like lemons and they taste a little like lemons, but the landlord insists that this is a lime tree and there must have been some sort of crazy mutation or cross-breeding that happened after planting.

Here's a coconut in its husk that Anika found on the ground on our trip to the champagne ponds...

and here it is with the husk removed!

Fish and Coral

Unicornfish - look for the horn in protruding out in front of the eye.

The little neons (approximately 4" long) are cleaning the big one.

Champagne Ponds

We read in a travel book about these so called Champagne Ponds.  However, when we looked at how to get there we came to the conclusion that is was impossible for us.  The ponds are located in a gated community and the only entrance was via a 4 wheel drive road that is made from uneven aa or walking the road which would take maybe (if we were lucky) a 1/2 hour.  We have tried some walks with the kids but find that if you're in open sea air area it is quite windy and hot due to having no shade.  So thankfully a co-worker of Racheal's told her about where to park or hope to enter through the gate behind someone else. 
Last weekend we went down there on Sunday with a picnic lunch and hopes of discovering the ponds.  We parked and started walking in.  A very nice lady stopped and asked if we'd like to move our car inside as long as we didn't tell anyone about her nice deeds.  Of course we were game and Lance rode with her to bring in the car while the kids and Racheal kept walking.  On the way Anika scored us a coconut and saw many different flowers. 
The entrance to the ponds was a short lava rock/cement wall that went around someones vacation home.  There was a ladder down into the water with little surrounding ponds.  The water is so clear, warm, soothing, calm, and beautiful it seems like it was made intentionally for the enjoyment and relaxation of Big Islanders. 
We enjoyed swimming with the kids in the water, having our picnic on shore, and taking in the waves and sunshine.  Here are a couple pictures of our views that day.  Glad we made it there before we left.

Is anyone tired of fish pictures yet? 'Cuz we're not!

After writing the title to this post, I went back to see what pictures of fish we had posted so far.  I then realized we haven't been publishing nearly enough pictures of the fish!  Here we go...