Hawaii Five-Lowe Part IV

Remember when I said we are serious about not over-scheduling our vacations?  Today was our one day we had something planned other than the beach or the pool.  But we still needed to get our fill of the water!

The day before, Grammy HB had walked home from the beach with G and they discovered an area full of fish!  Here is an arial shot I found that shows this shallow section just off the beach.

 Is it any surprise that G wanted to go back there with some buckets so he could catch something?  We were all excited to see the fish he had taked about!

After just a few minutes, G and The Big Guy Lowe had caught something!  There were crab in these waters!!  We met other people that were catching crab too.  It was amazing how strong these little guys were.

They were pretty aggressive and we were warned that their pinchers were incredibly strong.

I think they caught about eight that morning!

Very impressed little brothers!!

In addition to the crab, The Big Guy Lowe caught a fish too--with just a sand bucket!!

You can see the detail a bit better in this picture.  Cool, eh?

While we were having fun, it was really windy and the sun wasn't out much.  J, D and I huddled on shore, took a closer look at the outriggers, picked up baby 'pinecones" for Grammy HB and sang songs.

Impressive boats at the local club.

Finally it was time to release the captives!  Whether at home or in the islands, we are a catch and release family...at least until we have a license!!  :)

It was interesting.  When we released the crab, they were on the attack and had no problem coming right at you.  After a bit, they seemed to realize they should disappear, and they did just that as they burrowed into the sand and were gone!

After our event-filled morning, we got the boys down for early naps. 

We were excited about visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) up in La'ie that afternoon and evening.  Unfortunately, Grammie Lowe was feeling tired and hurting again, so she chose to stay home and rest while we headed up to learn some more about the many islands that make up Polynesia!

The drive up north was beautiful!  Love the mountains!!

The sun even came out as we were passing "Chinaman's hat island."

More beautiful coastline!

Before we knew it we had arrived in La'ie and found ourselves exploring the different "islands" that make up the PCC.

Tonga was a big hit as they played drums and blew conch shells.

The boys were fascinated with the Koi ponds and other fish.

When we visited 'New Zealand', The Big Guy Lowe and J were able to participate!

Here they are practicing.

J is getting in a little more practice...

Now time for the performance.

The rest of us were looking on.

We especially loved Samoa!

Our good friends, the Browns, are from Samoa.  We were so excited to learn more about their culture!!

They made fire...

we tried!

They climbed palm trees!

We just watched!

We had a great visit to PCC.  Grammy and Grandpa HB were planning on staying for the big show that evening, so we said good-bye and headed out to explore the rest of La'ie.

We visited BYU Hawaii, toured the visitor center at the Hawaii Temple,

 

and then we headed home.

It was late by the time we returned to our house.  Both G and J were sound asleep--something that never happens with our children! D on the other hand was wide awake, and he was a little chatterbox!  We just laughed at the conversations he was carrying on!

Another great day!