The Hale Koa, China Town & an Octopus

It seems that our group of friends will all be leaving by the end of summer. Most will be gone as soon as school ends. How sad for us but especially the kids. What will they do without the Reyes and Harrington kids to play with everyday? Those kids are here so often that they consider this a second home. I will miss them all and I am already feeling the loss. This past weekend we went to Haunama Bay, mostly because I wanted to snorkel. The day was windy and the sun played hide and seek in the clouds. The Reyes family met us there. On the way in they had signs posted for a jellyfish warning so the kids weren't really into water fun and since the day wasn't the best we decided to leave and move the bunch to the Hale Koa. Our thinking was if we had to be outside in the "cold" we might as well enjoy it with frozen tropical drinks on the lanai and a pool free of jellyfish for the kids. We had so much fun we were able to get a room for the night and we stayed. The discovery of our increasing ages also became apparent when after dinner we all went to bed early even though we had a babysitter. How sad is that? Downtown Waikiki with a babysitter and happy kids and we were in bed by 9:30.
This past weekend was also the big celebration for the Chinese New Year. Saturday after Tara's cheer leading clinic we loaded up cars and headed to China Town. The place was crazy. Melissa was in charge of finding us parking since she frequents China Town for shopping trips. We left late but we still found parking, walked over to the parade area and still had great "seats". This is the Year of the Boar so pigs were a big part of the decorating scheme for the costumes and the town. We had never been to a parade for the Chinese New Year and the Lion dancers were fabulous and so vibrant in color. I had actually always thought they were dragons but the kids corrected me since they had learned all this stuff in school. The lions came down the street and performed their dances from side to side and everyone (mostly kids) was holding out dollars. I want to read up on this for the meaning of it all, but the lions would open their mouths and people would stuff their dollars in before the lion closed and moved on to the next group. It was pretty amazing to watch how the people under the lion costume could all synchronize their movements. There were some that were just little kids. Tyler thought they were neat till the first one opened it's mouth. From that point on when he saw one he would run and hide behind Dad's back. When the parade was over we continued to walk around and occasionally one of the lions would be performing on a corner. Tyler asked Dad for a dollar and bravely stood with his arm outstretched. The lion came to him and opened and Tyler stuck his arm in the mouth. The lions hold that position for about 10 sec before they close and move away. Just before I could snap a picture and the lion could close his mouth, Tyler's new found courage faded and he ran for Dad!! So close!!! It was so much fun I can't wait for next year!
Today after getting Tara off to school and finishing up with Big Guy's speech we noticed something different in the canal under the bridge. The canal feeds into the ocean so their are usually fish or crabs and Tyler likes to stop and watch. I thought there was a hat or something in the water but I thought it looked like tentacles but I couldn't imagine an octopus in a canal! I threw in a rock and the tentacles began moving. A teacher was walking up that had been informed of the odd visitor by her students, so we all stood there watching this octopus in the canal under the bridge next to the school. I snorkel here a lot. An octopus is one of those things you always look for along with turtles and rays and just cool stuff you don't see everyday. I went home and grabbed my camera so I hope you can see it in the pictures.
My mother has finally set new dates for her visit. She will be here Mar 6 and Dad will join her Apr 3 and they will both stay until the 11th. We can't wait for them to get here. Another excuse to show off our island!!