...have been exhausting. When, exactly, does the "vacation" part of this vacation start? : )

                                         

This is Silas talking to a local girl ('local' in the sense that her father is stationed at P earl Harbor)  - she was very cute, and they circled each other like sharks, moving closer and further apart, as though they had positive and negative polarities with varying periods. This lasted for hours, during which time I was not allowed to leave the beach. Now I've got bright red burn marks on my upper thighs, and Silas didn't even get a phone number.

The sacrifices that we make, as parents.

This was a day at the beach, pure and simple (at least, after I finished my run) - most of the day was "lay in sun till hot/snorkle till cooled down/repeat". We spent a lot of time going further and further out, getting into deeper and deeper water; I saw some aquacritters that I had not seen before, and we spent a good bit of time getting comfortable saying "humuhumunukunukua'pua'a" over and over again.

I got about two-thirds through Rise of Endymion, for the third time (the Hyperion Cantos is possibly the biggest story I've ever read - it makes Lord Of The Rings seem like Peter Rabbit; yes, Stephenson's Baroque Cycle probably is as long or longer in terms of words or pages, but HC sucks in much more in the way of mind-blowing concepts. HC makes you want to read more, while at the same time wearing out your grey matter) and may have overdone it on solar exposure.

The day before was supposed to be the day that we were to go scuba diving; however, as it turns out, I'm not allowed to go scuba diving without a doctor's release form, as I am old and feeble. So we got the release forms to send to Dr. Sean, and then took off for other places to hide out. We stopped up at the Nu'uanu Pali where, just like the last time, it was windy -

                                            

- either it was really windy, or I'm a heck of a kisser and can make Ethel's hair stand up straight.

Today we were going to go hiking along that ridgeline from the Pali park, but things interfered, so we wound up doing some sightseeing and shopping - here are some pretty nice shirts that Ethel wouldn't let me buy:

                                           


This is my idea of fashion - you can wear these shirts, or stop traffic with them.

Tomorrow is supposed to be kayaking in Kailua Bay. I'll keep you folks informed.