Hitting the Hilo Beaches

Well we've had a bit of cabin fever over here. Since my birthday I've been recovering from either a really, really, really bad case of the flu or some sort of parasitic invasion. I'm 100% better now, and since last week Stella caught some sort of stomach flu. Kyle said it was going around his classroom. We've also been working hard at Tom's contractor applications. You don't want to know how many hours we've persisted in making sure these forms and project lists are filled out correctly. It has been grueling. I sent them in the mail Thursday. The Board meets Tuesday...wish us luck! So....we were MORE than ready to get out and have an adventure. The boys had off from school and we really wanted to go to the ocean and try out our new kayak...a customer traded it for our sun oven which has not seen much use since last summer. He'll be on a sail boat where we thought it would see more use. First I'll start with the only picture I took from my birthday on our way to Pohoiki. I'm not sure exactly where it is, but in the back you can see Mauna Kea, and I think that is why I took the pic (remember I wasn't feeling well.)

We were told that off Banyan Drive in Hilo there is a nice calm area to launch the kayak. There is a nice park there, but it is closed for restorations until Stella's Birthday (April 30th 2012). We pulled into a parking area just up the street from that, but the clouds were approaching and the wind was picking up. Not exactly a HOT day for a jump in the bay. No one wanted to get in the water.

Stella posing...

Reeve marveling at his ability to go outside and then it inevitably rains on his parade...he really, really wanted to go kayaking, but the kid who LOVES winter and cold weather decided it was too COLD for him to get in the water!

Looking (dreaming) at all the cool and different sail boats.

Plan B...we saw that it was still sunny down the road a ways...at least that was the way it looked. We decided to try out a new beach (for us) in Hilo called Onekahakaha Beach Park. It was lovely, but the clouds and rain beat us there! I didn't take any pictures there, but we did see a humpback whale out in the ocean. That was very AWESOME, and I WISH I could have snapped a photo of that. Again we looked to our left and saw the sun, so we decided to try Plan C...Richardson's Beach Park.

We got there and the clouds were approaching, but there was no holding us back from getting in the water. It was actually warmer than I thought it would be. Normally Richardson's can be kind of cool because it is spring fed, but it was not too bad.

It's the perfect little beach for Stella...nice gentle entry. There were some snorklers out there and out in the distance we saw some boogie boarders and a Stand Up Paddle Boarder. But the real fun for me was watching Stella play in the water.

We lucked out and had the beach all to ourselves!

Kyle the fish is behind Stella. We all got in, but I only have pics of Stella and Kyle.

Today we are off to Pahoa Town for a Surf Film Festival...starting at 3pm and watching like 5 surf movies at the Akebono Theatre...should be fun.