Days Three and Four at Turtle Bay Resort

This is such a beautiful place!  Our villa is the last one in the row of villa and away from the main hotel,  so it is a little more secluded and quiet.  




The grounds are beautifully kept and have such beautiful flowers and tropical plants and trees.










































Paul and Ethan had a great adventure yesterday riding a Segway!  They were both very excited when they got back to the villa!  I think it was as much from the tour they took and the history of the island and Pearl Harbor that they learned as it was from the Segway itself.  But they couldn't stop talking about how much fun they had, so it might be a toss-up.

Aren't they handsome!'

I cannot believe the adventure I had today!  This proves you should always be careful what you say because someone is always listening!  I didn't snorkel the last time we were in Hawaii for two reasons.  One, I can't swim.  Two, I knew I couldn't hold the mouth piece in my mouth because I have a bad gag reflex.  So, yesterday we saw a new type of snorkeling gear that covered your whole face and didn't have a mouth piece.  My comment, off the top of my head, was, "I might could do that."  You guessed it.  Tim, Ethan, Paul, and the girls went out today and came back with a "surprise".  That's an understatement!  You guessed it.  They bought those new snorkeling face mask things. With the looks of expectation on their faces I couldn't disappoint them, could I?  No, I could not.

Ethan was a very good teacher and so patient with me.

Kate was my cheerleader!

I still can't believe I did it.  It helped that the pool was only three feet deep.  lol!   But it didn't end there.  Now I had to go to the ocean!  Believe you me, if I had not loved these kids of mine and trusted them completely it would have never happened!  But I surprised myself and them.  I went snorkeling in the ocean!  Needless to say, I didn't turn lose their hands.  But again, they were very patient with me, and I was so excited to actually see some fish swimming on the bottom!  This shows it's never too late to overcome your fears!  Thanks, Tim.  I'm not being sarcastic; I really mean it!

Other adventurous places!

Effects of Tropical Storm Darby heading our way.

These kids don't mind a little old tropical storm!

Now that's an adventure!  

Day Two at Turtle Bay Resort, O'ahu

Day two was spent mostly exploring what there is to do here at Turtle Bay.  Pictures speak louder than words.  These kids love having fun with Granddaddy.

Natalie and Kate

Headed out for dinner.



Natalie, Ethan, and Kate ready for snorkeling.







Having fun while waiting for the waterslide.


Sea Lion at the beach








Snorkeling at the ocean looking for fish.

Bound for our O"ahu Adventure!

What a bittersweet day this was for me.  We laid my beautiful sister, Jearl, to rest yesterday and today I find myself flying from RDU, North Carolin, to LAX, California, to HNL, O'ahu, HI.  We were in the air for over twelve hours, but the flights were not bad, so I actually managed to get some much needed sleep.  The last two weeks have been especially hard with my sister being so sick.  The time I spent with her in her last days and hours were very special to me, and I would not trade one minute of our time together for anything.

Over the Pacific!

                

Getting closer.  Just passed one of the islands.

I see O'ahu!

Paul took a selfie--his second ever.

Coming in for a landing!

Tim and his family met us at the airport, and it was so good to see them all.  We'd seen Tim just a few days earlier in NC.  He had flown in the see his Aunt Jearl one last time.  Maryann looked so good, as usual, and the kids had grown so much since we'd last seen them.  Ethan is taller than I am and enjoys looking down at me.  Natalie and Kate looked just the same except they were so much taller as well.  Kids have a tendency to grow up, you know.  They filled us in on their tour of Pearl Harbor that we had missed.  It seems they learned a lot and were very excited about it!

We arrived at our villa at Turtle Bay and explored the beach here at the villa just a little.  We settled in and Paul and I were going to take a "quick" rest while Tim and family went to check out the pool and the things to do here at Turtle Bay.  The next thing we knew it was morning!  In our defense, the time here is six hours behind NC, so we'd been up a very long time and had traveled many, many hours to get here.  Needless to say, we were tired. 

The view for our window at the Turtle Bay Resorts.