Becoming Beach Bums...

Daddy's been on leave this week, so we've been spending a lot of time at the beach. I don't know the last time he's taken leave where we've just been at home together, but that's what we've been doing. And -- as you might imagine -- it has been great!

We started out at our beloved lagoons at Ko Olina. The manmade lagoons are really just about perfect for little children. The water is so gentle that our girls just don't want to get out. Madeline was amazingly happy in the water -- splashing and laughing the whole time. If she hadn't started to look like a little, wrinkled raisin, I might not have taken her out!

Kathleen just didn't get out! Here she gets a free ride from Daddy.

We love our Hawaiian beaches. They're magical. But there's this other beach where I grew up, and it's pretty magical, too. (Although, I'll be the first to admit that its water is a lot, lot colder!) We hope we get back there sometime soon. This photo is for you, Rhode Island family:

The next beach we visited was the famed Waimea Bay on the North Shore. How we love that beach! Sadly, I forgot to grab the camera that day, so we don't have any photos. Just so you can picture it, though, here's a photo from a few months ago.

The surf is much, much calmer in the summertime -- not at all like this photo. We had a marvelous time swimming and building sand castles and watching the brave folks jump off the rock.

Our next beach outing was meant to be at the lagoons again, but we'd forgotten that it was King Kamehameha Day. (We're not making that up. It's a holiday. Really.) When we got to the lagoons, they were full. Rats! So, we headed to Waikiki instead, and that saved the day.

Kathleen and Daddy built some impressive sandcastles.

Since it was pretty windy, Madeline stayed out of the water. She played in or near her sunblocker tent most of the day. But you could tell she wanted to be with her big sister; she kept an eye on her all day!

On Friday we headed to the Windward side of the island to visit Kailua Beach. This is another wonderful beach, but one we don't visit often, since it's farther away.

Daddy had gotten Kathleen a brand new kite the night before, when we visited the Navy Exchange. A trip to the "wind"-ward side of the island was the perfect chance to test it out.

Kathleen loved flying the kite. Once Daddy got it up, she got to fly it all by herself. She was enormously proud. If she'd had buttons on her little swimsuit, she'd have burst them!

Of course, kite flying doesn't preclude swimming. There was plenty of that, too!

What a wonderful week! We're looking to lots more fun in the week to come -- with our friends John, Marie, and Anna, who will be visiting from North Carolina. We can't wait!