Paradise Found

A quick note about the women's Roxy Pro surfing championship pictures... I have a LOT of them to share, but I'm almost out of photo space for the month of November, so I'm going to wait and share those in early December. I used up a lot of space putting up the men's surfing pics.

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Ko'Olina Lagoons is another piece of paradise! There are 4 lagoons down on the very southwestern tip of the island, and everywhere you look is an amazing photo opportunity!

This is the ideal place to go for worry-free beach time. No crashing waves, no surf to knock the kids around. People with babies can go here for easy splashing around. It's a very gradual increase in the depth of the water.... no sudden drop offs.

They are man-made lagoons and have surf-breaks that buffer all the power of the ocean. It's surrounded by magnificent resort hotels and a golf course. And entrance to the lagoons is free!

Isn't that beautiful!?

We also went to Barber's Point yesterday. I had expected a more family-friendly beach here, but it was actually a solid, rocky shoreline. We have to wear shoes to walk along it.

But it was worthwhile in two respects: I can say I've been there now, in my mission to visit every place, beach and sight on the whole island... and there's a lighthouse there!

I don't know what the name of the lighthouse is, as it's unlabeled in my map book... so I'll just call it the Barber's Point Lighthouse. =o)

The boys...

Days like today were what I'd dreamed of before moving to Hawaii. The kids were at school, C was at work, and it was Day 2 of the first leg of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing competition!

Being from Michigan and other non-surfing states, I had no idea how one of these events worked. It was amazingly well run and organized considering how many surfers there were to get thru.

So... on with the event report!

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is a 3-part surfing event that runs from November 12 to nearly Christmas time. The 3 jewels of the crown are won at each of the 3 events: The OP Hawaii Pro, the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing and the grand finale event, Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters! Each of the events last roughly 2 weeks or so... just depends on how the waves behave whether or not they surf on any given day.

So event #1: The OP Hawaii Pro began officially on November 12th, but they didn't start the surfing until yesterday because the waves were non-existant. Today they were at 10-12 feet! The water temperature was 79* and the air temp was 86*.

I parked on the street just a ways from the beach, and as I was walking in, this was my first great view!

I took a lot of pictures of the signs and painted murals because I think they're so cool!

The crowd was really not bad! Hard to estimate how many people were there because we were free to sit anywhere we wanted, or wander freely as things were happening. Somewhere around 100 I'd guess while I was there... maybe 150.

Sitting on beach level doesn't give the greatest views... so all of the announcers, tv cameras, etc sit up in elevated tents! There were 6 or 7 of these across the beach, set up for different reasons. Vendors selling event shirts and posters, surfers area, announcers, etc. Here's one:

Ok, so they have 4 guys out surfing at one time... called a heat. Each guy wore a white, yellow, blue or red rash guard shirt, and during the competition they were largely referred to as the red surfer or the blue surfer. Each heat lasted something like 20 or 30 minutes. One heat would end with the sounding of a horn, and 10 seconds later, they'd sound the horn again signifying the start of the next heat.

Here's a picture of one set of guys paddling out in preparation for their heat:

I happened to be sitting where they did interviews after each heat was over, so I took pictures of several of the guys, tho I have no idea who they are. Well... one is Jamie O'Brien who is the reigning champion. He won his heat today, too. LOL

And now... finally for the action shots! My new camera (well the one I bought last Spring!) did pretty great for this sort of thing! The distance was pretty considerable... the big waves were far out and I was sitting a good way up the beach!

The best pictures would be taken from in the water, out where they are, but since I'm not allowed anywhere near there.... I had to settle from working from the beach. And I was straight in front of them, not off to an angle, so you can't see the big barrel, tube-like waves, like you can in a magazine.

Whew!!! If it gives you any idea of how many pictures I took today.... I stayed until the batteries in my camera died. =o) I am sharing 38 pics here. I haven't been posting much, so I have the space.

There were surfers from all over the world: Spain, Brazil, Australia and local boys from Hawaii! The whole thing was really great, and it's so close to our house! Only about 5 miles away! And what's maybe the best is that it's all free! Free parking, free entry in, and they gave away free souveineers: posters, a nice program and Vans stickers.

I will go back tomorrow in hopes of seeing some of the Women's Roxy Pro competition.

Here are a couple of scenic shots I thought were really beautiful:

I just LOVE crashing wave pictures!

Still no hint of fall! LOL! In my brain I know there won't be any Autumn-like weather, but I still keep waiting for it to happen.

Well I made a new friend today... if you are from Blog World then you may know Jack Army and his wife Jill Army. Well I met "Jill" today, along with their 3 daughters! They just arrived on the island a few days ago, and are trying to adjust to the time difference, and get to know the area some. So I got to do for them what someone so kindly did for me when *we* first got here!

I took them to the medical clinic for several things they had to get done, then we left base and went to Haleiwa for lunch at Killer Tacos, and then on to Matsumodo's for shave ice! Mmmmmmmmmmmm Shaveeee Icccce.

Then we went on to see some of the North Shore beaches and ended up back here in our housing area so she could see the area we live in.

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On to more red hair! We redid it over the weekend and added some super-spike stuff to make it hard and crunchy this time:

Then cute pics of the boy and Kane:

Two shots of the Banzai Pipeline from today at lunch time. No waves!!

I'm just about ready to share pictures of the inside of the house. Half of the curtains are made, and pretty much all of the pictures are hung now. =o)

Lots of small, everyday things to catch you up on, along with Halloween last night! Let's start there.... Halloween in Hawaii was different! No one had those head-to-toe fur costumes on... too hot! It wasn't exactly HOT, but it was certainly warm. And our community had them trick or treating from 5-8pm, and of course we got started pretty much right at 5, so it was bright and sunny out.

Both kids picked their own costumes, of course, tho N did need some steering away from being a Power Ranger AGAIN. If he had seriously resisted being something else we would have let him be a Ranger again, but ya know! He's been a ninja or ranger for years!

So this is.... an evil jester? Joker? Something like that! For being store-bought, the quality is really good. The fabric is thick (i.e. you can't see thru it OR rip it easily) and it has some attention to detail on it!

E is, fittingly enough, half angel, half devil. Say no more, right? hehehehehe Juuuuust kidding.

She specifically wanted a Halloween picture that looked Hawaiian, and she LOVES palm trees! So we just used the one in our front yard.

These two boys are our neighbors. The little one is a football player and is 3 years old, and the bigger one is N's best friend here, and he's 6 and a dirt bike rider.

These two kids live 2 houses to the left and play with N just about every day.
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We have always had a gas powered pocketbike that has never worked. LOL! We had it shipped here with the thought that we'll finally change that... but in the mean time, N got himself a new toy. 3 of his 4 pals have one, so now he does too. It's a little electric pocket bike w/ Honda stickers so he looks cool like his parents. =o)

E likes riding it too! hehehe

That little thing has a weight limit of 175 pounds! It's VERY quiet, which scares me.... and it's pretty slow, which for now, is a good thing. Whenever they ride it, I stand at the end of the driveway, in case any cars come into our cul-de-sac area.
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I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but N's really taken a liking to cooking! Ever since we moved here and I haven't worked, I've made huge leaps in my kitchen domination techniques, and am actually producing Emeril and Rachael Ray meals every night (thanks to The Food Network, the DVR and The Food Network's AWESOME website).

N now owns 2 of his own cookbooks thru which he meal shops for 1 meal per week. He does all mixing, scooping, measureing and dumping into bowls and pans. When I'm cooking at the stove, he sets the table and puts things back into the fridge for me.

So now when he sees recipes, they really catch his eye.... like on cereal boxes at Walmart with Daddy. He saw a box of Cocoa Krispies with a recipe on the side, and they came home with all the ingredients to make Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats! LOL!!

So N got to do everything this time, even stir the stuff on the stove.

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Last but not least, N also REALLY likes to highlight his hair red. And make it spikey. And I mean REALLY.