Hope Floats

The downside of living on an actively volcanic island is that your house can be swept away in a stream of lava. The upside is that you get geo-thermal pools.
My idea of heaven. This pool is ocean water that washes in and out with the tides, but is heated geo-thermally. To about 95 degrees F. That's nice. Hawaii in the winter is about as warm as Hawaii in the summer, but the ocean is rough and cold.
It's easy to lie on a beach (white sand? black sand? green sand? tan sand? that's the tough bit, choosing a sand color) and soak up the sun, but swimming or snorkeling in the ocean can be rough, especially for the under 7 crowd. We had worked with both children in the pool back in China to teach them how to snorkel before we left. Tom was a whiz, but Hope is just a little too young. The idea of breathing through her mouth without using her nose just threw her for a loop. She was content, however, to just use her googles to watch the ocean life at the bottom of the pool. I suspect that she won't be too much father behind Tom, though. The idea that he can do something that she can't also throws her for a loop. We'll be a snorkeling family by summer, I would wager.
There were certainly a nice, albeit limited, variety of wildlife available for snorkeling view. Lots of colorful fish and the occasional eel to keep things interesting. Tom would put his face down and swim for about an hour before coming back to report on his findings (there was always a grown-up tracking right behind him - that's my dad in the photo above).
Tomorrow: Molokai!

Comments

[Ann]

I'm with Hope--firmly in the non-snorkeling crowd. Just sitting here, pondering how I would go about breathing through my mouth & not my nose, throws me for a loop.

Maybe it's a red-head thing...

[Debbie Hanson]

I have no comment other than ....the title and first photo c.r.a.c.k.e.d m.e. u.p.!!!!!!!!