Day 4 Monday 9/29

Woke up this morning and hit the beach. Mom and Dad planted themselves on the beach under an umbrella while Cathy, Nicola, and myself went snorkeling. Saw another turtle. That never gets old. Someone out there was saying that they saw a sting ray; but who knows....

Had lunch at our favorite place, CJ's.. and then went to the mall to plan the rest of the week's "things to do". After visiting Tom, a transplant from Hinsdale at the surf shop, we had plenty of ideas and decided that we needed another week.... Don't we wish!!!

Sooooo the rest of the week looks like this.... Tuesday driving the Road to Hana. We probably won't go all the way, but still have to experience it. Wednesday will be the Reef Dancer, a submarine looking thing that let's you experience the underwater without going scuba diving... After that... DAD IS GOING TO PARASAIL!!!!! Yep. Way, cool... Hope I get to go on the boat to capture that moment.. Wednesday night is "Ulalena" for the ladies.. Imagine a Cirque show with a Hawaiian history twist. Meanwhile, Dad and I will probably have a drink somewhere in Lahaina to celebrate the Cubs win... lol Thursday is Haleakala... The volcano... Wake up call for 2:30am in order to get up to the top (10,000ft) in time for the sunrise. Then Cathy and I come home, while Mom, Dad, and Nicola stay one more night.. Wow.. time is flying by.....

More beach/ocean time this afternoon followed by a quick photo shoot...


Then went to the Luau here at the Sheraton in the evening. Glad we did it... Very entertaining. The locals did dances from various Polynesian islands.. Survivor fans will be happy to know that the Cooks Islands were represented, but Vanuatu was not.

Steve thought his favorite part was going to be when the Haka was performed. The dance of the Maori from New Zealand. It was made famous by the Rugby team in a pregame ritual that is like no other.... If you have never seen a Haka, then you have to click this link, or copy and paste it to your browser. Whatever you need to do to view it.... I think we should introduce the Haka as part of our softball pregame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cle20lQg0Qs&feature=related

Anyway, the Hawaiian Fire Dancer at the end stole the show. Rock Star!!!! The dude lit one end of his fire stick by taking the fire into his mouth and then lighting the stick... Who does that??? The Hawaiian Fire Dancer!!!! Very nice, he say's in his Borat accent..

OK, big day tomorrow... Home Depot, Bed Bath and Beyond.. lol Who doesn't love the movie, Old School?!?! Well....Everyone else is asleep here. I am having a hard time saying goodbye to these days as there is only a few more of them left..

To the boys at UCC.. I have found the Sheraton webcam, and the sighting spot by the bridge. If I get up early enough tomorrow, I will call you to do the experiment. This is going to be great!!!

More to come... PS... I have noticed that I am driving with the Aloha spirit while here on the island. That can be described as driving like I am from Wisconsin. Everything is a little slower.