Tuesday, August 17: Our last day, bummer. We spent the day packing and closing things down. It takes a while, but this second time was a little smoother. Car by the pool and we used the guest closet to store more stuff like our golf clubs. Everything fit and we made it to the airport on time. It is really much nicer flying out of here rather than LAX. Hopefully, we can come back at Christmas, but with Doug graduating, it doesn’t look promising.

Sunset was beautiful traveling to the airport. We used Adventurous Limousine Service to get there. ＄90.00 for 5 people with luggage.

Leaving at 8:40 at night and arriving at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow should be exciting! People were boarded early and we took off on time. We actually arrived at 4:30, early and it was very smooth with our baggage claim. We dropped Julia off at her Mom’s place before heading home.

Breakfast was at Kay’s in Highland, the kids remembered the apple butter for their toast. It’s amazing what they remember.

Monday, August 16: Sandy and I played 18 holes of golf for our anniversary. We started at 7:30 and were done by 11:40. I had a blast.

Julia and Doug did the night Manta Ray dive with Kona Honu Divers and Sandy, Rosie and I went to the KPC in the Hilton for our anniversary dinner. Great view but they can’t cook a steak. Well done this time and with Pat!

We had a small family meltdown, it is a good idea to plan things ahead, especially when it is a big milestone like our 30th!

I think we worked past it, plan and pay attention to the time.

Sunday, August 15: We went to church in Waimeas and had deacon Larry as our lector. Fr. Bob was there but it was Larry’s turn this week. I thoug the church was more crowded than usual, but that could have been due to the Feast of the Assumption.

I will miss again, this church.

We went to breakfast as Pukini Grill in the KTA shopping center and the food portions were huge. It was a good ideas that Sandy and I split our meal.

After breakfast, we decided to hit the beach while Sandy and Rosie shopped at the King and Queen’s marketplace. Thet dropped us off at the beach above the Fairmont Orchid and we ended up at their beachfront area. It is very pretty and tranquil. A nice way to spend some quiet time.

Dinner today was the luau at the Marriot.

Saturday, August 14: Mai-tai day! After a lazy morning, the kids went out to A-Beach and returned about 3:00 p.m. We all left for Kona and the festival not sure what to expect. We arrived at the Royal Kona Resort with crowds and the judging beginning about 5:00 p.m. It was hot and crowded and we saw round 1 of 8 with 3 contestants per round. It was interesting but nothing to write home about.

We wandered around Kona and had dinner at Humpy’s on Alii Drive. It has been open for 2 weeks, the service was slow, 36 beers on tap and the fook ok, not great. Our server was pathetically slow and did not deserve a tip, according to Rosie!

The Mai-tai sampling occurs after the judging, I think, and we decided not to wait for 7 more rounds. Bryan from Spikes/Banjy’s was in round 7 and we wished him well in the contestant warm up room.

Friday, August 13: Golf and Spa day! Or so we thought! The girls headed to the spa at the Mauna Lani and Douglas and I headed to the golf range.

I think he is a natural, Doug picked up the golf swing pretty quick. Off we went for our 9:18 t time and we were on hole 4 when Doug said he needed some nuprin. The same situation happened about 3 weeks ago in San Diego with Julia. At that time, he took a trip to the emergency room. By the look on his face, he was in pain and we had NO car.

I dropped off Doug at the condo, returned the cart and came home. He was laying down with 800 mg of nuprin. I called Sandy but their phones were in their spa lockers. Douglas was not getting any better and I asked our neighbor Pat if she would take us to North Hawaii emergency room, Douglas didn’t argue. While not the fastest driver, she did get us there and I did page Sandy from the spa, they were just wrapping (literally) up and I told here how to get to the hospital.

After 2 bags of saline and blood work, the nice Doctor told us that Doug was severly dehydrated. He was topped off and in about 2 hours was set free to relax the rest of the day and drink plenty of WATER.

The night before, Doug had an upset stomach and his lack of water consumption caused the dehydration. The beer and a half we had as we started the golf game DID NOT help. But, I must say, my game was going well, bummer for me!

We all learned a lesson. Doug woke up not feeling well, he should have told someone, and we all need to drink lots of water!

Needless to say, we chilled out the rest of the day but Sandy and I did manage one last pupu party that evening.

Thursday, August 12: A nice mellow day for all to relax recuperating from the bug-bite fest. At 5:00 p.m., we went to see Fr. Bob and renewed our wedding vows after 30 years. The kids didn’t know what was going on and that was part of the fun.

Dinner for ahi tuna BBQ and lilikoi cake for dessert. Yum and good times.

Tonight was the Perseid meteor shower and there were a few to be viewed. By the time 11:30 p.m. rolled around, the clouds had rolled in and the sprinkles blocked the view just a bit. Oh well, I figured out how to do time exposures on the Canon T1i, it is one capable camera!

Wednesday, August 11: Today is the Circle Island tour to Hilo and Volcano! We started off at Tex in Honoka’a for the malasadas and then down to Hilo for the marketplace and jewelery shopping. After a quick deluge, we shopped in the heat until our stomachs got the better of us and we headed to Reuben’s Mexican Food on the boulevard. It was OK, not spectacular. It did us well and fortified us for more shopping.

We headed to Kurtistown, on the way to Volcano for a Bonsai and Cultural Center tour and, unexpectadly, class on Chineses bonsai with Sensei David Fukumoto. Rosie was very excited and completed her bonsai. It wll be packed and shipped for school by the time that she arrives. The mosquitos were out in FULL force and there were lots of bites to go around.

Rather than continue around the island, we decided to backtrack over Saddle Road to home. It was a quick hour or so and we were back by about 6:15 p.m.

Dinner was cocktails and bread (different vodka martinis), cheese and crackers! The gin rummy game began in earnest out on the lanai.

Tuesday, August 10: Today we did the Kona Boat Rentals thing. I wasn’t sure about this idea, but cancelled the Alala. It turned out to be an excellent choice. We had the boat for the entire day and we finally left at about 10:30 returning at 5:30. We went to Honaunau (City of Refuge), Captain Cook and Mano moorings for snorkeling. While we never did find a mooring ball, hidden under the water, we did have a great time in the clear water. By far, the best was at 2-step (or the City of Refuge).

On the way back, while trolling, we were entertained by several pods of spinner dolphins playing with the boat. A definite summer highlight! Remember though to have a good set of charts (maybe we should purchase and label the hotels as landmarks) and a good GPS. The Garmin one supplied worked just great but a moving map, like an iPad, would be even better. The iPhone 4, because it was in cell coverage, really did a good job on the moving map part.

Diinner was at Bite-Me with＄ 2.50 fish tacos. The Marlin tacos were disappointing, stick with the Ahi upgrade next time. A very long but FUN day!

Monday, August 9: After a few tense hours as the kids were in security, they DID make the 1:55 p.m. Delta flight! When Douglas called at 9:15 (12:15), and said they weren’t going to make the flight, we had our blood pressure rise.We had time to go down to Kona, do a few errands while the house was being cleaned and check out this new artist, Alex Gupton, that we really like. His pen and ink works are fantastic.

They arrived on time, thank goodness and we had a nice diiner at KBC with Elyssa’s family before they leave tomorrow for the mainland.

Sunday, August 8: We had a golf t-time this morning at 8:54. To our surprise, it was a little crowded and we ended up as a 4-some with an older couple. It made us both a little nervous but we got through 9 holes. It was not our best efforts.

We tried lunch at Banjy’s and the fish tacos were quite good with the new owner/chef/menu.

Sandy spent the afternoon putting lasagne together and we had invited guests Pat and Gene and Sandi and Darrell over for dinner. We had garlic bread from Sandi and lemon meringue pie from Pat as additions. While she was doing that, I found a recipe online to “defog” the Subaru headlights from the frost over they have. 3 parts toothpaste and 1 part baking soda applied and buffed worked great. Saves from purchasing new lenses! The left front turn signal lamp was replaced as well and I got the ideas to replace the headlight bulbs as well.

Saturday, August 7: Today Anna returns home and we begin preparation for the kids coming. Cutting it a little close, we met up with Anna at the airport for their departure. They were happy they came and sad to leave, next time they are headed Maui for Bart.

We did a few errands in Kona and we went to Church in Waimea at 5:00 p.m. to free up our golf time tomorrow morning.

Friday, August 6: Today we had the Alala scheduled for a morning snorkel cruise. Instead of leaving from the Marriott and A-Beach, Ocean Sports called and said they were changing the boat and the pickup location due to Sea Smoke problems. We left out of Kawaihae harbor, meeting at 8:30 or so at the little blue shack right at the interesection in town. As with last year, Ocean Sports does do a nice program and the holo-holo card discount was ＄93.00. The boat cruised around the bay and headed for 69 beach to snorkel. The water was perfectly clear and we had very little wind, yesterday it was blowing.

The Fuji FinePix XP10 worked amazingly well underwater. For the price it is really worth not having to deal with the worrying about my Canon camera and seawater. I should have picked up one a long time ago. Costco again, to the items you need at the price you can afford (＄159.00).

After the onboard lunch, the bar opens up and the sailing begins. Its interesting that the sail is just really a short distance back to the harbor but they are PR masters of stretching things out!

The afternoon was a lazy beach day at the Mauna Kea and dinner at Roy’s in the King’s Marketplace. My Chili Pepper Ahi was delicious as was Anna’s butterfish. Sandy’s Ono was a little off tonight. But … the chocolate souffle dessert was awesome.

Strolling around King’s after dinner, Anna and Katie took us to an art gallery where we saw work from the artist Alex Gupton, he has amazing pen and ink drawings, click here.

I soaked the Fuji in water for about 10 minutes, I am anxious to see the photos and videos!

Thursday, August 5: Sandy worked in the morning and I got on the phone to book ourselves on Anna’s tomorrow snorkel cruise. The local price started at about ＄108 per person and ended up with the holo-holo card at ＄93.00. I’m not sure why they don’t just give the locals the rate to begin with. I know that it is business but …

Sitting here booking the cruise, I got the brilliant idea (Sandy had been after me all summer) to find a waterproof digital camera for underwater filming. I talked to the local Costco and they carried the Fuji FinePix XP10. Googling opinions, I determined that it was worth the purchase and trip to Costco. Off I went and Anna and Katie came over to do laundry, again. They spent the morning snorkeling in the bay.

Dinner was flank steak from Costco, it is quite good. The Mauna Kea night sky telescope observation was the night’s activity. When we tried to book the Mauna Kea visitor’s center afternoon trip, the only time they has was on Friday, so this was the second choice. While interesting, the presenter was tired and the activity was pretty boring. Nix this activity for future reference.

We are anxious for tomorrow’s snorkel cruise. They did call me and, due to boat problems, rebook us on the Alala leaving Kawaihae harbor instead of the Sea Smoke for A-Bay. Oh well, no worries.

Wednesday, August 4: The days are now flying by. Anna and Katie sceduled themselves on the morning Dolphin Cruise from the Mauna Kea and had a blast. They jumped in the water with the dolphins as soon as they were spotted. Sounds like a lot of fun!

This morning I worked on the patio table. I used the power sander and the polishing compound doing 10 minutes per quarter. I followed that up with a Turtle Wax coat and that is as good as it is going to get, at least for me.

Golf at 2:30 wtih Pat and Gene. They are both, for their age, quite good. Gene is very fluid and Pat is pretty accurate. The thing that I notice is that they are both very relaxed about their strokes. In their day, they both were pretty good. I think we all had a good time. We were out from about 2:30 to 5:30 or so.

Wine tasting at 6:00 at the Mauna Kea with Anna and Katie before dinner there at their Manta Restaurant. The wine tasting was entertaining and fun and the dinner was quite good, an excellent outdoor restaurant for future reference. It was interesting pulling up at the guard shack in the Subaru, it was like “what do these local want” type attitude. As soon as I said we had reservations, the attitude changed 180° hmm…. Just a funny observation!

Tuesday, August 3: Today we had Anna and Katie come over in the late morning for laundry. They only took carry-on and are limited in clothing. We had our 2nd game on the course today at 2:30, just Sandy and me, tomorrow it will be with our neighbors, Pat and Gene. The morning was spent doing schoolwork and work and waiting for them to come over. I am reading the new Common Standards developed by the federal government for math, this stuff should be interesting to implement given that we have no money.

Oh well, it all worked out and they came over after their snorkeling afternoon adventures for dinner.

The golf game was pretty enjoyable. With an original tee-time of 2:38 and 18 golfers in our pack, we were worried, but Cal (the golf guy) told us people had cancelled, so we need not worry. He was right, we let 2 singles play through us and we had the course pretty much to ourselves. We finished 9 holes in about 2.5 hours (about 5:00 p.m.). I had a great time and am anxious for tomorrow!

BBQ tuna and Fettucini pasta for Katie. She needs to expand her 8th grade culinary tastebuds to other things! As long as the fish is not raw, Anna is ok with it, but she too … is not a big fish lover.

Monday, August 2: Today was get Pat ready to return home day. It takes her most of the day to pack, but she got it all together. A phone call from SuperShuttle at 5:30 in the morning had them waiting for her at LAX – a slight mixup. During breakfast, Super Shuttle agreed that it was their mistake, she is taking the red-eye tonight arriving 5:30 tomorrow! Oh well.

As Pat packed, we went to the range to practice, it was my worst day ever and I was depressed. Tomorrow we are supposed to go out, just Sandy and I. I am bummed big time.

We headed down to Kona and the airport to get her loaded up. First stop was dinner at Huggo’s beach bar for one last view of the ocean. I would have preferred the main dining area, but it doesn’t open until 5:30 p.m. Pat wanted Don’s Mai-tai bar, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat there again.