Hawaii

Bill and I joined other family members of Bill's brother Dan and his fiancée, Beverly Turner, for the festivities surrounding their wedding on February 19 near their home in Keauhou on the Big Island. Since we were there six days, we had some time to explore new places and visit several that have become traditions on our trips.

This seems to be the season for courtship. Here's to Valentine's Day and Weddings!

This is the very soft, cuddly, playful Lexie Lou. Oh...the blue thing is (or was) a ball.

Bill and I managed to find some places we had not yet visited, even after ten previous trips to the Island. This was one of them, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, which portrays and celebrates Hawaiian history and culture. The wall is a heiau, a Hawaiian temple. The shallow water is a fish trap, where ancient Hawaiians could capture fish that came in on high tides and stayed when the tide receded.

The Kaloko-Honokohau National Park is home to green sea turtles, Honu. Visitors must stay at least twenty feet from the turtles, so I was glad my camera could zoom.

We have seen many petroglypys like this on the Kohala Coast in the past, so we were on the lookout for them in Kaloko-Honokohau National Park.

 We stayed for three days in the Kona Makai condo complex where Bill's mother lived during the last few winters of her life. I've always liked walking to the lava beach on the property, particularly at sunset.

I took a picture of this orange spotted gecko just outside our front door. Another one was sharing the bedroom for awhile.

We have some rituals when we are in Kona, one of which is eating lunch at Huggo's on the Rocks.

Another lunch tradition is having a frosty Kona brew and a fresh fish sandwich at the Harbor Restaurant and watching the fishing boats come in.

The Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm was another new attraction for us this year. They breed seahorses to live in aquariums in an effort to discourage people from capturing wild seahorses, which are endangered and don't live very long in captivity--a few months maximum. They have seahorses here that are 13 years old. They are sensitized to being around people. We each got to form a "reef" with our fingers and allow a seahorse to curl its tail around them. Those are Bill's hands.

Beverly and Dan on the night before their wedding

I told Hallie which end of the conch shell to blow in and how to hold her lips, and she was able to get a good sound on her very first try.

 Friends Karen and Larry Ostley hosted a party at their home for family and mainland guests the night before the wedding. Here's Nephew Mark recording the event with his camera.

Bill and Allison, who stood up for Dan and Bev

Dan's grandchildren, Hallie and Mitchel Marker, were the flower girl and ring bearer.

Jean and Bill just before the wedding

The wedding party: Allison, Dan, Hallie, Beverly, Mitchel, Bev's son Jon, and Bill