We got a kick out of watching the sand crabs...even got some fun videos. Man, they're fast!
We sure enjoyed God's beautiful sunrise, then we went back inside to get ready for church. We decided to attend Koloa Church--it was recommended by friends/family--and arrived just in time for the 8:00am service. It felt kinda weird to be without our children on Father's Day! When we got out of the car, there was a sweet older lady who asked Eric if he was a 'Dad'. She had made yarn leis for all the father's...how sweet!
After worship, the pastor's wife had all the fathers come to the front. The women of the church had made little goody bags for the children or wife to hand out to the dads. It was a bag of homemade cookies with a candy bar tied to the outside! How special! Then she prayed a blessing over the men before they returned to their seats.
Unfortunately, the pictures I snapped were a little blurry, but this one has Eric in it anyway...and the lady seated on the end of the bench (middle of the pic) is the one who made the leis!
Pastor Kilborn had a very good message...He talked about Jairus, whom he called the 'Unashamed Father'. You know, the man in the Bible who had the daughter that was sick and ended up dying (Mark 5:21-43). Well, I won't get into the whole sermon, but here are the key points he made:
#1: Jairus wasn't ashamed to let his daughter see him seek out Jesus,
#2: Jairus wasn't ashamed to let Jesus into his home and let HIM have the authority there, and
#3: Jairus wasn't ashamed to show his daughter the love he had for her.
He challenged the fathers (and really the mothers too) to live unashamed, as Jairus did. To show our children just how important the Lord really is in our lives.
The women's ministry prepared a breakfast to honor the fathers that morning and all were invited to stay for that, so we did!
They served Loco Moco, a unique Hawai'ian comfort food. It's rice, topped with a hamburger patty, an over-easy egg and smothered in brown gravy! Very interesting! They also had the best ever pancakes...THICK, with a slab of butter, coconut syrup, maple syrup and fresh coconut on top...they were amazing! They had other choices for pancake toppings too, like strawberries and whipped cream...Mmmm. And that wasn't all....hash browns/veggies, spam, little wieners, and I think that's about all. Oh, but just looking at that pancake is making me drool!
Pastor Harold Kilborn and his wife Christy. I only got this one picture before my camera battery died, so closed eyes will have to do. Ha ha, I love the 'hang loose'! They're a pretty neat couple and so in love with Jesus, you could just tell! I wish we could have had more time to spend with them!
The church...
We left with STUFFED tummy's and headed to Spouting Horn--very cool! (that's a link to someone else's video) 'This natural wonder occurs as water rushes under a lava shelf and bursts through a small opening at the surface. Every wave produces another spray. Spouting Horn frequently spurts salt water 50 feet into the air. The phenomena is especially exciting at sunset when the spray becomes incandescent with the colors of the rainbow. This particular blowhole is different from others found throughout the state as another hole nearby only blows air, making a loud groaning sound.'
This picture makes it looks small, but it's really pretty good size.
A hen and her chicks...a very common sight!
This view is a couple hundred yards to the right of the Spouting Horn. We walked out there--it's off the beaten path--and enjoyed the view for awhile....just so much beauty to take in all at once!
Beautiful red hibiscus.
We left Spouting Horn after spending some time in the shopping area--just long tents set up with individual vendors and their booths. We found some goodies to take home to the children, shark tooth necklaces for the boys and a yellow plumeria one, like my white one, for Miss G. The Botanical Gardens Visitors Center was close and we stopped there to ooh and ahh at the flowers.
These trees were in the parking area and I just could not get enough of them!
See how pretty they are?!
Rainbow Eucalyptus...the bark has red, purple, grey, etc...really pretty.
Orchids
Sugar Cane
Seed pods inside the Visitors Center. The one on the left is a mahogany seed pod. We can't remember what the one on the right is, but it was super soft and fuzzy like a rabbit's foot.
HUGE vinca! I didn't know it could be a bush, it was about 4 ft tall! My parents plant these at their mailbox every year. Same colors too!
The following three flowers I don't know the name of...and I'm too lazy right now to try to find out!
The lotus pond was in bloom. It only blooms once a year. SO BEAUTIFUL!
And see how huge?! That's my hand!
More of the trees in the parking lot! We just walked around the gardens at the Visitors Center. We would have had to wait about an hour for the next tour and it was quite expensive, so we decided it was something we'd do on our next trip!
Then we drove to Shipwreck Beach and hiked on the lithified sand dunes. The cliff/hill you see here is called Makawehi Point.
To get to where this picture is taken, we hiked through the bushes that you see. When we got around the corner we freaked out a little to see that we had been walking on a washed out ledge!
Amazing view of the lithified sand dunes, the water, the sky.......oh to be there again!
After a couple hours along the coast, we walked back to the car and drove to Salt Pond. It took some coaxing, but I finally agreed to get in the water and snorkel for the first time! We don't have any pictures since we don't have an underwater camera, but we did see quite a bit of fish! I never did get comfortable though...it's just different to lay face down in the water and...breathe! Besides my mask kept leaking off and on. I figured out I just couldn't smile, it created a crack in the seal and let water in! We brought home a golf ball we found in the water!
We arrived back to our room around sunset (7:30-ish) and finally cut up our pineapple! It was AMAZING! I'd always heard they were better in Hawai'i...picked ripe and ready to eat ya know! Well, it's true! This particular variety, 'Ele Ele' is super sweet and only ripe 7 weeks out of the year. I think we timed our trip right! Look at that, you just don't see them in the grocery like that!
The pineapple was so good...we ate about half of it! We were sure to rinse our mouths out so we wouldn't get canker sores! Also, we had some more of the salsa and chips I made and other snacks that was laying around. Then, oh yes, out for our dip in the spa and swing in the hammock. (Gee, I really want one!). On our way back to our room we saw this gecko up by the ceiling, on the third floor no less!
Ahh, such a wonderful Day 7 on Kaua'i!
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