New Friends, New Beaches

A little while ago, a new family moved into our ward from Utah. They have three kids and we seem to have become insta friends. Becky, the mom, is the type of person who is way friendly and brings out the talker in me. Their three kids are 2, 4, and 6. The six year old is a girl which is fun for Anna even if she has to go to school. Becky is a hue beach person; the beach is her happy place and she likes to go several times a week. This is another plus for Anna because then we go with them. Since they go to the beach all the time, they have explored more of the local beaches and have shared them with us.

This is a place called Champagne Pond. To get there you have to go off-roading so I know we wouldn't have found it on our own. Jason is getting ready to go snorkeling. These friends are also big snorkelers and have been working on getting us unto it more. After this trip, Jason was hooked.

The kids who don't go to school hanging out. The boy standing is Anna's age to the month. All three of them get along well.

Sadly, we all got sunburned on this trip. I'm beginning to think the spray sunscreen isn't working so well for us (maybe because it was windy?). Poor Jason only put some on his neck and shoulders then proceeded to spend the whole time snorkeling with his back up. He had one burned back and I had a lot of fun peeling it.

Here is along the "road" on the way home. I love the black rock against the blue water and the green in the background. I had Jason get out and take the picture. As he was out there, it occurred to me that I would feel really bad if the ground gave out under him and he fell into the sea (you can't actually trust lava rock to be solid). After that day, we found out from our neighbor that the water quality is really bad and it's not actually a good place to swim. Oops, guess we won't be going back there.

Fortunately, then Becky too us to this next place. It's more like a pool and since there is a lifeguard, we know it's safe to swim there. There's a little wall with steps down to the water which is where the kids played because it wasn't too deep on the stairs.

It's a spring fed pool that is volcanically warmed. The water temperature is generally in the low 90s although occasionally there's a cold spot. Instead of being yucky, the cold water is refreshing when the warm water gets to be too much in the hot day.

The trees go almost right up to the water and it was awesome seeing the bright blue water through the trees.

And here is Anna enjoying her snack while drying off. I had gotten some rub on sunscreen this time and we came out un-burned, the trip was a success. We'll have to bring Jason to this one.