Lei-Day, a Long Walk, and a Big Splash

I planned to blog a couple days at a time, but some days we have too much photographic coverage to fit in one post :) So, we will begin our next day with the delicate art of stringing orchids onto a long string with a sharp, eight-inch needle-like thingy. 

Our class took place in the resort's library area next to the travel agent and the coffee shop (lol, I forgot to mention those things before!) The instructor poured out bags full of white-and-purple flowers on the table and set us to work. My brother chatted with the newlywed couple at his end of the table and suggested they name their first child after him. The husband wasn't quite sure how to take that but kept conversing because my brother is a big dude and he was a little one. Lol :) 

Meanwhile, my string started to fray and the instructor seemed a bit annoyed that she had to help me start a new one (her stringing and hole-finding instructions were weak-sauce, let me just say that upfront). She happily answered questions about the history of lei-making but seemed unhappy that she had to put up with "cute" tourists and their horrifying flower stringing skills, yet again. It was at this point we collectively agreed her upcoming hula class was off our want-to-do list, ha! Regardless of her notions, I think we all did swimmingly!

We may even go into business, now that we're back home ;) We did learn that the leis keep fresh for a week if you lightly spritz them with water and store them in a plastic bag in the fridge. But after the luau we had so many leis--nearly 20--that we stopped trying to preserve them. I also thought they were a little itchy on the back of my neck, so it probably won't be a style I wear very often, ha!

Swimmingly . . . we did swim quite a lot on this trip! I honestly cannot remember the last time I entered a swimming pool or got into the ocean past my ankles. Well, that all changed on this vacation (although on this day I did forget to wear my swimsuit on our hike--but I actually own one now, two, in fact)! Hike, you ask? Well, we sent out a message on the family group chat and decided that most of us wanted to take in the sights along the two-mile beach boardwalk that ran between our hotel and our intended destination--Kaanapali Beach and Black Rock.

It turns out that Google's walking directions aren't quite as helpful as they could be, so we *might have* taken a couple of wrong turns and *might have* walked through the properties of other resorts along the oceanfront. It's interesting how you can feel everything around you becoming more expensive and exclusive as you go . . . and there was a cat sanctuary. Apparently, all along a grassy scape (Hawaii resort grass looks like astroturf, it is so short and perfect and uniform in color!) between the beach and the hotels, cats are free to live their best lives (once spayed). Tourists can pet them, take pictures of or with them, and sometimes remark, "Ooops, they missed one!" as was the case of the very large cat on our resorts' grounds that later in the week was significantly less roundy :) I guess her litter of kittens will give the sanctuary people something to do . . .

Back to our walk, Mr. M did amazing--never complaining once on the two-mile trek through only partially shaded tropical luxury. We were all happy to reach our destination; the weather is beautiful, but walking in the sunshine gets warm after an hour or so. As soon as the kids hit the beach, Graysen almost immediately took on the 300-foot swim to the 20-foot climb to jump into the ocean. The currents are strong and the sea turtles frequent in that area, so I kept my eyes glued to him the whole time. According to the guidebook, this was the favorite cliff jumping spot of the last ruling Hawaiian king in the late 1700s. The nearby hotel does a tiki-lighting ceremony and dive every night at sunset in remembrance, and because the tourists think it's cool :)

Noah and Caelan also planned to take the plunge but decided to acclimate to the water a bit first. You can see them in the center, nearest to the beach. Graysen is the light speck on the lower right of the lava cliff, just next to the gap of blue sky between the little hill and the big hill he's climbing. Unfortunately, there was a young lady absolutely terrified to jump, but her boyfriend kept encouraging her to try. Graysen waited patiently, and we waited patiently, until apparently a local kid said, "Hey, there's a line, how about take a step back and let the rest of us jump." Graysen immediately walked to the edge and leaped into the air! Ha! So fast, I missed it completely. Buck tried to take some zoomed in pics of his next rounds. Apparently jumping off cliffs into the ocean is a thing G$ likes to do!

I had plenty of time to prep for the next video, because that same girl was back again trying to talk herself into jumping. The kids on the cliff (Caelan and Noah were out there by now) were encouraging her and chanting her name. On the beach, all the people waited . . . and waited . . . cameras raised to catch their own friends and family. One guy came up and asked what we were all looking at, expecting some dolphin or mermaid sighting, perhaps. I told him, "Just a scared teenage girl who refuses to jump into the water, but apparently really wants to, because she won't let anyone else go." He thought that was pretty boring and walked away. Agreed, random dude! FINALLY she jumped, and the whole beach cheered! It seriously had to have been 20 minutes, but it felt like an hour. My battery power was draining quick on my phone, because I wanted to keep it open for when Graysen went dashing off the cliff again :)

Noah jumped after Graysen, but I missed that one and videoed some other guy with dark hair wearing dark shorts and dark water shoes--from a distance, they looked the same! Caelan was up next, and appeared to be hesitating, but she was just waiting for Noah to complete his swim to the edge, so he could watch her jump.

Thankfully, this giant guy walked right in front of her, so she just had to ride on the back of his head to shore. Lol, just kidding :) But Buck's zoomed in pic kind of makes it look that way!

My brother (who tried this adventure on his and K's honeymoon two years ago) swam out to encourage the jumpers. Graysen made the climb and splash several times! Noah also repeated his performance, so Caelan could get some video to send his family back home. He had a few unique life adventures with our Crew this trip :) Brennen didn't jump because he didn't wear swim trunks (he was a lil' burnt from the previous day's sun on the beach) but ended up unable to resist the call of the waves. Below is Brennen, Lolocito, G$, and my bro C. Can you believe those colors? So beautiful!

We were all pretty glad mom had decided to drive, rather than walk, to this energy-expending destination. My expectant sister-in-law was the easy first pick for the first vanload back to our hotel, along with Mr. M, and C--who later returned for the rest of us. It was a short drive, so we didn't have to wait long. 

After making dinner in our room, it was nice to float around in the pool that evening, contemplating maybe jogging that beach trail like so many others we'd seen that day (for the record, I never did, but maybe next time ;)

And finally for my day-three post, in honor of the free-ranging chickens of Hawaii and our new expertise in lei-making, Buck bought me this little souvenir Hawaii chicken. It is wearing a lei. Lol, how adorable!