The Smith Family Commeth!

The Cleary Family had the great pleasure of the Smith Family coming and joining us for a day. On Sunday, Kyle raced the Honolulu Marathon and the word is that he finished 37th! That's pretty amazing to me!

I took Monday off and picked them up at their hotel on Waikiki. Of course, that wasn't without adventure. First, I had forgotten to tell Tucker to take the RX8. So, I'm driving through our local mall trying to find the Ford Escape so that I can switch cars. After 20 minutes of hunting, I finally found it. I pulled it out of the stall and to the great disappointment of a drive waiting for that spot, I pulled the RX8 in! He drove on calmly enough.

We drove through the hilly area around Diamond Head and then onto H1. We made our way to East Oahu and took a picture at Maunalua Bay.

We had some great fun at Spitting Cave. There were some crazy snorkelers there and we wondered how they would climb the cliffs after they finished snorkeling.

Tyler used his new camera to capture shots of the waves crashing on the rocks.

We wound our way along the road and took a quick trip through a LAVA TUBE down to the ocean. The sound of the surf echoing on the sides of the cliffs told us we were in a special place.

A quick trip to Blow Hole which wasn't blowing gave us a good shot of Sandys Beach. The boys got an eyeful at Sandys as we drove through ... I don't have a picture of that ... I was driving ... really, I was!

Makapuu Lighthouse held its usual beauty as we climbed around on the rocks. Unfortunately, as we wound our way toward Kailua, the weather also turned grey making pictures difficult. We had a quick bite to eat at a Philly Cheese steak place but I don't think I'll eat there again.

To the Pali Highway we went as small drops splashed the windshield. At the Pali lookout, the weather held off. The grey clouds moved in and we decided it would be a good time to head to the house for a hike and dinner!

Matt, Kyle, Tyler, Bob and I hiked behind the house. I think Kyle was a bit tired from his marathon and Matt exhibited a slight slowdown from his hike up and down Koko earlier in the day. Even so, the 3 boys left Bob and I in the dust. I'm sure the boys thought they were kickin' the old guys' butts but there is a term ... wiley ... and in this case, it means that Bob and I held back and enjoyed each other's company for a while. Below is a picture of Kyle, Bob and Tyler at the top of the mountain behind our house. Behind them is Waimanalo.

Kathy, Krista, Tucker and Matt had set up a splendid meal. We had stuffed mushrooms and cheese tortellini pasta with either meatballs, marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce, or pesto sauce. The greatest item of the evening was the fantastic chocolate swirl cheesecake courtesy of Krista. It was fantastic.

Peace to all as we await the Christmas season!