Off the beach

We have done a few things off the beach this trip as well. Mainly, Chris was really excited to see some of the WWII Pacific Memorial sites. That might not have been my first choice...but it provided some fun and chance for interesting conversation with Austin.

Sunday morning we drove around to the southern end of the island and stopped at a little park/memorial site. We actually got Austin looking at the camera this time, but not Bennett. Getting all four to look seems almost impossible.

This was a definite highlight for Austin. This is what the locals call a karibou- pronounced like a cari-bow (like you bow after a concert, not a hair bow). The man with the mohawk is Big John and he let the boys (Bennett rode for a little bit too before deciding he would rather be with me). But Austin stayed on and rode "all the way to the car" down a hill and into the parking lot.

This is at one of the big memorials - a spot where Japanese soldiers had a strong hold that Americans eventually won over by landing on the beach behind us. Austin liked the big field to just run around freely in.

As a mom, there are a lot of reasons not to like this picture. However, Austin learned some things about history. He kept saying though "soldiers are not going to hit me". We reassured him of course they would not, but finally realized somehow talking about soldiers had made him think of the soldiers that hit Jesus before the cross. I didn't even know he knew about that part of the story. His active imagination may cause him some fear at times as he processes different things he learns about.

Well, lots more pictures to come, but I am off to bed. The sleeping arrangements have been a little less than ideal. There is a pullout couch that Chris and I slept on the first night but it is really uncomfortable. So the second night we put Austin on the couch and he was fine. But the third night he woke up crying in the night and wanted to sleep in the bedroom again and we let him sleep with us (in the middle of 2 single beds pushed together) and he won't go back to the couch. So we have all been in the bedroom, but Austin tosses and turns a lot. Oh well. We can't believe tomorrow is our last full day. It goes so fast!