Even bigger wow! Dolphins!

(Quick note: a couple people mentioned they tried to post comments but couldn't... we fixed that, so feel free to share one if you'd like. Thanks!)

We got up early to catch a morning snorkeling expedition over to the island of Lanai. We took a quick detour to the store to get some kid-friendly motion sickness medication (just in case... we figured it would be a good placebo if nothing else).

The boat set sail for a 3 hour tour (kidding: it was scheduled to be 4-5 hours). Our first stop was by a place called Sweetheart Rock. The boys jumped in wholeheartedly (and Christa, half-heartedly). Christa's big concern was how deep it was. She gave a brave attempt but ultimately the relatively heavy chop did her in. Sara and I took turns snorkeling with the boys.

Truthfully, the snorkeling was OK... not really that much better than Black Rock. The water's color was VERY impressive--a blue that was stunningly unlike anything we have seen here. Captain Mike explained that it had to do with how clear the water is... something about the 12 Fathom line, volcanic islands, etc. We'll have to look that one up....

A 15 minute cruise to another side of the island (to an area referred to as Shark's Fin, because of a rock formation of that shape), was different. Not only was it a beautiful setting but the water was much calmer. Something clicked for Christa... She was ready to go! At one point she even said, "Daddy... can I snorkle without you holding onto me?" I said, "Sure!" She then replied, "But, daddy.... stay close!" She soloed quite well and would have rather not gone in when the rest of us were ready to warm up!

Beyond Christa's bravery, the big highlight was seeing three different species of dolphins on the cruise home. Unbelieveable! Captain Mike was even surprised that we saw all that we did. We ran into the "Spotters" first... We were able to get our hands within a foot of the beautiful creatures! After 20 minutes or so of close cruising with the spotters we pointed back home, only to run into some bottlenose dolphins. This was quite rare according to the crew as bottlenose's are typically in very small groups. These two guys put on quite a show, including some playful manuevers that wowed us all. After another 15-20 minutes we set course again for home, only to run into some "Spinners". These guys were smaller but quite playful (and incredible leapers). The kids' squeals of "whooaa!" and "did you see that!" made it all worthwhile.

The 4-5 hour cruise turned into nearly a 6 hour excursion thanks to a captain and crew that were more into the experience than a timetable.

While we waited for some 1 hour photos to develop (we got an underwater camera), we were able to get some dear friends (Happy Birthday Jeff!) and family (Happy Birthday Jenn!) on the phone to extend some birthday wishes. Tonight we're eating out at a nearby beach restaurant, anxiously looking forward to an early start on the Road to Hana tomorrow morning.