Visitors!

For nearly a year we've been trying to convince friends and family to come see this beautiful island. We finally had someone take us up on the offer to crash on our couches and we didn't even make them sleep on the couch! My parents came for a few days this month so Clif and I took some days off work to be tour guides. The kids were so excited to show the island to their grandparents - they helped us plan our outings so we didn't miss out on any of their favorite spots (like the old WWII guns, which happen to be just about the coolest thing if you're a 6 or 8 year old boy).

The first day they were here, I put my mom to work. Our friends Moi and Polu were getting married and we heard that it's traditional for couples to wear matching outfits to weddings. All the sewing shops were so busy with outfits for graduations the same week that I ended up sewing my own puletasi. Unfortunately, I was sick the weekend before so I hadn't been able to get it done before my parents got here. Thank goodness my mom likes to sew! We finished up just in time for the wedding.

In the rush of getting to the wedding in time we forgot to take our camera. I wish we hadn't because it was amazing (see here and here for picture proof, including pictures of us in our matchy outfits)! Moi and Polu are such a great couple and I can't imagine a more beautiful setting for their wedding. We were so honored to be able to share their day with them.

And then the running around began! My dad vacations like no one else. If he can he'll wake up at the crack of dawn, run around all day seeing nearly a week's worth of sights in a day -barely stopping to munch some crackers for lunch en route to the next place and only really taking the time to eat after it's too dark or too late to see anything else. You see a lot of stuff that way, but you need a vacation to relax after your vacation to sight-see! I've gotten used to the laid-back Samoan pace so I was glad that it's a small island and, even if we wanted it to, that just can't happen here. We did manage to see a whole lot of island in a few short days, but I'm sure my dad would have liked to see more. I suppose that just means they'll have to come back ;)

First we stopped to check out the octopi on side of the road in Faga'alu. We've driven past these before, but hadn't ever stopped to see (and smell) them up close. Simon didn't seem too sure about it.

We hiked to the old WWII guns on Blunt's Point, with Everett leading the way. The first gun has been cleaned up and drained. The second one, a little higher on the hill, is absolutely full of toads! It was crazy to see how many were in there. Simon found a tiny one (on the leaf in the picture at the beginning of the post) that was about as big as a little black bean.

We drove the the end of the road on the East side of the island and stopped for a picnic in a fale at a beautiful beach with Aunu'u in the background.

We hiked out to see Pola Island in Vatia, snorkeled, hung out on the beach, and even got to see an amazing sunset over the mountains.

We hiked out to Airport Lagoon for some snorkeling and shell collecting. I'm sure I've said this many times, but airport is one of our favorite beaches on the island. The snorkeling is excellent and the hike is beautiful, especially at high tide when the blowholes are going crazy.

Then Ruth, my sister, came too. Ruth is staying until August! Everett and Simon have been talking about it for months, "our Aunt Ruth is coming and she's going to teach us school stuff and we're going to call her Miss Ruth" over and over. It's calmed down a bit lately, but not because they are any less excited!

The next morning we hiked Mount Alava in the National Park of American Samoa (described in more detail here). Everett was really excited about writing his name in the book in the fale at the top. The hike back down was much slower because Ruth showed Simon the grass that closes when you touch it. He tried to touch every single one he could see the whole way down, which, as you may imagine, slows down a 6-yr old just a little bit.

We hurried down the mountain (well, except for Simon who was too busy closing the grass) to get cleaned up and ready to eat dinner at Tisa's. Mmmmmm. I don't know how Candyman makes breadfruit taste so good - except that coconut cream is somehow involved, which makes everything taste better!
Then we snorkeled at Faga'alu and saw lots of cool stuff - tons of trumpetfish, moorish idols, and even an eel.

We shopped for souvenirs and then they left for Hawaii. Thanks for coming mom and dad!

Airport Lagoon

It's been a while since we'd had a good snorkel day so we headed to Airport Lagoon. It wasn't the best snorkel day, but good enough.

And then Everett found a treasure at the beach! It has hardly left his head since Saturday.

Simon started dancing around on the way back.

Sharks!!!

Well, not really... just one shark. We went snorkeling at Airport Lagoon on Sunday and I saw my first shark - a blacktip reef shark that was probably about 5 feet long, but it's hard to estimate underwater. I was a little scared at first, even though it wasn't big enough to eat me or anything, so I swam as fast as I could to Deepa who was out snorkeling with me. Deepa wanted me to show her where I saw it so we turned around to look for it! Six months ago I never would have believed that I'd voluntarily swim toward a place I had seen a shark just moments earlier! It was pretty amazing to see a shark in the wild - a bit intimidating, but still a very cool thing to see. Even better than the 2 unicornfish I saw at Faga'alu the day before - I think they are so funny-looking with the little horn bumping out.

The weekend before last we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves too. We went to Tisa's with a group of friends, three of us were celebrating birthdays that week so it was a perfect excuse to get babysitters and enjoy a night out. The dinner was delicious, but it was the great company that made the whole evening most enjoyable. The next day we went to a group of fales between Vatia and Ofono, in a small village called Amalau for Liz's birthday celebration. It was a great location - the guys went scuba diving, we bbq-ed some hot dogs and had a great time talking and playing in the waves. Then we hurried home, I showered and changed and headed over to Maliu Mai for a dinner and night of Polynesian dancing.

Fa-ilolo & Airport

Last Saturday we woke up to rain and rain and rain. The rain clouds looked like they covered the whole island. Luckily they didn't. Just a little way past Leone, the storm clouds stopped. The rest of the island looked like it was being rained upon while we were treated to a beautiful day of sun and a nice sandy beach at Failolo.

Sunday we hiked out to Airport Beach. It was a beautiful hike through the bush and past the blow holes.

The first time we went there, we had to leave quickly because Simon fell and cut himself on the coral. This time we were able to spend all day there and the snorkeling was incredible! It was the first time that I found myself in the middle of at least a thousand fish -twice! I was surrounded by schools of several different kinds of fish. They were all fish I'd seen before -six barred wrasse, clematis, moorish idols, and in such huge numbers all at once. I was impressed. And I saw a long-nose filefish. I love the colors and unusual shape of its nose. I hope we can get a digital water camera soon because I'd love to get some of my own photos of all these fish!

When we got home, we went through the usual routine of fighting over the fish identification books to mark which fish we saw. Simon, frustrated that he couldn't find the fish he had seen and really liked, sat down and drew this picture of a small blue and yelow fish with black vertical stripes. Even after trying to match his drawing with the fish identification book, we still haven't figured out which fish he saw.