Turtles and Whales and...

...Sharks! When we told Jadon and Cole that we were going to Hawaii for a few days they were thrilled to have some alone time with grandma. As the trip got closer, Jadon began to have some second thoughts about us leaving and thought perhaps he'd like to come along. The week before we left, Arnie had just returned from a business trip in Kona. He told the boys all about the sharks (charks according to Jadon and Cole) that were in his hotel pond. After that, Jadon and Cole had no interest in coming with us to Hawaii. They wanted nothing to do with "charks" in the hotel. I tried to explain that the sharks were just in a pond and could not hurt them. They weren't actually in the hotel or the ocean where people swam (not to mention we weren't even going to that hotel or that island). So, imagine my surprise yesterday as I was sitting on the balcony of our 28th floor hotel room enjoying watching the sea turtles that live right off the shore and looking for the whales further out that we had seen spouting the night before, when suddenly I see a very large fish swimming toward the shore. Now, I am on the 28th floor. I can't see fish all the way down there...can I? My first inclination was to assume it was a shark, but the seemed highly unlikely. Then I started hearing other people who were also on their balconies start to shout about the shark. Sure enough...it was a shark...on Waikiki beach...not 30 feet from children playing in the water. I watched as it maneuvered around the reef and within 20 feet of the shore before casually turning and heading back out to sea avoiding the surfers and snorkelers who seemed to dot the endless expanse of water. Hmm...maybe Jadon has a point. I am not in any hurry to get in the water now!