So Saturday afternoon, we discovered that Abba had been incorrect regarding just.a.big.family not all fitting into a Scion Xb. Abba had walked to the local mall with two big ones and a 3 year old. This was a mile walk in the blazing sun in the middle of the day (perhaps the reader does not feel the sympathy they ought to at this point in the narrative if they happen to be looking outside at their local weather). Anyway, the munchkin may have had flushed cheeks but she was a trooper.
The pedestrians hooked up with Eema at the air-conditioned mall. She had driven there earlier. Regarding getting back to base, the decision was made just to have Abba walk back while 7 piled into the Scion. Photo one is taken with Abba out of the car. Somehow Abba managed to get in the front seat and the kiddos merely squeezed a little tighter in the back.
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| Nice and comfy |
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| "charlie" wants more space |
This ended up being an important (albeit fruitless) exercise for later in the night.
Skip forward many hours to a time when when little Charlie was fast asleep as was little Gertie. Around 8:00 p.m. we heard an odd knock on the door. Upon opening the door, the security guard informed us that the sirens outside were indicating that a tsunami was on the way. Well, with a family of teenage and soon to be teenage girls, that can be very exciting news let me tell you. After much excitement, and waking up two children, we headed up to the 4th floor and waited for a few minutes. Abba decided to check on his phone what was up. It was discovered that the impact time was going to be 10:28 pm. Plenty of time to get out of Dodge. Abba suggested just staying on premises (which is ocean side) while the majority wanted to head to high ground. Abba relented and eight, yes that is 8, people crammed into the scion and headed for high ground. Eery sirens sounded the warning even on the hillsides.
Charlie and Gertie were now wide awake and very restless. What followed can be summarized as two hours of unpleasantries with very tired, but awake kids, and cranky adults. Exhausted, the family returned to the beachside building around 11:30 pm (before the all-clear) and fell fast asleep in their ground-floor unit. Charlie, as usual, awoke before 5:00 a.m. to start a new day
Hawaii's news crews are to "tsunami preparedness" like Seattle news crews are to "snow storms" where 1/2" of snow blows through in the foothills. We were expecting 3'-6' waves with mega-power to destroy. What we got was 1.5' swells and avery disrupted sleep.
Sunday afternoon, Abba, Ella, and Henny went to snorkel or fish near Makapu'u. Unfortunately, the weather changed and was not conducive to fishing or snorkeling. The beauty remained constant :-)
Enjoy November
Aha! I was wondering how you had fared through the "storm!" Sounds like it was an "exciting" time! Love the pictures!
ReplyDeleteLove you all,
Auntie Brenda
Too funny--reminds me of when we were sound asleep at Ko Olina and the loud speakers came on with a siren and a warning first in Japanese and then English about the Tsunami. I was ready to head for high ground immediately (my heart beating out of my chest) and Reid just said--What are you doing? It won't be here for hours..... I can't believe I was taking a walk by the beach that morning only to be asked to evacuate by helicopters..... Caleb said we had to get out b/c the big salami was coming our way and we could be crushed:) Glad you all "survived" :) Miss you all!!!!!! Love to you, Bonnie
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