Independence Day for Some Hawaiian!

What better way for Hawaiians to celebrate the 4^th of July than a day at the beach?! Mongoose finally made her long trip from Washington, D.C. to Istanbul and we were able to take her on a drive. Where did we take the first drive in Turkey? To the BEACH!!

We drove up the Bosphorus to the coastline of the Black Sea. It was beautiful. The only drawback was the rain that came in a few waves. However, to see our little Lucky Dragon’s face full of joy to see the waves, we could bare the rain and wait for the sunshine to come out again.

He couldn’t wait to get to the waves. He was literally dragging me to the water and even though it was cold as each wave came to him he laughed and laughed and laughed.

He did his share of exploring the small colorful shells along the shore and ate some sand. I tried to stop him at first, however after a while I gave up and it only took a few tries for him to realize he did not like the taste and enjoyed throwing the sand better than licking it!

Since it was a simple day because we were the only ones there other than some bikini and speedo clad elderly people. It made us all realize that maybe in the United States we focus way too much on physical features because these people were more than comfortable to show off all their flaws and enjoy the sun and sand. (I tried to take photos without them in the background but if you look in a few of them they are there). There were a few young guys playing soccer and Tau’aho tried to join the game a few times, silly boy.

So one of Tau'aho's new "tricks" that his mum taught him...

Now she is doing it...

They do this all day and then laugh at each other hysterically

There were several private beaches in a row and for a small fee you were given a place to sit and an umbrella to hide under (for those that don’t want to get darker…that is NOT me, as you can see I am PASTY WHITE thanks to wearing a suit to an office all day).

I must say that I really love the sound of the roaring waves and I am glad that there is a beach close by with clear water for us to enjoy. We will be back as often as possible! Happy 4^th of July.