July 22, 2011 - Don't Get Wet!

Cousins run from the evening surf at La'aloa Bay Beach Park, just south of Kailua-Kona on Hawaii, following their parents' (joking) instructions of "Don't get wet!"  As any parent will tell you, no explanation for the end result is necessary.

La'aloa Beach - "Very Sacred" in Hawaiian - is also known as Magic Sands, White Sands or Disappearing Sands.  The sand on the small beach can disappear in the span of a day when serious surf conditions are present, but returns slowly once things have calmed down.  

July 4, 2011 - Gratitude for Duty

A Boy Scout thanks a member of a color guard comprised of members of the Whidbey Island detachment of the Marine Corps League prior to the start of the Maxwelton community parade on the Fourth of July.

July 3, 2011 - Bombs Bursting in Air

In a scene being replayed around the nation, a community, in this case the Sandy Hook neighborhood on Washington's Whidbey Island, celebrates the country's independence from British rule.  The lyrics for the "Star Spangled Banner", originally "The Defence of Fort McHenry", were written during the War of 1812 by Francis Scott Key.  The song was not adopted as the national anthem until 1931.