Hawaii Day 7

Today was a travel day. We had the morning to spend at the beach and then we flew back to Oahu, where we'll spend the rest of our trip. Kendall left his wallet in the seat pocket on the flight from Honolulu to Hilo. We called the airport list and found and they didn't have it. We decided to check in Honolulu when we flew back in and they had record of it being found and logged, but it wasn't in the claims area. We spent at least 30 minutes trying to deal with it with no luck. How can it have been found but just disappeared?! He had some money in there, but my biggest stressor is his driving permit. He's supposed to take his road test two days after we get home and I really don't want to deal with trying to get a new permit just for that when he'll get his license 4 days later. They're going to try and track down the person who logged it to see where it was placed and I have a number to call to try things on my end. Tomorrow is a holiday and then it's a weekend and we leave later in the day on Monday, so... It'll be cutting it close. Anyway... The Big Island is interesting. It's full of lava rocks and there's a lot of brown, gray, and black, unless you get up in the rain forest. The beaches are mostly black sand and/or lava rock. Oahu is so much greener. We're staying in an apartment connected to a house about a block from an amazing Beach! I'm happy to have a kitchen again. Yes, groceries are expensive, but it's a lot cheaper than eating out for every meal. I heard that milk is expensive. Yes, Meadow Gold is $9.99 a gallon, but the generic is $5.98. We're gearing up for the last few days of our trip!

Happy 40th!

Day 6 also happens to be Jon's 40th birthday! It's a hard one to swallow, so we decided to make it a fun one and celebrate in Hawaii! He didn't want a big deal made, but we did what he wanted to do, had some cake donuts, and gave him or love and attention. Love you, Jon! Happy Birthday!

Hawaii Day 6

There's a great place South of where we're staying called Two Step. You walk out over some lava rocks and literally take two steps before you're about 10 feet deep. A little more out, and it's 25 feet. Just past that, you can't see the bottom. The snorkeling is great! Jena and I played in the tide pools (lots of little fish, butterfly fish, eels, krill, crabs, etc) while the others went out. They saw a lot, including an Eagle Ray. After several hours, we tried a natural local fruit smoothie and then came back to swim at the hotel and get laundry done. We went and find the LDS Temple here in Kona before heading for a traditional Hawaiian dinner. Holy Cow! A plate of white rice, topped with two eggs, your choice of meat, and brown gravy. It's a Loco Moco. We leave for Oahu tomorrow, so we're trying to fit it all in. 

Hawaii Day 5

We spent the morning at the hotel's beach and pool. Jenna had fun "making" poi on the beach,  like they did in the movie we watched at the Volcano. They had the USA World Cup game on at the pool--what a heartbreaking loss! We went North to a beach for lunch and spent the rest of the day there. There were little pools for the kids to play in and explore. There was snorkeling for the brave. There was a lot of shade and plenty of room to sit and explore. There was a sacred place to visit.  The were also a lot of turtles around, although I only saw one basking on a rock. I think this was a new favorite for the kids! We're staying in a Marriott over here in Kailua-Kona and there's just not the space we're used to. We have to pay $14/day to park,  there's no free breakfast, and the fridge is tiny. We're shipping every day for groceries. But... We're having fun!

Hawaii Day 4

Today was the Volcano National Park day.  I know I have a disillusioned idea of what a volcano really looks like, but I wasn't expecting to look down on the craters. The big one, Mauna Loa, wasn't ever visible to us--it was always covered by clouds. That's one that I wouldn't be looking down on. It's amazing to see the lava trails--rocks left in the wake. There are no active flows right now, at least any that are accessible. There is one, but you can only get to it by helicopter. This main crater that we went to has a lava lake in it and we could see steam rising. We could also see stream vents, releasing the pressure. It was a fun day! Since we have two cars right now, I took the younger the kids and drive down to the bottom of the island and around to Kailua-Kona. We were all sick--it was long stretches of huge hilly roads and then very windy Canyon-like roads. We got here at sunset. This is the dry side, but it rained and rained last night. It's more touristy over here and pretty, but it's not like the rainforest. I miss the coqui frogs and mist. We'll see what Day 5 brings!

Hawaii--The Triangle House

Our first stay was in The Triangle House in Pahoa. It was really shaped like a triangle! There was a little kitchen and dining area with a bed behind and a nice little patio area. The upstairs had a TV and more beds. There were lots of windows, with great views of the ocean, and some of the windows were stained glass. There were 3 geckos that we saw often in daylight hours and little black ants (that kept the fire ants away) that marched in if food was out. Being in the rain forest, rose things were elected and we enjoyed looking for the baby gecko or watching the other two chase each other around the walls. We really loved the space this place had and enjoyed it a lot!

Hawaii Day 3

Jon and Kendall went on a bird outing with a guide, so I took the other three to Hilo for the day. We went to Richardson Beach, a good swimming, snorkeling, and black sand area. It was more crowded than I thought it would be and black sand is overrated--it was pretty with green flecks when dry, but looked like mud when wet. Jarren was worried about the string surf signs, but after talking to the lifeguard, it was determined that the bay area was safe. He snorkeled the day away and had a blast. Jenna loved trying to catch little fish in her goggles and trying to avoid black crabs that blended in with the rocks. Kristen saw some puffer fish, but enjoyed just laying on the Beach. We went to a Japanese tea garden for a picnic lunch and spent some time exploring after that. Jarren and Jenna loved playing in the water with Driftwood and coconut fronds. We ended the night with watching The Lego Movie. It was a fun day!