Aloha! We just spent 21 hours traveling back from our 50th state, Hawai'i! 19 of us went to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday at an amazing house in an amazing place! We were impressed that the only two tourists that were friendly enough to speak to us, lived three hours away from us! Midwesterners are so friendly!!!
Here is a picture journal of our fun trip.
ARRIVAL TO PARADISE
 |
The boys could hardly wait to jump into the pool which probaby gave the house it's name,
Rock Slide, see below...
|
SUNDAY FUNDAY
 |
We all woke up around 3:30 that first morning...our time zone changes were the culprit! But
we did get to see an amazing sunrise, examine the lava rock which covers the Kona landscape, and play with a coconut. |
 |
| Here is Papou (grandfather) with some of his grandchildren. |
 |
| My two boys with their cousin, hangin' in the hottub |
 |
| The pool |
 |
| Building a sandcastle at the resort's private beach |
 |
| Cooling off his footsies! |
BIRTHDAYS AND SUN
A brand new four year old...and sixty year old!! :)
 |
| Birthday breakfast in the outdoor kitchen! |
 |
| Sixty! |
 |
| four! |
 |
| Posing in front of one of the top rated beaches in the nation. |
 |
| My parents and their four kids...the t shirts were a birhthday surprise for my mom! |
 |
| The birthday boy crashes after a fun celebration...he's clinging to his party favor box. |
HIKING TO THE BLACK SANDS
 |
| Have you ever seen an avocado that big?? And there were bigger ones! |
 |
| At a pitstop halfway up the mountain at the north end of the Big Island. |
 |
Starting out on our hike...I was very leary of it,
especially with signs for falling rock, and thinking
about the hike back up...it was hot and I am pregnant!! |
 |
| What we are going to hike down too... |
 |
| The view halfway down...made us keep going |
 |
| a rudimentary playground at the end of the hike down, just before the beach. |
 |
| My oldest skipped the tire swing and headed on the lava rock towards the crashing waves |
 |
| black sands are really black! and super soft! |
 |
| Participating in the custom to stack rocks for interesting art all over the beach |
 |
| Never too old to play in the sand |
 |
| What a view |
 |
| Fun to draw down the beach |
 |
| A swing on the way back up |
 |
| The beautiful valley on the inland side of the beach |
 |
| A tree or bunches of trees?? This was in a nearby town, Hawi...we had awesome food at Bamboo Restaurant. |
FROM CRASHING WAVES TO CRASHING LAVA
We chose to set aside a day, and drive to the otherside of the island...the lush side. We stayed at Kona, which was mainly lava rock, unless you went up into the neighborhoods.
On the way to the Volcano National Park, we found a couple of great spots to look at. The first, Lapahoehoe Point, which had violently crashing waves, and the brightest blue cauldron of swirling water! It was amazing, and scary! The boys had a blast, of course!
 |
| Cody insisted I take my signature "toes" picture in front of a crashing wave. |
|
 |
| Walking down into a rain forest |
 |
| A beautiful 450 ft waterfall, Akaka Falls |
 |
We thought this was a cool display!
 |
In front of a steam vent at the Volcanoes National Park
The crater of Kilaua Iki..the volcano we are going to hike into...
After crossing the crater...
Look at all that dried up lava!
 |
We drove to the point where an active volcano was dumping lava into the ocean....That is the steam from when it hits the water and we could see the fiery glow swell with the lava.
 |
| That is lava flowing across the ground to the ocean...we were only about 300 yards away. |
ONE MORE BIRTHDAY AND FAMILY GET TOGETHER!
My niece turned three on the Friday we were in Hawaii. We took her to a glass bottom boat, and out to lunch. That evening we took a picture of all the family in the foyer of our house. It was so much fun to hang out with the little nieces and nephews for a whole week! I'm going to miss them!
ALOHA, HAWAI'I! |
Our flight didn't leave until 10:30pm, so we drove to a coffee plantation, and explored Kona. My four year old insisted we get a snow "globe" from a shop we passed, they were huge!  
The boys finished up some homework at a restaurant on the beach...after my husband watched the last pitches of the Giants game....GO RANGERS!!
We were exhausted once we got on the plane, and although the kids slept the whole way to Phoenix, my husband and I were going on about 1 hour of rest. So I slept at the airport, during our 2 hour layover, and hubby slept from Phoenix to Minneapolis. We were glad to be home, but sad to say goodbye to warm weather! Here we are, with a 20 % chance of snow on Thursday....glad we got to the beach before a midwest winter!
 |
| Watching the sunset on our Hawaii Vacation |
|
|
What an awesome trip! Your boys (and you!) will remember this forever! I'm more than a little jealous...
ReplyDeleteWow, Angie, GREAT pictures! Just look at that water. Beautiful. Looks like you had a great time, oh so good to know you are back safely. :)
ReplyDeleteFUN!! I love Hawaii... looks like you had a great time!
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful. I loved looking at them. What fun to celebrate so many birthdays together. I am wondering whose kids are whose, now. There have been so many births in the last 5 years!
ReplyDeletebeautiful pictures, Angie! Looks like you all had an amazing time. Such good memories!
ReplyDeleteLOVE Hawaii, the setting of my second honeymoon! We loved it so much we took family a couple of years later.
ReplyDeleteDid Kauai, Maui, The Big Island, Oahu, Molokai, and Lanai. Yeah, it was quite a trip. Like four weeks the first time and two and a half the second.
Oh? Did I mention both trips were over thirty years ago?
Think it's time.
Maholo.
Listen to The Beamers, Honolulu City Lights.
Yeah. Youtube it.