I've been back now for 5 days and I'm still in hang loose mode. All I want is a pina colada and a trip to the beach to watch the sunset. We spent 8 blissful days with our good friends the Eddys in paradise (Kona, Hawaii). WOW! I don't even know how to begin to describe it except to say it was the trip of a lifetime and I'm ready to go back.
Here are some pictures of our week:
The first day there we took a Sea Quest boat tour. We went along the coast and learned the the history of Hawaii. We snorkeled in some fabulous spots and while snorkeling happened upon a superpod of dolphins. One dolphin was so close to Ryan that if he had reached out, he could have touched it. They weren't a bit scared of us--they are beautiful and incredible animals.
The second day we were in town we went to the Kona Temple which is a small temple. We met some Hawaiians there who were taking their son through for the first time in preparation for his mission to Spokane Washington. We took pictures for them and chatted with them. Chris complimented them on their cool ties and they promptly took them off and gave them to the guys. We were all glad we hadn't complimented them on their pants or shoes!? Such nice good people.
After attending the temple we went to the market and shopped for souveniers. After that we went to one of the most incredible beaches, Maunakea Beach, where we snorkeled, body surfed, walked on black rock, played volleyball and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Later that evening we went to to a hotel and watched huge monterays in the cove off the deck of the hotel.
Saturday we woke up early and went canoeing with the local canoe club and saw more dolphins. We ate breakfast at the farmers market, went snorkeling some more, toured the city of refuge, watched a movie, swam and went to watch the sea turtles.
Sunday was peaceful. It was mother's Day and the men bought us beautiful leis. We enjoyed church with the natives who are humble, good and genuinely kind people. We caught up on sleep that afternoon. Ryan and Chris made pancakes and eggs for breakfast and fajitas and pina coladas for dinner as we watched the sunset on our lanai.
Monday was our frenzied island tour. We headed North and our first stop was Waipio Valley. We hiked from the top of this mountain down into this valley. The hike up was a beast, but while we were walking along this black sand we were in heaven.
The next stop on our Monday island frenzy tour was to the Akaka falls. Beautiful! During our hike, both Ryan and Chris decided to play tarzan! Nice spread eagle Ryan.
And to finish up our island frenzy, we watched the sunset as we watched smoke billow from this active volcano. When the sun had set you could set an orange glow in the middle of the smoke cloud and could occasionally get a glimpse of lava shooting off into the ocean.
I
We watched many sunsets! This picture is taken in front of the little snorkeling bay that was within 100 yards of the condo we stayed at. On Tuesday we snorkeled in this bay and saw sea turtles and some of the most amazing fish!
After snorkeling and lunch at Costco we spent the afternoon and evening at this AMAZING beach. I can't remember the name of this one but I loved it. In one book it is rated the best beach in the whole country! We couldn't get enough. We played and played and watched the sunset and lamented the fact that our paradise vacation was quickly coming to an end.
Wednesday we relaxed, the boys snorkeled more, we shopped at the market, swam in the condo swimming pool and then sadly packed up, went to the airport and flew home. If I didn't have 4 wonderful children that I missed terribly there's a very good chance I would have never come home!
ALOHA AND MAHALO!
