Hawaii (2)

January 1, 2019  Tuesday
Happy New Year!!!

The boys enjoyed a relaxing morning of playing games and reading.

Nathan caught up with his parents while enjoying the view from the back patio!

We got groceries, did some laundry and picking up and enjoyed a low key morning at the condo.  We were excited to pick up Dad and Mom from the airport at 2:00 in the afternoon!  They arrived safely and the boys couldn't wait to show them some of the places we'd been the week before!

Our first adventure was to take a walk through the lava fields and fish ponds out to the ocean!

We found eels!

We found crabs!

What a beautiful place to explore!

January 2, Wednesday
Nathan had a full day of work planned so the rest of us went on a road trip!  Our first stop was at the Waipio Valley lookout.

We had fun exploring at the Laupahoehoe Point Beach Park and Dorian got soaked by the splashing waves there.

Mason had fun throwing rocks in the water and we enjoyed watching some fishermen trying to net fish.

 All the boys had fun climbing the lava rock!

Levi posed under the sign "Caution.  Beware of falling coconuts and fronds."  We thought that was funny as that's not something we have to be aware of in Iowa.  :)

 We found a delicious spot to stop for lunch with a view overlooking the ocean!

While we were there the boys spotted a gecko and it was fun to get a picture of it, until it decided to jump on me. Yikes!

 We hiked through the rain forest at Akaka Falls State Park!

It was fun to walk through the Rainforest Zoo and Gardens in Hilo.

We enjoyed the diversity of the landscape on our drive!  Then we drove back to have supper with Nathan at the condo.

January 3, Thursday
Nathan had another day of work planned so the rest of us went to the Mauna Lani Beach.  Dad walked with the boys and was there early enough to get 2 beach cabanas!  We were hoping to snorkel, but found out it was too windy that day so the boys tried to boogie board instead.

 We enjoyed an afternoon of playing games, reading, and playing at the pool!

January 4, Friday
Dorian and Grandma got very sick during the night.  Nathan had a full day of work.  The highlight of my morning was when Levi brought me another flower that dropped from the tree just outside our door!  How sweet of him!

Grandpa, Levi and Mason spent the morning at the pool, and I brought them lunch there.  Levi and Mason also enjoyed watching TV in the fort that they made!

In the afternoon Dad and I took Mason and Levi to go and get some ice cream.  Mason had fun catching little fish out of the pond there with his hands.  Levi used his Christmas money to buy a Ukulele and very quickly learned how to play it!

January 5, Saturday
Nathan was sick during the night and not feeling well, but pushed through to present at the Genetics Conference as planned.  Dad enjoyed going along and watching.  Mom took a nap since she still wasn't feeling the best, but Dorian was feeling better and begging to go to the boogie boarding beach.  So that is what we did that afternoon.

 Dorian

 Mason

 Levi

 Dad even had fun boogie boarding with his grandsons!

January 6, Sunday
Our day started with watching the live stream church services from back home at 5:30 and 6:00 in the morning!  After a big breakfast, we got ready to go on a drive to the north side of the Island.  It was yet another warm, sunny, beautiful day!

 We saw an ancient temple at the Puukhola Heiau National Historic Site.

Dorian and I had a lot of fun finding shells at the beach there!  We saw reef tip sharks in the water and humpback whales out in the ocean!

 We stopped on our drive because we had sighted more humpback whales!

 At Lapakahi State Historical Park, we learned about ancient Hawaiian fishing techniques. 

At the Bamboo Restaurant we got to see a traditional Hula Dance just as we got there!

We were all excited to hike down to a black sand beach...that is, until I saw all of the warning signs and the rugged trail.  But we did it!  And it was beautiful!

 We learned that there were poisonous jelly fish on the shore so the boys had to keep their sandals on!

We sat to eat a snack and soak in the sunshine that was pouring in, and the beautiful views!  While we were sitting, we saw tons of little crabs coming in and out of the sand.

  On our hike back up, it was crazy to see how tiny the people on the beach looked!

 Levi and Grandma both enjoyed having walking sticks for their hike.

We took a different road on our drive back to the condo over top of the Kohala volcano. We made many stops to take pictures.  These pine trees were my mom's favorite!

The boys were getting a little sick of all of our requests to stop and take pictures, but the sunset was so pretty!  We picked up Domino's pizza for supper and took it back to the condo to eat it.

January 7, Monday
The wild goats beside the road seemed to pose for a picture!

It was a calm day and we got to show Dad and Mom the fish at the Mauna Lani Beach while snorkeling!  I saw an octopus!

 Selfies just don't get old when you're in Hawaii.  :)

In the afternoon, the boys went with Grandpa and Grandma to spend the night with them at their hotel.  That meant that Nathan and I could have a date night!  We went out for supper to the Lava Lava Beach club and ate everything from appetizers to dessert!  We had a view of the ocean, watched the sunset and listened to live music!

January 8, Tuesday
We went for a drive to explore on the south side of the Island.  Our first stop was up the Mauna Kea Volcano to the visitor center.  Nathan, Dad, Levi and Mason each did a little hiking there!

During his hike, Mason wanted to pick this flower for me, but took one of the petals that had fallen on the ground instead!  How sweet of him!

We stopped at a park in Hilo to eat a picnic lunch.  Dorian and Levi were more interested in climbing this crazy tree!

We went on a self guided tour at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory!  The chocolate covered macadamias were our favorite!

At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park we saw a huge crater and steam vents.  Many of the roads and trails were shut down because of the eruption from this past summer.

Whenever Dad sat in the back seat of the van, it was always a lot louder!  Glad they could have so much fun together.

 We spotted sea turtles at Punaluu County Beach Park and loved seeing the black sand beach!

We stopped to take in the views of the south side of the Island.

We thought we'd be back to the condo for supper, but we had enjoyed all of our stops along the way and we stopped at Keiki's Ono for some fresh fish!

January 9, Wednesday
The boys had stayed overnight with Dad and Mom again because they really wanted to swim and play games at their hotel.  Nathan and I joined them to eat lunch, play ping-pong, checkers, tennis and swim.

Nathan and I took one last swim in the ocean before cleaning up and packing at the condo to go home.  We picked up Subway sandwiches to eat on the way to the airport and said goodbye to Dad and Mom.  We left around 9:00pm to take a red eye flight to Denver.  We all slept, just not as many hours or as comfortably as usual!

January 10, Thursday
We found a spot to eat breakfast in the Denver airport and then arrived safely in Sioux Falls.  By the time we reached Sioux Center around 3:00 in the afternoon, the boys were sound asleep.  I think their exhaustion captures all of the fun we had on our trip and our readiness to be home again.

What a beautiful trip filled with so many blessings.  Thank you God, for keeping us all safe and healthy.  Thank you that we could share part of our trip with Dad and Mom!  I pray that the boys would always know that they are loved wherever life takes them.  I pray that we would always see your hand at work in the beautiful creation that you have made for us to take care of and enjoy!