Hawaii

How in the world do you sum up a 15 day dream vacation to the beautiful and exotic island of Hawaii? 

We had such a fun time.  There really aren't words to do it justice. . . it was everything I could have hoped it to be!  My kids had so much fun and experienced so many new things.  Amazing things!


Things like staying in a beautiful condo, with plenty of room to spread out, the hugest lanai to hang out on, and a pool and beach just a few feet away.  Nights were spent with the whole family, relaxing on the lanai as grandpa cooked steaks, chicken, hamburgers and pork chops.  Such fun times!

Things like SUPing.  Jackson, Miles and Lola loved to go out on them.  Jackson was quite the pro after a week trying it out.  Miles loved to search for fish and sea turtles under the water as he cruised on his SUP and Lola loved a smooth ride with Tierra.

Things like visiting beautiful waterfalls and a memorable and anti-climactic trip to the botanical garden.  

Things like the beautiful beaches of Hapuna, Moana Kea, and Moana Lani.

Things like hiking down crazy, steep hills to visit the black sand beach and the beautiful Waipio Valley.  We found out the hard way that keeping Miles and Stella out of the water wasn't really a possibility, and that black sand is WAY messier than white sand!

Things like jeeping down to the secluded and remote Macalevena beach with grandpa.  Who knew grandpa had mad, crazy jeep driving skills?  Once we got there, it was perfect, pristine sand, and waves that we couldn't stay help bobbing around in.

Things like building sand castles with grandpa on every beach.  Kind of a kid at heart that grandpa of ours!

Things like swimming in beautiful Koholo Bay. . . where we saw dozens of turtles and the boys swam out to their very own deserted island!

 
 Things like walking out the condo door to play in the tide pools.  Picking up sea cucumbers, touching sea urchins, checking out the star fish, watching the waves crash against the black lava rocks, and exploring. 

 Things like seeing the beautiful Kona Temple. 

Things like visiting a real volcano!  Miles had been researching the volcanos on the island for months and soaked every single thing in when we went there.  One of the best days of his life!

Things like swimming with dolphins.  Not at a resort, but in the middle of the ocean.  And not just one or two dolphins. . . many, many dolphins.  Right there. 

Things like. . . eating Hawaiian shaved ice, sneaking sips of Diet Coke, collecting souvenirs, checking out banana trees, eating a yummy seafood dinner at Bubba Gumps courtesy of granny and grandpa, buying coconuts on the beach and discovering coconut water, being spoiled by aunts, uncles and grandparents, loving on our cute cousin Asher all day long, and many, many more things!

Thanks so very much mom and dad for making this dream come true!