Week 6

I'm a week behind!

We had a week of really good waves--but a really short and violent shore break.  All the kids took one tumble where they were pile drived into the sand, and that was enough boogie boarding!  Instead we just floated on all the waves!

We tried to take a family picture, but the waves kept washing over us, just as we'd get ready to take the picture!

Gary and I got to sneak off on a date.  We ate at Splashers Grill.  It was good food and so nice to get away!  We watched a beautiful sunset on the water!

Fun day at Beach 69!  Still enjoying the last of the big waves and cliff jumping.

 Who needs beach chairs?  We'll just use the tree!

Our friends, the Davis Family got to come!  We went to the waterfalls.  This was a completely different experience this time around.  It had been raining for about 2 weeks straight, and the waterfalls were GUSHING!  It is very pretty to see, but not safe to swim in.  :(  We still got in at KoleKole, and let the older kids give it a try, but the current was really strong, and the waterfall was about 3 times as big!  After we visited our favorite waterfalls, we explored a new lava tube/cave.  It was really cool!  It was very very dark, and all of us bumped heads a few times when the lava tube got small, but at the end, there was a hole that let in some light.  It was very beautiful!  We had a really great, really WET day!

Week 5

Highlights of this week were finding a new beach, and zip lining!  We also got some good waves this week!  Hapuna has been our favorite beach, and is so fun when the waves are bigger!  We spent a day out of the sun and did some more shopping, saw the new Transformer movie and went bowling.

We've been hearing about a beach called Mackalwena beach.  It's not accessible by road.  To get there, you drive down a bumpy road sort of carved out of lava rock.  Then you have to get out and start walking.  At first the trail is pretty easy, and takes you to Mahai'ula Bay.  This is a nice beach, but a little rocky.  Keep walking through the deep sand until you get to the lava rocks again.  Now it's about a 1 mile walk over some pretty rough lava rocks.  The kids kept saying it sounded like they were walking on glass.  Those of us who didn't listen to the good advice to wear tennis shoes (um me!)  got few bruises trying to walk the lava in flip flops!  But once we got to the beach-- it was all worth it!  Beautiful water, great snorkeling, white sand, and the best part is that we were one of 3 families on the entire beach!!  We'll be back for sure!!

 Are we there yet?  Walk through the tough hot lava rocks

 Once you climb over the sand dunes, this is what you see!

 Water as clear as a swimming pool!

Now onto zip lining!  The last time we were here, Lauren was the only one of our kids who was heavy enough to go!  The weight limit was 80 lbs.  Poor Kaycee was 50 pounds, and she was determined to gain 30 pounds during the summer!  As much as she ate, she just couldn't do it!  :)  So this trip, that was the ONE thing all the kids were looking forward to!  We went with Skyline Eco Adventures, and it was AMAZING!  The day we went was a little rainy.  Ok, we were DRENCHED! Even the guides said they hadn't been rained on that hard ever!  But that's ok because it made the zips faster, and the waterfalls were absolutely gorgeous!!  It was such a highlight for the kids to go!  They all LOVED it!!!!!