Home again

What an amazing summer we had. It was worth all the saving, all the planning and all the organizing to make this trip happen. I realized some things this summer:

1. We have too much stuff! We just spent 2 months with no more than we could fit in a carry-on, and we didn't miss anything!

2. I love 80 degree weather. The whole time we were there it was between 80-90 degrees, night and day.

3. I love 80 degree water even more! I swam more than I ever have in the ocean! In fact, a few times I just about outlasted the kids in the water!

4. I have great kids! They were such troopers about everything we did. I have to give a special shout out to my oldest. Not many 14 year olds would be such great sports about leaving their friends for 2 months, and being stuck with her family! Never once did she complain, and was always a good sport about playing with her younger cousins, brothers and sisters, and doing things that the younger kids enjoyed.

5. I have a great husband! He worked so hard to make this trip possible, then he had to still work while we were there. He's provided a great summer for us, and one we'll never forget. He is so great at giving the kids these experiences. He lives and breathes for his kids, and they are so lucky to have him as their Dad!

6. I am so grateful for time spent with our family. Even though we still had our computers, and phones, and TV, we still spent a great deal of time together. We got to see our cousins who came to spend their vacation with us, and it was so great to be together. Our time with our kids is going so quickly! Time with family and most especially time with your teenagers is priceless.

7. I'm very grateful for all of our health and strength. This was by far the most active vacation we've ever done. We hiked, somedays it had to have been at least 7 miles. We climbed lava rocks, dropped down into caves, scrambled around boulders, and climbed steep cliffs. We swam and swam and swam, even in some pretty rough waves. Many of us, including me took a few pretty big tumbles in the waves! We kayaked, we snorkeled, some of us paddle surfed. We slipped down muddy paths that led to slippery rocks on top of the waterfalls. We explored everywhere we could. We jumped off rocks into the water, swung on rope swings and walked miles through deep sand.

8. Traveling with older kids is SO much better than with younger kids! No car seats, no diapers, no naps. The kids could do almost everything we wanted, and they are so much fun to be around!

9. We discovered that although it's great to pay for guided tours, we had SO much more fun doing things on our own! We got to spend as much time as we wanted, explore further than the tours allow, jump into the water when we saw dolphins, swim next to sea turtles, stand on top of water falls, climb up to a steam vent in a volcano, walk 1,000 feet in a pitch dark lava cave, kayak whenever and wherever we wanted to and at times be the only ones there! And best of all, 99% of our activities on the island were all free!

10. Of the 3 Hawaiin islands we've been too, I love the Big Island the best. The beaches were the prettiest and the water was as crystal clear as the water in the Caribbean. I can close my eyes now and picture the bright turquoise color of the water, or the deep blue depending on how deep the water was. The black sand beaches were a feast for the eyes, with stark contrasts of jet black, white capped waves, green palm trees and cerulean colored water. The white sand beaches look like they are painted backdrops! The hiking was serenely beautiful, the water falls were breathtaking and there is nothing like standing on an active volcano!

11. I could move to Hawaii. However, it is good to be home, and see friends, and we're especially loving the cost of food and gas here compared with Hawaii! Now, on to another school year!

Family Pictures

A HUGE thanks to Josh and Mimi for taking our family pictures while we were in Hawaii! There were SO many great ones to choose from!

Ziplining and Manta Ray dive

Our brave Sydney did the Manta Ray Dive with Gary! The rest of us were too chicken!

Lauren, Gary and I were able to zipline in Hawi. It was so beautiful!

Mauna Kea Beach

We finally made it to Mauna Kea Beach! It is in a resort area, and although every beach is public in Hawaii, the resort only allows 30 cars to park there! We tried once before to go here, but the lot was full. So this time we got up super early, and made it in! It did not disappoint. The water is a beautiful deep blue, and crystal clear. The beach is huge, which is not common in Hawaii, and it's amazingly soft sand! We happened upon a day where the surf was small--ok non-existant! But it was still fun to play in the water. I watched many swimmers swim from one end of the bay and back, doing laps. I thought of my ocean swimmer friends! Water temperature is 80, air temperature is 85, doesn't get much better than that! Even the shark patrol helicopters that make their passes over these beaches every morning didn't bother anyone at all! :) We swam, played some frisbee and enjoyed another day in paradise.

Kikaua

One cool thing about the Big Island is how different all the beaches are. There are great beaches for every activity, swimming, boogie boarding, surfing, snorkeling, to name a few. This beach, Kikaua is GREAT for little kids! The water is shallow, only knee high and there are no waves. It's got a soft sandy bottom, so no reef shoes are required! Our youngest 2 loved this beach, and spent a few hours practicing standing up on their boogie boards. They had a few other kids trying it too! There is a nice grassy spot to lie down under the trees, and plenty of room to throw a frisbee.

Kiholo Bay revisited

Remember this post? That afternoon we couldn't get across the chute to the lagoon, because the tide was so high. We we came back to Kiholo Bay to try again. We left early in the morning this time, and found that morning is the BEST time to visit! The water was so beautiful, and the tide was out, allowing us to explore as far as we could! We swam to 2 different little islands, trying to keep our backpacks with our phones and cameras dry, found a great rock to "cliff" jump (it was about 3 maybe 4 feet high!) saw more turtles than we could count (they would swim right by you!) and enjoyed the whole thing all to ourselves. If anyone else ever swims out to the island, see if our name is still there! We "wrote" it with white rocks on the black lava rocks. It was an adventurous morning, hiking, climbing, swimming, jumping, and snorkeling! In the morning, when we first crossed to the islands, we could walk with our backpacks up, but on the way back, the tide had already risen and we found we had to swim across with our backpacks held up! Diana and Jordi even met the man who was the architect for the Bali House! In case you were wondering, the Bali house and the pace maker guys house and property there appraise at about $70 million. Chump change! :)

Captain Cook Monument

We took a morning and kayaked Kealakekua Bay to Captain Cook Monument. It was a beautiful morning! We rented kayaks from Maile's Kayaks. They are AWESOME, and launch their boats in a great spot. We kayaked across to Captain Cook Monument. There is a lot of history here, which I loved! The Hawaiians gave the spot of land that the monument stands on to Britain, so we were able to stand on British soil! The water is the most beautiful I have ever seen. Crystal clear and varying shades of bright turquoise, depending on how deep the water was. We came the week before and saw dolphins playing out in the bay. Unfortunately, there weren't any the hours we were there kayaking. The kids snorkeled when we got there, along with all the other tours of snorkelers there! It was such a great morning! Such a beautiful place! I could have kayaked there all day--if we had brought enough food! :)