Week 4

Week 4!  How are we half way through our summer already??!!  

This week we took a walk to watch the sunset on the beach.  Along the way we came across a turtle relaxing on the beach!  All the kids to to pet it!  We visited Beach 69 again, one of our favorites!  This time Lauren, Sydney, Gary and I went exploring, however we didn't bring any cameras!  ARRGG!  We found a beautiful sea arch of lava rocks that was so fun to climb under and over, and some beautiful water!  Kaycee had fun on the rope swings!  We also hiked Wiapio.  This hike is one of the steepest, only a mile long but with a 25% grade.   Down at the bottom, we came across the wild horses that live there.  The kids got brave and started petting them.  One was surprisingly tame--then they followed us for while on the trail. This is also where we could see Hi'ilawe Falls.  This is a 1200 foot waterfall!   When we got down to the beach, there was a massive waterfall that had to have been at least 800 feet. Kaluahine Falls.   It was one of the most incredible sights I've seen.  I've never been that close to a waterfall that was that high.  We explored it as much as we could, and got drenched!  It was an incredible day! We went to Hapuna beach, but then left because this week there was a wave of Portuguese Man-of-war, which are small jelly fish.  3 of our friends got stung!  Luckily they were only in the water for a few days, and we were able to go back a few days later and spend the day in the water.

On the 4th, we went to Mauni Lani hotel to watch them release some turtles they had been taking care of.  That night we all went to Josh's condo to see the fireworks.  They launched them right across the street from his building, so the kids were able to watch them from the swimming pool!  

We've had AMAZING sunsets this week!  

We went to a "summer fest" put on by the shops at Mauni Lani.  They had a 100 foot waterside, rock wall, and several contests.  Kaycee and Matt did the water balloon toss, and won a prize pack, which had a frisbee, a pair of flip flops, 2 pairs of socks and a surfer girl sticker!  Lauren entered the watermelon eating contest, but the boy next to her out ate her!  

Finally, we've been able to hit the courts a few times this week--Lauren plays Hawaiian style!  Ha Ha!  

Our "honu" (sea turtle) friend. 

Beach 69

Hi'ilawe Falls

Our wild horse friends!

After the steep hike down, there is a muddy, muggy road to the beach.  

Kaluahine Falls

View of Hapuna Beach from Hapuna Prince Hotel

Videos from the week:  (I accidentally added a video twice, and one didn't process but now I can't figure out how to delete them!  Sorry!)

week 3

What did we do this week?  Well see week 2!  Ha Ha!  We snorkeled, visited Hapuna Beach, Kua Bay Beach, did our favorite hike, Pololu (we spent 5 hours this time climbing trees, exploring, building structures with driftwood, balancing on fallen trees, eating strawberry guavas and hiking!) and we visited the waterfalls of Hilo again!  This time we found a waterfall way in the back of Rainbow Falls.  There is a giant pool of fresh water leading up to the waterfall.  The sides of the pool had sheer rocks that were all squared off--it almost looked manmade!  I've never swam in clearer fresher water!  It was amazing!!  We got to spend a lot of the week with the Sanders Family who are visiting!  It's been great to get to know them!  

Lauren enjoying the fire show! 

Pololu

We came across this shelter, which prompted the kids to make their own!

We got some rain this day, which made for the most beautiful rainbows up top!

The kids had to climb every branch they could!  This log is actually very high up!!

Lauren and Sydney's driftwood tent!  They finished it just as the rain started coming!

We spent 2 hours at Kolekole park, the kids did this rope swing for a solid hour!  I don't know how they find the strength!  After you swing off the rope into the water, you battle the waves from the ocean that are hitting the stream flowing in the opposite direction.  Then you have to pull yourself up out of the waves onto the rocks to do it all again!  

Behind the waterfall!  

Thanks Sanders Family for being so fun and adventurous this week!  

This is the waterfall behind Rainbow Falls!  Beautiful swim!! Kaycee had changed out of her suit after Kolekole, and she was SO mad that she couldn't swim with us!  Next time Kaycee! :)

When you see a giant Banyan tree, it's always best to climb it as high as you can!!

The whole gang on top of Rainbow Falls

Hapuna Beach

Snorkeling at Mauni Lani Beach!

Here are the videos of our week--I guess you can only see these if you are on a computer though, they won't pull up from on a phone or tablet.