Hawaii - Day 3

December 28, 2009 - We started our day with a long scenic drive from Kona to Punalu'u Beach. It took about two hours of winding road and 30 m.p.h. speeds, but it was very interesting to see the changing landscape. We traveled through lush green coffee plantations, desolate lava fields, and grassy hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was well worth the drive because Punalu'u Beach is covered in fine black sand and home to many sea turtles. Surprisingly it wasn't even very crowded and we enjoyed several hours of swimming and wildlife watching. It was definitely a beach right out of a movie.

After getting our fill of sand and water we piled back in the car for the ride back to Kona. We made a stop in Na'alehu at the famous Punalu'u Bakeshop. We enjoyed yummy sweetbread, malasadas, and ice-cream before we realized we were running short on time. Upon returning to Kona we had a quick 45 minutes to shower and change before heading back out to the Sheraton for the Firenesia Luau.

The luau was a fun night. The kids had a great time learning to be warriors with their poi balls and fire sticks. The adults enjoyed the all you can drink mai tais and buffet. The show was more theatrical than authentic luau but they did the hula and it was exciting to watch the fire dancers. We finally made it back to the condo late that night with the kids entertaining us with their ukuleles the whole ride home.

Jacob and Olivia at Punalu'u Beach

More sea turtles today! Jacob and Michael swam with a few while snorkeling.

Jacob watching the turtles from his perch on the rocks.

They turtles even came out to sleep on the beach. We made sure not to touch and stay back an appropriate distance.

A turtle munching his lunch in the background while the family poses.

Beach Beauty

I know you can hardly see us in this picture but I wanted a picture of the sand more than us.

There are plenty of shots of palm trees and ocean but I thought this was pretty. We had the ocean on one side and this lily pond on the other with the black sand beach in the middle.

Big brother lending a helping hand.

This is the beautiful view at the Sheraton where we went for the luau.

The whole family - Uncle Sean, Auntie Brandie, Jessica, Michael, Olivia, Grandma Vickie, Grandpa Larry, and Jacob

Doing the hula

Some more hula at the table. Olivia and Jacob entertained everybody while we waited for dinner and the show to start.

The musical portion of the evening.

Getting ready for the buffet line we stopped to check out the Kalua pork.

We couldn't help but buy the professional luau portrait!

Hawaii - Day 1 and 2

December 26, 2009 - Day 1 wasn't very exciting except for the fact that we unloaded the car from Christmas, threw in the suitcases, grabbed a few hours sleep, and headed out to the airport. We spent most of the day on the plane, in the airport, picking up the car, and grocery shopping. Thanks to Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean we stayed in a great condo right on Ali'i Drive. There was enough daylight left when we got to Hawaii that the kids could see what it looked like and we enjoyed dinner at the Royal Kona Hotel. The kids thought it was cool to eat right on the water at a table surrounded by tiki's and lava rock. The adults thought it was cool that we were relaxing with our first Mai Tais of the trip!

December 27, 2009 - Day 2 started out with a very exciting trip to Costco to finish stocking our condo. It was nice to see that even in Hawaii you can get a Costco hot dog and soda for $1.50! After our shopping we finally started vacationing. Just a few miles down the road from the condo was Kahalu'u Beach. The sea turtles were swimming right on the rocky shore and the snorkling was easy for Jacob. Olivia even got to see fish because the water was so clear all you had to do was look down. We spent the whole afternoon soaking up the sun and exploring.

Olivia and Michael swimming in the condo pool.

Jacob relaxing while they waited for everybody else to return from Costco.

Jacob and Michael at Kahalu'u Beach.

Grandpa was with us too!

This picture was taken just looking down. You didn't even have to get wet to see fish!

Here we all are checking out our first sea turtle. We were careful to look and not touch. I'm not sure the turtles were aware of the rules since they swam right along with you.

Livie and Dad

Hawaiian Honu

There's Grandma checking out the turtles. Auntie Brandie and Sean were with us but somehow managed to be wandering everytime we tried to take pictures.

Oh yeah, we do have kids!

The last post was all about Michael and I and that was about the end of our story. Since then we've hosted Thanksgiving for 20+ people, had a family birthday party for Olivia who turned 4,took a 3 day trip to Disneyland to celebrate both kids' birthdays, took the kids to the SeaWorld Holiday Nights, went to the kids Christmas performance for Kidz Klub, squeezed in a birthday lunch for Michael, had a family party for Jacob who turned 7, went to Olivia's preschool Christmas Sing, watched the kids sing at the Christmas Cantata, celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Ramona, took the kids to Hawaii the day after Christmas, and finally squeezed in my (Jessica's) birthday this past weekend. Whew! In between all of that I worked, did Christmas shopping and worked on planning my 20 year class reunion. I'm thinking I'm in need of another vacation.

Unfortunately since we just came home from 9 days in Hawaii I'm not going to get any sympathy and that is to be expected. We had a great time since Thanksgiving and I promise we will catch everybody up with some pictures soon. For now the demand is to see some Hawaii pictures so that is where we'll start! Stay tuned I hope to post the beginning in the next couple days.