Hawaii Part III

My sister Cami lives on the Big Island and had everything mapped out for our vacation. She made all the arrangements and knew all the places to go and things we'd want to do while we were there. Thanks to her we didn't miss out on anything and we have no regrets for things we didn't get to do. Mwah! For example.....she knew we'd want to hit this beach:

Mauna Kea

It is ranked as one of the top 10 beaches in the world and it did not disappoint! It's a public beach, but the parking is limited, so if you don't get a space, you don't get to go. We were extremely lucky and got the last 2 spaces! Because of its limited parking space, there aren't a million people there either. The sand is powder soft and the water is almost bathwater warm. It's in a little cove that protects it so the waves are relatively calm and its great for snorkeling too. Isn't it gorgeous? :)

There was even lots of shady spots which made it all the better!

There is a reef right by those rocks and there are so many colorful fishes.....just like Finding Nemo! :) This is where I tried snorkeling for the first time in my life! At first the breathing tube made me gag, but then I got used to it and absolutely loved it!

I snorkeled right next to this little guy (or maybe it was a brother). Actually he was pretty big. It was incredible!

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LuauAll the "wahines" got these flower leis as we arrived. The food was delicious and the entertainment was fabulous too! Right when you get to your seat, they have taro chips out for you to snack on.....best things ever! I wish I could find them over here. I also wish I'd taken more pictures of my family. I should've just stolen their pics from their blogs, but that takes too much effort.....ya, I know, I'm lazy.

I got alot of video at the luau (which I can never get loaded onto blogger correctly, so sorry for all you who wanted to see the action) but not many pictures.

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Kona Temple and Fairwind II Snorkel Tour On our way to our snorkel tour, we stopped and took pictures at the temple. It was beautiful. And like most LDS places, we met someone who knew someone and chatted for a bit. Kinda cool.

Kealakekua Bay

We rode out (or ferried out) about 45 minutes to Kealakekua Bay. It is a perfect spot for snorkeling. The water was a bit cold (actually it was surprisingly freezing, but just like Bear Lake, once you get in, you eventually get used to it). The boat we were on is the only boat licensed to anchor is this bay.

Aboard the Fairwind II. It is a catamaran and when it's anchored, there are 2 slides and a diving board. We had so much fun going down the slides (me, Callie, Aimee, and Tyler). Who says slides are for kids.....we're just a little bigger.

Don't ask what I'm doing.....I'm not even sure myself. :o

Suzanne and Tyler

Captain Cook's monument. He was the first European to arrive in Hawaii in the late 1700s (or they called it the Sandwich Islands).

Hawaii Part II

I may or may not have mentioned that we went to the Big Island of Hawaii......Hawaii. It was a Christmas present from my parents to all their kids.....THANK YOU! We flew into Kona on the west side of the island. Everything is very dry and not at all what you'd picture Hawaii to be like. But its beautiful in its own way. There are old lava flows everywhere, the mountains are gorgeous, and the beaches are amazing. This post I'm going to focus on the resort we stayed at....the Hilton Waikoloa. Awesome!

The resort had a man-made beach area that connected to the ocean so we tried our hand at snorkeling. It was a little murky, but we still had fun.

My husband the jokester.......nice pose! Brian Daniels and Brennen are behind us.

Me and Cami trying it out with Rian in the middle.....we quickly went back to shore. :)

Beautiful Hawaiian sunrise. With the 4 hour time change we were easily awake by 5:30 or so in the morning.....but dead on our feet by 9:30 at night!

The view from our room

I took this picture from the inside of our rental van.......ha ha ha, the jokes on you guys that said I couldn't get a decent picture while driving! So there. :)

These are old lava flows that cover both sides of the roadways and go on for miles. So cool!!

Rian, my niece, being super funny in the car. She'd do crazy things so I'd take a picture, and then she'd want to see what she looked like in the camera. I miss her!

Our roomies: Brennen and Aimee

We had so much fun with them in our room. Believe it or not, we were so tired at the end of the day, we never once stayed up to talk or play games. Whodathunk?

More of the view from our room. Also the place were we snorkeled and rode the bike things (no idea what they were really called). If you look closely at the top of the picture is where the ocean feeds into the resort.

Our first morning there....and on our way to the BEST breakfast bar you'll ever eat at! Seriously, so delicious! The flower I've so stylishly added to my ensamble....plumeria. The scent that reminds you of Hawaii......mmmmm, yum!!!!

The black stuff is lava rock and the white stuff is coral. The two yayhoos in the pic....don't know about them ;)

Can you believe this resort......gorgeous! I never got a picture of the pool, but it was enormous. It had a couple waterfalls in it and a waterslide too....it was fun:) You're never too old right?

"Under" the waterfall

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Can't wait to show you the beach and our snorkel tour!...

Hawaii Part I

We're back. We had a FANTASTIC time and wish we were still there, but reality hits and life sets in. We missed the kids (surprised?) and we were glad to kiss and hug them. The phone calls home everyday made us really appreciate the sweet kids that they are. There will be a few Hawaii posts (after all, I took almost 200 pictures in 5 days!) and in no particular order, here we go.....

Akaka Falls

This post is the "Sunday" of our trip. We started off with church in Waimea, not too far away from our resort in Kona. What an awesome ward! It was fast and testimony meeting and the spirit there was so amazing! This picture is of my Dad and Brad in the parking lot waiting to change clothes and hike to Akaka Falls.

You can kinda see the waterfall behind us and it's more gorgeous up close!

See, I told ya! It's so hard to capture with a camera what you see with your eyes. That is a 420 foot fall! Crazy!

I love this picture! Aimee, me, Tyler, Cami, and Callie
Don't I have the cutest siblings?! :)

Looking east towards the ocean in the parking lot at Akaka Falls

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Kilauea Crater

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Much to our dismay, we saw no eruption. :)

The steam vents and two random girls. Yes, the steam is very hot!

Part of the crew. Some stayed back at Cami's place in Hilo while the rest of us went to the volcano and lava tube.

Coming back out of the lava tube. FYI: a lava tube is formed when lava flows down the mountain and the top cools and forms a tunnel for the still-flowing lava. When the lava ceases to flow, the tube empties out, and ta-da....a lava tube. Very cool.

On our hike back up the trail at the lava tubes. This place is beautiful. I think this is where my Dad hid behind one tree and scared (or tried to scare) the rest of our group coming up. :) C'mon, our day wouldn't be complete without some Christensen humor!

More still to come....