Hawaii

Dylan and I decided last minute we wanted to go to Hawaii. Keith and Kyle were going and we wanted one final adventure before the baby comes and Dylan starts his new job. We found a killer deal on tickets, so impulsively decided to go. We bought the tickets on Wednesday and our flight left the following Tuesday.

It was so much fun! Hendrix did awesome on the flights. I wasn't too uncomfortable (although I probably wouldn't choose to travel so far so pregnant again!) and the water was incredible. There were 3 hurricanes around Hawaii, one just passed through before we landed and there were 2 just passing by while we were there, but the weather wasn't bad at all (it probably helped that we didn't have anything to compare it to!) The water was a little rough so there were some places we wanted to go snorkeling but couldn't, or got pushed around a little bit, but for the most part it was awesome. Also, since the weather was a little bad, a lot of the locals weren't out (if they can go whenever why would they go in rough water?) So it wasn't unusual for us to have a beach (or most of it) to ourselves.

Kimberly and Sean moved to Hilo, on the Big Island, so Kyle, Keith, and our family stayed with them. Kyle and Keith got in a day before us and Dylan and I just got a rental car and drove over (1.5 hours from Kona, the sunny, sandy beach, airport side) so Kim didn't have to make another trip (plus the entire crew wouldn't fit in one car anyway!) The Hilo side of the island is more rainforest, and less touristy. Kona is the more popular side with sandy beaches and more people. We spent lots of time in Hilo, but went to Kona a couple times too! It was fun to experience both sides of the Island.

It was such a blast. Kim and Sean were such gracious hosts. It was so fun to be there with Kyle and Keith (they stayed a week, Dylan and I stayed 11 days) and experience something so new. Hendrix LOVED the water (as usual, couldn't keep him out of it!) and played so well with his cousins. And the water was incredible!! A warm ocean is definitely the way to play (especially with kids!) and it was really cool to see Dylan's confidence grown in the water. We will definitely go back again!

And now, a bazillion pictures.

Loving his first plane ride! He did so incredibly awesome.

Liliuokalani Gardens

Kyle working on his water bending

Went to go snorkeling at the Kapoho Tide Pools but the hurricane caused rough seas

and flooded the area! It was too dangerous to get in here, the water was so high! We 

snapped a few pictures then went to find another activity in the area.

Dylan was desperate to try fresh coconut. We snagged this on off the road, and Kimberly just

happens to carry a machete in her car, so it took a couple whacks before we had our first coconut!

We passed a sign that said "Lava Tree National Park" and decided to stop since we were in the area. There were lava tubes, and these huge "lava trees" where the lava had come through and encased the trees and hardened, so there is a forest of these trees. It was really cool. There are a ton of gorgeous plants, and we found strawberry guava trees that made a tasty snack!

After the lava trees we were desperate to get into the water, so we went to a beach by Kimber's house and did a little snorkeling. I'm grateful Kimberly was so willing to keep an eye on Hendo so Dylan and I could both go snorkeling.

Hendrix buckled himself up!

The next day Kimberly and her kids had to do school in the morning, so Kyle, Keith, Dylan, and I tried the tide pools again. The water was still high, and the surf a little rough once you got farther out, but it was so incredible. The water was so clear and there was so many different things to see. Since the water was so warm Hendrix stayed in the entire time too! Dylan and I took turns going out with Keith and Kyle while the other played with Hendrix. I seriously love playing in the water with Hendrix. He loves it so much and is so excited about everything. The fish were coming right up to us too, so he got to see some gorgeous wild life too :)

Keith found a friend!

Didn't get a picture of us together in the water so snapped one on the way back to the car!
I wish I got pictures of Hendrix in the water, but we were too busy playing!

 We went up to the Mauna Loa observatory. There is a crater with lava that is gorgeous at night. We got there a little early so did some exploring on our way to the volcano.

Dylan is "standing" on top of Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on earth!

HUGE crater (and a huge belly ;)

Walking through a massive lava tube! It was seriously so cool.
Nature is so awesome.

Kimberly got this incredible picture of the magma crater with the stars in the sky.
It really was something to behold! It was such a fun night.

Headed to Akaka falls the next day. We hiked a little loop that had multiple waterfalls on it, and Akaka was the crowning glory, 442 feet of free falling water. It was so fun to walk through the rain

forest and the waterfalls were all gorgeous.

Akaka Falls

It was a day of waterfalls. We went to Rainbow Falls next, then Punch Bowl falls.

Kim and Sean have been to Punch Bowl falls before. They've been swimming and slack lining there, so we were excited to get in the water. Once we got there we realized today was not a day to get in the water. While the falls were incredible, there was SO MUCH water flowing over that it was too dangerous!

Keith (red), Kyle (green), and Dylan (blue) checking out the rough waters.

"uuhhh......let's not swim here....."

Stayed up way too late most nights but we don't get together enough!
Nobody wanted to be the first to leave. Thankfully we had lots of ice cream
and games fueling our late nights!

Punalu'u beach. Gorgeous black sand beach with tons of sea turtles!
The water was a little rough here. Not too bad for the adults to go out but not a great place
for the kids to play. So we just enjoyed the sand and the edge of the water.

We REALLY had to fight to keep Hendrix out of the water. This boy has salt water in his veins :)

The waves crashing in the background was so incredible. I took SO many pictures.

Watched this turtle pull itself up on the beach for a rest.
There were TONS playing in the waves too. It was so fun!

Right after the family picture of the Janeways they were walking back to the beach and a huge wave came in and knocked Brayden and Asher over, who were holding Kim's hands, so EVERYONE went down. Since we weren't planning on playing in the water, the boys weren't in their swim suits. They were so sad to get their regular clothes all wet, but it was really funny. I'm glad no one was hurt!

The next stop was south point. This is the farthest south point in the United States. The water was INCREDIBLE. But very far away, so again, we didn't play in the water. Well....not all of us! People were jumping off the cliff (about 30 feet) and Sean didn't hesitate. Kyle went next. Keith psyched himself up and took the plunge, and then, what really surprised me, was Kimberly jumped too! This is the girl that covers her face in the shower. I've been so impressed with Kim's growth in the water. Dylan didn't jump, but a few days later, after he's got more comfortable and confident in the water, he regretted not jumping. I, of course, didn't jump with my huge belly, but was jealous of everyone who got to! Dylan and I will have to come back sometime and jump together :)

Kimber and Keith jumping together

Sean taking the plunge again!

There is this hole in the rocks that you can see the water crashing.
You have to time it right between the waves, but you can jump down and then swim
out this little tunnel in the rocks to the open water. There is a (totally sketchy) ladder that
goes up the cliff face to get back to the top. Of course Sean had to try it! It looked so awesome, but also scary!

Kyle swimming around before coming back up!

Next we hit up Kona! My friend Sharae moved to Kona from La Grande not too long ago, so we stopped by to say hi before getting in the water. The snorkeling on the Kona side was different and it was fun to experience more of the awesome wildlife!

Kimberly and Kyle! They just celebrated their 30th birthday!

Kimberly and Asher. Her kids are getting so confident in the water!

Dylan and I spent a lot of time snorkeling together this time :)

A few days later we headed back to Kona to take Kyle and Keith to the airport. We stopped by the temple but it was a Monday (and a holiday) so it was closed. We wished we had planned a little better so we could have done a session while we were there! Next time Hawaii!

We met up with Sharae again, and this time she had some time to go swimming! So her and her kids came out with us. Dylan and Sean spent the entire time snorkeling (I did a little when we first got there, I got to swim with a sea turtle!) and Kim, Sharae, and I played in the Shallower water with the kids and chatted. It was so so so much fun. I miss having Sharae here in Oregon, but they are thriving on the Big Island!

Hendrix LOVES noodles. He was so happy to have spaghetti for
dinner. He also loved wearing it, and sticking it to the walls......

 We went to the Abroetum the next day. It's a really cool area where there are mature trees that are really well maintained. There were numbers by the plants and we had a paper that told us what tree what what. A lot of them had fruit that was in season too, and you are allowed to pick it and take it home, so we came home with coconuts (one which fell out of the tree and almost hit me! But was so incredibly tasty) and macadamia nuts. There was a lot of fruit we had no idea what it was. We couldn't reach a lot of the fruit too. Also, we took home some cocoa beans, but they definitely weren't ready to be picked. We should have googled that BEFORE Dylan got them out of the tree but we were all just so excited for it.

 Maverick's new hiding place. He LOVED it. Brought in a blanket and a stuffed animal and

hung out in there for quite a while!

The kids needed another morning of school without distractions, so Dylan and I decided to head back to the Volcano. We drove the Chain of Craters road and stopped at all of these massive craters and lava flows caused over the years. It was a really cool drive. Hendrix slept most the way, then as we got towards the coast it got really foggy so we visibility got poor but it was still so cool. There were some petroglyphs I really wanted to hike too, but the air quality on the volcano was especially poor that day, and there was a sign that said pregnant mothers and small children shouldn't make the hike. Bummer! Again, next time Hawaii! At the end of the chain of craters there was a really cool sea arch. It's caused by different layers of lava flow having different make up and the sea chipping away at the layers at a different rate. Also there is a slow moving lava flow at the very end but we couldn't see it, the moving lava was on the other side of a ridge!

These flowers change color as they mature. They were so pretty!

We got up really early one morning to catch a sunrise! The park we wanted to watch from was closed (they were spraying for fire ants!) so we found another spot. The sunrise wasn't as magnificent as we were expecting but it was still a really fun morning. Hendrix thought it was really fun to be up early with Mom and Dad. Everything around us was so quiet and peaceful, it was a good morning.

Hendrix wanted to (of course) play in the crashing surf. There was a little tide pool on the other side of the rocks. We weren't planning on playing in the water but he was so sweet and wanted it so bad so we let him. Seriously my son is so adorable.

Letting the boys catch up on school again. We went to this park that has a part natural part man made retaining wall to keep the huge waves out so it's a great place for the kids. It's not completely blocked off and I was surprised how many fish were in that area! A sea turtle even came in to say hello :)

Everett and Maverick helping with the dishes!

Hendrix woke up from a nap and found Dad's phone. He somehow turned the camera on
(even though Dylan's phone is locked!) and started making faces. He'd take out his pacifier and
say "hi" and stick out his tongue then suck on his passy for a bit, then repeat the process. It was pretty cute.

Kim and Sean have SO MANY fruit trees in their back yard! We were enjoying all the
apple bananas we could eat. We also picked avocado, guava, passion fruit, papaya, and macadamia nuts
all from their yard!

There are wild chickens everywhere. Dylan got out of the shower and saw some in the yard
and didn't waste any time. He ran out (thankfully put on a towel first!) and tried shooting them with
a bow. No luck this time!

 Time for Dylan and I to get to the airport! We tried to take a cousins picture but it was naptime for Hendrix so he wasn't really having it, then got really upset that I took a toothbrush from him (this kid LOVES to brush his teeth.....) so Kim and I ended up in the picture too. I guess the little girl wanted to be in the cousins picture, I should have turned sideways so she'd really stick out!

Hendrix fell asleep on the way to the airport. Dylan just unbuckled the
carseat and moved it, sleeping Hendo and all to the curb and I just hung out with
Hendrix and the luggage while Dylan returned the rental car.

Short layover in San Fransisco. It was really early in the morning so we
pretty much had the terminal to ourselves. Hendrix loved it. He was being so silly!
Dad was able to catch a short catnap (thank goodness. Our flight from Kona to SF didn't have open seats
so Hendrix laid across our laps and our seats didn't recline....needless to say it was not a comfortable flight!)

 Our seats on the next flight didn't recline either, but it was a small plane so the seats were only 2 wide so we had the whole row to ourselves. I slept a little bit leaning against the window and Hendo slept in our laps again. By the time we got back to Portland Dylan and I had essentially pulled an all nighter. We were both so incredibly tired but so desperate to get home. The 4 hour drive ended up taking us 6 because we had to keep pulling over to sleep. Finally when we got home Dylan pick up a pizza for dinner then passed out at 5:30. Hendrix fell asleep at 6, so I decided to lay him in bed and try to nap while he was. Except he didn't nap. He was out for the night! Dylan and I didn't wake up until 10am then next day, and Hendrix woke up at 10:30. Thank goodness for that long night of sleep! We were all able to recover and I didn't have hardly any pain from the really uncomfortable flights home.

We loved spending that time with the Janeways and had such a blast on our vacation. We can't wait to go back! We definitely want to go back with the kids. It was so much easier than I anticipated! but we also want to go sometime without the kids too. Hopefully we will see Hawaii and the Janeways again soon!