Ben, Carolyn, Carson, Mishawn, Matt, Elsie,
Devin, Justin, Tyris, Matt
In the beginning of July my Mom and Step-Dad, Ben, so generously took my brother's family and our family on a trip to Hawaii. We stayed on the big Island, Kona side, for a week of paradise...or so we hoped! We have traveled with the girls many times before, however, the smooth restful trip we were hoping for was intermittently overshadowed by sickness and sleeplessness. Thankfully we had fun spending time with the grandparents and my brother's family, had a great place to stay, and saw some wonderful sites. So, for that, there are no complaints! Here are some pictures of our days on the island:
Day (minus) 1: Carson threw up 2 times that day, both in the car, getting her seat soaked with puke. We washed that seat 2 times and it still smelled. Good thing the next day it would be bagged up on a hot airplane for 8 hours to keep that smell in! Needless to say, we washed it again when we got to Kona.
Day 1: We were nervous Carson would throw up again on the airplane, so we came VERY prepared...with towels, a grocery bag, and a change of clothes for everyone! She made it just fine on the 5 hour flight, and so did Elsie, of course. She got to sit with her cousins and play with them. My Mom and Ben were waiting for us at the airport. We made our way to the condo (our family with my folks and my brother's family in another condo) and went swimming in the pool. This was a nice relaxing evening in which we went to bed around 8:00pm!
View from our condo Our first sunset, looking out our balcony
Elsie learned how to "float" with her floaties
Day 2: 4:45 am...good morning! Let's just say the girls NEVER got accustomed to the time change, so EVERY morning around 5:00 am they both got up...bummer! Good thing we had Boz and our portable DVD player. And Sesame Street came on at 6:00am instead of 7:00am like at home, which was awesome! Matt ended up taking Carson for a walk most mornings on the shore since she is only captivated by Boz for about 20 minutes and is also very loud.
This is the island "graffiti," white coral against
black volcanic rock. It is all along the highways. 6 am in the morning, taking a walk.
We went snorkeling this day at a nearby beach. It was great! The kids played with Grandma in this shallow water area enclosed by rocks. We saw our first turtle swimming in this area as well. We could walk right up to it. It was my first time being so close to a sea turtle. Matt and I snorkeled out past the rocks and saw some really neat fish and coral.
Day 3: We drove to the Northwest part of the island ending up in a town called Hawi. We enjoyed touring a macadamia nut factory and eating the samples; picnic lunch at a beautiful park; eating our daily shave ice; and swimming at a white sands beach. Unfortunately, the evening didn't end so well. We were on our way to take my folks out for dinner as a thank you and Elsie threw up in the car on the way. I think the tiredness, long driving, and hunger all set in at once. So, for our "nice " dinner, everyone else went in while we cleaned the car and then Elsie spent her dinner time laying between two chairs and falling asleep. Not at all the "thank you" we had anticipated!
Day 4: Elsie woke up still not quite herself, so we decided to spend the morning relaxing, then go to a place close by to sight see for a couple of hours. As we were getting ready, Elsie still was not feeling well, so my mom decided she would stay back with her. The rest of us packed up and got ready to go. As we were pulling out of the complex, Carson threw up! Thankfully we could just turn right around, disassemble the car seats AGAIN (3rd time), and then let my mom be on her way with the group while we stayed back with both girls. This was the same day that, while Carson was supposedly napping, she learned to crawl out of her pack-n-play! Once we got her back in, the girls, Matt and I had a restful afternoon napping. I think we all needed it!
Day 5: After the previous episodes, we were quite nervous for our big day of traveling around the island. So we came prepared: towels on the backseat, towels in each of their car seats, towels for our laps, a grocery bag, plenty of rags, resolve carpet cleaner, febreeze, and our DVD player, with of course an extra change of clothes for everyone! We were ready! This actually turned out to be the best day of travel. We saw so many beautiful sites on the island . The girls did great!
Girlies with Aunt Tyris Black sands beach
Opening to a lava tube Kilauea Crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
We were constantly trying to beat this tour bus
everywhere we went!
Free zoo near Hilo
Rainbow falls-Hilo Matt hiding from the black smoke in Lost
Cousins in the banyan trees-we were all tired at this point!
Day 6: Since Matt and I didn't go to the Place of Refuge due to the sick girls, my mom and Ben stayed back to watch the girls so we could go enjoy it without them. We heard there was great snorkeling at this beach too! After we saw the site, we were able to snorkel in the bay. It was the best snorkeling we have ever experienced. My brother and nephews came along and we all enjoyed the beautiful fish and coral. There were many tide pools as you entered into the water. It was a great place to just sit in the water and enjoy the view. Of course our day was not going to be that easy! We put our electronic key in a Ziploc baggie so it would not get stolen from the beach. When we pulled it out of Matt's pocket we discovered there must have been a hole in the bag, because it was filled with brown water! The key of course did not work and we could not get the car started. So, 1 1/2 hours later, after many phone calls; one in which we could pay a taxi $80 to pick up another key from the airport and bring it to us and then pay an extra $300 to pay for a new key, we talked to the park ranger. He said this had happened many times before and he had a solution for the problem. Apparently when you flush any electronic device with fresh water and then use a bathroom hand dryer to dry it, it works again!! We were very thankful for the ranger to show us this trick! Off we went to quickly get ready for a birthday celebration dinner for Matt at Bubba Gumps!
Place of Refuge-in the bay behind us, is where we found the best snorkeling!
Day 6: We spent our last day shopping in Kona for a few hours in the afternoon to get some gifts and souvenirs. We also had our last, and best, shave ice! We spent the rest of our evening playing games and packing.
This was a medium!
Day 7: Flying home. We prepared ourselves for any puking incidents on the way home as well. We made it safe and sound with a fairly uneventful flight. The girls both slept on the plane for a time, in which we were eternally grateful! Despite battling the "elements" we had a great time with family and saw some wonderful things. We were very happy to have gone on this trip and share it with the family.
Success...both girls asleep! At last!
Good news: Day 8-the girls slept in until 8:30 and 9:00!! Hip hip hurray!
