Hello, Hawaii!

Friday
We started off the week on Friday, July 31st at the Fairmont Orchid Hotel on the Big Island, Kona side. The hotel was BEAUTIFUL. We ate dinner at Brown's Beach House right on the beach, and our reservations were at sunset.

View from our table at Brown's Beach House!

Josh and I were also celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary. There is no place like celebrating in Hawaii!

 

Saturday
The next morning we were up at about 4:00 am. Hawaii time is 6 hours behind Ohio time, so that took awhile to get used to. We spent our morning at Pauoa Bay at the hotel. Leah played in the sand and the adults got some awesome snorkeling time. We saw a ton of fish, and two sea turtles. One even popped his head up out of the water about four feet from us!

Leah and Mimi Susan on the beach at 5:00 in the morning!

Leah in Pauoa Bay.

The only snorkeling picture we got! Me and my dad - Josh is in the background.

After snorkeling, we headed to good, old Walmart to grab some groceries and head to the Hilo side of the island. We stayed in a rental home in Ninole.

This picture is actually just the pool house! The actual house was almost 10,000 square feet and gorgeous! 


Sunday
On Sunday, it was so RAINY! We headed about 20 miles south of the house to hike Akaka Falls. We were pretty soggy, but I think it is better hiking in the rain than in the heat.  

Here is a picture of the three of us and below is a picture of Leah and Mimi Barb.

Monday
On Monday, we headed back to the Kona side of the island to visit Hapuna Beach, one of the top 10 beaches in the world. It was beautiful...except for the poisonous, centipede-looking creatures rolling around in the ocean! After the beach, we drove to the Kona Brewing Company for lunch and did some shopping on Ali'i Drive.

 


Tuesday
On Tuesday, a small group of us went Zip Lining at Umauma Falls. It was SO MUCH FUN ziplining over waterfalls and lava tubes. I don't have any pictures at the moment - we only had the underwater camera - but hoping to have some to post soon!

Wednesday
Wednesday was another rainy day on our side of the island. 

However, rainy days make beautiful rainbows! This was our view while sipping our morning coffee.

Later that day, the skies cleared and we were able to view Waipio Valley. Great view and great history!


Thursday
Thursday was just a "lay by the pool day". The 6 hour transition was catching up with us and we were very tired!

  
 
Friday
This was our last day before flying back home on Saturday, but this was a great day. We started off at Volcano National Park. We were able to see the volcano, walk through lava tubes, and take a hike on Devastation Trail.    

Our next stop was Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. Not only was the black sand awesome, but there were a ton of sea turtles that made their way to the shore.

Walking on lava!

Celebrating 12 years!

Fun on the beach!

Up close with sea turtles.


There were SO many more pictures we took, but this was just a glimpse of the week. We had a wonderful time in our 9th state as a family. What's in store for next year??? 
Texas!