Hawaiian Family Vacation (Big Island)

Saturday: 

We had spent the night at the Hyatt in Minneapolis and woke up to have a nice breakfast before driving to catch our plane. The day started with MUCH anticipation. The kids had so much energy and excitement. And they all did a fantastic job. During our layover in Seattle, a store lady stopped us, saying she needed to clear off the last of her cart, and then proceeded to load us up with goodies. On the plane, the steward gave us one of each Snack, instead of making us choose just one. We were treated so kindly. And once we landed and we were getting off the plane when Aaron began throwing up everywhere… they were kind then too! And at the car rental place when vomit continued and one of our bags went missing the attendant and the shuttle drivers were so kind. We got our bag back and received a brown paper bag for Maddix to vomit in the whole way to our rental… yep, Maddix. When we arrived, Aaron ran to the carport garbage can and began throwing up again. Maddix laid face down on the concrete. Avery had to emergency pee, but we couldn’t get in. I tried to take her into the grass to pee, but as soon as she spotted all the geckos and lizards she screamed and refused to pee. Finally made it in and discovered Hampster and Gretal. Then passed out for the night! 

Sunday: 

We woke up to sunshine! To Beaty out every window. To mongoose constantly scurrying around the patio. And to sickness. Maddix and Aaron were wiped out; poor Maddix had been throwing up every hour the entire night. And I woke up with a severe allergic reaction to (I think) my spray tan and/or the body lotion they gave me… it was awful. So we skipped church. Left the boys to sleep. And the rest of us just went for a drive and went exploring. We ended up on a pretty Sunday walk, full of wild goats!

Monday: 

My allergic reaction was worse that before and Maddix was still feeling quite sick, so poor Travis spent the morning washing clothing and repacking all our things in order to go check into our next rental. Thankfully, blessedly, the first rental gave us two or three hours extra to stay since we were so sick, and the next rental let us come in a few hours early, so we were able to go from one place to the next! 

Tuesday: 

Grandparents arrived very late the night before, which was unfortunate because we had to be up bright and early to make it to Captain Dan McSweenie’s Whale Watch tour. For my poor mom and Avery, they saw more food leave their bodies than they did marine life; they were pretty sick the whole three hours. 

Next we jerked through some pretty rocky terrain… again, sorry for those motion sick people! This took us to a parking lot where we then hiked out over lava rock and hot sands for the next half hour before reaching our very off the beaten path beach. But it was completely worth it! There was a sea turtle checking everyone out and a Hawaiian Monk Seal that had been napping on the beach, but woke up and decided to go for a swim, which forced everyone out of the water until he decided to move on. Everyone enjoyed boogie boarding, including Gpa Vaughn. 

That evening Vaughn, Lori, Travis, Maddix, and I went to the Kona temple to do Baptisms for the Dead and it was a very special experience. We talked afterward about how we wonder if those we are doing work for notice that the first is their gospel temple work started in Holland, for example, then had more of it done on the East coast, and now some in Hawaii. I think it’s something very special and transcendent. Then we topped the evening off with a beautiful sunset! 

Wednesday : 

I took advantage of the early sunrise and went out back to workout in the quiet and enjoy the birds chirping. Our activity of the day was souvenir shopping and hanging out at the beach. And due to the high winds we couldn’t put up the umbrellas and the snorkeling wasn’t as great. But we still had a great time. The kids enjoyed Gpa Vaughn playing with them on the boogie boards, Aaron crashed right into Gma Donna and wiped her out, and Gma Donna also got taken out by a wave while trying to “Baywatch” her way out of the water. Best part of the day to me though was when we stopped to purchase some fresh jelly filled donut holes from a roadside stand… I’m still craving them months later. 

Thursday: 

Thursday we began a longer drive to the Hilo (and very wet) side of the island. Travis purchase an audio tour guide and it was fun listening to the details/histories and information he offered up along the way. Once we arrived to the visitor’s center we dawned our wet weather gear (or anything close to it that we had) and began exploring the volcano National park. 

Highlight: the lava tube for sure. Although we also enjoyed the volcano itself. We saw some nene’s and wild pig. It was chilly, but lots of fun. We later made a long drive to the saddle of Manakea volcano (11,000ft elevation change) to watch the sunset. The winds were WHIPPING! We later found out they were blowing at 30-40mph, with gusts up to 60mph! My mom and I were last to join the party. I didn’t want to lose the credit card in my pocket and as I pulled it out to return to Travis the wind ripped it out of my hand and down the mountain! No one saw it but me and I instantly took off after it. Everyone thought I was blowing away and went into panick! Eventually I gave up on the card and turned to tell them I was alright. As Travis put it, “the card is now a sacrifice to the Goddess Peilei (pay-lay… not sure how it’s spelled). 

Friday:

After some açaí bowls we drove to the Hilo side again and hiked out to find a waterfall. Only the bigger discovery was what you find in a rainforest… RAIN! No sooner had we reached the waterfall than it began to downpour! It simply added to the experience and we all whooped and hollered on our way back up to the road. 

We continued a gorgeous drive while listening to an audio tour guide who took us on some pretty side roads, especially into this gorgeous jungle-like road. And because he had so many wonderful extras to show us, we ended up rushed back to our house to clean up and hurry off to our dinner/luau. 

Long story short about the Luau: the site at which it was situated was picturesque, however very windy! So windy it snapped a branch onto two of the performers while they had been warming up and sent them away in an ambulance. The show was cancelled, the dinner was rushed, and everyone was refunded. We were definitely disappointed, but on the way out Travis and I saw some random manta rays by the walkway wall! 

Saturday : 

We started with a drive around the island. We tried some tasty ice cream, saw some beautiful sites, set out for a hike but ran out of time and settled for a gorgeous overlook! 

The evening was spent at the beach, a favorite of the trip, as it had rocks and shells everywhere for collecting with the most fitting sunset. We watched it set on the horizon, like the setting on our trip. 

Our Final Day: 

Our last day saw us over to a petroglyphs park, a beautiful waterside picnic, the largest shaved ice, some sacred grounds, dinner, and then to the airport to begin the first leg of our long journey home. We flew out around 9:30pm on Sunday night, and arrived back to our house Monday around 3:00pm, exhausted, covered in pee (for a few of us), and ready to rest… from vacation.