Aloha Hawaii

Because I'm a total slacker I haven't posted any photos in forever, plus w/o my old computer I have no photoshop or digital files to create any fun images/party stuff so I haven't made myself sit down to actually blog but here goes: Libby had her first gymnastics meet this spring. It. was. adorable!!! I have high hopes for that girl.

In early June we went to Hawaii with my parents and my brother.  We went to the big island and stayed on the Kona side of the island.

This is the view from our condo:

We visited the Hilton Waikoloa Resort lagoon where you can snorkel with fish and sea turtles among the many other water sports. 

We were there for Ezra's 7th birthday so my mom got him a cake from a local store and they wrote Happy Birthday in the native language.

We ate at one of my parents' favorite restaurants Lava Lava where Libby was totally enamored with the polynesian dancing.

We drove to the Hilo side of the island to explore the rainforest and the waterfalls there.

My brother and I decided to explore "off the beaten path".

We also visited Volcano National Park which was surprisingly chilly because of the elevation.  Driving around the island would cause your ears to pop because it was so high and the pressure would change.  The volcano had erupted 2 weeks prior to our trip but the steam vents are active all the time and we got to walk over a few and let me tell you that it was HOT!

There is a trail that is about a mile long that you can take down to the floor of the valley where the lava flow collects.

The Kona side of the island is very bleak.  There are mainly just lava flows that are very craggy and rocky but the best beaches are also on that side.  You just may have to drive off road to get to them.

Libby is just not bothered by sand.  She likes to cover herself in it.  I don't know how she stands it.  She hates the waves so she doesn't like to get into the water.

Ezra on the other hand loved it!  

There are these "smiling spiders" that you see around this area because it looks like they have a smiley face on them.  Here is Libby pretending to be one of them.

If you do rent a 4WD vehicle there are some really cool tide pool type areas that you can get to if you're okay with off roading.

Overall it was a fantastic trip and I absolutely would go back because the beaches were beautiful and there's so much to do to explore and it's not crazy to fight traffic like you would have in Destin or the typical areas around us here.  I still love the Caribbean beaches best but Hawaii is a close second.