Day 1: We spent the entire day in the airport and then went to a motel in Salt Lake. That's right!! Our vacation didn't start out the best. We woke up at 4:00 am and rushed to the airport to get there in time but were instantly met with a delayed flight. The flight continued to be delayed all day until late afternoon they finally cancelled it. We were able to get tickets for the next day and the airline put us up in a motel so we would be close to the airport. As awful as it sounds, it actually wasn't bad. Matthew lost his first tooth while we were in the airport and the kids spent time playing and laughing. We had a good dinner that night and swam in the hotel pool. It actually was a good start to the vacation.
Day 2: We flew to Hawaii with a layover in San Francisco. We landed in Hawaii later in the evening so only had time to go to the swimming pool and have dinner.
Day 3: We started out with a breakfast at a local place recommended to us by the hotel. The boys feasted on rice, pork with fried egg on top. The rest of us opted for fresh fruit. We drove into Kona to check things out stopping at various spots. Luke was excited that we found a shaved ice stand that Alton Brown (a TV chef that he admires) had been to. We stopped along our drive back to the hotel to hike around the lava beds. There are miles of black lava beds that look like they're flowing but have hardened. You can walk along them and find lava tubes and caves. It was very interesting terrain. We ended the day at the beach together.
Day 4: Sunday we went to church and visited the Kona temple. It is a smaller temple with the church building right next to the temple grounds. It was lovely and peaceful. We were lucky to be there on the day that an area authority was visiting. For the last hour of church we spoke to everyone and held a question/answer session. It was interesting and uplifting.
Day 5: We started off driving around the island to see things on the other side. Hawaii is a fascinating island that has 12 different climates. We started off in desert area and made our way through grasslands and mountains to very green forests and waterfalls. It was beautiful. We stopped at a national park and worked on filming our family movie for Christmas. We decided to do Johnny Lingo this year and we filmed on location, it should be fun when it is released! We later saw a botanical garden that was beautiful. We also stopped at many waterfalls along the way, including a triple waterfull that was amazing. Our last stop was at the highest point on the island where you can watch stars. However, when we got there we realized it was freezing and we were not dressed for the ocassion so we enjoyed the visitors center and then headed back down to our hotel.
Day 6: This was our day to go snorkeling. We met up with our tour boat around noon. The kids had already spent the morning swimming at the hotel pool but they were ready for more. The boat takes you out to a lagoon that was so clear and amazing. James, Luke, Lindsey and Savannah tried their hands at tuba diving. It's like scuba but you don't have your own air tank, you share a central tank. They really liked it. Heather, Matthew and I took Ashlyn out in a tube and went snorkeling. The others caught up with us later. Ashlyn wasn't a big fan of being in the ocean but she did OK. When James was finished we traded off and he took her out. When our time was up and they were calling us in, we couldn't find James. He had pushed Ashlyn out on the tube quite a distance from the boat. She was not real happy when they finally got back. Overall, we had a blast. James didn't want to waste any time so we headed up the coast to see some old ruins. The kids were tired and not enthused about this last excursion but the hung in there for their dad. The ruins turned out to be a little disappointing, mostly sticks and rocks. When Matthew fell and got a bloody knee we knew we were finished for the day.
Day 7: We went ziplining through the forests of Hawaii on this day. I think this was a lot of the kids' favorite part. We had to split up-- boys then girls-- to take care of Ashlyn. The girls went first and it was a blast. Savannah had to have a little help at first but she ended on her own. You zip over waterfalls and gardens, it was breathtaking. While we waited for the boys and vice versa, we visited another botanical garden in the area. This one was more beautiful than the first one we saw. There are so many exotic plants that grow in Hawaii. After we met up with the boys, we headed to the live volcano on the island. As you approach the volcano you enter a jungle area that is misty and very tropical. The volcano is a distance away from the visitors center so you don't get to see much of it. After the sun sets you see some of the red glow which is interesting. I know most of us were hoping to see lava flowing etc but we didn't. Still, it was a great and eventful day.
Day 8: This was our last day on the island and Heather's Birthday. In honor of our tradition, she woke up to breakfast in bed via room service. She chose to spend the morning snorkeling and I was the lucky one who got to go with her. We spent an hour in the ocean snorkeling by our hotel. It was so refreshing and relaxing. I loved spending that time with Heather. Our final activity before our flight was a helicopter tour of the island. There are some parts of the island that you can't really get to because there are no roads. There are green cliffs and waterfalls, lush valleys, and black sand beaches. It was definitely a great way to see everything in a short amount of time. We were supposed to see the lava flowing but they had to cancel that part of the flight due to weather. We will have to go back and see it another time. It was a wonderful vacation and great to spend time together as a family.
