For the kids' Spring Break we headed to the big island of Hawaii.
We were ready for a week of fun!
We were ready for a week of fun!
The first day we travelled north on the island for our Waterfall Hike. The temperatures were cooler and more humid as we travelled north. Rainfall and lush green landscape. So different from the west side of the island where our hotel is surrounded by lava rock. Good thing they supplied us with these great jackets. We love matching!
We stopped at the first of several waterfalls. It was quite a hike to each of them. Each waterfall different and so very beautiful.
We hiked out from the dense trees to a beautiful bright sky. Here we found a spectacular outlook to stop for picnic lunch.
The following day, we had ATV ride through lots of mud and strawberry guava tree forest. The kids drove with our guide (not 16 yet). The ponchos kept all the mud splatters off our clothes.
We came upon a waterfall- had to hike down to go for a swim. Unfortunately, it was a dip long enough to get a photo. It was like wading through a glass of ice water. Notice Camille didn't join us!
A very bumpy video the kids took of the trail.
The boys wanted a break from the sun. Camille and I couldn't stay in the room so we headed to the beach for some snorkeling and paddle boarding. The black lava rock against the green grass and blue water was such a great view.
The view from our hotel room.
One cannot visit Hawaii without going out on the ocean for a day of sun and snorkeling.
The funniest thing this day was when we were using the propulsion ...Camille had a cute ruffled bikini top. The ruffle got sucked into the motor! One of the snorkel instructors spent about five minutes trying to remove the ruffle from the motor, unsuccessfully. I wish I had my camera then. Camille was mortified- the rest of us were laughing. He had to cut the ruffle off.
We had fun with our under water camera.
The day ended with sunburns for me and Ryan, seasick for Jose and bathing suit drama for Camille.
Rainbow Falls- some beautiful banyan trees. So many roots to climb through. Great for a hike.
This was our last day on the island. We took a tour to the volcano crater, Kilauea Caldera, we walked through Thurston Lava Tube and saw the massive sea turtles on the black sand beach. We were happy to head back to hotel after this very long day (10 hours start to finish). I could never be a tour guide. Our guide talked about the island, the sites and tons of corny jokes throughout the day.
Long day of travel makes for some fun pictures.
