Hawaii - last few pictures

Here is the condo/property that we stayed on! It was a mini village in itself.
What is wrong with this sign? This is what we saw as we entered the property that we stay at.
It was so wild to see the lava literally on the side of the road!
Here is our sweet Drew with his necklace on that Grandma got him! He loves it.
You can see the different shades of blue in the ocean from this view.

Thank you mom for a wonderful trip!! We had an a great time!
Happy 16th birthday Emily!

Hawaii - Day 4

Well today is our last day in Hawaii. We decided that we wanted to "lap" the island and see the Hilo side of it. Hawaii was nothing like I thought it would be. Each part of the island really is different. We started by going up north to Waimea. The scenery was so amazing. It reminded me of rolling hills you would find in Europe....so beautiful and looked so peaceful, didn't have the fast past life that we live in Arizona.It started raining as we headed towards the rain forest/Hilo. We stopped at Akaka Falls. WOW.....there is something about being in a rain forest. I felt a little out of place because it was pouring down rain, we had no umbrellas, I was in a dress with sandals. We looked like a bunch of wet sewer rats! But seeing it was so worth it...plus some fun memories!Back in the car and off to Rainbow Falls. It had quit raining by now (3 hours of straight rain)! We got out to stretch our legs. Oh to have property in Hawaii for relaxation.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was unforgettable. To see an active volcano was something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. WOW!!! The steam vents, lava tubes, to touch and walk on lava....see the active spout. It was cold and raining off and on so we were kinda party poopers on this! After all, our clothes still weren't dry!One of the last stops was to see the BLACK SAND BEACH! It was really pure black sand!We grabbed a quick bite for dinner and had a little time left so we drove to the Kona Temple to see it at night. It is a smaller temple but still so beautiful. The temple was in the middle of a neighborhood, off the freeway and next to a stake center. Once you got on the temple grounds, it was so peaceful!
Back to the airport! We took the red eye flight home! This airport was so different. It was all outdoors! But with the weather they have there, who needs an indoor airport.

Hawaii - Day 3

This morning we woke up and headed straight for the beach. Today we went to "A Bay" (Anaeho'omalu Bay) right by our condo to do some more snorkeling. There were only a few other people there, I guess because it was so early in the morning. Drew had so much fun in the sand...just being a boy. Emily wanted to get a little sun. Lauren is our little fish and wanted to snorkel with Andy. It wasn't nearly as good as the first place we went because the water was more cloudy and not as many fish. Lauren was out with Andy and looked up and had a HUGE sea turtle in her face. She loved it!!! The kids had so much fun on the beach today. We found a sea cucumber. It was neat but yet gross if that makes sense. Soft and mushy but shaped like a pickle. YUCK!
After a few hours at the beach we headed back to the condo to eat lunch and shop. We ended up going to the Kona International Marketplace and a little Farmer's Market in downtown Kona. Lauren completed her shopping list, Emily found a few things, Drew wanted EVERYTHING. I was holding out for my Brighton Hawaii bracelet. I was determined to find it! The cutest gifts were for my nieces that mom bought. The CUTEST coconut purses. I sure hope they like them because they were so stinkin' cute!

Mom gave Emily her birthday gift tonight. My sister and her family and mom/JD gave Emily a cross necklace from Tiffany's. Her first (and maybe only) real piece of Tiffany jewelry. I think she is afraid to wear it! It looks so cute on her! I can't believe our Emily is almost 16 years old. Happy early birthday Em! You are a very special girl.
Tonight we took my mom to the airport. Sad to see her leave but she wanted a day of rest before she went to my sisters. We loved having her around. After we dropped her off we headed down to Keauhou Bay to watch the manta rays at night. The hotel shines lights int the water so you can see them. Unfortunately we only saw one manta ray but it was still so neat to watch him swim around. I could have stayed there for hours just watching the waves crash into the lava.Here are some nightly shots from "A Bay" by our condo.

Another great day in the BEST place in the whole wide world! What could be better! We definitely found our favorite place to visit!