Aloha!

Well we made it to Hawaii and back and had a WONDERFUL time! For a SMALL portion of our pictures you can visit this website: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=211152&id=768707773&l=e2d20601a0

We took over 800 pictures and haven't uploaded them all but we will someday. Just haven't decided which program to do it under. Kodak really sucks these days and I'm non-committal with any other place...any suggestions?

So we had 8 nights on the big island of Hawaii. We arrived late morning on the 30th of April and got our rental and headed into Kailua-Kona for some lunch and shopping...then we headed to our Luau that evening...it was really neat and the hula dancing was insane...how they get their bodies to move like that is beyond me! Wow!

Then we headed up to our rental property in the dark. That was interesting. It was REALLY dark (Hawaii doesn't have a lot of street lights, etc) and really curvy roads...and every road the houses were located on looked like you were heading down an alley that was on private property! So we were leery driving up to our place. We finally found it and settled in for the night.

We woke up the next morning to head out for our Zip Line tour! It was AWESOME! There were 8 different zip lines and since we were such a small group they let us go on 4 of them twice so we actually got 12 zip lines! :-) It was truly an awesome experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone who asked!

After that was over we headed out to the beach for some boogie boarding and sun ray catching! ;-) It was a fun day!

Next day we hiked down into Pololu Valley where it had black sand...it was so cool! The only thing that was not cool was the dead beached whale on the shore. It was stinky and not attractive at all...bleh

That night we headed to our guided tour up to the top of Mauna Kea! It was SO cool to be above the clouds to watch the sun set! It was really cold up there, but the company provided us with parka's and gloves...thank goodness! The wind made it worse too! We also go to see the observatories up there (couldn't go in, but got really close) and then we did some star gazing with some high powered telescopes...we got to see Mars and Saturn...the rings were really neat! Then "Father Sky" (as they referred to it) kept covering up the stars with clouds so we had to head out a bit early. Overall, it was a really awesome experience!

Next day we went on a coffee farm tour and shopped some more before we headed to a resort for our couple's massage. It was very nice and relaxing. Off to dinner after that along the shore and then headed home for some much needed rest!

Next morning we packed everything up and headed south around the bottom of the island to go to other side of the island for our last 4 nights...we stopped at several beaches and outlooks on the way to our main destination, Green Sands Beach. When we got there it looked like it wasn't going to be very far away so we decided our flip flops would be fine. After walking for more than hour later we wished we would have put our tennis shoes on. We finally made it only to realize it was a Steep hike down to the actual beach. Bob went ahead and hoofed it down to take pictures but I waited for him up top. There were 4 nudists on the beach down there which made it almost impossible to get a good picture...grrrrr! Oh well. Fun for stories I guess.

When we finally made it back to our car, we then headed to South Point, which is the southern most point in the United States. Nothing spectacular, but it was fun to say we were the furthest south you could go in the U.S.! :-)

We finally made it to our second rental, in the dark yet again...but the directions were good so we had minimal problems. :-) When we woke up the next day, I stepped out on the lanai and was AMAZED at our view! The ocean was the backdrop along with the tropical rain forest all around! It was truly incredible!

That morning we headed to the Farmer's market to do some more shopping and then we made our way around the town to a lava tube, some waterfalls, and some scenic outlooks!! It was a fun day indeed!

Next day was a "beach bum day"...so we headed to a beach so I could lay out and read and Bob got to explore some tide pools and climb around on the lava rocks, etc. It was a win-win. The Hilo side of the island rains ALOT (like 250 inches+ a year or something crazy like that) so it rained everyday we were there for a little bit and would stop then rain again then stop, etc...it was interesting...

Next day we headed to Volcano National Park where we hiked over 7 miles of trails and saw lots of really cool things...steam vents from the active volcano, sulfur vents, Kilueau caldera (we hiked across the base of it), the active lava pot (it glows at night), and another lava tube you could walk through. We headed out to go see the actual flowing lava that can only be accessed from a county road (not in the park) but got there 23 minutes late...so we weren't allowed in! I was a bit bummed as I had been really looking forward to it...unfortunately we saved it til our very last full day in Hawaii so we didn't have another chance to see it. *sigh* Only thing that didn't go as planned on our trip.

Next morning we woke up early to pack up and head to the airport. We stopped at Waipeo Valley to take some quick pics and then headed on our way. We got there SUPER early and then once it was time for our flight to start boarding they announced there was mechanical problems and they were working to get it fixed. Turns out it was a cracked windshield and they had to get a new one...the part was in Honolulu and being flown in...they kept pushing our flight back further and further...so we were worried we were going to miss our connecting flights...so we talked to one of the agents and they agreed and got us on a different flight...unfortunately it wasn't leaving until 4:52pm...we had been at the airport since 9:30am!!! Up side was we had a direct flight from Kona to Chicago then a quick flight from Chicago to KC and made it home 2 hours earlier than we would have the other way! :-)

We got to Bob's parents house around 10:30 and gave our boys big squishes! It was wonderful to see them! We hung out and showed them our pictures, etc...then as we were getting ready to leave we noticed Decovin had a fever. Wonderful.

Got home and he went to bed without complaints. Woke up the next morning with continued fever and then by noon he was throwing up...he threw up 2 more times throughout the day...he was feeling much better by dinner time and ate mac-n-cheese and kept asking for more food...he was playing and active before bedtime. Then he woke up this morning with a fever again and not feeling well...he threw up again around 11am and he says he feels much better now. We'll see. *sigh*

They both have a cough and runny nose but Camden is acting "normal" other than that...I'm crossing my fingers that Decovin keeps this bug to himself. Bleh!

Anyway...sorry for the long post. Hope you are all having a great week!