It’s about time I write about our adventures in Hawaii, before I forget them all entirely. We’ve now been back two weeks and a lot has already happened that makes the trip feel like a lifetime ago. Ahh, but it was such a good trip. I think we all really fell in love with Kona. We loved the laid-back feel to it, the expansive topography and killer views from the steady slopes of the volcanoes. We enjoyed exploring a new beach every day and also had some really good food. The girls were pretty easy throughout the trip. Brooke took a nap pretty much every day without issue or struggle because she was tiring quickly from all of the sun, swimming and fresh air. This meant she was in a stellar mood. Reese would fall asleep quick each night for the very same reason. And I think we were all enjoying just time spent together without too much stress or worry so we were all in vacation mode. Our trips with the girls these days do feel like vacations and not just parenting in a new location. Having 8 nights there was also a really great length of stay for truly getting into full relaxation and having the time to explore many things the island had to offer.
We left Seattle on Monday, April 14th. Our flight was around noon so we didn’t have to wake up in the early morning hours like usual, and like I guess Reese is accustomed to and still wanted (?), so we were able to take the bus and light rail to the airport, had time for the girls to burn off a little energy at the kids play area, everyone got to pick up some food for lunch and then we were boarding our very long 6-hour flight to Kona. The flight was smooth, the girls were great, and Brooke got a nap in. But it is still a very long flight! Once we landed it was so nice to enter into the small outdoor airport, feel the warm air, and we very quickly got our bags, got our rental car for the trip, and changed into shorts and sandals, saying goodbye to all pants until our return flight home.
Our drive to our rental was only about 30 minutes and we managed to do an advanced pick-up order from Safeway that we picked up on our way. In no time we were at the Keauhou-Kona Surf and Raquet Club and seeing our rental for the first time. We were all thrilled. The place was perfect for our family of four. The living area and kitchen had everything we needed, the lanai was amazing and looked out feet from the coast and had breathtaking views of the sunset that we enjoyed most nights at, and the girls liked their twin beds upstairs adjacent to our king bed which faced and sat directly above those magnificent views again. We ended up pushing the twin beds together for the girls, at bequest of Brooke, and set out on foot to walk to the semi-private beach we could see from our unit. It was already getting a little late so the girls walked with Bryan to check out the complex’s pool while I headed up the hill to the nearby shopping plaza to get dinner from L&L Hawaiian BBQ and a spaghetti dinner for Brooke. Our dinner was fantastic of the BBQ mixed plate, the garlic shrimp and pork katsu. We demolished it all!
The first morning we woke up before 5 am (thanks time change) and the sun wasn’t even up. The pool doesn’t open until 8 am so by the time the sun had risen we were in need of some more groceries so Reese and I walked up the hill to the KTA Superstore and Bryan and Brooke explored the beach next door some more. Reese and I got a little more than we were expecting so the walk home was a little bit more of a struggle than we thought it would be but I was thankful Reese was with me and we made it back without breaking our arms. We had breakfast overlooking the water and then were in the pool right at 8 am where we had it all to ourselves for nearly three hours. After we managed to get the girls out of the pool we got some lunch at our place and then walked to the beach near us to try our hands at snorkeling. Reese really thought this was cool and we spent a few hours here taking turns snorkeling and burying ourselves in the sand. That night we walked back, showered, and then drove up to Sunset Terrace for their happy hour, sweet tiki drinks, sunset views and live music. We were all pretty tired and ready for an early bedtime.
Wednesday woke up and the day started much the same. Bryan and I took turns going for a very hot 4-mile run and swimming with the girls. After a few hours again in the pool we headed back to the house for lunch and to regroup before an afternoon outing. We set north and up the mountain a bit until we reached Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation, somewhere above 3,000 feet. We went on their 15-minute free coffee farm tour which taught us a fair amount about what makes Kona coffee special and just the coffee growing and roasting process in general. The girls actually seemed to be interested and Reese even sampled a wee taste of coffee. We purchased a very expensive but what ended up being a very delicious bag of espresso roast Kona coffee before we got back in the car to find lunch. We knew we were going to stop at a poke place near here for lunch and managed to find a place with a burger for Reese. Brooke fell asleep so we got both items plus stopped a cookies place before driving to Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park to eat our lunches in the car. Brooke woke up and we also shared the delicious cookies before changing into our swimsuits in the car. We walked to the beach here where the sand was nice, the views were great, there was a good little swimming cove and there were many sea turtles near the shore, one we almost didn’t even see and almost ran into unexpectedly. We spent several hours here and Bryan and Reese did some more snorkeling but Reese fell on a sharp rock and cut her hand open pretty good too. She handled it very well. Brooke and I played a ton in the sand, building castles and burying everyone. From there we stopped at the Kona Fish Market and got the freshest Ono and Walu fish to take home to prepare ourselves. Brooke got to see the huge Ono before it was even filleted. We got back to the house and I cooked the Ono with some delicious Hawaiian sweet potato and ate it on the deck and really enjoyed our meal.
Thursday was the one day that we really had planned in advance. I had purchased a family day pass reservation on Resort Pass for the Hilton at Waikoloa Village. I knew the Hilton had a few pools, waterslides, a lazy river and a lagoon and thought it would be a fun change of pace to spend the day here. It was a great day and nice to explore the water park but one of the bigger slides wasn’t open, the lagoon was a little too cold for Reese to snorkel in, and everything was insanely expensive. We did enjoy ourselves nonetheless. We started at the lazy river with the smaller waterslides and the girls were doing laps on the little slide once Brooke warmed up to the slide and being caught by one of us at the bottom. We then walked over to the large pool that had a shallow sandy kids area, two hot tubs and a big slide for Reese. We spent a lot of time playing here before getting lunch at their Lagoon Grill, eating lunch of fish and chips, burgers and an ahi tuna burger overlooking the dolphins. This was pretty cool. Brooke was so tuckered she fell asleep in her chair after eating her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and proceeded to nap almost two hours. Almost a full hour of that nap was with me in the hammock while Bryan and Reese snorkeled and swam. Then it was Reese and my turn to go swim and hot tub together before Brooke woke up and enjoyed one more swim. At about 5 pm we called it quits with the pools, changed into clothes and walked over to the Nui Italian restaurant for a mystery shop of drinks and a pizza. We sat outside which was next to a big grassy area that the girls immediately played at with other kids while we waited for our food and drinks. Reese was managing to keep up with everyone and Brooke had her restored energy from her nap and was going at 100 mph. They were having a great time though and loved their virgin pina coladas. At about 7 pm we finally set back for home and were spent from a very full day.
After this busy day we knew we wanted to keep it a little more local for the next day. Reese and Bryan tried snorkeling at the beach next to our complex first thing in the morning and Brooke and I went to lock down a spot at the seemingly busy Magic Sands Beach just a little further down the Ali’I Dr. We got a spot in the shade and the sand was great and the little rock pools made for a safer spot that the girls could play. We left our stuff and went back to pick up Reese and Bryan for them to join us at this beach. We spent a long time here. Reese enjoyed the huge waves and was brave enough to go in them with Bryan. Bryan and I each went out for a turn snorkeling past the break and actually got to see some great fish. After packing up here we tried to go get Reese a coconut at the place just down the street but we found out they were closed for Good Friday when we got there. We picked up another massive platter of poke to share back at the condo and made the girls a lunch of their own to enjoy on the lanai. Post lunch we got the toys that we had shipped via Amazon and delivered to our rental. We broke out the pool rings, sand art, punch art and rocket launcher. The pool rings were a big hit at the pool that afternoon, which is where we spent the rest of the afternoon, right up until dinnertime when we had the buttery Walu we had picked up earlier and the girls had a good amount of spaghetti.
Saturday we wanted to try to see if the paddle board rental place was open just south of us near Captain Cook monument so we set out early to get a breakfast before going to do that. We drove south and up the mountain a bit to a place called the Coffee Shack which was magical. Fantastic menu, welcoming staff and the cutest and coolest views of the beach from way up above. We even were visiting by geckos while we were eating our breakfasts. I had the papaya platter that was so unique, coming with a half papaya filled with mango yogurt, more fresh fruit and toasted coconut and macademia nuts, plus scrambled eggs and a coconut cake slice. Bryan got the benny and the girls shared the French toast that came with strawberries, cream, and macademia nuts. After enjoying breakfast, and taking one of their giant cinnamon rolls to go, we headed down to the beach only to find out that all of the outfitters are closed on the weekends?!? We quickly made the decisions to keep heading south around the island to go to the Volcano National Park. The drive was about 90 minutes and both girls fell asleep. We were hoping the volcano was going to erupt while we were there but no such luck. We did luck out for some reason there was no fee to visit the park on this day. We walked the trails to the various lookout points and saw a few of the steam vents which were super cool and super warm. We monitored the activity on webpage but decided it would not erupt while we were there and so decided to go ahead and leave.
We picked up some lunch on our continued loop around the island. I had noted that there was a free rainforest zoo in the town of Hilo that also do a free petting zoo on Saturdays only from 1:30-2:30 pm and it so happened to be that time so we stopped there while in town and the girls got to pet a variety of animals. Brooke liked brushing the goat but would not touch the miniature pig. The girls played at the playground there for a bit but it was hot so we got back in the car to continue driving up over the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The drive was cool and offered all sorts of views and weather. We stopped to use the restroom just after the pass and there happened to be another playground there that the girls played at, this time the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler. We broke out that saved cinnamon roll when we were about 30 minutes from the condo and once back home it was immediately to the pool the girls went. I went to go get tacos for Bryan and I to share from the food truck we had seen down the road that was only open until 6 pm. I brought those back and kept them warm in the oven until we were ready for dinner. The girls wanted to swim and then there just happened to be a free magic show for this guy on a magic show tour happening next to the pool so we all caught a bit of that show. We finally got the girls back to the house after sunset. The birria beef tacos and ono fish tacos were amazing. And off to sleep we were for another night in paradise.
Easter Sunday came and the girls were treated with a few Easter gifts that they found in their bed. We didn’t really have any solid plans for this holiday. We swam in the pool for hours on this morning, had lunch at our place, and then changed and headed north to a new beach called Manini’owali Beach in Kua Bay. This beach had good sand, crystal blue water, pretty rough surf that Reese found fun, and the perfect windy weather for the girls to fly their new little kites they got for Easter. Honestly didn’t have an occasion in mind for them to do this but this worked perfectly. After a few hours here, and a very cranky Brooke needing a nap, we got ourselves changed into our finest of the trip and headed a little further north to the Mauna Lani shopping area. Reese and Bryan picked out a fancy Hawaiian shirt for Bryan for Boeing Fridays while Brooked continued napping in the car. Then I went to start on a mystery shop for bar and dinner at the Tommy Bahamas. I got about 30 minutes to myself at the bar before the rest of my crew joined me for dinner in the dining room, views of the sunset and live music included. We had delicious mahi mahi and a great chicken dish. The girls were happy with their food and we split the chocolate torte to finish off the meal. Our server was so nice and this was a really nice trip to (almost) end our vacation.
Our last full day was now here and we had made a reservation for a paddleboard to explore the supposedly excellent snorkeling in the reefs in Captain Cook. We got there at 9 am and got the paddle board and found a nice spot to hunker down for the next several hours at a semi-private beach called Manini Beach. Bryan paddled the board around to us, Reese went aboard and they were off for about 90 minutes of paddling and snorkeling, seeing tons of fish and a lot of coral. They returned and I asked Brooke if she wanted to go and at first, she did but she didn’t like boarding the unstable board so I went out solo while the girls stayed with Bryan to snack, color and eat the popsicles we had packed in the cooler. I spent a little over an hour paddling and then swimming and snorkeling alongside the paddleboard most of the way back. Came back and Reese joined me with some snorkeling right off of the Manini Beach outlet and say a lot of fish there as well. We returned the paddle board around 2 pm, picked up a coconut from a roadside fruit stand and headed back to the rental for our final swim in the pool that afternoon. We picked up food from L&L Barbecue again for our final night, the BBQ platter, garlic shrimp and Kahlua pork this time. We were so hot and sun kissed that the hour right before sunset was actually painful on this night but once it went down it was beautiful and something we knew we would truly miss.
We got a fair amount of packing out of the way on our last night and got the girls in bed to get some good sleep. Our flight out of Kona was on Tuesday morning at 8 am, so late for Seattle time but by now we had adjusted to the time change. We dropped off the rental car and got to the airport with plenty of time to finally get the girls the lei and flower crown they had been asking for and pick up some food for breakfast/lunch before boarding our 5 hours plus flight back to Seattle.
Flight was smooth and easy. Neither girl napped so we had a bit of a cantankerous Brooke with us by the time we landed in Seattle. We got our bags, got on the train, then the bus and then were back home right around 7 pm and my parents brought over Thai food to feel us all! It was a real treat coming home from a wonderful vacation to be greeted with my parents, who are still here and welcome to stay for however long they want to any time they come again. We’ve had great weather since being back and are back to our routine plus some fun with my parents here. I’ll catch up on all of that later. In summary, we loved Kona and already can’t wait to go again.
—
Chelsea
