This was the other side of the 7 canyons, which I hope to backpack some day.

This really was the perfect trip. I got to see my parents. They planned out all the excursions, and helped us maximize our time, not to mention putting us up in their home and Zach and I got some time to play in the waves. I hope we can do it again next year.

We loved our time with Grandma and Grandpa and will miss them so much!

Back to the dry side for more beach time.

I think I could go to the beach every day the rest of my life.

We took the boys out Kayaking so they could see the ocean, I spotted some dolphins spinning.

This was an old sugar mill or something that got taken out by the tsunami in the 40's. Made for great pics.

The pictures of the waterfalls just don't capture the magnitude. There was even a Zoo in Hilo.

Wiapio valley is definitely the most beautiful place I have ever seen. We thought we'd walk down the steep road while grandma and grandpa drove with the little ones, very sore the next day. Thanks to Grandpa we were all able to get to the bottom, you have to have four wheel drive (Kinda his Forte).

Rainbow Falls.

I think the kids liked the Banyon trees as much as the beach.

Hilo

This is Coconut island. The palm trees are marked with dates and heights of the tsunamis that have hit here. Beautiful garden/ park in Hilo.

Vacation within a vacation

We went over to the Hilo or wet side. First stop doughnuts.

Then it was to the very southern tip of the island, which was a very wind black sand beach with lots of turtles.

Then up to the volcano. Mauna Loa. We hiked through jungle to get to a dark lava tube. We felt like we were Ewoks in star wars.

Paddle Boarding

This was the perfect beach for the kids to play and to learn how to paddle board it helped to have great instructors as well. Lynn and Blake(my brother and brother in-law), took us out in the big dark ocean, it was an awesome experience to be out in the ocean. They also took the kids for rides. It was so nice to have grandparents there to play with the kids while we played.

Hawaii

We Hiked to a black sandbeach. It was kind of a locals only spot so we got a few stink eyes but the beach had only a few other people there. We saw dolphins swimming not too far off. Jared's favorite part was hunting down the perfect coconut and finding a way to break into it with a pocket knife.
This was called the place of refuge. Jared and Jake tried to see if they could blend in with all the Tiki's. This was also where we saw the first of many turtles.

The Best Vacation Ever

This is the view from my parents Lanai. We sat out here and ate dinner every night. It seemed so quiet, minus the sound of our noisy chillins.

The first day we walked along Ali'i drive in Kialua- Kona. That evening we watched the ocean shoot up through these lava tubes. In the first two days three of us lost fights with the lava. Jared fell and scraped up his shoulder, Ruby kept bonking her forehead on it, and my Mom got a really bad scrape as well. All worth it, especially since I wasn't the one getting beat up.

The kids really enjoy traditions. They are often the ones who remind me of every little thing we did the year before and insist we do it the same way. It really does add to the holidays. Ruby got her first doll and she immediately was different with it than the boys, giving it hugs and kisses instead of seeing how far she could throw it.

We went to Heritage park and saw Father Christmas. The kids are always so worried if they forget to tell him something they really wanted.