Sunday on the Big Island

{I had planned on finishing my Hawaii posts before we left for our trip to California, but it didn't happen. Boo.}

The best part about being at a resort with cousins is that you get to do everything with them! Including eating meals together. This restaurant, Boat Landing Cantina, was the closest to our rooms and we ended up eating there several times.

Marc and Michelle

We went into Kona to go to church. The speakers were youth and leaders freshly returned from Trek. We also heard a really great Tongan a cappella choir.

(Rob & Lisa's kids were so jealous that we left after sacrament meeting. When traveling, we usually don't stay for all 3 hours of church. I hate to make my kids go to Primary and Young Men's classes where they don't know anyone, and I don't really enjoy it, either.)

Beautiful grounds!

After church, we wandered around the resort some more. I love the sea turtles!

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For dinner, we went to a delicious pizzeria, where we had Korean beef pizza, Kahlua pork pizza, Peking duck pizza, and plain cheese for the little ones.

Bob and Mim ended up coming to the same restaurant!

We watched the sun set while we ate. Al fresco dining at its finest.

Honolulu to Kona

On Saturday, we said goodbye to beautiful Waikiki. We went from a week of being in a city, where the kids had the constant attention of their grandparents, to a week at a quiet resort, where the kids had near-constant access to cousins. They were very different, but both great.

 Lucas modeling one of the two new hats he bought.

We had to leave behind the beach mats and boogie boards we bought. I hope someone on the housekeeping staff took them home to enjoy.

Stripes peeking out of Eva's backpack.

(Traveling with children old enough to carry their own supplies and/or suitcases is so nice.)

It's always good to have grandparents around — they are endlessly entertaining.

Also, as they were sitting there chatting and laughing, a woman who works in the condo came up to Mim & Bob. Of course they knew her. They have friends everywhere they go. She excused herself for a moment, went to the souvenir shop inside, and came back with two t-shirts for Eva! So nice.

Just one of the many brides we saw in Hawaii (most were on the beach).

Our flight to the big island was SO short! From the time they told the passengers we could use  electronic devices to the time they asked us to turn them off, Lucas listened to exactly one song! Crazy.

This is the cute little airport in Kona.

As we drove from the airport to the resort, I marveled at the strange, volcanic terrain of the Big Island. We were told the air is filled with a volcanic ashy fog, called vog.

Movable graffiti: people are constantly rearranging the white coral rocks on the side of the road to spell out different messages.

As we got closer to the shore, we started to see the beautiful tropical vegetation we had come to expect.

We were a bit shocked when we checked in and the man at the front desk told us to take the monorail 3 stops to get to our room! We had certainly never been to a resort like the Hilton Waikoloa before. (Our shuttle driver told us the locals call it Disneyland because it has a monorail and dolphins.)

We walked around the resort for a bit (it is 64 acres, after all) and admired the lagoon, where you can swim with sea turtles and tropical fish. We could see immediately that this was going to be a fun place to be!

Hanauma Bay

On Friday, we took a shuttle to Hanauma Bay to go snorkeling. (Our driver talked to us the whole time and was hilarious. He was a Harley Davidson guy who speaks Japanese and grows out his hair and donates it to Locks of Love every year.)

I went to Oahu with my parents when I was 16, and Hanauma Bay was way bigger than I remembered. And more crowded. But still really beautiful! Since I was there last, they have built a visitor's center and added a mandatory video about preserving the coral reef with some of the cheesiest songs I have ever heard. It was good for some laughs.

Family shot just before we got all our snorkeling gear on.

Eva was super happy at first. 

Then she discovered that fins are hard to walk in, the mask feels weird on your face, the water is cold at first, and she is not really a fan of fish swimming right next to her.

Fortunately, Mim and Bob didn't snorkel, so Eva mostly played in the sand while they sat on the beach. (How they could stand to be fully dressed and sitting on the beach for a couple of hours is beyond me. I can only stand it if I'm getting wet.)

Marc and Max went out together, while I stayed with Lucas and tried to help/console him. He could still snorkel pretty well without getting his head fully submerged. We discovered that Marc and Lucas took to snorkeling quite naturally, while it made Max and I feel slightly panicky. (I already knew this about myself.) I think it feels so strange to be breathing underwater.

A couple of times, I forced Eva to go out just a little ways with me, where we could see fish even without the mask, but some people next to us spotted a small snake (I thought it was an eel, but whatever), and then it was all over. The rest of us loved Hanauma Bay!

After our snorkeling adventure, Bob & Mim took Eva to the aquarium (the boys were too tired).

Eva prefers seeing the fish through a glass tank.

After a short rest, Marc went to see a movie, and the boys and I walked around for awhile.

Don Ho Street was right next to our condo. It cracked me up every time I walked by.

We decided we had to return to the shave ice place. This time, I got the tropical trio: mango, papaya, and haupia (fresh coconut milk). It was amazingly good, especially the coconut milk section. I was pretty much in heaven. (Lucas got peanut butter again, and Max got strawberry milk, also delicious.)

FYI: this shave ice has finely shaved ice in the bottom of the bowl, then vanilla ice cream, then more ice patted around the ice cream to form the volcano shape, then the whole thing is doused with homemade syrups and condensed milk. Delicioso!

We all went up to the owner's lounge for a prime view of the Friday night fireworks show. I love fireworks.

I was surprised by how early the sun sets in Hawaii. It seemed like every night around 7 or 7:30, it would be dark already! It took me aback every night. In Utah, we have to wait until 9:30 for it to be dark enough for fireworks.

We went out to get some dinner after the fireworks and we were right in the middle of the Pan Pacific Festival. The main street was closed to traffic and there were people and booths everywhere.

Eva did not enjoy these loud drummers, but I thought they were cool.

Polynesian Cultural Center

Bob rented a car on Wednesday to take us to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Bob and Mim had some missionary friends who were able to provide free passes and meal tickets for us all! I enjoyed it much more knowing that they didn't have to spend $1000-ish on the experience.

As you enter the cultural center, everyone is handed a lei for a photo op.

We ate lunch at an island buffet and then started visiting the various villages.

This guy was hilarious. He talked about starting fires, climbing coconut trees, etc. and did it in such an entertaining way. He would repeat various words in about 10 different language, to comic effect. I could have listened to him for another hour. It started raining during his presentation, and some people were searching for umbrellas or rain ponchos. I was thrilled for the relief from the heat.

(I want to say that this presentation was from Samoa, but I can't be certain anymore...)

Thanks to Mim's hustle, we snagged a great spot for watching the parade on the canal.

I loved that there were kids on this float! They were good, too.

This guy tied for my favorite entertainer at the cultural center. He was so funny and so good at extemporizing with audience members. (I think this was from the Tongan village, but again, I can't say for sure!)

Grandma and Eva watching the show.
(Eva picked out this hibiscus flower clip at Sea Life Park, and wore it for the rest of our stay in Hawaii.)

Max and Grandpa took a canoe ride.

The way they wrap palm tree trunks with these dried fronds was one of my favorite things about the park! So cool.

We bought some fish food from a gumball-type machine and it was endlessly entertaining.

Hungry fish.

Beautiful landscaping!

I loved these seashell lights in the restaurant where we ate dinner.

After we left the PCC, we drove by the temple. 

I love the landscaping. That row of hibiscus plants is stunning!