Thursday, May 07, 2009

The Big Island, Part II

The Big Island has strikingly few beaches (most have been overtaken by old lava flows), but the ones we visited were wonderful. Before kids, I tried to avoid the sand at the beach - it gets everywhere! But this trip the weather was warm enough and the water calm enough that we could all embrace our inner toddler and just dig in.








A few of us also took a short tour of a Kona Coffee Farm. It was interesting to hear how such a small area (only 4 miles of coastline) can produce world renowned coffee. Plus, we got free tasting, which makes it all worth it.






Our other adventure was a whale watching boat trip. I don't have any photos, though because the only whale we encountered was the elusive "Log Whale" (aka a floating branch). Lame! We had what amounted to a very expensive boat cruise. They gave us free passes to come back for another excursion, but the big downer was that Ryan chatted with some people at the pool that had seen whales breaching within throwing distance of our complex while we were combing the deep ocean. Double Lame!

With all the family around, all us parents also took a date night, while grandma, grandpa, and aunt Kate watched the kiddos. Scott's boss sent us on the plane with a gift certificate to a oceanside restaurant, so we got to enjoy a quite dinner and a beautiful sunset.

Now it's back to reality, work deadlines, mounds of laundry, and sleep recovery after a LONG flight home. All worthwhile prices to pay for a week of relaxation and memory making. Aloha!

2 comments:

Peg said...

OK - I have an excuse for being on my computer at 10p -- dissertation work. YOU -- you should be sleeping, but I suppose the only time to get stuff posted is when Owen chooses to sleep. Fun pix - thanks for sharing.

Colleen said...

Look at you bikini clad hot mama! It's so wonderful that Owen could bring out the inner toddler in you. So cute! What a trip. I love that picture of the coffee beans.