Hawaii Day Two

Each full day we were in Hawaii we were able to choose an activity to participate in.  Tuesday's activity was the Dolphin Quest.  Pretty much it was swimming and interacting with dolphins.  It was really cool especially when we found out it was $200 a person and Sherwin Williams was footing the bills.  I must admit that was the best part of the whole week.  Knowing we were on an all expense paid trip to Hawaii.  We never would have vacationed the way we did this week.  Anyway, so we got to pet and KISS dolphins.  Our boys were so excited for us to do this activity.  It is normally a 30 minute activity, but our dolphins were being very uncooperative so our 30 minutes turned into an hour.

Not every employee went to Hawaii.  It was a trip for those who received the Master Council gold level in performance for the year.  There were people from all over the states and other countries.  We were lucky enough that other people from Jake's Fairfax, VA area were there.  That way he knew some people.  This is Erica and Jake with us at the Dolphin Quest.  They were fun to have around.  They just had a little girl too who is two months younger than Andelyne.

Looking pretty studly guys.

I think Jake described it best when he said they kind of feel like a cat's tongue.

Yeah, we got pretty wet.

Smooch!  Tasted like salt water.

Jake kissed to quickly to get an action shot.

That evening for dinner there was a Luau planning.  It was a fun evening, but I knew if we had been at the PCC on Oahu we would have had an awesome Luau.  For our luau they said there would be several Polynesian dances not just Hawaiian dances.  They said there would be dances from places like Fiji, Samoa, and New Zealand.  I was excited because the Haka is my favorite Polynesian dance to watch.  At the end of the night they closed the show and there was no Haka.  I was kind of disappointed.  We still were entertained though and had good food.  They did feed us to roasted pig which made me happy.

We did get a good fire dance.  Don't you think this is a pretty cool shot?

This is Johnny another one of Jake's co-workers.  They pulled up people from the audience to do some of the dancing.  Johnny was the last guy remaining after they sent everyone else back to their seats.  The ladies made a circle around him and danced.  In this picture he was praying saying, "thank you, thank you" as he's watching these half dressed ladies dance around him.  Johnny was the best part of the show I think.

Hawaii Day One

We flew to Hawaii, the Big Island, on a Sunday and got to the hotel after it was dark.  So our official first day was monday.  We got to the Big Island a day early so we would have some of our own free time to see Kona before check in at the resort.  When we arrived we rented a car and headed toward our hotel in Kona.  We were exhausted from the time change, but our bodies still woke us up at 4am.  It was killing us.  It was still pitch black and even though everything opens really early in Hawaii nothing we open this early.  So we checked email, watched TV, got ready and then finally the sun started to come up revealing what we couldn't see the night before.

Palm trees, mountains...

...coastline... 

...and ocean.

We checked out very early and were on our way.  Thankfully at 7am everything in Hawaii is pretty much open.  We found some random Hawaiian BBQ place run by some Asians who served a deliciously cheap breakfast.  After breakfast we just wandered.  My friend had suggested one travel book for the Big Island which I got and brought with us.  It was the best book ever and quite entertaining.  Yes that's what I said, an entertaining travel book.  Basically we found random off the beaten path things in the book and just drove.  I kind of liked it.  This type of exploring would never have been possible if we had the kids with us.  Before our exploring though we did hit one of the main streets in Kona for some tourist shopping and pictures.

We first ventured to the Kona temple.  It was so close to where we were that we just had to stop by for some pictures.



Then we headed off into the unknown.  I had found a place in the book referred to as Cloud Forest that said on cloudy days if you take a certain route up the mountain you can drive right through the clouds to where the mountain literally makes its own rain.  It wasn't cloudy, but we took the drive anyway for the views.  We headed up and up in our ford focus rental the whole time chanting, "I think I can, I think I can."  This car seriously struggled, but we made it all the way up.

You can't tell how high up we are, but we're up there.  Then there were trees in the way of the picture, but it's beautiful.

Our next stop was Holoholoku near Waimea.  Do you remember this photo or memorial?

 

These Marines on Iwo Jima raised the flag over Mt. Suribachi.  Those Same Marines practiced storming the hill right here on Holoholoku because it was about the same size and shape.

From here we took a scenic route along the mountain ridge to Hawi.  In Hawi we ate lunch at a yummy place that grows all it's ingredients in this little town.  It ended up being right next to the place we were going zip lining from.  Then we headed back to the rental return place.  The drive back was along the coast.  What we noticed about the Kona side of the island is that it's not a tropical paradise.  The comments we kept hearing were, "it looks like Wyoming or Nebraska."  In other words it was kind of blah.  It was all volcanic rock on this side we very few sandy beaches.  It there was a beach it was extremely hard to get to.  All there was in some spots were volcanic rock and African grass.  The turquoise blue water is what made the drive beautiful.  Being able to see that water hit against the black rocks was something I just couldn't capture in a picture.  We did try some pictures, but I found that pictures in Hawaii really don't show what we saw.

Not so lush and green.  That would be the other side of the island.

See there are a few sand beaches.

 The water is gorgeous though!

Right up the road from the airport there was another hidden spot.  Probably one of mine and Jake's favorites.  We parked just off the main road and followed a small path over the lava rock.

It was a 15 minute hike, but once you came over the ridge the hot uneven walk was so worth it when we saw this black sand beach.

We dropped off the rental car and headed back to the airport to catch the shuttle Sherwin Williams had provided.  When we got to the airport we had to wait a while for a flight to come in with more SW employees.  Once they were there we all got leis and headed to the resort.

 This is the view from our new hotel.

The rest of these pictures of from out first day at the resort.  We wandered the seriously huge resort and found all sorts of things.  There was a tram you could take from one end to the other it was so big.  It actually took 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other.

One of the many pools.  They were actually quite cold.

The lagoon where you could kayak, paddle board, swim and snorkel.

The end of our first day.  The fun was just beginning.

Farewell Whalens

Sean, Shauna, and Asher left for Albania on March 28.  The week before they left we had the final hurrahs of their final hurrahs.  Yes they had several of them starting with our weekend away at the Eastern Shore and ending with our two oldest brother visiting from out of town.  In the middle there was the St. Patrick's Day party and a farewell open house.  I hope you felt the love Whalens :) So their last weekend was a family weekend.  Like I said my two oldest brothers, half brothers for those of you who think of Scott as my only older brother, came in from Chicago and Connecticut.  We had a great weekend just hanging out.  There was a moment of a little warmth that we took advantage of and played a little baseball.

Seth was the ball boy with his blue bucket.

For Tade's 4th birthday one of his preschool classmates got him a pitching machine/tball stand.  We haven't used it too much, but had the best time with it on this day.

I was trying to help Seth swing, but he was holding his arms so stiff.  When I tried to move his arms to swing his whole body went with instead of just his arms and the bat.

Even Grandma got in on the action.

Seth, Bruce, and Grandpa.  My boys seem to have a soft spot for Bruce.  When we were together with them three years earlier for a reunion Tade cried and cried the day Bruce left.

After baseball we went back inside to warm up a little bit.  Simone and Analise has so much fun entertaining Andelyne.  I think she had fun with them too.

We tried to get a cousin picture, but Seth had already left with Jake for church and Andelyne had just gone down for a nap.

And here is our group picture minus Jake, Scott, and Tara.

Sean, Shauna, and Asher have since made it safely to Albania.  They are adjusting well, but are ready to have their stuff arrive especially their car.