~i left my heart in waikoloa~

We flew to Kailua-Kona, Big Island, for a short 2 night-3 day trip.

Mainly for us to visit the Kona Temple...but since I wasn't smart enough to check the status of my temple recommend expiration, I had to forgo the temple for this...

Hilton Waikoloa Village

I know.

It was such a sacrifice!

But on a serious note...I was disappointed in myself for not being better prepared. And was sad that I missed visiting the temple.

But, despite all that, the girls and I had fun while Mitch attended...and upon his return, we all enjoyed just a few of the perks this FANTASTIC hotel/resort has to offer.

If you have never been here before, and have the opportunity...GO!

You won't regret it!

We started out the trip just me and the girls.

Since Mitch had to finish working...we went ahead on an earlier flight, and met up with him in Kahalui, Maui for a layover before flying all together to Kona.


Here's the girls in their very own seats...and behaving very well on the 20 minute flight.



Then...in Maui, we ran into some mechanical issues...

Our flight to Kona ended up getting delayed 2 hours.

For a short 20 minute flight, it was frustrating being stuck at the airport for so long, but what can you do?

Half of us got to take a nap.

I wasn't part of that half.


Frustrating, yes. But, I just lump it into the "don't complain when you fly for free" category, and suck it up.

Oh, and also the fact that my husband makes a living flying for said company...


After a LONG day in planes and airports...we finally make it to the Hilton Waikoloa Village.

Here we are waiting for our tram to take us to our hotel.

What was that?
Yes, I said TRAM. They have TRAMS and BOATS that carry you to and from each tower of the village.


How insane is that?!


The beautiful view from our hotel lanai.

Our first morning.

I wasn't up to getting dressed and looking for breakfast, so decided to make breakfast come to us.

It was delicious.


Our morning ritual.

The girls got quite creative with their problem-solving.

Who needs stools when you have a little sister?


Here we are exploring the sights of the village on our first morning.

They loved the boats. LOVED it! You'll see why later.


Discovering the Waikoloa coastline is just as beautiful as the resort that surrounds it!



Oooh, it's sunny!



Jolee...a little unsure about the safety of this suspension bridge.
And can you blame her?


Oooh! Dolphins!




And turtles!

Ha, no really....there were real turtles swimming in the lagoon, but I didn't get a photo of him. Just this guy.

The wall separating the sandy pool and the regular pool...

Kela loved this tiny waterslide.

But, considering it ended in a 4 ft. pool...I was proud of my girl for not drowning!

Anna only went down with Mitch.

Which I was totally ok with.

Relaxing in the hot tub.

And THIS is why the girls loved the boats.

They got to take turns "driving" it.

Anna's turn...

And even Jolee got a turn at steering the boat!

According to the girls...this was the highlight of our stay.

Jolee enjoying the sway of the boat from below deck, too...

Jolee enjoying some miso soup dockside...

as well as on the lanai...

Probably not supposed to be riding these....

Then on check-out day...we discovered these in the lobby!

This is as close as the girls would get to them, though.

They were pretty loud, I suppose.

Ah, it was too short of a stay...with our wallets near empty and our camera memory cards full, we said our goodbyes to this grand hotel.

Hopefully, we'll visit you again soon!

To see more pictures from our short trip, click here!