kona getaway

One day after I returned home from Fukuoka, I decided to pack up the kids and haul them to Kona for  one night away.  The truth is, my sister Elika was vacationing in Punalu'u, Big Island with her family and we decided to crash their family vacation for one night.  

The kids were anxious to get away for a short vacation and since Mitch was back to work flying to Fukuoka...it was just me and the kids.  

I am so thankful that my kids are seasoned travelers!  They packed and carried their own bags, know what to do at airport security, and are usually pretty good about the sketchy airline seating that often coincides with standby travel.  

First stop upon arriving in Kona was a brief stop at the Kona temple.  It wasn't open (because it was a Monday) and the fountain wasn't on...but it was still beautiful nonetheless.  The temple grounds are always so peaceful and calming, no matter the weather (cloudy today).  Unfortunately, Jojo wasn't feeling the peace since her and Anna just had a fight over who-knows-what. 

Back in the car and headed South to Punalu'u from Kona.  

We were going to fly into Hilo and drive down from there...but the flights into Hilo were all booked!  Flying into Kona added an extra hour or so to our drive, but that's all good.  The kids aren't used to road trips so the 2 + hour drive down to the resort was pretty tiresome, but the kids were troopers and didn't complain overmuch.  Despite Anna's countenance here, she wasn't too uncomfortable and was in a pretty good mood for the long drive down....especially after she fell asleep.  They pretty much all fell asleep except for Jolee.  She stayed awake the entire drive!

And we arrived!!  

The drive was LONG but beautiful.  And after settling down and changing our clothes, we hit the pool with the cousins.  

The weather was actually pretty cold so we didn't stay at the pool too long...but the kids had fun splashing around and I had fun taking some under-and-over-water pictures of all the kiddos.

Anna and Aya after they took the plunge.  

After the pool, we all showered and changed and drove a short distance to the famous black sand beach.

A turtle!

We actually saw 3 turtles there...and since they are endangered and protected, this was about as close to them as we could get.  Turtles are SO cute!  Anna noticed that some of the rock barriers around them were crumbling and missing so she spent a lot of time hauling rocks from around the beach and rebuilding the barrier.  

Me and the kids with some black sand. I told them it's illegal to bring any sand home, but they were so fascinated with the dark sand that surprisingly didn't stain our feet black!

The next morning, after a short (and cold) swim in the pool, we headed back out to the airport to fly back home.  But before that, we visited a HUGE playground on the way.  It was HUGE!

The kids didn't want to leave, but we had a flight to catch and so we said our goodbyes to the Daleys and thanked them for allowing us to join in on their vacation.  

We are so blessed to have the opportunity to spend so much time with family!  

Not to mention the blessing of being able to travel at whim to near (and far) destinations!