kona

Aloha!  Our first real getaway as a family happened on the Big Island in Hawaii.  We stayed in a beautiful condo with a lanai overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The pack included Maddy, Jon, me, Amah, and Auntie Rachel's family (Dion, Evan and Amah Rose).  The weather was consistently in the mid-80s during the day and dipped into the low 70s in the evening.  It rained on most days, but it almost didn't matter given the warmth and the surroundings.  Here, Maddy enjoyed her first day in Hawaii on the lanai with a beautiful Hawaiian flower in her hair.

The first thing we did was to stock up the condo with food for the rest of the week.  Our first stop was the farmers' market where we picked up a bounty of delicious local fruits and veggies.  Check out the avocados we bought (they're the HUGE green pear shaped ones below).  Both Maddy and I are avocado lovers, so we were in avocado heaven.

We spent our second day lounging at a sandy beach.  On our third day, we set sail for a snorkeling trip.

It was Maddy's most memorable day.  If you don't already know, Maddy might as well be a little fish, she loves the water so much.  We sailed for an hour to a secluded historic cove (historic because Captain Cook was killed there many years ago), and the crew let us loose for a few hours of snorkeling in the crystal clear (but very cold!) sea.  In the last picture above, you can see Maddy afloat on a boogie board that has a special cutout for viewing the fish below.  She spotted yellow and black tropical fish as well as the coral that surrounded the area.

 Unfortunately, the next day Maddy got sick with croup (a barking cough and loss of voice).  She was laid up in the condo the whole day watching TV as she recovered.  The Amahs agreed to watch the kids for the evening (yippee!) so us parents ventured to the summit of the Mauna Koa volcano where the elevation reached 13,900 feet.  The atmosphere was thin and the air was cold (40 degrees), but this was the view from the top so it was worth the trip:

Due to the volcanic rock that edged the seashore, there was an abundance of tide pools with tiny sea creatures waiting to be found.  Maddy and daddy gathered hermit crabs, sea snails, and shells.  Maddy was hoping to find a sea star, but alas, there were none to be found.

Kona is a sleepy area and there wasn't much to do but relax and go to the beach.  Maddy took full advantage of her down time and decided to sit on the lanai with a magazine and a beverage.  Life is hard for this little girl.

One of Maddy's favorite things about our trip was the golf cart.  There was a golf cart assigned to the condo and we used it to go to and from the car and the pool.  It made her happy to take the 60-second ride just to throw out the trash.

We spent out last day at a beautiful beach with white sand and aqua water.  Because Maddy had been knocked out of daddy's arms a couple of days prior by a huge unexpected wave, she was apprehensive about getting back into the water.  So, she opted to build a castle in the sand instead.

That evening, we went to a luau.  It rained lightly throughout the luau, but when it started pouring an hour before it was scheduled to end, people ran for cover and the show ended early.  Maddy was truly disappointed that she didn't get a chance to dance on stage, so after everybody left, I brought her onto the stage and she shook her hips in the pouring rain, happy as a Hawaiian clam.

Before we even left, Maddy was already asking to return to Hawaii.