Big Island

The rental house was beautiful.  That's us on the closest corner on the ground floor.

 I wouldn't mind having a porch like this someday!

The wall between the porch and the main living area was made up completely of sliding doors that could be pushed all the way to one side.  We spent Saturday with the room open to the air, watching the rain fall on the tropical plants in the yard and feeling exceptionally cozy.  

 On Sunday we drove over to Hilo and went to church.  Then some of the group went in search of flowing lava, which was found.

 After that we met up and went to Volcanoes National Park.

 We went for a little walk to see the Thurston Lava Tubes.  There was a tree on the way I thought looked like an elephant.

 The Lava Tubes were very drippy and very crowded!

 After Volcanoes we drove back through Hilo on our way to Akaka Falls.  Vivien spotted the REAL King Kamehameha, so we had to get out and take a picture with him as well.

 My mom is the master of food on the go.  We had dinner at the parking lot for Akaka Falls.  There were a lot of cats insistent that they be allowed to attend the feast as well.

 And here is the full waterfall!  It is 442 feet tall.  We spent some time following one patch of water from the top to the bottom

On Monday we went to Hapuna Beach for some good time in the sun after our rainy weekend.  We built sandcastles . . .

 . . . boogie boarded . . .

 . . . floated in the waves like starfish . . .

 . . . buried each other in the sand . . .

 . . . and ate!

That evening we drove up to the visitors' center on Mauna Kea (the tallest mountain in Hawaii).

The road to the top was closed after the storm, so we walked out to a nice spot, enjoying the scenery . . .

 and snuggled up to watch the sun set.  

It was an excellent view!

After that we did some star gazing through the telescopes they had set up at the visitors' center and learned about some of the constellations until it was time to go home.  

The next morning we went south of Kona to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, the Place of Refuge.  In the ancient Hawaiian culture, if you broke any of the rules of the society, the penalty was usually death unless you could escape to this place and perform the required rituals.  

It was a beautiful place, and a beautiful day to be there.   

 We spied a few lazy lizards on some of the authentic structures they had on display.

 And there were bright yellow butterflies all over the place.

 This is the harbor where the chief would pull in to come home.

 They had an old Hawaiian game set out.

 And many sculptures on display.

Here is the 17 ft thick wall they built without mortar to keep the ruling class separate from the commoners seeking refuge.  

 Family picture!

  After exploring the village we went snorkeling.  It was most excellent.  It was nice to have other people around so we could take turns with the kids.

The next day we went up Mauna Kea again because the road was open to the summit.  We got there just in time for the sunrise.  

 Some elected to stay behind due to the earliness of the departure, but we managed to keep our 2014 Peak Bagging crew in tact.

 The observatories at the top looked really cool in the middle of the volcanic rock.

 And we had to do some silhouette shots with the rising sun.

And we basically spent the rest of the day on the beach without a camera or a care in the world!  

Thursday we woke up early again and headed to the Kona Airport (which is awesome--it's an outdoor airport!)

 Goodbye Hawaii!  We loved you, and we'll be back :)