Volcano NP to Waikoloa

Grandma and Grandpa got up early, early in the morning, like 4:30am and headed back to the Museum to see more glow and the sunrise. Well worth the trip! We went back to the "House" and everyone was getting up..got dressed and we went to the cafeteria and had breakfast and packed up. We checked out and headed down the Chain of Craters road. It was amazing. It's a 36 mile round trip drive that decends 3700' to the coast and deadends at a lava flow across the road. You go by craters, through lava fields, by overlooks at the new land that has been created due to the lava flows and down to the surf crashing into the cliffs of lava. More outer-space atmosphere. Unfortunately, there were air quality warnings so we could not get out and investigate much, especially the boys. We headed back up and out of the park and up the Hilo side of the island. We took the Onomea Scenic drive and stopped for lunch at What's Shakin. GREAT lunch...papaya to die for and the smoothies were wonderful as were the sandwiches. We drove back the mile to the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. It's down a hillside to the ocean and is a magnificent collection of 2000 species of tropical plants amid streams and a beautiful waterfall. The boys were particularly taken with the macaws in the birdhouse. It was a wonderful two hours of wandering among gingers, orchids and heliconias. Truly a tropical paradise! Then on to the "house" in Waikoloa. It was an uneventful rest of the ride, but nice to get back to familiar ground. We arrived about dinner time and found there was Hawaiian music and free food at the pool so we all headed over there, listened to the music, enjoyed dinner and the boys swam for awhile. Then, back home, showers and bed. Another great day.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

We got up early and took the road down the Kona Coast. It was a beautiful drive through lush forest but the road was very windy and Colin got car sick. We made a couple of stops on the way down and he felt better. The Black Beach a Punalu'u was beautiful and we saw a couple of turtles sunning themselves on the beach. We drove into the park and stopped at the Steam vents. They are from rainwater that works it's way through the rocks to the hot spots and then evaporates and creates steam. Along the path there were beautiful orchids blossoming. Colin took alot of pictures. The Halemaumau Crater was closed, unfortunately, due to high levels of Sulfur dioxide. When we visited the Center we were told that the lava had stopped flowing into the sea and it seemed to be forming a new path. However, they said to come back to the Jagger Museum overlook of the Kilauea Caldera and see the glow of the lava 520' below. We drove down the road and walked through the Thurston Lava Tube and walked the Devastation Trail and then headed to our new "house" for dinner. We stayed at the Kileaua Military Camp for the night. We had a great 4 bedroom apartment with fireplace. We ate dinner at the cafeteria and got the boys in pajamas and headed back to the Museum and saw the glow. Very impressive and the stars were spectacular. We could see the Milky Way and lots of stars. Back to the house and to bed.

The Big Island

We had an early morning flight to Hawaii. Colin and Grandma sat right in front of the engine so could watch the jet warm up. It was a short 45 minute flight and we were landing over lava fields. It felt like we were landing on another planet! We got our luggage while John picked up the rental mini-van and we headed for Mauna Kea to see what there was to see. When we reached the Visitor's Center at 9200' there was a telescope set up to look at the sun. The top of Mauna Kea is a huge astronomical center with multiple huge telescopes (of all kinds). Mauna Kea is the highest mountain in the world when you count the mountain under the water, even though it is only 13796'. Across the road was a trail up to the top of a cinder cone that we climbed up and Colin made a castle of volcanic rocks. He was amazed at how light they were. The view was wonderful from there. We walked back down and watched a video about the telescopes at the top and then had lunch. We then took a short walk into the silversword plant protection area. They were gorgeous. They are endangered on the island as the ferrell goats and cows who consider them candy and eat them before any of the other grasses. We couldn't go to the top of the mtn because of the altitude (we learned that little guys should be up that high) and no 4 wheel drive. At the bottom of the mountain there was a huge lava field that we stopped to explore. Outer space weird--great to explore!

We then went to our "house" for the week in Waikoloa Village. We stopped by the grocery store on the way. We have the second and third floor two bedroom apartment on the end of a building so lots of light. The pool is right across the street so couldn't ask for more. We got settled in, had dinner and hit the hay. Very busy and exciting day!

Building Day!

After a little beginning last night, Colin and John worked hard most of the day completing the construction of the combine! It's gorgeous! The header turns and everything. Of course the remaining afternoon was spent using it as the big kids were packing to head out to the Big Island tomorrow.

Quiet Day

We had a quiet morning with Ryan as Colin went to school and Jill went to her Bootcamp exercise class. We had a great time watching his great imagination at work! After naptime we headed to the mall and a visit to the Lego store so Colin could pick out his birthday gift from Grandma and grandpa. After much thought he ended up with the combine. We walked through the mall with his beautiful koi ponds and ate at California Pizza Kitchen. Fun day!

The Polynesian Cultural Center

John and Jean went to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center today. It was a really fun day. On the way we stopped at Turtle Bay to check it out and then had lunch at one of the shrimp farms. Huge just caught prawns. YUM! At the center there are re-creations of villages from New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, Tonga and Tahiti. In each village students from each country attending BYU-Hawaii present educational programs about their village traditions and then there are activities to do like stick throwing. You Girl Scouts will remember it as Lemi sticks :-). In the afternoon there was a Rainbows of Paradise canoe pageant where they did traditional dances on twin-hulled canoes. There was also an IMAX show on Coral Reefs where you felt like you were swimming with the fish, a delicious dinner buffet and a spectacular program HA Breath of Life. Students from each of the countries are admitted to BYU-Hawaii and then they represent their country at the Center to pay their tuition. They have to promise they will return to their native countries after graduation. The evening program ended with this incredible fire torch dance. . It was a great day of dancing, music and celebration. Visit www.polynesia.com for more info.