Sojourn to Kona, Hawaii: January 2018

Thanks to Paul and Becky we enjoyed another Hayward family vacation, and this year we spent it in Kona, Hawaii. This was more of a trip than a vacation, for me personally, because it was 65% fun and 35% stressful. I had been dreading the flights to and from there for weeks since they are 5-6 hours long and so I decided it would be best to get some medication to help. I had more panic attacks on "vacation" than at home. Traveling with kids is rough. Trying to be prepared for everything that could potentially happen, not having bathrooms close at all times (Hayley had a frustrating amount of acciddents), no schedule whatsoever, and being on the go almost the whole time, living in close quarters with 16 people, etc. It all just about did me in. HOWEVER, it was still great to get away and spend time with my family and see my girls experience new things, as well as myself - I loved those parts and would definitely go through the hard again to have the fun.
We flew out on Saturday the 13th. Paul and Becky flew with us from Salt Lake to LA, where we met up with Steve and Audrey. We were supposed to meet Peter and Brittany there too but they missed their flight from Mesa so they met up with us on Sunday night. We did well from SLC to LAX, and then it was nice to have Grandma's help from LAX to KOA. We got to Kona around 8:30 and then spent too long waiting for our rental van. We finally got checked in to our hotel around 10:30 and went straight to bed. My medication seemed to work because I didn't think the flights were too bad.

On Sunday Hayley woke up hungry at 6:30 (dang that jet lag) and so I fed her a granola bar and turned on Netflix from my phone for her to watch while Dan and I slept in another hour ha. We went to 11:00 church and then walked around the Temple that was next to the church. It was beautiful. We then went shopping for food at Wal-Mart, because we have to eat, and took the rest of the afternoon/evening easy. We had dinner, played games, talked, and briefly said hi Brittany and the girls when they arrived (Peter was still getting his rental) and then went to bed.

Happy to wake up in Hawaii.

Monday we woke up and got packed for a day of driving to the volcano. I enjoyed being able to talk to Dan for hours without our phones or kids interrupting us much ha. We got lunch at Punalu'u Bake Shop, and the word that described our food is fresh. I had a cheese burger but it just tasted nice and fresh. It was so good. Plus they had malasadas, Portugese fried donuts, and those are super delicious. We went to the Punalu'u Black Sand Beach after lunch because it wasn't too far from the bake shop. We saw a few sea turtles while we were there. It was nice to be out of the car for a little while. Eventually we made it to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and because it was MLK day we got in for free. We walked through a lava tube (a tunnel created by lava), saw some steam vents, and then made our way to the volcano so we could see it glow at dusk. We didn't see an actual lava, kind of a bummer, but the glow from it was pretty neat. Then it was time to drive back home. We climbed up pretty high on our way back home and it was amazing to see so many stars. It was time for bed when we got back to the hotel.

Turtle tail in the waves.

Lava tube.

Steam vents.

The kids explaining the lava rocks.

Tuesday we thought we were going to the beach but just ended up at a different hotel's swimming pool. There is a shuttle that goes around to the different Hilton's and the beach and the driver told us we were at the beach but it was just a lagoon and pool. Instead of dragging the kids around to try and find it we just played at the pool. Evelyn was tired but took a while to fall asleep so I didn't get much time in the pool but Hayley had fun and that is what matters. She would live in the water if she could. After a few hours there it was time to get all the kids down for a nap. After nap time we had some dinner and then Dan and I got some free time without our kids. We went to Ross because Dan has to go to Ross anytime we're out of town, it's become a tradition of sorts. And it satisfies his primal instinct to hunt haha (I have to remember this inside joke). Then we went to Target because we had to get some food for Eve, always trying to be responsible parents. We tried to find Donkey Balls (a chocolate shop) but couldn't find parking to venture to find the shop and then it was getting late so we just headed back to the hotel. Not very eventful free time but oh well. I just hung out in our room while everyone played games, I needed some space and wanted to go to bed a little earlier.

Wednesday we spent in Hilo. I had a panic attack before we started driving there, it was a rough morning. More time spent in the car but it was worth it and nice to get my crap together before we started our activities. We went to a Farmer's Market and looked around. We got some delicious shaved ice and a mango bubble drink. Then we headed to a park and had the lunches we packed. It was fun for the kids to run around. They had some cool hilly bridges at this park that were fun to run over. Then we made our way to Akaka Falls State Park and had a nice little walk to see a huge waterfall, from a distance. I was thinking we'd be able to get up close to it, but nope. After that we made our way to Tex's Drive In for dinner. I had a moco loco, which is meat on rice with a fried egg on top covered in a gravy of sorts. It was good. And we had to get more malasadas while we were there. Then it was another long drive back to the hotel. We were going to go swimming but it was too windy. So instead we took baths and went to bed. 

Keepin' the kids busy while the adults get ready.

Real men carry both their kids.

That was as close as we got.

I forgot Evelyn's hat so she had to wear her jacket so her hood could protect her from the sun. And that eyebrow though.

Finally got a picture of Hayley in her pouting stance.

Thursday we decided to go to the beach because of how things didn't work out so well on Tuesday. We went to Hapuna Beach and were only there about an hour because it was pretty windy. Evelyn was tired and hungry again so I didn't really get to play in the sand or water, and that was disappointing because I love the beach and I wanted to go snorkeling since we brought snorkel gear with us. So I was frustrated and bummed and had a panic attack once we got in the car. When we got back to the hotel we went to the pool and spent some time playing there before nap time. We bathed the girls before they went to sleep so we could get ready for pictures once they woke up. We went to Mauna Kea Beach and did the classic timer and tripod for some quick, easy family pictures. We ate dinner back at our hotel, Steve and Audrey got some sushi for us to enjoy. Dan and I spur of the moment decided to drive up to an observatory and go look at the stars. We turned off the road instead of going to the observatory and I tried taking a picture with my camera. The lowest my shutter speed goes is 30 seconds and that wasn't long enough so the picture didn't turn out too well ha. It was worth a shot. We took the girls with us and Evelyn fell asleep and when we turned all the lights off Hayley got a little scared so we weren't up there long. But it was so cool, the stars literally twinkle. We put the girls to bed, played a game for a little while, and then went to bed ourselves.

Sushi!

My star pic. You can see a few stars and a planet if you concentrate ha.

Friday was our last day but it was probably my favorite because it was actually relaxing. We spent all morning and the beginning of the afternoon at the pool. We packed up that morning and checked out by 10:00 and Steve got us some courtesy rooms around 3:00 for us to clean up in after swimming. We had lunch right there by the pool and just played around. It was fun. After we got cleaned up we headed back to Ali'i drive, the boardwalk. We had dinner at Mi's Waterfront Bistro, it was delicious (I had crab manicotti), and our waitress was a huge help between our hungry and restless kiddos. I was determined to get some donkey balls so after dinner we headed there but it was closed. I was so bummed. Then it was time to head to the airport. After we turned in our rental van we caught the shuttle to the airport and hurried as fast as we could through security so we could get the girls in jammies and be ready to board our plane. The girls slept for all of both flights. Hayley woke up once from KOA to LAX but we were all so tired. I even slept a little from KOA to LAX and almost all of LAX to SLC.

Hayley had almost all her cousins doing this by the end of the day.

Evelyn loved the pineapple.

Pina coladas and palm trees are all I need.

Tired, oreo face.

My pineapple princess.

"Life is like a box of chocolates...."

When we arrived in LAX we had to say goodbye to everyone because we were all flying separate ways. Paul and Becky flew to Seattle from Kona and they departed before we did so we didn't even get to see them at the airport because we were stuck in security. We got to Salt Lake around 9:45 and my Dad picked us up from the airport. My parents were kind enough to feed us and let us crash all afternoon, Dan and I slept from about 11:00 to 4:00. The red eye was nice cause the babies slept the whole time and didn't need to be fed or entertained but tough because then you're all still tired after. I am grateful to be home but not excited to get back to the grind. It was a nice break from the usual and from the cold.