We went to the Keiki ponds a few times (a favorite for our whole family)
We spent a lot of time at the two pools at the resort. The girls loved to go swimming at night after dinner. One night we went swimming in the rain which they thought was especially amazing.
We saw a hula show at our resort. My girls were fascinated by the hula dancer named Joy.
We learned about a place the locals call "Turtle Beach" that usually has a lot of turtles. We went there one morning and only saw one turtle. But it was an interesting walk across the lava to get to the beach.
We went out several nights during the week to watch sunset at different beaches. We happened to catch sunset on a great night out at the golf course while sipping pina coladas (non alcoholic of course).
On one of our last days we spent most of the afternoon and early evening at Kahalu'u State Park playing in the sand, swimming in the ocean and snorkeling.
Anikka had skipped her nap that day and after too much play time she literally passed out on her Daddy.
We had lots of great food while we were in Hawaii. We went to our island favorite, Cafe Pesto, twice. We also went to Island Lava Java two times for mac nut pancakes with coconut syrup. Elin could not get enough of the coconut syrup.
And of course, we had shave ice several times at our favorite place in Kona town.
We also stopped by Jackie Ray's Ohana Grill for lunch.
Our last night, we went to dinner at the Kona Inn for yummy fish. The girls and James had fresh mahi mahi while I tried monchong (it was good).
We tried to get one nice picture of us as a family, of course, Anikka wouldn't cooperate. At least you can see her one eye.
On April 15th, we headed home to Seattle.
As always, we had a great time. This was my fourth trip to the Big Island and my 7th trip to Hawaii. With so much to see in the world sometimes people ask why we keep coming back. There is something about this place that just feels good. I learned the meaning of the word Aloha on this trip and it really explains why I love this place.
"Alo" means "to share"; "oha" means "to show affection or friendship", and "hā" means "life, breath". In the end, we get a positive attitude, an act of kindness. Aloha is a way of living and treating each other with love and respect. Its deep meaning starts by teaching ourselves to love our own beings first and afterwards to spread the love to others.
And the people in Hawaii truly do live by the spirit of Aloha.
So, until we meet again Hawaii,
Aloha and Mahalo
(goodbye and thank you)
