Day 5, Monday

The forecast for our last couple days did not look great. We were worried about rain. The Pizzey's had just been to the same area of Hawaii and they recommended this amazing beach. We drove down this crazy "unimproved" road (there were signs that said that) and parked and walked across a long lava rock path to get to a nice beach, BUT if you trekked a little ways farther you came to this perfect beach that had a handful of other people on. We set up our towels and spent the day. We were not very careful with our sunscreen because the sky was overcast, and we ended up quite burnt which was disappointing.










(Beach 1)

















(Beach 2)
















We played in the waves, read our books, ate this amazing trail mix from target that had these huge chocolate covered caramel balls that were literally half the mix. There were some ladies sitting on the beach looking out towards the horizon and they'd randomly start cheering. When we finally took a minute to look the same way we saw these huge whales splashing out of the water.


When it started to rain we headed back to the car, and decided to see a few more famous Big Island sights. A lot of driving, but worth it. We drove to a black sand beach looking for sea turtles. No luck, then we headed up to the location of a green sand beach. The beach is green because of some mineral in the volcanic sand in that location.

We got to where we thought we'd see the green sand, but came upon a local man offering shuttle rides in his truck down to the beach for $15 each. We thought we'd just walk, but the sun was setting and it was 3 miles to the beach and then another 3 back.  I was ready to run, it seemed a little shady, but there was another couple waiting to go on the shuttle so we went.  We sat in the back of this rickety truck holding on for our lives on the craziest road I've ever seen! I was against the tailgate on a cooler, and the other three were sitting on a bench facing backwards. There were all these narrow lanes barely wide enough for the truck, the bumps were huge and uneven and the truck was groaning. He was also driving very fast considering the terrain, but he wanted us to make it to the beach before the sun set. I was laughing so hard I was crying. It seemed like this precarious trip in the dark with a strange man to who knows where, and that was before I saw the road we were going on. I must have been tired, because it just seemed so funny. I wish I could have taken a picture of the roads, it is so hard to explain well, but all photos were too blurry, and I was holding on for dear life.

The beach was  beautiful, I think it would have looked more green in better light, but I was glad we went. On the drive back we saw more whales, they were incredible!

We had trekked quite a ways away from Kona to see these beaches, so Elesa came up with a new game for the ride. Think of random things and the other person has to figure out the connection. So fun!

We ate dinner at a seafood restaurant back in Kona, and then went back to the hotel to pack up because we had to check out in the morning.

Day 4- Sunday

Random little lizards. I wanted to take this one home.






We had heard Friday that they were having Stake Conference at church on Sunday. We decided to walk up the hill to listen anyway.

Elesa got up early and headed down to the lobby and brought up breakfast to eat in bed. It was nice to  take our time before heading out for the day.

We were quite distracted at church, and only stayed for an hour before heading back to the hotel to grab our car. We thought a little drive was an appropriate activity so we headed across the island to the Hilo side. It is the rainy side of the island, and it was beautiful! The city itself was quite run down looking, and way less touristy. Kind of disappointing!

We drove this "belt" road because it cuts right across the island. The first half from Kona was all dry and exposed rock, and about half way it turned to this amazing lush rainforest.

We drove up to this trail head for a waterfall (can't remember the name) we were hoping for a substantial hike and over heard someone say it would take about 45 mins. Well about 15 minutes later WITH stops for photos we were back at the car.  Still beautiful. I had never before considered taking small clips of video with my phone, but it was nice to play them back and remember the sounds of the forest and waterfalls.

We ate lunch at the pineapple cafe in Hilo, and then headed to the volcano national park. We were freezing, but we waited in the visitors centre until it was nice and dark and we could see the glow of the active volcano. The Big Island is actually formed from a handful of volcanos. Most are extinct, but there are a few active. I heard someone say that there is one that is constantly pouring into the ocean. Very cool!





As you drive into the park you see all this steam coming up from the side of the road, and random spots in the horizon. They are volcano steam vents. This one was set up for tourists to check up close.  It was very cool to stand in the steam.

 Bright glow as we were leaving in the dark.

Craters inside of craters. It was a huge hole.

Day 3- Saturday February 7th

Elesa had seen this place selling Acai bowls when we had been driving earlier, and we decided to stop there for breakfast Saturday morning before heading to our Surf lesson. An Acai bowl is a delicious smoothie, topped with granola and fresh fruit, and then drizzled with honey. It was delicious!

We found the surf hut and they offered to move our lesson to later in the day when they thought the waves would be better. So we drove down the road to "white sand beach" to read for a few hours. Sadly it too had disappeared. They should maybe add that "little" piece of information in the travel brochures :)













At 11, we met our instructor and the one other man joining our group and learnt the basics on land before heading to the water. I thought I was in pretty good shape, but paddling is hard and you really don't get very far. They were pretty concerned with the current pulling us towards the rocks so set up a buoy so we had a safe spot to rest and wait our turn. There were quite a few other people in the same area, and the water was pretty shallow (he advised us to fall flat in a belly flop so we didn't hit our heads on the coral underneath). Surfing was lots of fun! We were in a little rotation with our instructor, we'd paddle over to him, he'd find us a wave, instruct us on the intensity of our paddling and when we still weren't going fast enough he'd give us a little shove to catch the wave.

I'd definitely surf again, but it would have to be with an instructor. Even Elesa who has done a lot of surfing insisted on an instructor. She said each area is so different that she felt more comfortable going with someone more familiar with current etc, before attempting to surf on her own. Also, with the island shoreline so rocky, it looked pretty scary to surf anywhere close to the rocks.

After the lesson we headed over to a little beach by the cover we were surfing in and read our books. We had a hot dog from a food truck that was the weirdest colour (matching Elesa's legs) but it tasted so good when you were hungry.






























When we had enough of the sun we headed back to the hotel to clean up, and we spent some time shopping for our families and home and then to dinner at a Thai Restaurant. It was delicious!










We could not finish our day there. We hit up the hotel hot tub, and then ran to target for a Ben and Jerry's treat before bed. When Brett and I were in Hawaii we ate so much ice cream. We had to try all the Ben and Jerry's flavours you couldn't get in Canada.

Day 2- Friday February 6th

Friday morning we woke up early and headed to the Beach. We stopped at a grocery store for trail mix and some fruit to snack on at the beach and drove the 20 minutes to this beautiful beach we had seen on trip advisor. When we arrived, the beach was no where to be found. A friendly local advised us that in the winter the beach gets washed away because of the large waves and strong current. The beach returns in May. Luckily he told us where we could find Hapuna Beach. We got there early and found a nice little spot to set up camp. I had my hat, and my sunscreen and I felt quite confident sitting in the sun.

Background- When I went to Hawaii with Brett and Wyatt almost 7 years ago I was totally disappointed. Oahu was busy and crowded and HOT. I remember being surprised how hot it was, and everything is open air. The whole mall is even open except for when you were in a specific store and then you are blasted with air conditioning. We had a baby with us, so one of us was always on the beach with our things and the few times I went into the water I felt silly playing by myself, or I got water in my mouth and wanted out right away. Brett actually said that if I didn't like Hawaii this time that I shouldn't tell him. I think he did not plan to ever take me back. That's how great a time I had. As a disclaimer, I did have my camera stolen out of our rental car, losing 300+ pictures from our trip. Totally ruined the whole thing for me.

Back to the recent trip- it was TOTALLY different. I don't know if it was the company, or lack of children or both, but I was happy to play in the ocean, felt semi comfortable leaving our things up on the beach while we did and was never too hot because we frequently took a dip when we were feeling cooked.

Elesa said we had to try boogie boarding. I had read some recent blog posts from other people who had experienced almost fatal experiences in Hawaiian waves so I was a little nervous. I soon realized you don't have to go very deep to enjoy the fun in the ocean waves. They were quite powerful though, I almost lost my bathing suit a few times, and had Elesa cinch up my top to avoid over exposure.

We had planned this amazing tour for Friday evening, it was the main reason we had chosen to visit the Big Island. It was where you head up the highest peak in the USA _ Mauna Kae, and they have all these observatories and telescopes up there and the stars are incredible because you are higher than the clouds. Sadly, the winds on the mountain were too strong to go all the way to the top and so we decided to wait and see if we could go on the full tour another day.


















That evening after dinner of fish tacos at Humpy's we headed to the Kona Temple. It is a mini one like the one in Edmonton, but it was fun to add it to my list of foreign temples I've been to.

Elesa likes to play these games.... so at dinner or any lengthy car ride she comes up with some great game. Random questions really. I don't remember the question exactly, but it made me think of the time we'd already spent in Hawaii, and how much fun we were having together. There is something nice about old friends. I feel like I can be myself completely because we've known each other so long. Elesa is totally different than me, she is daring and outgoing and so much fun. She was definitely rubbing off on me, someone who is typically very safe and pretty boring. It was nice to be pushed out of my comfort zone a little, and I'm pretty sure she is one of the only people I know that can do that for me.

Day 1- Thursday February 5th.

I am glad I took quick point form notes of all the activities and sights we packed into 5+ days.

My flight left Edmonton at 6:15 am, which meant being at the airport around 4am. I  can be a bit of an anxious person, content with my safe home life, so I was a little nervous about traveling alone. I remember the first time Brett and I went on a real vacation it was so strange to have to make all the decisions and figure things out. I was always looking for a "grown up" to tell us what to do and where to go next.

Once I was checked in and had some breakfast my nerves subsided and I was on my way. Elesa is living in Calgary so she left from there and we met in Seattle.

The flight over to the Big Island felt very long. It could have been the tight airplane, or the weird person in the 3rd seat but it felt like forever! When we finally arrived we were excited to get our bags and for the adventure to begin. We had rented a car (the Big Island is big, and things are quite spread out so the rental was a must) and we drove off to find out hotel. I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel, the beds were new and comfortable, the bedding was more modern than some other inn style places I had stayed in. They had free parking and free Wifi, as well as breakfast. We had planned to go out for breakfast more than we did, but our activities always started quite early so we were glad they had a little something to eat first thing.

It was after 4 by the time we were settled and so we headed towards the shore and the main strip of shops to see what we could find. The Kona side of the Big Island where we were staying is all black volcanic rock with yellow grass growing in it. Right in town had more trees and grass, but there wasn't a beach as accessible as when we've been to Waikiki. We did find a little sanded area by a hotel and we read for a little while before going to eat.

We picked a mexican restaurant near our hotel, and the food was quite tasty. I think we would have been happy to have endless chips and salsa. It was beautiful to sit in an open balcony and listen to the ocean as we ate our dinner. When we finished we wandered around the little shops before heading back to the hotel for bed.

Hawaii- Before the trip

My dearest friends from high school and I have always talked about a trip away together when we are 35. We recently concluded that Hawaii might be a good choice because one of our dearest lives in Austrailia and so Hawaii is about half way for both. Who knows where everyone will be in their lives at 35, but after this current trip my fingers are crossed even harder that it works out as planned.

Elesa inquired about a possible ladies trip months ago, I declared my interest and then life went on. I sort of assumed it would be one of those things that was talked about and not carried through. Little did I know, that Elesa was totally serious. We had planned February as a possible date that was far enough from Christmas that we weren't feeling too tight in the cash department, but still in the dead of winter so it was a nice warm escape.

There had been a few other girls included on the invite, but secretly I hoped they wouldn't be able to make it. They were friends of Elesa's from Calgary that I didn't know very well and 3 can be a tricky number for a group, especially when there is only one common friend.

I had mentioned this idea to Brett before, but soon it was serious and I needed to get things arranged. He was happy to let me go (he is just the sweetest that way) and I had help from grandmas and grandpas with the kids.

Long story, anyway, nearing the end of January we took the plunge and booked our trip. Elesa and Ryan had air miles they used to get a great flight, Brett had holiday inn points from all his work travel so we stayed in a brand new holiday inn express in Kona, and there was no turning back.

Christmas Season 2014

 Enbridge puts on a great kids Christmas party. Rented out Galaxy land, Santa, balloon artists, airbrush tattoos. Stella LOVED the rides!

 Wyatt and I went on a celebratory date to the Keg. Another fantastic report card. He wanted crab from the Keg- who am I to deny that sweet face.

 Christmas concert for school. Isla had a little concert for preschool too. I didn't get a photo of her, just video. It was very casual.

December 20th morning I went for breakfast with my dear friends Elesa and Rhiannon. Great food, Great company. I love Christmas because we make extra effort to see the ones we love.

 Fixsen Christmas was the 20th. Heather and Mike hosted brunch. We spent the whole day hanging out at their house visiting. Just missing Clay and Julia's family. (these housecoats were gifts. We were all clothed for brunch :)  )

 Church a few days before Christmas. The girls wanted to match, and let me curl their hair. I love having little girls.

Missing a picture from the live Nativity we attending in Spruce Grove. I love this tradition. Lots of friends, family and delicious Thai food.

 Growing up my family had a tradition of going skating Christmas eve. My brother decided it was a good year to rekindle that old tradition. So we went skating on the little pond near my house. There is a family that lives right on the pond that maintains a rink and sets up spot lights. They saw us using their rink and flicked on the lights. The kids didn't last too long, but it was fun to be out and active before heading home for new pjs and a movie night.

 My parents came to skate too. Unfortunately at the last minute, Kevin and his girlfriend Ashley had to go visit a very sick family member so they missed the skating. There is always next year!

 Christmas morning!

 Brunch at my parents on Christmas morning.

 Tired mom and baby at Christmas dinner at my sisters.

Boxing day we headed to Canmore with Jeff and Jaima's family. One cold day the big boys went skiing and the littles stayed home with me. We bundled up and headed to the candy store on main street. Nothing was keeping these kids from their candy.

Today is January 1, 2015. I'm caught up. We had the Drever extended Christmas dinner with Brett's aunts, uncles and cousins on his moms side. Always nice to see family, but we are ready to finish the busy Christmas holidays and focus on a great new year.