Favorite Foto Friday

In Hawaii, we found a little lizard on our back porch one morning (this was in addition to the handful of cats that hung out by our room especially after my mom started feeding them). Damien got the lizard and showed it to Dylan. He was not afraid of it one bit and in fact, wanted to hold it.
Then just a sweet photo of Dylan enjoying the beach.

Up and Down

Sometimes, I am just amazed at how Dylan figures things out. While in Hawaii, he figured out on the first day how to put his window down and up. No one showed him, nor had he ever done it before. He cracked us all up with his mad window skills. Oh and is it just me or does everyone hate their voice when they hear it.

Aloha - Day 7 (our depature day)

Today, we say aloha to Hawaii. Mahalo for treating us so well. We had to check out of our room by 10am, so we were packing and cleaning up the place. We realized we were missing a knife from the block but after searching all our back packs (we packed it to cut apples and fruit for Dylan while out and about), we decided that it was probably missing to begin with. I rearranged the knives in a way that would make it less obvious in case it wasn't missing to begin with. Before leaving the resort, we went to the office to try and check my mom and dad in on their southwe$t flight from LA to Nashville, but it was 25 hours before the flight so it wouldn't let us.

We decided to take Dylan to the play ground for a little while so he could run around and play. Our plan left that night, so we had plenty of time to waste. After the playground, we went to a little cafe that had internet access so that we could check my parents in again. I tried, but it still wouldn't let me. Damien had me check the flight status and it wasn't there. Damien was like, this doesn't sound right. I looked at my handwritten confirmation and realized their flight was today, not tomorrow. I felt so stupid. They had missed their flight. I was so confused by the late night departure that when I booked it I told them we would be traveling on the 2nd, but I forgot that we wouldn't be in LA until the 3rd...GRRR. I was able to get them rebooked on a flight on the 4th which meant they had to stay a night in LA, so we cashed in some hilton points for my goof. Problem solved.

Earlier in the week, we went to a farmers market where we saw this guy who walked on backs and stuff. Damien wanted to go back and get that done. After talking to the guy about his back history and his current pains and ailments, the guy decided to start off my loosening his neck. I was sitting and watching, waiting to take pics, and the guy asked Damien a question. Damien didn't respond and so he asked again. At this point, I was freaked out. I answered the question myself and jumped up and starting semi yelling, Damien, Damien....His eyes appeared to be rolled back into his head and his left arm had raised up off the ground. The guy assured me that he was fine and that he just couldn't hear him as the fabric was over his ear. Damien opened his eyes to find me bent over him. I told him what I thought had happened, he blacked out and Damien said he did feel kind of funny. After resting for a minute, he got up and sat down, but then felt sick immediately. I won't fill you in on the details, but he did get sick. He needed to rest a while, so we went across the street to King Kamehameha's house where there was a lawn for him to lie down on and open room for Dylan to run around. After resting for a while, the grounds were closing so we had to go elsewhere. We went back to our resort where there were swings and took a little nap. Then we went down to the shore to catch the sunset, but unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me and by the time I ran back through the golf course to our car, the clouds had covered up most of the sunset, grrr. Oh well, Dylan had a fun time trying to find the mongoose. He well yell mago, trying to get them to come back out...skittish creatures didn't of course.

at the king's house, knock, knock...

view of the king's house

the clouded sunset

My mom and dad's flight left earlier, so we drove them to the airport and went to grab a bite before our flight. When Damien pulled the car up to drop me, Dylan and the luggage off at the terminal, Dylan said Papa. I said no Papa's not here, sure enough there was Nana and Papa right behind us. They didn't have them booked on the flight for whatever reason, so they put them on our flight which was a better deal we were direct to LA, where they would have had gone to Oahu, San Fran, and then LA. After we got through security, the missing knife was found buried in my mom's book bag, whoops. She's probably on the watch list know considering they also have to wand her several times with her new knee and all.

Dylan did really well again on the flight home, we only had one melt down and that was on the flight from Atlanta to Nashville and that was for like 10 minutes before we took off. I am amazed by how great he did and it took a lot of stress out of the travel. Prayers are answered :)

Aloha - Day 6

This was the day to vindicate ourselves. Earlier in the week we had tried to hike to the green beach at South Point, but time and daylight won out. Today, it would be the first thing on our agenda. After the day of torture the day before, this somewhat flat, rock terrain would be a piece of cake. Again, I would like to remind you that the locals all said this was a 2 mile hike that took 30 minutes. Damien and I clocked it, and we did it in about 45 minutes. (when we got home, my Dad said that he read it was a 6 mile roundtrip hike). The green sand is formed by gemstone olivine which is brought to the surface through volcanic action. The sand is considered to be tears from the Goddess Pele by the Hawaiians and is used in healing ceremonies (Although I saw numerous signs that said not to remove. They better do their ceremonies on site.) Once we got to the green beach site, I was a little overwhelmed and terrified. It was nestled in between 2 huge cliffs, which meant we had to go down into it with Dylan on Damien's back. There were a few steps that were carved into the cliff. I was thankful when we made it. It was very secluded and not very big at all. A nice little gem ;) We rested up and played for a while and headed back. Dylan was not happy about this. He screamed and cried as I tried to put him in the backpack. Everyone was staring and I felt uneasy, but I had to force him in. He couldn't get out on his own. Before leaving, I asked a local if I could get a picture of his back. He gave me the strangest look and after I told him that the sand looked really green on his back, he gave in.

Dylan fell asleep in the pack on the hike back. We made it back and we felt dirty, sweaty and muddy. Not to mention, we had several new blisters, especially my mom. We stopped for lunch at the "most southern bar in the United States" and it was yummy.

After lunch, we headed to the black beach, which thankfully, we could just drive right up to it. There we saw a sea turtle basking on the shore. We didn't really get in the water and play as it was starting to get dark, but we did see, from the rocks, some sea turtles munching away on some dinner. Dylan had fun running around and picking up rocks, he's strong like that. We were hoping to get a good view of the sunset, but we were in the wrong place at the right time. After a short visit to the black beach, we headed back to the resort to take showers.

Aloha - Day 5

Today was a day of relaxation. It was back to the beach and a night out. Papa and Nana rented a beach chair and umbrella so Dylan could rest with Papa and take a nap while Damien and I did some snorkeling. We saw some of the most beautiful fish. We were surrounded by them, all different kinds. I wished I had an underwater camera but no such luck. I learned that I bite the mouth piece of the snorkel way to hard as I had a problem with my jaw popping out of place every time I opened my mouth for like an hour or so. I guess it was worth it though.

For dinner, we ate at Bubb@ Gumps...yummm. Damien especially enjoyed his shrimp. Oh and it was New Year's Eve, but I guess you could say that we celebrated on East Coast time as we were in bed at 10:30 their time. All and all, it was a good day of relaxation and we needed it considering the day from your know where the day before.

Aloha - Day 4

or the day of torture and death as I lovingly remember it.
the valley, remember how the air quality isn't that great because of the volocano...

We started off with this great notion to go to the Waipio Valley to do a little hike and when I say little, I mean it was only 1000 feet to get into the valley. The walk down was pretty much a straight descent, a 25% grade. At the bottom of the grade, you could make a choice to go to the right and hit up the black beach or you could take the route to the left, which we did, which would take you to breathtaking views of the falls. Unfortunately, we didn't won't to walk any further after a while, we decided we needed to turn around and head back as my mom waited behind as she was sure she wouldn't make it considering she had a knee replacement in July. Well, as she found out, we almost didn't even make it back. However, before we started the hike back, we felt that it was only fair to let Dylan get out and play for a while in one of the creeks we crossed. He had a lot of fun even though there were restrictions on getting to wet. On the way back, Damien was a trooper. He had Dylan on his back and he pressed onward with only 2 brief moments of rest. While my dad and I lagged way behind. I think I could have made it with better time and less breaks, but I was worried for him. We kept hoping for someone to drive by so we could hitch around, but no dice, we had to hike it, UGH! We should have known that it was not worth it, as we asked people as we were hiking down, that were coming up, if it was worth it. They hesitated and said, ummm.....yea. Anytime, anyone hesitates, don't believe whatever comes out of their mouth next. As they saw us continue to our death, they laughed and thought, SUCKERS! When we got back to the top, Damien was spot on as to what my mom would say when we got back..."you were gone all that time and you didn't even go to the beach" If she only experienced what we had experienced..sheesh

see rock city bird house in the valley

playing in the creek

the hike back up, this picture doesn't do justice, you can see the trail through the trees...

Later we drove on to see the Hilo side of the island. Along the way, we passed waterfalls on the side of the road. That would never get old to me.

Then we did a little detour to check out Akaka Falls Park. Here there were 2 water falls, but the most majestic was the one pictured below. This fall plunges 442 feet into a gorge. Absolutely breath taking.

After our detour, we trekked on to Hilo, where we played in a park for a while. I wasn't too impressed with the Hilo side from what we saw. If I were to live on this island, it would definitely be on the Kona side, for sure. Hilo's average rainfall is 130 inches per year where as Kona is 10 inches..just to give you an idea, Seattle's average is 143...you decide.

to be continued...

Aloha - Day 3

Today, it was back to the beach, but we decided to hit up a different beach. When we got there, Dylan was ready to play. There was no holding him back this day and there is no relaxing to be done at the beach to be had for everyone at the same time. We all took turns watching him and Damien and I even got to go out on a kayak and stalk some sea turtles while he stayed with Nana and Papa. Damien even surprised all of us with a blizzard. One lady behind us commented that he won father of the year award. All and all, it was a good day, but when it was time to go, Dylan started crying again. If we lived in Hawaii, we would be a surfer boy for sure.

playing on the dunes

time to go

to be continued....

Aloha - Day 2

Our body's clock was still off, we woke up at like 6 or 7am, not just this day but the whole trip. I tried to make Dylan sleep longer, but he was ready to go. This kid really likes Hawaii and who is going to question that. He was the best kid ever, so happy go luckily and rarely throwing any kind of temper tantrum.

Anytime you want to go and see something on this island, it's a bit of a journey, so again, I packed the carry on bag to keep Dylan entertained. By the time we ate breakfast and was on the road, he was ready for a nap which worked out perfectly.

This day we were making a journey to the active volcano, Kilauea, which has been continuously erupting for almost 2 months. The locals were not happy about this at it really affects their air quality but to a visitor, I couldn't tell, it was still gorgeous to me. The drive to the volcano was about 2 and a half hours. Once there, we did a hike to check out the area and it was weird seeing warning signs about how dangerous the air could be and to take caution. I don't think we got a good view of it that day as it was really smoking. We didn't get to see much of the lava, well in the day time it would be really red like it would be at night, but it was still cool to get to see it.

steam vents

On the way back, we decided to hit up the Green beach, which we read about. We were told it was a 2 mile, 30 minute hike and it was located on the southern most tip, which is the most southern part of the U.S. We started our hike around 3:00pm. Dylan was enjoying his ride, but for us hiking it, it was a rough terrain. We even saw a few people wearing flip flops or walking it with bare feet....crazy. The 30 minute hike became 40 minutes, then 45 minutes and as we would pass people they would say only 30 more minutes...what, are you kidding? I began to worry about the time and the sunset. Would we have enough time to hang out without Dylan getting upset and getting out of the pack, playing for 5 minutes then back in the pack. We decided it was best to turn back around. Damien felt so defeated and swore that he would be back. Back in the car, to head back to the resort to get cleaned up. It was a fun day despite being in the car for the most part. We got to see some beautiful sites as we hiked to the beach...oh and we even saw some whales on our drive to the volcano. We think there were 3 humpback whales. Fun times.

To be continued...

Aloha - travel and Day 1

The day after Christmas, we headed to Hawaii with my parents for a little vacation. We figured this may the last vacation we get to take for some time as it may be hard to get vacation time with a new job. Plus, the vacation was practically free minus food and gas, which we would need here, so Hawaii bound we were.

I was so nervous about how Dylan would do on the flight. I loaded up a carry on with a DVD player, several movies, his animal friends that he got for Christmas that he seemed to love, a sticker book and a water wonder coloring book. He did so good!!! I was so impressed. He pretty much slept the flight from Nashville to Salt Lake. Then Salt Lake to LA, he watched a movie. Then after a short lay over in LA, he took a nap on the way to Kona and then he was up playing with his sticker book and coloring book. He never got fussy once, other than when I went to the bathroom, which he chased down the aisle after me.

By the time we got to Hawaii, it was late. We left Nashville at 6:30am and by the time we arrived in Kona, it was 8:30pm, which is 12:30am central time. Ugh, we had been traveling for 18 hours, well 20 if you can't the drive to the airport and wait time before we take off. Anyway, when we got to Kona, I knew that Dylan needed to eat. He didn't really eat lunch in LA, which what kid doesn't eat chicken nuggets and fries from McDon@lds, so Dylan's diet that day consisted of apple slices, fruit snacks, cheese crackers and cookies. Mama bear knew that baby bear needed food fast, before he fell asleep. We found a restaurant right across the street from our resort and it was a italian place. I knew Dylan would eat spaghetti, so that's what he had and the rest of us shared pizza and salad. Then we scooted over to the resort for a good night's sleep...well as good as sleeping can be with a toddler.

The next morning, we ventured out to a restaurant by the ocean. It was fun to see that there was a triathlon going on that we could see as we ate our breakfast....well the swimming portion at least and then the first of the running portion :) (Rumor is Lance Armstrong was in town but we didn't see his results in the paper so maybe he was just in Kona for vacay). As we enjoyed our hawaiian breakfast, we were serenaded by a local Hawaiian woman...a good thing to keep Dylan entertained. After breakfast, we headed to the beach for a day of relaxation after a stop at Wal-M@rt. I wondered how Dylan would react to the beach, this would be his first time. Luckily, we hit up wal-mart as my parents warned us that the beaches were really rocky and rocky they were even the sand wasn't your typical sand. We got Dylan a pair of water shoes and I am glad that we did. Dylan loved, loved, loved the beach. He had so much fun playing in the sand and in the little tide pool close to where we sat. He made a friend to play with, and we even saw like 10 sea turtles eating off the rocks. When we started taking off his diaper and swim suit, at the end of the day, he started screaming. He knew that this meant that it was time to go and he was not happy about it. The beach would come again.

can you spot the sea turtle?

Dylan and his friend..they were so cute holding hands (they did that all on their own)

To be continued....