Kona Trip ...this is a long one

Ok - well, here is the two day vacation that we took on accident, sort of. Most of you know that the temple in Laie is closed for 18 months for renovations. So, since Matthew had a week off of school and airfare was really cheap we decided to take a temple trip to Kona on the Big Island. I hurried to buy the tickets while they were still on sale. A few days before we left I discovered that the temple in Kona was closed for two weeks during the time we were going to be there. Oh well, we decided to go anyhow. We had a great time. We got to the airport around 5:00 am because our flight left at 5:52 am. We arrived in Kona by 6:30 in the morning. It turned out good though because our trip felt like more than just two days. Wendell knows the GM at the hotel and so they let us check into our rooms as soon as we arrived. Very nice.

This is a picture of Thompson, our brother-in-law. He is married to Wendell's sister. He drives the Hertz van and picked us up at the airport. He's the best.

We ate a large breakfast at the Hawaiian Style Cafe. Kathleen's breakfast was so big they had to bring it on two plates.
Then we went to visit Momi at one of her offices that is in this old house. It was the plantation manager's home for someone back in the day.

On the way to Hilo we stopped to see Akaka Falls. Kathleen was very excited about it.

This is not Akaka Falls, this was just a small water fall along the path.

Sometimes I forget that Hawaii is considered a tropical rain forest, except for the fact that it rains a lot.

This is Akaka Falls.

This is when I remember it is a tropical rain forest.

When you are driving around you see these cinder cones all over the place. I wanted to go see the lava flows, but they were too far away.

When we got back to the hotel Wendell and I walked down to the beach.

Kathleen and Kat at the pool.

Kathleen and Wendell.

Ryan being a whale, Matthew being a shark.

Kathleen looks like she's meditating and being one with the wall.

Better one of Kathleen.

We went to Macaroni Grill for dinner that night.

Ryan entertained himself with the crayons while waiting for his food.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and lounged around outside in the lobby. It was a really nice night. This big chair was very comfy. It spins too!

This was earlier in the day, but I like the picture.

I told Kathleen I wanted to take a picture of her. Too bad she is so camera shy.

The next day the guys all went golfing. Odin, our nephew, went with them.

I guess Wendell felt that Ryan needed a few pointers.

There were wild goats roaming around the course.

I think this goat was just laughing at them.

While the guys were golfing Kat napped at the pool. I'm sure she will be thrilled to see this picture on my blog. She doesn't really look 6 months pregnant, does she?

I'm standing on my balcony taking this picture. We were just around the corner from the kids. We had really nice rooms. Sometimes there are nice perks being married to Wendito.

On our way to the airport we had dinner with Thompson, Momi, and Anuhea. They are always so nice to us.

We got on the plane to leave at 8:00 that night.

Since it is just an inter-island flight we just walk to the plane. Pretty cool.

Matthew and Ryan still act about 6 sometimes and thought it was funny that they stuck this sticker on Kathleen without her knowing.
We had a great time. Wish you were here!