Going to Oahu on Monday

Of course Drew woke up at 600 complaining of being hungry and woke either her Dad or I up every 15 minutes until 700 when I finally got up with her and ran to the ABC store to get her some cereal.  I then dropped her off back at the room and ran to a free yoga session.  After that we went out to breakfast, returned the wetsuits and ran back to the hotel to pack. 

This was the view from breakfast

 Then it was off to the airport for our flight to Oahu.  At the airport Trevor had a great time inspecting a bird that had an injured leg. Drew had a great time on the plane talking to a woman from Japan.  We arrived in Oahu at about 1:00 and headed toward Ko-Olina.  Drew fell asleep in the car for about 20 minutes.  We stopped at Costco to do a little shopping and eat some lunch and then hit the resort.  We are staying in the same tower that we always have which is the one farthest away from all the activities.  Ryan hit the grocery store since we have a kitchen.  We hit the Welina Mai show - a free welcome show about Polynesian Culture.  Drew got to get up and dance in front of everyone (with about 30 other kids) so she was happy. 

Posing on a rock

Drew getting ready to hula for everyone.

The Chief blowing his conch

Enjoying some fresh coconut water (neither one enjoyed it!)

Big Island Day 2

Great 2-hour drive back to Kona.  Both kids have on headphones – Trevor is playing his DS and Drew is listening to music on her I-Touch.  We are getting a concert from Drew singing along – it is pretty entertaining.  We made it to Aloha Kayak right on time at 8:00.  Checked in and got fitted for gear.  It was our family and then a very unusual family – a Japanese woman who probably weighed 95 pounds and had a shockingly dark thatch of hair under each armpit.  The husband was originally from Canada but now they live in Palo Alto.  He was the total package – a dead tooth in front, a lisp, had a nasty rash on his legs, weighed about 105 lbs and was wearing a Speedo!  They had two very cute girls.  When they came to the kayaks they didn’t have swimming suits on and had all kinds of unnecessary stuff like towels and stuff.  I think they were sent back to their car 2-3 times before we took off.  It was Trevor and Mommy in one kayak and Ryan and Drew in the other.  There were two guides taking us – Kian and Boo.

Just about ready to take off

Drew looking pretty in her kayak

Trevor and Mom in our camo kayak

Kealakekua Bay

Ryan dipped his hand in the water from his kayak and got this shot

 We paddled for about 45 minutes through Kealakekua Bay to the Captain Cook Monument.  Along the way we stopped and watched several groups of sleeping spinner dolphins cruise through the water right by us.  Spinner dolphins are cool and when they are in coves like this they are sleeping.  They tend to travel in pairs and they turn one half of their brain off (the inside portion when they are swimming next to another dolphin).  After a while they will switch sides and let the other side of their brain sleep.

Once we got to the monument we got our kayaks up and went snorkeling.  The fish were awesome and the coral was beautiful.  The kids got cold pretty quickly and spent some time out in the sun.  Then we got to paddle back 45 minutes.  I was shocked that Trevor did as well as he did – he paddled almost the whole time.  Drew spent most of the time holding her paddle and Ryan had a much harder time.





 

This is the Captain Cook monument.  It is technically British soil.  It commemorates the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands by the British in 1778.  According to our guides, the Spanish had been using the Hawaiian Islands for some time before the Brits discovered them.  He was also killed very close to here on February 14, 1779 when the Hawaiians figured out that he was trying to exploit them (big shocker).

Here is Kian and the other family.  That dad is money, I tell you.

Taking a break from snorkeling

We had a great lunch at a Japanese place – Drew and Trevor both enjoyed their chicken teriyaki.  After that adventure we went to check in to our hotel - the Courtyard King Kamehameha.  The hotel is pretty nice – very nice room with 2 queen beds, pretty beach area and a nice pool at the end of the strip in Kona.  The kids and Ryan enjoyed a little bit of time in the pool while I tried to find a place that we could rent wetsuits for our night snorkel with the manta rays.  We then picked up our wetsuits and ate sushi for dinner.  Very proud of Trevor for trying things he hasn’t tried before.

At 700 we checked in for our night kayak and snorkel.  It was raining but when we got down to our put-in spot it was not, thankfully.  It was just our family and a guide named Spencer who was from Kirkwood of all places!  Drew wanted to go with Mommy so we did that since it was only a 5-minute paddle.  It was really dark which was kind of creepy.  We paddled out to an area near the Sheraton hotel (which shines a big light that attracts the plankton that attracts the manta rays.  Paddling with the wetsuits on was a little more challenging.  We then waited for Spencer to anchor our kayaks (while Trevor and Ryan almost tossed their cookies overboard) and we jumped overboard with our snorkel gear and flashlights.  Then we had the most amazing experience.  There were about 5 manta rays that were swimming gracefully in this cove right underneath us.  The biggest was about 6-8 feet in wingspan and they swam within 6 inches of us.  It was so cool and they were so graceful.  I have to say that when a wild animal that big is swimming close to you it can be a little scary.  The wetsuits were definitely worth the $40 – a Mommy that isn’t cold is a happy Mommy.  We then hauled ourselves back up on our kayaks and paddled for shore.   

Getting ready to snorkel with mantas

Drew was so tuckered that she actually fell asleep on the row back and stayed asleep while Spencer drug the kayak up the boat launch!  Unfortunately there are no pictures of the mantas because Ryan forgot to take the camera off the kayak with him!  It would have been hard to get pictures in the dark and hold the flashlight and make sure Trevor didn’t drown.  Everyone fell asleep pretty quickly when we got back to the hotel.  However, Drew was hungry when she went to bed, which didn’t bode well for the night…

One tired girl

The Big Island Day 1

Mom and Dad woke up around 645 this morning and Drew got up at 700.  We ate a breakfast of banana, mac nut-raisin-cinnamon bread, pineapple, papaya (no one is a fan) and eggs.  After that Ryan went to ask Garrett for more information about where to snorkel.  He enjoyed staring at the curly grey hairs that covered his velour jogging suit (same one as last night) while chatting.  I’m not sure how many times “brah” was used this morning because I wasn’t present.  We then headed back down toward Hilo for what was described as Barrier Reef quality snorkeling by our host.  The Kapoho Tide Pools took about 45 minutes to get to and when we arrived a little rain was starting to fall and it was overcast enough that we didn’t need to bother with sunscreen.  We stripped down to our suits and began the treacherous walk across the lava to the pools.  It was low tide (extremely low) so we had to walk quite far.  The kids and I all had on sandals (flip flops in Drew’s case) that weren’t quite appropriate for the terrain and it was cold and windy and started to really rain, as we got further out.  I was freezing to death.  We did see some cool little crabs including one that had lots of gold on it but there was absolutely no way we were getting in that water.  We high-tailed it back in and a nice couple who are building a house let us come on their upper porch out of the rain and gave the kids some candy.  The wife explained that the pools are much cooler during high tide (at 4:30 when we won’t be there).  She did recommend a pool (Ahalanui) that is heated by Kilauea to a balmy 90 degrees.  We drove down the road to Ahalanui which was an awesome pool lined with lava rock (had originally been some fat cat’s private pool but then he gave it to the public).  We had some issues with the rough bottom surface and Trevor’s feet but once you got out pretty far the bottom was sandy.  We snorkeled here for a bit.  There were a few colorful fish but mostly little grey guys.

Snorkeling at Ahalanui

We stayed until the kids started to complain and then we got back in the car and drove to the end of Highway 130 where an eruption by Kilauea in 1990 wiped out the town of Kalapana and closed a big section of the highway.  We got out of the car and were able to see where a massive lava flow completed obliterated a black sand beach. 

Lava has completely obliterated this black sand beach.

What I had wanted to see but we ran out of time and patience was some subdivisions where houses had been buried right next to houses that still have people living in them.  In Hawaii you can claim insurance if your house is buried in lava but not if the access to your house is buried in lava.  So there are some brave (or crazy souls) that live in houses completely surrounded by lava with no electricity and no water.  This lava is from the Pu’u O’o vent that started erupting in 1983.  Here are some interesting volcano facts:

4,600,000,000 cubic yards of lava have come out since 1983 and this would fill 300 million dump trucks. It has created 475 new acres of land, covered 8.5 miles of highway, and destroyed 213 structures.

We then headed back up the side of Kilauea to Volcano Village to eat lunch and change clothes.  After that we headed to Volcano National Park.  We went to Thurston Lava Tube first, and then took a 1-mile hike (there and back) to the Kilauea Iki crater overlook.  It overlooks a huge now-cooled lava lake that was the result of an eruption in 1959.  

Getting ready to go inside the Thurston Lava Tube

Overlooking Kilauea Iki - a giant lava lake that has since cooled but still steams.  Behind her you can see the new eruption.

After that we headed to the Visitor’s Center and caught a ranger-led tour through the rain forest.  The ranger was a high school girl and for being as young as she was she did a great job.  She was really young though.  We learned about the native and invasive plants that we saw along the way.  It was a 1.5-mile hike and, surprisingly to me, Drew did fine.  

Waiting for the tour to start

We were able to see lots of steam vents, earth cracks, and we went by the Sulphur Banks where sulphur deposits have colored the ground yellow and it reeks of eggs.  

A fiddlehead fern

Steam vent

Sulphur Banks

After the park we went to dinner at Kiawe Kitchen and the kids had some pasta and Ryan and I had pizza.  Amazing how exhausted you can feel at 530 in the evening – hope the jet lag clears soon.  Leaving early in the morning to head to Kona for kayaking and snorkeling.  Interested to see how the kids handle a 45-minute paddle to our open ocean snorkeling site!

A good local beer

The Hawaii 2012 Adventure Begins

The morning started with a panic attack as the cab that I had ordered to pick me up in the ER patient parking lot at Mercy was nowhere to be found 10 minutes after it was scheduled to be there.  The driver called and asked where I was and I told him the medical center and he said dispatch gave him the wrong address – the one for the Sisters of Mercy Convent on Geyer.  I tell him I will go through the hospital to get to the front entrance to make life easier.  Dispatch calls while I am on my way to tell me that my driver is there but can’t find me.  When I reach the front entrance he is still not there.  Turns out dispatch still had no idea what they were doing.  Driver finally made it and by the time I met Ryan and the kids at the airport they had boarding passes printed and the bags checked.  Left Lambert at 730 after eating some airport food.  I was post-call so I slept with my head nodding and bobbing for ¾ of the first leg of our flight to Phoenix – roughly a 4-hour flight.  In Phoenix we grabbed some pizza, even though it was only 1045 local time, which we ate on the next flight.  The kids begged me to sit next to them so I watched a movie with Drew and then dozed off again to be intermittently woken up to change the movie or get an I-touch or break up an argument. 

 Look at that enormous backpack!

Arrive in Kona at 230 (730 our time) with some very hungry kids and a plan to drive the 2 hours to Volcano with a stop at a grocery store along the way.   The airport in Kona is like a bunch of tiki huts connected with walkways and you descend the plane right onto the ground – no jet bridge.  The kids thought this was pretty cool.

Have been having regret over planning to stay all three nights in Volcano since it is a 2 hour drive back to Kona and our original plan was to drive back to Kona on Saturday for an afternoon snorkel trip and an evening Manta Ray snorkel and then drive back to Volcano to spend the night.  While we were leaving the airport we decided to eat the $148 we are paying for the house in Volcano and booked a Marriott in Kailua-Kona and called to change our snorkel tours to Sunday.  Adding to the pain of the day is the fact that GPS had us go North on 11 instead of South so we drove all the way around the island the long way!  It turned the 2 hours trip into a 2 ½ hour trip!  We showed up to Artist’s House in Volcano Village and it is a cute little retreat.  The caretaker is a very granola dude with long grey hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing burgundy velour sweats and flip flops.  We were with him for about 10-15 minutes and he managed to work in the word “brah” like 4 times carefully explaining that many people think it means “bro” but actually means “dude”.  He is originally from Michigan.  He showed us around a little (although we deferred the grand tour of the 3 acres and gardens) and when we told him what our plans were he acted like we were crazy for doing the tourist thing in Kona.  He has all these great little snorkel spots on the North Side by Hilo that he recommends (and they do sound really cool) but we’ve already booked our two snorkel things in Kona and they can’t be canceled. 

 Got Thai take-out for dinner and then drove to the Jagger Museum to see the glow from the new eruption at Halema’uma’u.  Amazing that this huge glowing crater was not here in 2005 when we were.  It started with an explosion on March 19, 2008.  Trevor is of course very intrigued with the whole volcano thing and I am looking forward to learning more with him tomorrow.  It is a little after 900 here.  I got the kids tucked in to bed at 845 and Ryan went to bed around the same time.

Check out that glow from the crater!

Last Day in Orlando 2011

Last Day In Orlando...


Today we went to Wonderworks and sprung for the whole package including The Outta Control Magic Comedy Dinner Show. We had been to a Wonderworks with Marchionnes on our trip the the Smokey Mountains two years ago and Trevor still talks about the "upside down" museum. It is a little like the Magic House but mostly for a slightly more mature audience. The kids still found cools things though and a good time was had by all.

The entire structure is supposed to look like it was picked up by a tornado or Bermuda Triangle thing and slammed down into the ground. Trevor was fascinated that there were plants upside down at the top...

The pictures are all out of order but at the end we did this amazing ropes/obstacle course suspended from the ceiling. You have to get all harnessed up and walk around up there. The kids were way braver than I would have been at that age - going on beams and steps and rope ladders with nothing to hold onto way up high above the room. I would have enjoyed it a little more but Trevor was pretty nervous to do some of the things. Ryan was with Drew and she was a trooper...

Our little astronauts. We got to do a 4D movie about being on a runaway roller coaster that was fun and Drew and I had a 3D underwater adventure in a little capsule as well that she really enjoyed.

Headless children...

We got a round of laser tag too. Drew didn't think it was much fun to be shot at but the rest of us enjoyed ourselves. Ryan kicked everyone's butt. However, for the record today I beat the entire family for holding my hand in water the temperature of the North Atlantic when the Titanic sank (40 seconds to Ryan's 9) and I also bested him at a contest where you have to relax your mind to move a ball towards a target. I think relaxing my mind more than Ryan's (or anyone elses' for that matter) is perhaps my greatest accomplishment to date...





We ate lunch at a Mexican place and then headed back to the hotel for a little pool time. There were supposed to be scattered T-storms but we lucked out. The wind was kicking again so we just hung out in the "warm tub" and mommy got a little sun and played with the kiddos.

The Magic Show was hosted by Brian Staron and had all you can eat pizza, salad, and beer - what more can you ask for. Ryan had to go up onstage and surrender a $20 (which he wrote his name on) that the magician eventually made appear in the center of an uncut lemon. Drew just wanted to bring the lemon home. Highlight of the evening is the magician's wife explaining how she's from our area - Dyersburg, Tennessee! Turns out it is a mere 3 hours from St. Louis just out of the bootheel of Missouri and that makes us practically neighbors! It was cute and charming that she thought of it that way - she misses home and felt like we were close enough I guess...

When we came out there was some random man with birds collecting money from people for taking kids pictures with his pets...

That's it from Orlando, we return home tomorrow. Next adventure will be in June....Aruba!

Magic Kingdom Part II

Drew and Ryan settled down for a nap when we got back to the room around 245 and Trevor and I headed for the lobby so he could work on a workbook and I could do the morning blog. At a little after 5 we ate at TGIFridays and then headed back to Magic Kingdom.

Waiting for the monorail

We knew there was a parade starting at 700 and we entered the park just in time to get a seat at the beginning of it - we have had incredible luck today. Here are some pictures from the parade...

After the parade we made our way to Tomorrowland for the Laugh Factory which was funny and they used one of Trevor's jokes (you text them in when you are waiting to go in). It was "What did the chicken say when he laid the square egg - ouch!" After that Trevor wanted to do the Stitch ride but Drew didn't so she and I headed toward Fantasyland and had a great view of the fireworks show but then got caught up in a horrible crowd trying to get across a bridge when it was done. Ryan and Trevor ended up getting over there at exactly the same time and we hit Pirates of the Carribbean and then finished up the evening with Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride. Drew was in exceptionally good spirits thanks to her nap and kept everyone in line for the tram to parking entertained with an adventure in which she was a wicked witch named Rose who battled me and turned me bad and then we battled robots together and eventually "defeated" Daddy (her word, not mine). Trevor was about out of his mind but we kept his brain busy with some math in the car until he fell asleep. We got them tucked in around 1100 tonight.

We have had a spectacular day - I think I'm turning into one of those weird in love with Disney people but it is just such a great vacation for us...

I'll finish with some videos but I'm going to bed while they upload because they take forever...

Magic Kingdom Part I

Today we had to get up very early to get ready for Magic Kingdom. Drew had been turned onto the idea of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique by a certain babysitter of ours (we've almost forgiven you for that slip Ally). I believe that the packages start at $50 for hair and make-up (which includes atrocious glitter in your hair), $55 if you include nails, and $189 for the whole shebang including fancy dress and tiara. I'm not willing to do that with my 4 year old (not to mention you would have to sit for your appointment during park hours - what kind of fun is that!) so I bought a curling iron and some gaudy blue and purple make-up and we picked out special nail polish and decided to do it ourselves and save the money and the time. That meant a 6am wakeup for Mommy so she could get ready and then spend time on Drew. Park opened at 800am this morning so we needed to leave the hotel by 700 to get to Ticket and Transportation Center to board the Monorail.

We left a little late because we had to grab breakfast to go in the lobby and when we got on the Monorail they had to take one out of service and re-route us along the hotel route. We have never been to MK on a Saturday and I was very nervous that the whole morning would be ruined. We missed the opening show at the gate and when we walked in it was like there was no one there! I've never seen the park so empty - it was eerie. We split up with Trevor and I headed to Space Mountain and Ryan and Drew to Fantasyland to ride the Dumbo Ride. Trevor and I got to ride Space Mountain twice with no wait and picked up a FastPass for later. Drew and Ryan rode Dumbo, the carousel, and Snow White and got a picture with Mary Poppins before Trevor and I rejoined. Trevor did get a pic with Stitch and autograph but it is on my phone and not the real camera.

Once in Fantasyland we hit Peter Pan's Flight and Its A Small World - both with very little wait and then Ryan and Trevor did Snow White (Drew was too scared to ride again) and then headed to use the Space Mountain Fastpass. Drew and I did the carousel, ran into her wicked stepsisters and step-mom and rode Whinnie the Pooh.

We met the guys coming off of Space Mountain and headed for Buzz Lightyear - another ride where you get to shoot at stuff while spinning around in a little car. The line doubled within 30 seconds of us getting in it - I felt like we were just ahead of the game hitting all the stuff just right. I am also proud to say that I won this time with 170,000 points to Ryan's 115,000. He is having trouble dealing with that and would have made us ride it again I think if the line hadn't been too long... After that we rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and then headed to the Haunted Mansion. Same thing there - line doubled in size right after us.

At this point Drew was asking to go back to the hotel and complaining of being hungry so it was time to split up again with the boys going to Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railway (rollercoaster) while we went in search of princesses.


We crossed into Adventureland and saw Jasmine who was just going on break and Ariel who was just going on break and finally wandered around to the Main Princess Viewing area (moved from Fantasyland due to construction). We waited only about 20 minutes and got to see Snow White, Belle, and Cinderella. Drew entertained everyone in line with her retelling of the Cinderella story (with me cast as the Cinderella in rags and she as the Fairy Godmother). When we got to the ball she took over as Cinderella because she was wearing the pretty dress and I got to be the prince. From there we headed right back to Ariel and were second in line to see her and Prince Eric after their break.

After this it was lunchtime and the natives were starting to get a little restless. Thanks to the quiet park for the first hour that we were there, we have done a lot on our list today so we decided to hit the castle show and then head out of the park to rest and come back later. It is getting crazy crowded and kind of hot and it is not worth it.

Here is the mas of humanity behind us. Off to the hotel for some R&R and we'll return after dinner for more fun and adventure...