Juddsters: July 2011

We had such a great week in Hawaii. We began our adventure on the big island. We stayed at the King's Land Resort in Waikaloa. When we first arrived in Waikaloa, Hannah was surprised that it was so barren. She asked where all the flowers were. All we could see was lava rock. That's just the way things are there. However, the resort had plenty of flowers and trees and greenery so Hannah was happy! All of the children were especially happy to see the water slides!!

Guess Who?..........

It's Ben!!

We also spent time on the island of Oahu. Our favorite place in Oahu is The Polynesian Cultural Center. We had a blast!!!

Learning how to make fire.....

it is not as easy as it may look, but Russ was successful in creating smoke.....and where there is smoke... there is FIRE!!

Haley had fun trying!

Shawna had a good time showing off her Poi Ball skills

We all played a fun stick game

Russ was the big winner in this game

Then we all played another stick game and everyone did well.

Russ and Ben learned a Tahitian dance

Emily was chosen to model a Tahitian wrap

and then she got to dance for the crowd!!!

Our new Tahitian friends!

We were treated to a 7 course meal for dinner in the most beautiful spot! We totally enjoyed the crab legs, and all of the other food.

We had a fabulous boat ride/snorkel experience on the Kona coast. The water was so clear.

We toured a bunch of sea caves

Everyone got their gear on and explored the ocean.

We saw so many beautiful fish, a few sea turtles and lots of interesting coral.

On our way back to the dock we spotted a huge pod of dolphins. They were fun to watch.

We drove to Hilo one day. This side of the big island is very different from the Kona side. The Hilo side is the rain forest side. We visited a few waterfalls.

We also came across this awesome tree. It was kind of spooky. We hiked a little ways through this jungle and came to a secluded water hole by the river that fed into the above pictured waterfall.

Our main reason for coming to Hilo was to go zip lining. We chose this place because of all the waterfalls. It is an extreme zip line course. There are 9 lines that you ride, one of them lasting a half a mile. At times we were 260 ft. above the ground. It was quite an adventure!!!

The scenery was gorgeous!

There goes Hannah.....

Emily trying the upside down, no hands ride.....

Ben had a great time once he got off the platform....

Even Shawna was brave enough to ride upside down!

Haley had no fear!!!

We loved it!!!

We spent a fun afternoon at Hapuna State Park. We had never seen such clear water at a beach before, and the sand was so soft and clean!!

Russ is the ultimate sand castle builder!

We put some goggles on and swam out about 15 feet to a reef where we could see fish. Russ spotted a turtle feeding on algae.

Shawna guarded the castle

The girls enjoyed bodysurfing.

Before we went to Sea Life Park we had some time before it opened, so we stopped at a beach across the street. There were some tide pools to explore where we found hermit crabs and also big rock crabs.

We had fun exploring, but the fun came to an end when we got back to the car to find that it had been broken into. We had only been on the beach for 45 minutes, but it was enough time for someone to break the window of the rental car and take two backpacks and a duffle bag. We had just flown in to Oahu and had not yet checked into our hotel, so all of our stuff was in the car. Luckily, the thief didn't take more than he did. But Haley and Hannah were sad because their backpacks were taken. The duffle bag had all of Russ and Ben's clothes. The police came, and then Russ took that car back and got a new rental car while we went to Sea Life Park. He was able to join us there later.

We had fun at Sea Life Park watching the sea lion show, feeding the sea turtles, learning about penguins and lots of other things...but the highlight of the day came when we rode the dolphin!!!