Hawaii Misc.

Arthur was very excited to see all the airplanes on our way to Hawaii.

Walking along the King's Highway, near our condo, and checking out the petroglyphs.

Ready to go home - 10 PM flight.  Arthur slept on the floor of the plane.

This video is clips of all the different types of scenery we saw while driving around the whole island.

North Island and Mauna Kea Observatory

We drove around the northern side of the Big Island on Friday.  This is the viewpoint for Waipi'o Valley.

More delicious malasadas or Portuguese donuts.

I missed out on the shaved ice - Arthur was asleep in the McDonald's parking lot.

We cut across the island on our way back to the condo and stopped at the Mauna Kea information center.  We were hoping to use the solar telescope, but the whole mountain was shrouded in mist.

Hawaii: 'Akaka Falls

Let's pretend we remember this fun, short hike in the rainforest, and enjoying the beautiful waterfall, instead of fighting over binoculars and refusing to do anything besides sit on the bench.

Hawaii: Rainbow Falls

Rainbow Falls was amazing. I wished we'd planned better and stayed longer.  It was right in the middle of Hilo but felt so natural and awesome.

The kids climbed high into the banyan trees. 

We all played in the pools at the top of the falls.

The whole thing was very fun and magical.

Hawaiian Helicopter Ride

John, Maggie and Dalton got to go on a helicopter ride! They flew over the volcanic crater and got to see the lava, and also got to see flowing lava in the ocean.

While they were on the helicopter ride, I took the little kids to the zoo.  It was free, and so cool! We saw a white tiger, ant eaters etc.

And we went to the macadamia nut factory. Which was a little disappointing. 

South Island and Volcanoes National Park

We drove around the south of the Big Island. The scenery was amazing. We loved the bread at this bakery.

Stopped at the black sand beach.  Unfortunately, no sea turtles, but the sand was so cool.

And then Volcanoes National Park.  We checked out the crater.

And hiked inside a lava tube!

And went to see some more steam vents.

Steamy!