Hawai'i - The Big Island

 We just returned from a wonderful week on The Big Island of Hawai'i.

 Caught you mid-hop.

 Lapakahi State Historical Park

 Off to see some waterfalls.  The white line in the picture is our first glimpse, but we'll get much closer!

 Lots of pictures of the lush vegetation.  What can I say?  I live in a desert.

 Kahuna Falls - 300 ft. cascading waterfall.  This one was hard to see and we couldn't get very close, which is why you are frowning.  In the picture you can barely see a trace of it over your shoulder.

 'Akaka Falls - 442 ft., the state's highest free-falling waterfall, 2x the height of Niagara Falls.

 Rainbow Falls - 80 ft.

 View from the top of the waterfall.

 I actually did see the slightest hint of a rainbow from this vantage point, but neither your or Dad were able to spot it.  I tried to capture it in a picture but it's too hard to tell.

 I became infatuated with this serene, wooded area near the top of the falls.  I spent a little too long clambering around on the tree roots trying to get as many photos as I could.  Unfortunately, I also got 11 mosquito bites in the process.

 Quick trip to the Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens.  Overall we were rather unimpressed with this small zoo and quite hungry for lunch so we didn't make it a long visit.

 Volcanoes National Park.  Due to volcanic activity and lava flows occurring earlier this year, much of the park is still closed.  But we did visit the Visitor's Center and a ranger made a few suggestions of sites we could see while we were there.  We started with a short hike to see Sulphur Banks and Steam Vents.

 This was as close as we were able to get to Kīlauea Caldera, which is where visitors could view a lava lake until earlier this year.

 Kīlauea Iki Crater

 Puhimau Crater, also called the Echo Crater.

 We were the only people at this stop and you were having a lot of fun screaming into the crater so we stayed for quite a while.  We found it interesting that your voice echoed back great, but our voices were harder to hear.

 You can't really hear the echo in the video, but I promise, it was there.

 1974 lava near Laumanu Crater.  Here we were able to get out and walk around in the lava.

 We even found a little lava cave.

 I was fascinated by the lava.

 Hawai'i is so much bigger than the other islands that it made our stay a little more of a challenge.  We usually like to do a lot of exploring but it took so long to get to a lot of places that we really only spent one day really exploring the island.

 First time snorkeling, for all 3 of us!  It was really fun and you asked to go again every single day.

 You were excited that you and Dad found where the sidewalk ends at the edge of the hotel property.  I was getting ready for conference meetings, so you made me a treasure map and we went the next day to follow the map to the end.

 Here is the map.

 It was totally worth it because here was the view when we got there.

 This is your X in the sand, because X marks the spot.  I was a little confused as to whether you had buried something there, but no, you just wanted to make an X, I guess because it was on your map.

 Drawing contest, at your insistence.

 While I was working you and Dad found a new beach and took a ride on a glass bottom boat.  You were excited to tell me that you even saw a sea turtle!

 Pololu Valley Lookout

 Waiting for the hula show.

 They invited kids to come up and learn the hula.  It's hard to see but you are in the near left of the picture below, wearing a red and white shirt.

 Shave ice!

 We were actually searching for a wonderful beach I was told of, but instead we just enjoyed this nice walk at nearby Mauna Lani Resort.

 And we ended up back at the beach where you took your boat ride.

 Daddy teaching you to skip stones.

 Your new cat, Gloria.

 Departure day.  I promised you one more snorkeling adventure and our flight wasn't until late in the day, so it seemed like a good way to close out the trip.

 We were so lucky we even saw a sea turtle.  It was just hanging out on the ocean floor so we just stayed in one place watching it for awhile, but it eventually decided it was time to move and started swimming up and straight at you.  You didn't like that and took off toward the beach.  It was a perfect close to a great trip.