Friday, October 28

hawaii: kona

we got to kona late.  
after getting the 30 bags and 4 rentals (for 13 people remember), we took off for our hotel.  being unfamiliar with the highway and not paying attention to signage, we managed to get a speeding ticket in a construction zone.  rad.  

we stayed at the waikoloa beach resort, another marriott resort.  it was really beautiful - the architecture and design was quite clean and angular.  
the hotel restaurant greeted us and made us all dinner just as they were closing.  we felt well taken care of.

while it was great to get away from the kids, we definitely missed them.  i was kind of surprised to hear weston talk about how much fun he would have been having with kate in the kid pools at the resorts.  we tried to do a bit of this every afternoon.
kate loved to skype

although most of our group had a harder time adjusting to the time zone differences and found themselves waking up at 5 or 6am each day, we managed to sleep until about 11 without any problems.  
consequently, this is what spending time in our room looked like.

did you forget this was a work trip for the boys?  me too...
they had to spend a couple of days working
and don't you wish this is what you got to wear to work?
not to mention the office in which you got to work?
we ate and ate and ate again!
weston's dinner at the four seasons
dessert: real live bon bons
kona coffee ice cream shake - amazing (and no espresso!)

kona had the best sunsets!  maybe it was just the weather and elements, but i was much more impressed with them here... different side of the islands perhaps?
sunset from our balcony
weston's iphone postcard of same sunset - those birds!!
relaxing before heading out for dinner


we spent a day at the beach for more snorkeling towards the end of the trip.  
the bay on kauai made for such a different experience because you weren't walking out from  your beach into the water.  
you tied your kayak to the nearest tree and waded out over rock to get deep enough to start snorkeling.  
on this beach in kona, it was just that.  you walked right out into the water from the shore.  
i know - you're thinking "why in the world is she explaining this to me as if i'm some idiot?"  
the reason is because walking out from the beach completely freaked me out.  
i love the beach, i love spending time in the water - in fact, i don't lay out, i'd much rather be in the water than on the shore.  
but knowing what was right below my feet all the time i'm playing in said water?  
i was completely invading their world and that thought just freaked me out.  
i didn't let this keep me from snorkeling, but let me  just say it wasn't nearly as fun or relaxing as before.

one more thing about this beach - apparently (and we didn't find this out until the next morning when we were going to go back) for several days before we went, and now the day after, the beach was closed for great white shark sightings!  
and the even crazier part is, according to shane (weston's co-worker who is slightly obsessed with sharks), these sharks love feasting on sea turtles...
can anyone back that up?  either way, totally scary.

anyway

the beach was gorgeous
ironically enough, there i am sitting on the sand in white, just to the left of that person standing...
 
the water was gorgeous
we saw a handful of turtles - feet from you, it was incredible!

we saw fields and fields of lava - it was surreal
definitely made you feel like you were on a different planet
and, strangely enough, this part of kona actually felt like home in sevier county
anyone else see a similarity?

on our last full night, weston and i checked out a bit of the resort's luau while waiting to head out for dinner.
weston - thrilled at having his picture taken
me

and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye again.
kona, you were an amazing adventure island!
i loved every minute i got to spend on the big island - it's amazing how different each place was...
but i suppose that's how it is, no matter where you travel.

headed out to another airport
kona
lax
slc - yep, we came home to rain
i suppose it's only fair :)

and on our last night in hawaii, weston received word that he was catching a flight to indiana a couple hours after landing in slc.  
isn't he just the epitome of happiness?

oh well, more time for him to do more of 
this
and this
and this...




*lucky enough, there was serious miscommunication with progress on the job he was going out to shoot, so after a couple hours in the airport, he was in a taxi on his way home to all three of his girls.

Wednesday, October 26

hawaii: snorkeling

on one of the "free" days the boys had in kona, a few of us went over to kealakekua bay where the captain cook monument is.  we rented kayaks and made our way over to the monument.  the water was beautiful - it was this weird combination of crystal clear and deepest blue.  it was just gorgeous.  i loved it.  we made our way to the monument, which was about a mile or two so it took us a good 45 minutes or so.  i can't say enough - this was my favorite thing we did in hawaii - the whole day was so great!

the view
 
kayaking was so fun!


weston wasn't much a fan of snorkeling, so he swam over to the monument while i took full advantage of the time we had.
we had this ghetto little disposable waterproof camera, but the photos are decent enough.
this was hands down my favorite thing!  it was so much fun!

i'll save you the commentary of "here is the coral, here are the fish, etc."

enjoy my amateur photos :)

a la finding nemo: the drop off
when i tried getting the film out, i didn't have it rolled up all the way, 
so i wondered if any of the photos would turn out.  
there was definitely some light leak (the orange in these last few), but not so bad...
there were so many fish, and so many different kinds of fish.
normally i don't love the idea of being in "their" world, totally invading.
but it was just magical - i would do it again in a heartbeat!
underwater self-portrait
weston and me before we saddled back up in the kayak to head back.  doesn't he look thrilled?

Monday, October 24

hawaii: kauai

weston took all the photos.  most will be from his iphone, but there are some from an actual camera ;)

hope you don't mind the commentary!
 
 boarding in SLC

in flight travel

 the in-headrest monitor (weston watched the map, i watched just go with it)

 we landed in honolulu for a couple hours, ate lunch in the airport, saw a smidge of oahu ;)



weston spent most of his time doing this,

and this,
and this,
 
and some more of this.


we boarded our next plane and left oahu

goodbye oahu, where i have somewhat of a small family history...
more airplane window shots... get ready there will be a few of these throughout

lush, green kauai
runway

runway


we got our rentals and made our way to the resort
 
kauai marriot

 resort beach - reminds me of mission bay a bit

lobby coy - swimming rats as weston likes to think of them

 resort chickens - this guy's color was gorgeous!


every day was spent like this - heaven, i tell you!


on our second or third day, we all hopped in the cars and took a drive around our half of the island down to princeville, taking in the gorgeous views and lush green.
the variety is unbelievable!
 one of the many one-way bridges


 we were told (kurt) this is the beach where the girl lost her arm in the shark attack.
waimea i believe?

weston and his co-workers are all on instagram and it was a race this afternoon to see, not only who could instagram each stop first,
but to see who could come up with the most original shots.
i might be biased, but i like to think my husband won every time ;)
 a cave on the way into princeville

 it was so deep and so tall as you can see from the people in the last shot
 more scenery
 
 hawaiian palms




we had dinner on our way back at dolphin.  weston thought he was funny (every time) when he joked about ordering the dolphin, he couldn't wait to try the dolphin, etc.
 the view just outside dolphin's doors

 
plumerias




we ate a few times at duke's at the resort.  we tried the hula pie, but my favorite thing to order was the lava flow - delish and i still miss them!
 
lunch at duke's



weston and i took a car one of the last afternoon's in kauai and drove around the island for a bit.

he photographed everything in sight until it started raining.
 
 isn't kauai so gorgeous?
 waterfall
 more water - look at all those shades of green!
 our drive back.  when we got there, it had mostly let up but we ran out to the beach and swam with the rain as long as it lasted.
 on our way to dinner
 last afternoon in kauai before flying out
 i miss being there - definitely my favorite island so far!
 i never get tired of the ocean, do you?
more palms

my hair looked like this for the majority of the trip, but whatever works, right?


leaving kauai behind... it was magical.  it really was...

on our way to the big island to see what kona has to offer!!!