Part 1: Hale Nani Loa and our Big Island Adventure

The home we rented translates as "House by the Sea" in Hawaiian.

It was hard to tell where the pool ended and the ocean began and we never tired of the view and serenity of this beautiful home...I will add more house pictures on the next post.

Every night gave way to a unique sunset...like this night was the "swirly" night as Matt has dubbed it.

And this night was the "classic" ocean sunset...

We didn't do as much hiking as we would have liked but this Pololu Valley hike was lovely. My Uncle Darrel (Mom's brother), Aunt Annie and the twins, Gianni and Dani, joined us for the vacation.

We are in a hiking dilemma right now. Mason is too heavy for our pack and can hike a good portion himself...BUT when he tires so do our backs (well mostly Matt's back!)

My adorable parents

After we trekked down the 1000-ft elevation change we were greeted by an awesome black sand beach with huge swings in the nearby woods! 

We would venture out during the days and get back to the house around 3 to enjoy the kids favorite part....The pool!

Mason was a prune, spending half of his Hawaii trip in the water.

A fast friendship was formed between Keegan and the twins. It was really cute to watch them buddy around. Keegan spent almost every night over with the twins!

While Mason and Cormic spent most of their time trying to do what the older kids did. After my Dad showed them how to "cannon ball" and "can-opener" into the water it became a non-stop activity.

I also have to say after ten days in a pool with five kids, Thank God for Chlorine!

The Armstead family!

A few days into our trip we took the VERY long car ride south to Volcano National Park. The road was curvy and with four kids in the car, I was a little frazzled when we finally arrived. Oh and Mason threw up all over me, I of course had a change of clothes for him and not myself:) Poor dude gets car sick!

The Park is HUGE and we ventured down to the ocean area. There was no activity going on while we were down there but this sign reassured me that we need not stay long....

but since we were there why not risk our families lives for a quick photo op!

About a half hour after we returned to the vistor center we heard they had closed the road we were just on because of lava flow....thank you god!

I think the Park could be really awesome if you had the time to hike in...i.e. no young kids. The geology nerd in me found the lava fields intriguing...I also thought that amongst the barren lava fields such beauty would spring up.

Of course some of the best memories on family trips are the simple moments! Like stopping in town to eat homemade ice cream on the ocean...

and checking out the local farmer's markets

or passenger window snap shots because your husband won't pull over for you to take a photo of the cute seaside church!

I have officially traveled to all the major Hawaiian islands and I have to say the "Big Island" is the most cultural of the islands.

A deep pride lives amongst the people and their history and pride runs deep!

My favorite part about traveling is getting off the beaten path and seeing how the local people live

Even Mason got into it!

Another part about traveling is the adventure...This is from the lookout at Waipio Valley.

You can drive a one-way cliff down to the huge valley...we didn't do it...but that is a story for another post!

Instead we headed back into rainy Waimea for some Italian food (didn't you know the Hawaiians are famous for it:) and Park time. This park was huge and built of all wood. Very impressive.

Most nights we cooked at the house, each couple taking a turn. If you were at my wedding you know I have a thing for grilled pineapple. So Matt appeased me again by grilling some!

We spent a lot of time just "being" and "enjoying"

No makeup or blow dryers, just laughter and cuddle time!

sharing experiences for the first time with our Mason

It truly is a trip we will never forget.

And the best part is the reason we were there.....