Spring Break 2010-Hawaii!!!!

Aloha!!!
We've been back for almost a week and I still can't keep thinking of our AWESOME adventure to Hawaii!!!! It was everything I'd imagined (and then some...details to follow!). We went on a FABULOUS trip to the big island with Geoff and Robin...they finally decided to let us in on their getaway!! :)
MAHALO to them for sharing!

We got up bright and early on Easter Sunday and got on an airplane. I think I can sum the airplane adventure up for Annalise in two words. HATE IT. Mark believes our air travel aged me a week or so. True. It was not fun. Luckily they serve Mai Tais on the airplane. It dulled my pain....too bad for Annalise it couldn't help her. Seriously...we were THOSE people on the plane. Avery did AWESOME. She sat between Auntie Robin and Uncle Geoff who had ANYTHING she could possibly want to do...including learning how to play some super fun games on Auntie Robin's iPhone. :) One bit of respite came for Annalise in the form of some Bunny fruit snacks. She gobbled up both of her bags and we saved Avery's two for the trip home. Good thing we did! That spared us about a half hour of screaming.

There was a bit of a delay when we landed in Kona. We had no luggage or car seats. The girls were sure troopers when we had to wait for the next plane to arrive an hour and a half later!

You can see the look on Annalise's face...she was DONE!!!! Lo and Behold...they showed up and we were off to the condo!!! Loved the mini-van....Hula Bug Muncher (our mascot) was mounted and ready to go.

Our condo was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you're so inclined...you can take the virtual tour at www.koleavacations.com (it's the Ocean Breeze suite).

 This was the view from the lanai.....

The pool was to die for and the beach was just a couple of blocks away. Avery's favorite part of the whole trip was the pool! Just being able to swim a couple of times a day for her was heaven!!!!

Avery's low point (and the rest of ours) came on Monday night when she woke up crying every 30 minutes. Sore throat, snotty, can't sleep. By Tuesday she had quite the fever so we got her in to the doc as soon as we could. Everything you hear about Hawaiian hospitality is ABSOLUTELY true!!! In every interaction with people we had in the medical center, people were pleasant, kind and helpful. Seriously...I wondered if we were still in the U.S. Turns out she had strep throat. Poor thing. We got her some antibiotics and within 24 hours she was back to normal.

Things started turning around once Avery had seen the doctor.  She even LOST ANOTHER TOOTH!!!  Did you know that there is a Hawaiian tooth fairy, too?!?!?!

The rest of the trip continued to get better. The snorkeling was fantastic...Mark and Geoff ventured waaaaayyyyyy out and said it was like swimming in an aquarium! How cool is that???? Robin and I were a little less adventurous but still enjoyed our time snorkeling!!! Even though we didn't venture too far off the shoreline....we still had the honor of swimming with the sea turtles!!!  Once I had to stop swimming for fear I'd run one over! :)  So cool!!! They would just come up on our beach to chill.

Turns out there are lots of worms at our condo.  Each morning we would wake up and Annalise would be on worm patrol.  They'd crawl in when we had the lanai doors open and wait to be rescued in the morning.  She wasn't always so gentle with them....but was ALWAYS concerned about where they were and that they make it back outside with their "wormie" friends.  Ewwwww.

The grown-ups each took a day and went golfing at the Waikoloa Beach Course.  A couple of times Robin and I had to just stop golfing and take pictures of the course.  Wow!!!!!!

We went to a luau at the Mariott next to our condo. So fun!!!! The girls LOVED the music and dancing. (The Mai Tais were pretty tasty, too.)

There were lots of fun things to see at the Hilton which was on the other side of the condos. What an amazing place!!! We went to lunch for Dim Sum...and just look at the view while we were eating.

Another highlight of the trip came when the Nelson's shared their favorite dinner spot with us...Kamuela Provision Company (KPC). The restaurant overlooks the ocean and we had the best table in the place. The sunset was fabulous and the food was delicious. We were a little nervous about going to such a nice place with the girls...but I seriously think this was where they behaved and ate the best! :) They know a good thing when they see it!

I could go on and on....this was seriously the best vacation I have ever been on. To experience Hawaii for the first time together with the girls was pretty neat. We had such fun with Geoff and Robin and we'll be saving our pennies to be able to go back again!! :)