Hawaii 2016 Part 1

Zach and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on November 5, 2015. We also celebrated 10 years of no vacation without kids. We certainly deserved to spend time with just the two of us so we booked a trip to Hawaii for April. Seven days and nights on the Big Island of Hawaii was just what we needed. It happens that Zach's Dad also lives there so we decided to stay with him for half the trip and then a resort on the other side of the island for the second half of the trip.

 We took the red eye to Hawaii and were pretty happy to be flying sans children.

 Five minutes after we left the Hilo, HI airport I had to get out of the car, I couldn't believe how green everything was, it looked like a jungle and the air was amazing!

 First thing we did was drive straight to Rainbow Falls. I am not exaggerating when I say just how excited Zach was to be back on the Big Island and especially excited to show me around.

 Random bridge that Zach said he jumped off of as a kid. This guy was crazy!

 We drove to where the lava from the most recent volcano eruption crossed over the road and stopped just short of one very lucky guy's house. It was pretty cool. Lava rock is everywhere on the island.

 Lava tube or tree park, I don't remember the name but it is where the lava climbs up the tree and the tree burns inside and leaves the lava upright in the shape of the tree. Again, pretty cool.

 No pretty beaches on the Hilo side of the island. Just lots of lava rock and pounding waves. Sure was beautiful!

 

 Day three still in Hilo was super rainy. We tried to go see Akaka Falls but it was so foggy we could hardly see it. It was pretty but the guys got soaked. I decided that we needed to go find some clear skies and so we headed to Kona for the rest of the day.

 This picture is the best we could get of Akaka Falls.

 The sunshine felt great after three rainy days. Zach and his Dad had fun swimming in the ocean and I had fun soaking up the sun. I did go in the water for a bit, it was nothing like swimming in the freezing California Pacific waters, it was warm and clear.

 The Sunset was stunning, the weather perfect. A lovely ending to a busy day.

 It really was nice to see Zach and his Dad together. I know it meant the world to Zach that he was able to spend so much time with his Dad on this trip.