Travels Back East

In early December, Bill had the crazy idea to send Jacqui, Gabbi and I back to CT. and MA. for a last minute visit after our trip to the Big Island. The fares were so reasonable, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. Unfortunately, Bill was unable to take time off for the whole time that we were going, and the fares for a shorter trip, were double the price, so he stayed back in Paradise. We missed him, but had a great time catching up with all of our family and friends back there!!! (I have no idea how the above got underlined, or how to change it...I'm not the most computer savy person in the world and no, "control u" did not work)
My Grandmother would kill me if she knew I was posting these pictures (and hopefully no one else in the family is taking any offense to it...), but we surprised her with our visit and her response was just fantastic!!! We caught her completely off guard!! It's funny, as I'm looking at these pictures, I'm remembering taking a picture of her about 25 years ago putting her nylons on, in the same attire. Some things never change!

Autumn and Tatum enjoying an ice cream cone.

Zizi and Tatum having some "Mima" time.
Uncle Gabe reading teaching the girls how to do magic tricks.

Nonni and Gabbi.

We had a great dinner at my mom's house the first night we arrived. As requested by Gabbi and Jacqui, Nonni made Pasta with her awesome sauce, artichokes, and green beans with "Papa's vinegar". Anyone who's ever had my mom's green beans with my Grandfather's vinegar, knows why we've all been missing that treat!! I still can't make them they way she does, even when I have the correct vinegar. Anyways, everyone came over; Donny, Carolyn, Olivia, Joseph, Zizi, Tom, Caylee, Autumn, Jeff, Tatum and of course my mom, Gabe and Gram as well. It was so great to be in that crazy house again. The dinner was so memorable for me, even though it was problably similar to the hundreds of others I've had there throughout the years. I think that being so far away, really makes you appreciate the ones who are not present everyday. It's so important for me for my kids to go back "home" and still feel like it's their home. I want them always to feel connected to my family and feel comfortable around them, even though they don't see them that often any more. From Donny's lound "HEY!!", when he walks in the door, to Tatum immitating him, to the squalks of Gabe's bird "Taco" on the kitchen table while we're eating, to my grandmother's not so happy outlook on life, to my mom's never-ending love and cooking for everyone, to Zizi' eternal smile.......I love you all, my crazy family!!!!

New Years Eve
For New Year's Eve, we went over our friends Andy, Molly, River, Sage and Dana's house for a great party. The Pasquale/Sackett crew was visiting from England for some time, so they decided to throw a party. So many other of our friends joined us there. We had a total of 14 or so kids sleeping over (and their parents)...it was quite a night. Per Molly's suggestion, we started celebrating midnight at 7 p.m. with England's New Year and went from there every hour celebrating various other countrys' midnights. It was a great way to get the kid's in bed before our midnight, without making them feel too cheated.

River and Gabbi


The ladies of the evening (although missing a few!)

Petra, Andy and myself.

The Gentlemen of the evening.

Hjordis, Jacqui and Sage, not skipping a beat!

More to come...

Captain Cook

Our final stop on our Hawai'i Island Christmas adventure was in Captain Cook just south of Kailua-Kona. On the trip from Kalopa to our hotel in Captain Cook, we saw a neat looking playground in Waimea that we stopped to check out. After about five minutes outside the car. Gabbi and Jacqui decided that it was a little too cold for playing outside... (it's all relative)

We stopped and hiked at the Puako petroglyphs. It was pretty amazing to see the figures that had been left behind by inhabitants from long ago. Unfortunately we left our camera behind.

We stayed at the Manago Hotel, which was a no frills, roof over your head type of place that worked just fine. The next day, we hiked down to Kealakekua Bay to snorkel. Jacqui and Gabbi did an awesome job on the 2 mile hike down to the Captain Cook monument and some beautiful snorkeling. The water was crystal clear and we saw incredible fish, corals, and sea stars!

Exploring Kealakekua Bay.


As you can see in the background, many people kayak across the bay to this awesome snorkeling spot. The hike was a little tough, but well worth it!


Taking a break after a snorkeling session.

On our final day we visited Pu'uhonua o honau'nau (the city of refuge). The history and native Hawaiian village that are on display were very interesting. We also spent some time exploring the tidepools there.

These figures are replicas of the originals. With the salt air, they last about 10 years.


Exploring the tidepools usually means finding cool things to hold like these pincushion urchins.



We say this honu relaxing in the calm of the tidepool area. Many people walked within about 20 feet of this one and didn't even notice. The shell and body color and shape blend so well with the rocks.

The red pencil urchins are really cool looking. We don't see them as often on O'ahu, so we especially enjoy finding them other places.


and of course, Jacqui and Gabbi completed their activities and becam Junior Rangers at Pu'uhonua o honaunau) and they can even say it...

Danielle and the girls dropped me off at the airport that afternoon for my trip back to O'ahu and they set off for the frigid northeast to visit family and friends.

Mele Kalikimaka

After our few days in Volcano (the town, not in the volcano...), we headed up the Hamakua Coast to Kalopa State Park. We stayed in a neat little cabin at the base of Mauna Kea near the town of Honoka'a. The cabins were well maintained duplex bunk rooms. We had half and Gretchen, Andre, and the kids had the other half. We all shared a common kitchen and eating area with one other cabin. There was a wonderful family from Puna that was staying in half of the other cabin. They had 3 girls and got along wonderfully with our gaggle of girls.

Making cookies in the mess hall.


Where there are trees there is always lots of climbing and plenty of time for showing off for the camera!


The paths near the cabins were pretty overgrown, but we had a blast finding our way and conquering all obstacles!

We spent the days hiking both in the state park and into Waipio Valley and its black sand beach.

Our second evening there was Christmas Eve. We held an impromptu caroling session in the "mess hall" that was really touching. It was nothing like being with family in MA and CT, but it was a neat way to spend the holiday since we are so far away.
Our caroling session.


Beautiful girls and beautiful voices.


Getting ready for the big man to show up...


Christmas morning surprises.


A yummy Christmas morning pancake breakfast to fuel up for our hike.

Christmas morning we awoke to find that santa had indeed found us. He left a note that most of Jacqui and Gabbi's presents would be waiting on Oahu when we returned. We all gathered in on half of the cabin and opened presents and had nice morning and followed it up with a hike in the afternoon.

Our destination is the far end of the black sand beach to the base of cliffs that you see in the distance.


Not one of your typical hiking signs... The hike into Waipio Valley takes place on a rough paved 4-wheel drive only road. It's very steep in places and provided a great workout! All of the kids performed fantastically with barely a complaint!!


The black sand beach was beautiful (we'll be sending some, Petra). We had heard that the water had a tendency to be rough here and it definitely wasn't all that inviting...


Waipio Valley is very secluded with a small population and a modest number of houses. At one time there was a large population here. Unfortunately the largest waterfall in the valley did not have water flowing over it on the day of our hike, but there were plenty of breathtaking views to take in.


We were treated to a rainbow as we started our hike back up.


And another one on the ride back to the cabin. This one was a just about full double rainbow.



The nights at the cabin were very peaceful. No outside noise, lots of stars, wind and rain howling on one night. Danielle, Gretchen, Andre, and I enjoyed some coffee and Kahlua on the porch as the kids were falling asleep.

A rainbow eucalyptus on the side of the access road into the park. They look and smell beautiful.


New friends and pals getting ready for the next adventure.

After 3 nights there, we parted ways...the Seashore-Botha clan headed to Waimea and we headed around the north part of the island to Captain Cook.

Catching up - December on Hawai'i Island

Aloha all!! It's time to catch up on a lot of goings on over the past month. This first post covers the first part of our trip to Hawai'i Island (aka the Big Island) over Christmas week. We flew from Honolulu to Kona, then drove to Volcano to meet up with our good friends the Seashore-Botha Clan (Andre, Gretchen, Talulah, Stella, and Hazel). They had gotten to the house a few days ahead of us.

It's a pretty long drive from Kona to Volcano (extremely long if you've become accustomed to the longest drive you could possibly take on Oahu of about an hour). Also, we stopped for groceries at a farmer's market and natural foods store and Safeway on the way...

We eventually made it and spent a wonderful 2 nights and the better part of 2 days, hiking the craters of Volcano National Park.

Hazel, Gabbi, Stella, Talulah, and Jacqui taking a break for a snack on an early hike.


Not very often that we have other adults around to snap picture of just the 2 of us! (That's Mauna Loa in the background)

Native Uluhe fern along the trail.

The big girls with Mauna Loa in the background (when measured from the base of the mountain, it's by far the largest mountain on earth, 13,000 feet above sea level and the base of the mountain keeps going to the sea floor.)

Jacqui and Talulah entering the Thurston Lava Tube.


Looking out from the inside of the lava tube. Lava tubes are formed during a volcanic eruption, when the lava on the top of the flow cools and hardens, then the lava below flows out and leaves an empty tube. Rare plants and insect live inside the tubes.
Jacqui inside the lava tube.

We went to see the Halema'uma'u crater and eruption. For about the past year, this vent has been spewing volcanic dust, sulphur, ash, etc. that forms the basis of the vog (volcanic fog) on O'ahu when we have Kona winds (winds from the south as opposed to our normal northeast tradewinds).
Hanging loose at Halema'uma'u.

The ohia lehua blossoms are just beautiful. Along the rim of Kilauea Iki (a crater on Kilauea volcano) we saw a lot of them and a ton of native forest birds, especially, i'iwi and apapane.


Hiking along the rim of Kilauea Iki (it even gets chilly in HI in December!)

Hiking through the floor of Kilauea Iki, the volcano had lots of bits of olivine. Smaller pieces would collect in cracks and crevices. It is a beautiful greenish yellow color.

Gabbi and Danielle enjoying the warmth of the crater. Gabbi had taken a pretty nasty spill running along the floor of the crater not long before this and was still recovering. She'll tell you falling on lava...not fun!

Hiking across the floor of Kilauea Iki.

After that we headed for Kalopa State Park with a stop at the farmers market in Hilo (more about our Kalopa stay in the next post). The farmer's market in Hilo is always great! The prices and variety can't be beat for the islands (it's not uncommon to find papayas at 6 for $1). We picked up some rambutans, longons, and a variety of vegetables to bring wit us for our next stay.
We caught sight of a rainbow on the way to Kalopa while we were stopped at a lookout.