Thursday, September 3, 2009

Aloha Kona, Hawaii

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Our 7 day vacation in Kona, Hawaii was fabulous for the following reasons:

  • The weather was perfect, the average temperature was around 76 every day
  • We thoroughly enjoyed the company of the Auger family, relaxed and easygoing folks
  • The landscape of Hawaii is breathtaking, stunning and beautiful
However, touristing with a 2 year old i.e. missing routine naps & meal times is not conducive to this age group but what a trooper he was! You'll see how he coped later in the pictures. That being said, we had a great time and have a ton of pictures to share. Without further ado...

[ After Dinner Walk by the Beach ]

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[ Grocery Sticker Shock ]

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[ Hanging Loose, White Sandy Beach, Clear Waters ]

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[ Black Sand Beach ]

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Throwing black lava rocks...
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Reflective moment for Brian, pictured in the right hand corner...
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Reflective moment over, now hamming it up and living large!Photobucket

I took 64 pictures to finally get this one picture of water crashing on the rocks by the Augers...
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Jaime took 3 pictures to capture the same for us...good job Jaime.
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[ Volcano Attraction ]
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Checking it out close range...
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Lava flow creates 'Lava Tubes' or caves, very interesting and very, very scary dark!
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Holding up the ceiling of the cave so everyone can safely escape...just kidding!
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Much to my surprise and delight, the hike down to the volcano crater was very tropical.Photobucket

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A literal interpretation of elephant ears...
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( Video of us hiking inside the volcano crater )


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At the end of the hike...
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Why isn't Nathan in the picture above? Poor kid fell asleep again!
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[ Traditional Luau ]

Real flower leis...which cost $6...the very reason you don't see one around my neck!
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Dinner is served...roasted pig, head and tail still attached...
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Fire Dancer i.e. PyroPhotobucket

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Hula Girls ...
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[ Snorkeling ]

A boogie board with a view finder so Nathan could look under water and see the fish, very cool.Photobucket

Taking pictures underwater - using a DryPak camera bag - that has air in it...is a bit challenging.
Here's Jaime...
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Greg...
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Sara...
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Me...not underwater...just hanging loose...
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Did I mention we missed routine nap times? So then something like this happens. Nathan fell asleep on his boogie board out in the middle of the ocean!
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[ Scandanavian Shave Ice ] Not Shaved but Shave - that's how they say it.

Sara with a Small...
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Me with a Medium...
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Brian with a Large...
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Body Board Surfing Videos
Just about the most fun I've ever had in the water...convinced me I could easily be a surfer girl.

Video of me, I'm in the brown/teal swimsuit, just a little to the left from the center of the video...that's me giggling...it was so much fun...


Video of Greg, just to the right of Randi who is standing on the beach...


That's it, Mahalo!