Before we get to Hawaii we have a few things to go over.

First, how cute is this kid? Wearing polka dots to school for some sort of Dr. Seuss day

Grandma and Grandpa arrived a couple days before our trip

So did a massive amount of snow Monday night/Tuesday morning. Not cool!

Mason eagerly awaiting his grandparents waking up

Hawaii Day 1: Travel

We got up REALLY early to get flying to Hawaii

The scenery for a plane landing has never looked so good

The sight of palm trees is so welcoming

Stopping at a lookout on the drive to the hotel

It was REALLY windy

We tried a Dole Whip and it was delicious

Beautiful flowers

We drove toward the rainbow

This is the entrance to the Hotel (Westin Hapuna Beach)

It had such pretty views

The staff greeted us with a flower lei for Kim and a kukui nut lei for me.

We checked out the beach

And the sunset did not disappoint

We had a reception with some of our group that evening

Hawaii Day 2: Food, Lizards, and Sea Turtles

Kim enjoying some reading in the morning

I took the drone up but it was too windy to do much

My first acai bowl of the trip

Kim's avocado toast (or maybe it was a salad?)

There was some wind but the views were still incredible

The koi pond

This little beach is a short walk north the coast line from the hotel

It was fun exploring the lava coast line

There were lots of birds hanging around the resort

And lizards

Kim and I exploring

And then we snorkled

We were spoiled with multiple Hawaiian green sea turtles

Another beautiful sunset (although our manta ray snorkeling trip for that evening was cancelled because of weather)

View of the hotel from the beach at night

We had a fancy dinner at Manta

This dessert was AMAZING! It was a "Bombe Alaska," which was "Caramel Ice Cream, Macadamia Nut Crumble, and Lilikoi Syrup."

Hawaii Day 3: Views, Shopping, Lounging on the Beach, Cancelled Luau, Sunset Walk, and Amazing Food

The wind was gone the next morning and the drone finally got to soar

This is the area where we saw the turtles

Hapuna Beach

After some flying and hitting the gym we drove to Waikola to Queens Market for some breakfast and shopping.

This was the best acai bowl of the trip

We picked up lunch while we shopped so when we got back to the resort to hang out on the beach I had sushi for lunch

We got ready to go to a luau in Kona (45 minute drive) and when we got to our destination we were told the luau was cancelled because of the weather (there was some rain during our drive but it was over by the time we arrived at the luau). So another 45 minute drive back to the hotel :(

The weather was great at the hotel

Kim and I walked along the beach at sunset and got another incredible sunset

We had dinner that evening at the resort (Meridia) and it was delicious

Kim had rack of lamb (pictured) and I had rib eye (not pictured)

Hawaii Day 4: Beach, Whales, Snorkeling, and Manta Rays

It was not hard waking up to this view in the morning

I had a breakfast meeting with the shareholders/partners and when we were done I joined Kim for her late breakfast

Another view of the koi pond. Those floating flowers are pretty.

Then we beached

And the whales put on quite a show

I took some artistic liberty with this one but this is the same whale jumping out of the water (multiple frames put together to show the movement)

Lots of whale tail

It that a side stroke?

What a show

We did some more snorkeling (this video is clips from both Saturday and early morning Sunday). We weren't as lucky as the first time

We had lots of fun hanging out on the beach

Then we had dinner at the poolside grill

Then it was back to Kona to snorkel with manta rays. We even saw Henry Street!

Wet suits on

Another beautiful sunset as we got ready to go out on the water

Unfortunately my GoPro decided to stop working properly on this trip. I noticed it snorkeling earlier that day. Between the power button being stuck in the on position and it not being completely waterproof anymore, it didn't work super well for the rest of the trip. However, I was still able to use it in a limited fashion.

Here are some still images (captured from videos) of the manta rays

We hung on to big floating platforms with lights shining down into the water. The lights attract the plankton and the plankton attract the manta rays (and the manta rays attract the people)

Hawaii Day 5: Dark Sand Beach, Temple, Kona, Dolphins, and Another Beautiful Sunset

Sunday morning our time at the Westin came to an end

It was such a calm morning

On the way to our drive to Kona we stopped at what was supposed to be a black sand beach. The sand was dark, but not as black as we would see later in the trip

Coconuts

More beautiful flowers

Henry Street again

We made a stop at the Kona temple

After that we got to our condo and messed it all up

Then we went down to the pool and watched some dolphins in the distance

And another great sunset

Enjoying the sunset

We then went to Kona and walked around. I needed a little break.

There were some really cool trees

And we got some AMAZING shave ice

Hawaii Day 6: Two Step Beach, Magic Sand Beach, Boogie Boarding, and Kona

Monday morning we were off to Two Step Beach to do some snorkeling

No turtle or dolphins (I was hoping to see both) but it was still fun and we saw lots of fish (the failing GoPro didn't allow me to document it all)

After that I dropped Kim off at Magic Sands Beach (close to our condo) while I working on my trial brief for a trial that starts tomorrow

When I was done I joined her and we relaxed for a bit and then did some boogie boarding

There were some really big waves and we had a blast

We went back into Kona for dinner and saw more of these huge trees

A simple dinner was a nice change

Really?

Hawaii Day 7: South Point, Panalu'u Black Sand Beach, and Volcano National Park

The next day was a road trip to the southern tip of the island, which also happens to be the southern-most point of the USA

The views were beautiful

The beaches were all broken coral

Can you see the snow on that mountain?

More shave ice

We stopped at this bakery

We got some malasadas, basically donuts but with some delicious tropical flavors

Then we went to Panalu'u Black Sand Beach

The beach is made of volcanic black sand and was really impressive

We saw this sea turtle on the beach

There were LOTS of sea turtles in the water

This guy was chopping up coconuts

Even though it was really windy I couldn't pass up an opportunity to snorkel with the turtles

The snorkeling was so good I convinced Kim to go in after me

After that it was off to Volcano National Park. We gained 3-4,000 feet of elevation and lost about 30 degrees of warmth and sunshine (why did we do that?)

It was cloudy, cold, windy, and rainy...

We saw lots of steam coming from the ground

And the crater wase not super visible or active

After that we did a short walk in what felt like a rain forest

We went into a lava tube (which is a long cave left after lava flows and cools off from the outside and leave a hollow tube when the lava is done flowing)