Autumn & Kalina

The next part of our adventure was to fly to Kona.  This island was just us 4, and instead of a hotel we stayed in a condo Mom rented in Waikoloa.  It was really nice and Autumn and I got to have our own room.  The best part was the next building over was the pool club.

The first night we went down and checked out the pool.  There was a covered area to relax at and a little restaurant too.

This was the view from our lanai.

On Saturday, after our first trip to the pool we sat on the bench outside our door and took some pictures.

This one came out half way decent!

Daddy come and take a picture too.

We had very lazy days on this island.  We didn’t do alot.  Most days we went to the beach or the pool.  On Sunday we took Dad to Mauna Lani golf course and went to find a place to play.  This beach was more pebbles than sand, but we had fun anyway.  Plus, the sand doesn’t go in your pants if it’s pebbles!

On Monday we did our sun time at the pool.  Going outside is quite a feat for Mom and Dad.  They have to get 2 swim diapers, 2 swimsuits (the right ones on the right kids), toys, towels, snacks, shoes, and sunscreen on to get out the door.  Here we are sitting patiently waiting to go, or maybe I’m gonna open the door and go myself?!

See my Little Mermaid swimsuit?  You can wear it either way

Autumn, do you have the buckets?

Um, I don’t want the one with a booger in it.

Mom, come open the gate!

After the pool Dad headed out to the Beach Course at Waikoloa.  Mom said he had a surprise for us.  When Dad came around to the holes right by our place, we went out to play with him!  We even got to ride in the golf cart!

Here Daddy, we’ll hold the flag so it isn’t in the way of the hole.

Daddy, why didn’t the ball go in the hole?

This is the next tee box.  Can you see us in the back of it?

This is a lot harder with Daddy sized clubs!

Try again Autumn.

Let’s just go and help Dad again.

Whew, all the swimming and golf can really wear a girl out!

See, I got to sleep in my very own big girl bed.

Tuesday was another beach day.  This time Daddy golfed at Mauna Kea, so we got to park in the golf parking and go to the beach right there.  This beach had real sand, so it got everywhere!  Our heads, faces, inside swim diapers, you name it, we had sand there.  We look more tan than we are because Mom’s phone makes things a little warm.

Here’s the ocean at that beach.

We made Mom go down to the water soooooo many times to fill our buckets.  She says we had to leave because we had enough sun.  I thnk we left because she didn’t want to fill the buckets anymore.

With all the pool time in Hawaii Autumn decided she really liked putting her face under the water.  Not me though!  Since she didn’t want to go in the ocean she decided to blow bubbles in her bucket.

After the beach we changed at the car and went to look for lunch.  We were kinda cranky so Mom got juice for us and Spam Musubi for her from the snack shack for the golf course and packed us in the car to drive around so we’d nap.

Later we went back and picked up Dad.

Wednesday Mom and Dad took us on a boat ride out of Kona.  Dad gets seasick so Mom was a little worried we might too.  We did NOT barf!  The boat had a glass bottom area so we could see fish, but we didn’t really see any.  Probably because we weren’t looking down there.  We did get to see dolphins swimming around!  Did you know that spinner dolphins “rest” by closing one eye at a time so that one side of their brain can rest?!  Maybe I can do that too!

We had to wait a little while before we got on the boat.  We weren’t allowed to walk very much because Mom and Dad thought Autumn might jump off the dock if she got the urge to swim, and Mom says they were worried I might fall in since I’m so graceful.

Yeah, time for the boat ride!

See me wearing Daddy’s hat.

Autumn liked riding the boat too!

On the way back to the dock there was a hula dancer to watch.  She was really nice and even held me to watch for dolphins!

Once we got back on land we loaded up in the stroller and walked around a bit.  Yes, I fell asleep!  Everyone else looked around in the Wyland store, and surprisingly, Mom didn’t buy anything!

While I slept they had a treat though!  This is Autumn eating some ice cream in a cone.  Did I tell you Auntie Diane and Auntie Pony introduced us to cones instead of cups?

This is Autumn 2 seconds later with her ice cream down her front!

Thursday was sight seeing time and swimming time!  We drove north on the highway until it ended.  Mom took these pictures-guess what Autumn and I were doing…SLEEPING!

This was the valley behind this stretch of beach.

Back to the pool.

Snack time!

Autumn didn’t want Mom to take our pictures, but she was giving a really good stink eye face so Mom took one anyway.

That night we went to the shopping center to watch some more dancing.  We didn’t really watch but we had fun dancing on our own.

Friday was our last day.  We got to go for a swim in the morning, but it got cut short because they had to close the pool to clean it.  Flying home we didn’t get to upgrade, but we sat in the row right behind first class so Dad had more leg room.  I really had fun on this adventure.  I can’t wait until April when we’re going on a BIG boat with Grandma, Grandpa, Pony, Diane, Allie, Jeff, Caitlin, Ryland, Mom, and Dad!

On this trip Mommy didn’t bring her computer so we had to wait until we got home to tell you all about our trip.  I’ll do my best to remember everything, but we were gone for a long time!  We left Denver on Sunday the 10th.  We had to go to Mark and Melissa’s wedding first on the 9th.  That was a lot of fun because we got to dance all night!

Back to the trip, we flew from Denver to Oakland in CA.  While Dad went golfing with some friends, Diane and Pony came to visit us in the hotel.  They brought snacks and In & Out burgers.  I tried to tell them they could come with us to the beach, but Pony said that vacation with 3 kids wasn’t a vacation.  I’m not sure why, we had lots of fun.

On Monday morning we flew directly to Kauai.  The lady at the ticket counter asked if we wanted to upgrade-whatever that is, so Mom said yes and we got to sit in the front of the plane with big seats.

I even got my own movie player and I didn’t have to share with Autumn because she was sitting with Mom.

When we got to Kauai it was still morning and when we got off the plane Allie, Grandma, and Grandpa were waiting for us!  We were sooooo happy to see them.  We all went back to the hotel and waited and waited and waited for our bags to come.  Finally they came so we put on our swim suits and went down to the pool and beach.  At the Marriott they have a special pool for kids-only about 1.5ft deep so we could play in there without any help.  There was even a big slide, but I don’t like to get my face wet so I didn’t ride it.  Autumn and Ryland did, but I think Autumn liked it the best.  By the end of the week she was going up the stairs and getting on all by herself!  After all that fun stuff I laid down to rest with Allie on the couch.

I know I played at the beach on my last trip to Hawaii, but I decided that I don’t really like the ocean.  I don’t like how much noise the waves make.  I do like playing in the sand though.

Brick Oven Pizza was dinner our first night.  I’d tell you it was yummy, but I was passed out in the stroller.  It was yummy 2 years ago though!

The next morning Mom woke up early because she said the time change was messing her up.  She went down to the beach at our hotel and walked around in the quiet.  She took some pictures of the sky and ocean-kinda boring if you ask me.

Look at this “weather” sign.  It tells you what the weather is like in a very scientific way!

Then on Tuesday we stayed with Dad, Caitlin and Grandma while Mom, Allie, Jeff, and Grandpa went canopy zip-lining.  They walked across bridges that were just slats of wood and slid down cables.  When they finished they went to Hamura’s Saimin and got lunch for us.  We shared noodles in the hotel room.  That night we went to Roy’s for dinner.  All the adults really like that restaurant and the dessert they have.  I on the other hand missed another dinner because I was passed out in the stroller AGAIN!

On Wedneday Autumn, Ryland, Mom, Caitlin, and Grandpa went for a walk to find some breakfast.  I was sleeping with Dad!  There is a little hut right by our hotel that had really good smoothies.  The babies shared a smoothie and had sweet bread french toast.  What they didn’t eat they fed to the chickens that were walking around!

Dad went golfing and the rest of us went on a train ride.  We had to wait patiently for our turn so Autumn found a flower for her hair, she and Ryland played with their trains, and I drank lots of juice.

On the train we got to see animals, plants, gardens, and poi ponds.

Here are some of my faces I make.  Mom says I don’t look at the camera and smile anymore.  She was trying to get me to smile.

We even got to get off and feed the pigs and goats!  The only thing was they were feeding the animals the sweet bread we like to eat, so we all wanted to eat the bread instead of sharing it with the animals.

After the train we got in the car and headed to the west side of the island.  I’m told we stopped for lunch and had fried terriyaki chicken and then went to have some shaved ice.  I was napping, so I’m not sure if it was good or not.

Wednesday night we didn’t go to dinner-and I would’ve been awake!  Dad took us to get smoothies, but the place was closed.

Thursday morning Autumn and I both got up to find breakfast.  We ended up downstairs where we could buy a cinnamon roll and fruit.  Then we took our food and sat at the tables that are above the swimming pool.  It was very pretty there in the morning.

After breakfast we packed up and headed to the north shore.  The adults wanted to try The Tavern, it’s a restaurant that Roy Yamaguchi owns.  Outside there were tiny frogs near the grass.  Auntie Cate even held some-ewwww.

After lunch we got to go to a new beach.  There were only tiny waves there, but I still didn’t like the noises they make.  When we got there we put on our suits, only Ryland didn’t want to wear his swim diaper.

Autumn and Ryland held hands so the water wouldn’t knock them down.

Finally, Ryland got dressed.  It’s a good thing too because Autumn was starting to look at his front and wonder what was hanging there!

Grandpa and I tried to build a castle, but the waves and babies kept knocking it down.

We dropped Dad at the hotel so he could golf and we went to Koloa to shop and have ice cream!

Mmmmmm, ice cream is yummy, and now that Auntie Diane and Auntie Pony taught us about cones-it’s messy too!

Our last day with everyone was Friday.  The babies went down to the pool for one last swim, and I chose to stay in the room with Dad and watch tv.  Mom still can’t believe that we were on vacation in such a nice place and tv was what I wanted to do.

Auntie Cate bought us each a bucket with shovels and stuff.  All vacation Autumn kept putting hers on her head with the strap under her chin, but she wouldn’t let Mom take a picture of her.  I tried to do it too, but my head was to big, Ryland got is on with the strap too, but his head was to big and it got kinda stuck on there for awhile.

The next post will be about our time on Kona.

Today is the 4th of July.  This morning Auntie Cate, Jeff, and Ryland came over and we walked down the street to watch a parade.  Autumn was grouchy all morning so she pretty much stayed with Daddy, but the rest of us sat on the curb and watched.  I didn’t really like it when noisy things went by, but it was pretty fun to watch-for awhile.  I saw police men, fire trucks, HORSES, kids, clowns and lots of other stuff.

And we’re off.  I’ve got the snack bag!

There we go, now there’s 3 of us in the picture.

Let’s sit and have a drink while we wait.

Autumn, are you coming?

I gave Ry a treat.  I don’t think he knew what to do with it.

Bite it Ryland-it’s yummy!

See I told you.

Hi daddy.

Whatcha got there?

Hurry, the parade is starting

See the fancy police car?

It’s horses!

Only in Colorado do you see a bull walking down the street.  They were there to tell us about the county fair-I can’t wait to go to that.

We walked up to the place where they have games and stuff.  I got to get my face painted.  I really was happy about it, but I wouldn’t smile for mom to take a picture.

Next we went to the mini train for a ride.

Autumn sat with another little girl.  She had fun, but wouldn’t smile!

Here we come-the train conductor went around and around.

After our train ride we were off to see the horses.  Really they were donkeys but I wouldn’t ride a donkey, so let’s just call them horses.

Here’s my grouchy sister again.  She didn’t want to ride a donkey, but she and Ryland went on the train again.

It was a really fun morning, but man was it hot!  It must’ve been a million degrees, well ok, 90ish.  When we got home the ac was nice and cool and we relaxed at home.  Tonight after Autumn goes to bed, Mom is going to show me something called fireworks.  She says we have to wait until it gets dark, but the fireworks are being shot off practically across the street from our house so we don’t have to go anywhere.