Here are some pics of our first for realsies (i.e. get on a plane and go someplace together) vacation.  There is no real reason why we haven’t done this in the past – we just haven’t.  Dave travels relentlessly for work, so we tend to do the same things year after year.  We take the kids camping almost every weekend in the summer, go to the lake for a week in the summer and then Dave and I take an adult weekend vacation in the spring (maybe) and then a Denver football game in the fall.

This year has been far from normal.  We haven’t taken our camper out yet.  can you hear my heart breaking?  And we went to Denver instead of the lake over Fourth and our fall football game is a no-go.  With routine thrown out…..this for realsies vacation with the kids was such a treat.

Although the ‘getting there’ portion was not a treat.  Janey started complaining of an upset stomach, I didn’t think much of it as Janey frequently has aches and pains that she uses for hugs, kisses and carrys.  It wasn’t until her face drained of all color that we panicked.  I was sitting with Janey 2 rows behind Dave and Jules when the puking started.  And it WAS.HORRIBLE.  Dave couldn’t hear me trying to get his attention….so the mom sitting in front of me had to grab his arm and state in no uncertain terms “Your wife NEEDS you”.  A few hours of pukey-ness down and then a few hours of sleep put Jane right again.  Seeing her the next day, you wouldn’t even know she had been that ill.

The first time they put their feet in the ocean:

Exploring a lava tube

Perspective on the plant life

A pool heated by the lava activity underneath and fed by the ocean

Turtles on the black sand beach

 

Jules

Jane

I took a short, dark video of what it sounds like at night.

Hilo is the largest town on the Big Island, but I would not classify it as a tourist town.  I enjoyed it immensely.  We wandered all over the island (nothing is very far away) and the kids had a blast seeing all the sights that we fit in.  We were careful not to over-schedule ourselves so we were able to see what we wanted and even go back to the kids favorite activity….the hot pool.

Here is a brief look at where we went:

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know of my graceful accident.  During the last hour on the island, I broke myself.  Oops!  That flight home wasn’t amazing.