Hawaii trip Part 1

Big Island vacation Part 1

Day 1:
A lovely nine hour flight from Chicago to Honolulu. No nap for Izzy, but no tantrums so we got a lot of compliments as we were getting off the plane. Izzy ran off a lot of energy at the Honolulu Airport as we waited for our flight to Hilo. We got to our hotel by 7pm or so after grabbing our rental car, dropped our bags off, and walked to a nearby restaurant. Izzy was *thisclose* to falling asleep at dinner, but made it. Everyone went to bed by 8:45 as our bodies thought that it was almost 1am!

Day 2:
With our bodies still a little off, CP and I woke up around 4:30am and everyone else was up by 5:30. Izzy woke up in her crib asking "go downstairs." LOL. 

View from hotel room as the sun rises

We had a delicious breakfast at Ken's House of Pancakes (I can highly recommend the banana pancakes), before heading out. Our plan was to do some sightseeing in Hilo and the northeast section of the island while making our way towards Kona (on the west side of the island).

First we headed out to Rainbow Falls...

Then drove a little north to check out Akaka Falls....

From there we visited the Hawaii Tropical Botanic Gardens which was pretty amazing. They had a parrot cage and Izzy thought that it was very cool that the parrots could talk to her.

Picking up big leaves at the Botanic Garden

By this time it was lunch and we were starving. Luckily, a highly rated place was close by- What's Shakin'- so we had smoothies and a delicious lunch and a great view. 

After filling up our bellies, we settled in for a car ride to the west side of the island, stopping to grab coffee part of the way through the drive and seeing this sign which made me laugh.

It was amazing to see the eco systems change from lush greenery to scrub brush to lava fields. After arriving at our VRBO resort condo, we took a quick dip in the pool and then headed out to dinner. This was Izzy's first night in a big girl bed (we dragged a twin mattress to the floor and she slept on that in the same room as my MIL).

Day 3:
The next morning we were up early and had breakfast at Island Lava Java- a restaurant with amazing views of the ocean. My MIL had a cinnamon roll that was as big as her head and I had the most delicious chai latte with my omelette. While at breakfast we spotted a whale.

Using our amazing guidebook (Hawaii Revealed) we decided to head out to a tidepool not too far away because the waves were too high for Izzy to go into the ocean. 

Tidepool with the waves crashing behind it

We had a great time pointing out fish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and crabs to Izzy. Not wanting to stay in the sun all day, we left right before lunch and headed to the Kona Brewery (CP is a big fan of their beer). A quick trip to the grocery store and then another dip in the pool before heading back up to the room to eat CP's homemade ramen.

To be continued....