Big Island

On our last full day in Hawaii we flew to the Big Island to see Volcanoes National Park. Last time we were in Hawaii, we promised the kids that we would see the volcanoes next time. It was high on our priority list, but we weren't able to get a tour until the last day.
We flew over in the morning, got on our tour bus, and headed out to explore the Island. We made a few stops, but spent most of the time in the National Park.

Richardson's Black Sand Beach

Rainbow Falls State Park

Mauna Loa Mac Nut Factory

Volcanoes National Park

Luau

Zachary woke up with a fever again, so we cancelled our plans to hike to Lulumahu Falls. We rested most of the morning and once Zachary started feeling a little better, we drove to the Pali Lookout. It was rainy and very windy (as you can tell from the pictures).

Tonight we went to the luau at our hotel. The food was good and the show was fun. The kids really enjoyed watching the dancers. At the end, they had all of the military members stand. They asked some to hold up candles for fallen service members. They sang Proud to be an American. It was very moving.

 

 

Kailani talked us into getting matching Hawaiian outfits:)

Brushes by the Bar

Today we had plans to hike Diamond Head, but we decided not to because poor Zachy was still sick. Instead, we visited Waikiki Urgent Care. We were the first ones there, so we were in and out. He got some medicine and hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.
Because of the history of seizures, whenever the kids have fevers, we always rotate Tylenol and Motrin every 4 hours to keep the fever down. Once the medicine kicked in, Zachary was doing fine.
We had signed up for Brushes by the Bar, which was like one of the paint night events. Zachary was feeling up to participating. I've always wanted to do one of these and it was so much fun.

Unfortunately after our dinner at Dukes', Zachary was feeling sick again, so we called it a night.

Aloha Stadium

Today we spent most of the day at Aloha Stadium. We went to the swap meet hoping to get some great deals. It wasn't a large as it used to be. I'm not sure if it has changed or if it was just that way because of the football game later on. The kids talked us into buying them ukelele's (not the toy ones). They both want to learn how to play.

 

We went to the Dixie Grill for lunch; another one of our favorite places to eat. Unfortunately, we could tell something was wrong with Zachary because he didn't eat his lunch and he seemed quiet all day. It turned out that he had a fever, so we went back to the hotel to get him some medicine and let him relax.
He was feeling up to it, so we went back to the stadium for the University of Hawaii game. It was their last home game of the season, so they had special recognition for the seniors. It was a close game, but UH won in the end.

Waikik Holiday Parade

This morning we went to Hanauma Bay. The kids had so much fun snorkeling. We got to see lots of different kinds of fish. Kailani enjoyed looking for cats (there were tons just hanging around) and mongoose.

 There's a cat in there somewhere:)

We stopped at a scenic point on the way back to the hotel. There was a beautiful view!

We had some time to kill before the Waikiki Holiday Parade, so we decided to see Disney's new movie, Moana. It was awesome. The kids enjoyed being able to watch it in Hawaii.

This evening was the Waikiki Holiday Parade. Liberty's choir performed in front of the Moana Surfrider hotel. Unfortunately, we stood on the wrong side of the street and were able to watch from the back. They did turn to the side for the last song though.

The parade lasted about 2 hours. There were a lot of bands from the mainland in the parade. Each band represented a ship that was damaged in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Liberty's band was last. they were the honor band for the parade and stopped to perform in front of the hotel. One of the bagpipe players stood on top of a drum during the performance. A WWII veteran and alumnae of Liberty played taps along with the band. It was an awesome experience.

Here's a link to the parade on youtube:Waikiki Holiday Parade

We had a very late dinner tonight at Duke's. Kailani and I got lava flows. The server gave Zachary a free slice of Hula Pie!