Hawaii Underwater Camera Pictures

We bought a disposable underwater camera while we in Hawaii that had actual film inside.  I got it developed a few weeks ago but haven't had a chance to post the pictures.  Here they are...

Kids snorkeling.  

Leo and Tom.

Serafina and me.

Serafina flying off the boat's slide.

Tom off the slide.

Tom going off the high dive.

My ocean beauty.

Last Day, Hawaii 2015 (7/5/15)

It's hard to explain what it feels like to wake up to the last day in Hawaii.  We are homesick and running out of clean clothes, but we are also so sad it is ending.  Returning to real life seems like such a boring, disappointing proposition.  I have a deeply held fantasy about moving to Hawaii.  I know it's probably not realistic because I would get too stir crazy.  Yet there is something that speaks to me in the Islands that make it feel like home, like where I'm meant to be.  And living anywhere else feels temporary and false until the day I can get to where I'm supposed to be.  During the trip, Leo told me he would also like to live in Hawaii and work at a diamond store.  

I'm a practically a professional packer, so it didn't take too long for me to have us ready to go.  We had some time before we needed to go to the airport so we headed to Kiholo Bay for a hike.  The drive down from the highway was a bit bumpy, but we had already punished our rental car so much it didn't seem like too much more to make it down this road.  

I had my camera on a night setting for this picture, which caused it to have a strange effect.  

I figured it out and here's a normal picture of Tom spotting some sea turtles off shore.

We discovered a couple freshwater ponds just inland.  

Here's Tom in front of some fancy private home.  His future home, perhaps?

Shell frozen in lava.

Black lava rock mixing with sand on the idicalic beach.

Very pretty bay.  

Leo on the black "sand".

We could see Maui in the distance.  Maybe that will be our next Hawaiian destination.

I can't thank this guy enough for taking us on this amazing vacation.  We soaked up the island to the fullest and I'm glad we did.

Panoramic shot.  

We made it to the airport and through check-in, which was a sweaty, cranky process.

The flight home was uneventful.  We miss Hawaii and talk about it all the time.

Day Seven, Hawaii 2015 (7/4/15)

And just like that, we were on our last full day in Hawaii.  We took it a little slow in the morning and headed out for breakfast across the street from our hotel.  

After some shopping and strolling, we headed out to catch a boat for our afternoon adventure.  The boat launched from Keauhou Bay, birthplace of King Kamehameah III.

The kids were really excited.  I was really loaded up with Dramamine.

Enjoying the ride.

I was hanging in there and doing surprisingly well.  I didn't want to mess it up by moving or talking.

These two explored the boat while we got to our destination.

The boat moared at Kealakekua Bay near Captain Cook's Monument.  The murder of Captain Cook in this spot is really a lesson in not over-staying your welcome.

Dolphins!

The water was chilly and Leo was a bit dramatic about everything so he sat out during most of the activities.  Serafina snorkeled around and went down the big slide.  Tom and I also tried the slide and jumped off the high-dive.  

That's me!

I took more Dramamine for the ride back while the rest of the family enjoyed being on the water.

Pretty day.  And I didn't get seasick!  I did get drowsy later from all the Dramamine.

Once the boat got to the dock, we raced back to the hotel to get parked before they closed the road for the Fourth of July parade.

We had an excellent view from our hotel balcony.  It was a small town parade and it was quite boring.  No bands and almost no dancers or other performers.  The kids still liked it.  I took a nap.

Then it was just a few steps out of the hotel to watch fireworks over the bay.  Both kids wore earplugs but Serafina still wasn't too happy with the noise.  

It was by far the easiest firework viewing I can remember.  After the show we walked down to a local diner for dinner.  It wasn't touristy or crowded, which was perfect.

Day Six, Hawaii 2015 (7/3/15)

Ah, just another gorgeous day in Hawaii.  It was time for the kids to try out their new snorkeling skills, so we headed to Kahalu'u Beach Park.  

Ready to conquer the reef! 

It was very lovely and calm but a bit crowded.  I was worried we would see more people than fish.  

There were tons of colorful, tropical fish just cruising around and the kids thought that was great.  Serafina struggled a little with the snorkeling.  It's a bit unnatural and getting used to the gear can be tough too.  She really enjoyed seeing the fish in the ocean though.  Here she is on a little break.  

We moved on to Pu'uhonua o Hanaunau, which is another bay.  The snorkeling was a bit tricky here since the entry was right off the lava rock and the reef dropped off to deep open ocean.  Leo made it out with me for a little bit, but got nervous and headed back.  I took a few minutes to look around by myself since the coral was very impressive and it felt like swimming over a forest.

Tom took a turn snorkeling while I took the kids to a different part of the bay.  It was close to the boat launch and called "Two Step" since it only takes two steps to get in.  They had more fun swimming around there.  

We had spotted dolphins in the bay when we first got there and I could see them again while Tom was out there.  I hoped he had gotten a chance to get close to them but I wasn't sure.

When we met back up with him, he was happy to report he did get to swim with the dolphins, and not poor trapped dolphins, but wild, free ones and it was awesome.  Here's the look of a man in touch with nature.

Though Tom would have been happy to hit another spot for more snorkeling, I had told the kids they could get in the hotel pool before dinner so we started to make our way towards the hotel.  Of course, we couldn't resist a stop at Greenwell coffee farm for a sample and a tour.

Serafina was impressed with the bananas growing on the tree.

Tom admiring the coffee "cherries".

We also stopped at a chocolate shop on the way home.

Then after a dip in the pool, we headed to a nice dinner at the Kona Brewing Company.  They had very delicious beer and pizza.  Leo declared it the best pizza he ever had.

We took a stroll after dinner and had shaved ice for dessert.  

Leo was a big fan.

As you can tell from her face, Serafina wasn't as enthusiastic.

Tom got his loaded up all fancy.

And that ended another fabulous day on the Big Island.