Part 2: Punaluu Beach and Waterfalls

How weird is this? No, Brumbra did not just step in a pile of coffee grounds. This is sand!

This is Punaluu Black Sand Beach. The sand is black because it is made volcanic minerals and lava fragments. It was stunning! Of course, it was just another beach to my boys and they quickly resumed their normal beach activities.

Exploring.

The waves crashing against the rocks in the distance gave us quite a show. There were sea turtles hanging out everywhere on these lava rocks. They blended in so well that I didn't realize there was one in this picture until I got home! See him?

Behind the beach, on the other side of the palm trees was this beautiful brackish pond full of ducks and fish.

You know I can't resist a good photo op... :-)

Looked just like the everglades  but without the GATORS!

After three days at the Volcano park, we took the scenic route up the east side of the island to the sunny Kohala coast, where we spent the rest of our trip. On the way up, our tour guide/driver/Big Island expert (a.k.a. Scott Raymond Anderson) stopped so we could view some breathtaking waterfalls. 

can you see why it's called Rainbow Falls?

Akaka Falls is 442ft free falling waterfall.

Mark was not allowed out of the Ergo for this one...

Part 1: Volcanoes

You guys are going to be so sick of hearing about this trip by the time I'm finished. Just warning you...

We landed in Hilo on Thursday and drove about an hour up to Kilauea Military Camp. We were able to get a cozy little 3 bedroom cottage, right inside Volcanoes National Park. Since we were at a higher elevation, the temps at night got down into the 40s. It was such a novelty to wear sweatshirts and socks!

Brumbra and her boys on the steps of our cabin.

We even started a fire one night and drank hot chocolate!

Our first full day at Volcanoes was Scott's 35th birthday! 

 We spent most of the morning hiking the Kilauea Iki trail. 

This four mile hike begins in a tropical rainforest...

 

...and spits you out onto the Kilauea Iki Crater, a barren wasteland of cooled lava rock.

In 1959, this was a lava lake 400 feet deep!

talk about a change of scenery!

In order to keep the boys moving forward, my mom challenged them to collect scattered rocks in the crater and stack them onto the neat rock piles already assembled to lead us across the crater. Brumbra can turn such a boring task into a fun game! The boys loved it!

Brilliant Brumbra!

Keaton was such a trooper. He hiked all 4 miles with minimal complaining. So proud of this big boy!

Keaton was also our "Mud Ranger," alerting all of us of upcoming mud in the trail that we needed to avoid. He classified the mud alerts into 1) Mud Alert 2) MAJOR Mud Alert 3) Muddle Alert (this was a mud + puddle(s) of water) :-)

Some other cool stuff we saw in/around the volcano park: 

We were able to watch Kīlauea's active Halemaumau Crater from a distance. They have closed many of the roads and hikes that get you closer to the action due to toxic sulfur dioxide gas emissions. 

Here's a view of the lava glow from the the same crater at night. You could hear constant roar of the fire and occasional rocks bursting from the crater. Creepy!

Holei Sea Arch at the end of Chain of Craters road

At any given time during the day, you can see steam coming up from vents in the ground all around the Volcano Park. These are caused by rainwater that seeps into the earth and is heated by liquid rock (lava) under the ground. So cool!

Mark loved running around the steam vents - can you tell?

The whole volcano park experience was like nothing I've ever seen in my life. We left totally amazed (again) by God's creation and how he used these powerful volcanoes to create the most remote island chain in the world!

Just a taste...

While I tackle the mound of laundry and the 900+ pictures and videos we took, here's just a taste of our amazing, incredible, outstanding, awesome, fun-filled adventure to the Big Island of Hawaii! 

 

Fresh start

December was such a fun month, but "the holidays" are over now. It's always a little bit sad to see them go after so much anticipation, but it's also refreshing to put all the decorations away. It feels so clean and fresh.
Just like a new year should.

I'm loving my bouquet of flowers that Karen brought me for the NYE party! I always forget how much I love fresh flowers...

 The weather has been cooler (down to 70* - brrrrrrr), and the sun doesn't shine as bright. We've used this as an excuse to stay inside, watch too much TV, eat cake for breakfast, and play with all of our new Christmas gifts. We've had friends over to play, and we've loved having Daddy home a little bit more than usual.

After I took this picture, Scott says he knows now how Prince William feels - he can't do anything fun without someone wanting to take his picture. I'm not that bad, am I? Ok, maybe I am.

My tomatoes are blooming and I have a huge crop of fresh basil - a first for me in January.
Gotta love Hawaii! 

Scott and I agreed that 2012 was by the far the fastest year in history! 

How could this have been a year ago? 

And this? 

Growing up way to fast, these two!

Keaton tells me: 

"There are two things I don't have that I really need. A girlfriend and a sister."
Where does is get this stuff?

No resolutions for 2013, no idea what to expect really.

I'm praying it's a year that I can learn more patience,  become less selfish, less fearful. 

We have hopes to move closer to family sometime before 2014, but who knows what God has planned? I'm just so thankful He's in charge and not me, because so far his plans have exceeded anything I could have ever imagined.