Stupid Human Tricks

I saw this video and thought I would try to brighten your day. This is why Jen is in charge of the blog.

The Big Island!

Armed with our two kids, two car seats, two baby backpacks, and one suitcase (for all of us!) we flew to the Big Island of Hawaii for the four-day weekend. We had a fabulous time hiking the volcanoes and seeing beautiful waterfalls. We took literally hundreds of pictures so I've tried to limit this but there's still a lot... you might want to go get a drink because you might be here for awhile! :)

The Halemaumau Crater:

It's 11 miles to drive around this crater that's still fuming sulfur gas and steam. We couldn't get over how big it was... hard to believe hot lava was erupting out of this whole area! The smaller crater was emmiting dangerous levels of gases so we weren't allowed to go down into it but normally you can hike the whole area. Steam vents: rainwater seeps into the ground and creates steam when it reaches the hot core. They told us it was only one mile down! Woah!

Devestation Trail:

This little hike was through a rainforest to show you the destruction of the volcano. It was gorgeous and then... ...nothing! This lava flow happened about 60 years ago and the vegetation is just now starting to come back.

The trail ended overlooking Kilauea Iki crater... In 1959, it spewed a fountain of lava in the air 1900 feet for 36 days straight!
You can see a few people walking down there.
The next day, we hiked down into it.

Kilauea Iki Crater: Natalie not so sure about this place.Much better! :)Taking a "Where in the World is Motor Trend" pic. Maybe he'll make the magazine!We got so many looks and smiles because of the kids. :)

Thurston Lava Tube: Such a pretty place.
Natalie and Blake chatting through our picture. :)There are tons of tubes underground that the lava would flow through--this one was made into a tunnel that you can actually walk through to the other side.
Back at home for a quick PB&J lunch. :)
The volcano is currently erupting from a place outside of the park and only visible by air. We were disappointed not to get to see it but we took an incredible drive down the mountain to see all the hardened lava from over the years. It was amazing! The lava would just destroy everything in it's path and then it over time, it hardens, forms new land and then eventually new vegetation starts to grow.
"Pahoehoe"-- made from fast moving lava that curls as it flows
"Aa" lava-- caused by lava that moves slowly, pulling apart as it flows. You can see how much there is. This whole part of the island is still covered in it!
You can see both kinds here-- we're slanted because it was on top of our car. :)
The edge of the island. The lava flows into the water and when it gets to0 heavy, it breaks off causing steep cliffs. The acreage for the island is constantly changing!
Black sand beach. Not too appealing, huh?

Southernmost Point:

This is the southernmost point of the United States. The next landfall is Antarctica, 7500 miles away!
We saw a whale breaching right when we got there!!

Beautiful Waterfalls: Rainbow Falls... can you see it? Boiling Pots Waterfalls
Taking over our roles: driver and navigator :)
So pretty! We are so blessed to live in such a paradise!
Hiking down to Akaka Falls through a rainforest.
It's a 442 foot drop!!
Other Misc. Pictures:

Our cabin actually had electric heat and a fireplace! It was cold because we were at 4000 feet. We saw this sign for free firewood one night and so Brian loaded up the trunk. We later found out why it was free... it was terrible wood and would not burn at all! He tried so hard but we just ended up with lots of smoke. We were disappointed to say the least. :)One night we drove up the Kona coast looking for a good restaurant for dinner. There were only small little towns along the way and it was getting later and later with no prospects. We got turned away at one place because they were full, at another because we didn't have reservations.... and look where we ended up! McDonalds! We were starving so it never tasted so good! :) Blake in a mountain of pillows.
Snow capped Mauna Kea. So amazing to see snow in Hawaii!!
Our cute little cabin. Time to go back home to our island.

Happy Valentine's Day

We've been trying to take Valentine's pics for two days now... and we never got good ones and I still didn't get them out on the actual day... oh well. Here they are. Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day! We had a relaxing dinner at home last night. It was wonderful. Love you so much babe! :)