ALOHA!

We are back from our wonderful trip to the Big Island. We were blessed to spend 13 days in paradise. We had a super time with our little family, my parents, my sis and her clan, and my Uncle Matt. The Big Island has so much to offer, so there will be multiple posts of our trip. These first pics are of the first days there. We spent 3 days on the Hilo side of the Island.
Rizz and I hiked down into the crater where there were still active steam vents. Don't touch!!! Super hot. The landscape was pretty awesome.
We also did a quick hike through lava tubes and unfortunately forgot to bring our cameras, but we now know what total darkness looks like. Thurston Lava tubes......highly recommend it.
Our family, my parents, and Uncle Matt at the falls. Forgot all the specifics of the falls, just a nice shot of the clan.
These were tidepools full of fun things to see. We only had a little time to go play around, but it was our first chance to get in the water.........loved it. I love being in the water in the outdoors, well warm water that is. There is nothing like swimming in the ocean or outdoor pools. Rizz and I have already decided if we could do one thing for a day it would either be boogey boarding or at a water slide park. Funny, since with live in Alaska.

Next pics were taken at the Panawea Zoo in Hilo. It was free to the public. Abigail loves animals and had a super time.
The tiger's cage was somewhat reminiscent of Binki the polar bear's cage before the attack. We were amazed at how close you could get. A little toooooo close for comfort, since as we were leaving the tiger pointed it's but at us and shot some sort of fluid. I had to run to dodge it.
Lots of turtles this trip, mostly in the wild: but this was a good intro for Abbi
If you get the chance to ask Abbi what a donkey says, she will "Eee, awwh" for you. How cute are these little guys?
Abbi had SOOOO much fun this vacation. Every night she would crash from playing so hard with her cousins, in the water, or at the beach. This was a shot of her between locations. She adores her books and can't get enough of them. This time she was just too tired to finish Cinderella. Our favorite was driving listening to her read her books. But quote from Abbi reading Cinderella, "Hey we can make the dress for Cinderelly".
More to come. Glad to be home, but thought for some crazy reason I thought I'd come home to green grass and blossoms. I must be suffering from heat exhaustion.