On to the next.......

The conversation between the hundreds of birds outside of our hotel room was far to loud to sleep through.... I had never heard something quite like that.  I laid in bed for a moment before I decided to venture out onto the deck sitting on the other side of the sliding glass door in our room.

I sat alone for a moment before retrieving our little pixie....together we watched the sun rise. We also watched as a pair of birds danced back and forth on the palm tree in front of us.  In those quiet moments with my daughter my heart was full.....we giggled and whispered....

I had only my cellphone camera on the deck as we watched these birds dance across the tree....

Before long, the boys joined us and we all marveled at the visions surrounding us.  We could see the ocean, we could see palm trees, birds, a lagoon, people walking.....and sunshine.

We all got ready for the day.  Dressed in our summer clothes and smiles, we headed out the door.  Our resort was something to be admired. Most of the lobbies and restaurants were outdoors, the rooms were indoors of course but little else was.  Transportation anywhere throughout the grounds required a train.....or a very long walk.  We loaded the train and headed to the main lobby.....

Our first stop was a restaurant that a friend had told us about for breakfast....we sat in the quaint cafe and ate..... reading the newspaper and filling up with conversation.

It was less than an hour to our next destination.  There were no electronics needed to distract the children...the sights were enough.  Portions of the Big Island of Hawaii look as though you have landed on the moon....there is miles and miles worth of old volcanic lava covering the ground in many areas....in fact, the island grows in size to this day because of this.....

When someone talks to you about "island time" you should know, it is a real thing.  No one is in a hurry to get anywhere.....it is a laid back atmosphere....driving speeds reflect this, as well as everything else you do!

 Our first official Make-a-wish activity was scheduled for this day....Parklen had chosen to take his family on a glass bottom boat.  We found the pier and took our time walking up and down...peering into the water, catching glimpses of fish and sea turtles....every glance successfully gave way to a new discovery.  As we waited on the boat, we enjoyed the warmth and sun.  The kids walked around looking at everything with in their sight.

Once aboard, Parklen chose our seats and the five of use arranged ourselves around the rectangular box that housed a thick sheet of glass at the bottom......  The woman acting as our tour guide was filled with laughter, knowledge and spunk.

We were off to sea......out to a coral reef.  We watched below us as many different species swam by.  We saw fish we had never seen before, we saw some that looked more familiar.  The boys enjoyed the visions under the water, as well as what was above.  We were given knowledge on the creatures we saw and all shared our favorites as they passed beneath us.  Most of us enjoyed the Parrot fish....not only does this fish look amazing, with its bright blue color.  It also serves a pretty big purpose......
It makes sand....  "How?" One might ask.....let me tell you.  This beautiful fish swims around and bites off pieces of coral.....it eats the coral...  Then....when its time, it "passes" (see there? that is a much nicer word that poop) the coral that it has eaten, and the result is white sand.  It makes me chuckle because I can recall having seen many advertisements for luxurious white sand beaches in my life.....and to think, people are just laying around in fish poop...makes me laugh!

The boat ride was quick and mostly painless.......a little bit of sea sickness managed by a quick walk on the deck!  We walked off the boat and headed in search of more adventure!

An afternoon meal was in order.....
On our way up the stairs leading to our restaurant of choice, Paysen let out an alarming scream!  It scared me as I was right behind him.... I searched quickly for his source of pain or fright...
That's when I discovered a giant praying mantis on his arm! He successfully escaped the mantis' grip of death, and I barely escaped the fate of death by laughter....

As with most places we went to.......the restaurant had a roof, but no exterior walls!!!

We walked down streets filled with shops and restaurants and shaved ice.....we stopped frequently to watch things we were unused to seeing.  After hours and hours of walking and exploring, we loaded up in the rental car and headed back toward our resort.

Instead of turning into the winding drive that led back to our temporary home....we continued on and found ourselves on a different pier.... We spent the last moments of sunlight walking along the coast....and breathing in the island air.

Meet island girl number one.......She was playing on the beach when we arrived and quickly ran over to us.....She followed closely behind our family as we walked and eventually made contact, begging the boys to play with her.....There was no one else on the beach so we(Devan) gave the OK and the boys ran after her in search of great waves to crash onto their feet...

When we left, this little girl said, in her saddest little girl voice, "I will miss you!"  and with that, the boys had had their first experience with a Hawaiian Girl.....of course, there were more.

The air is so clean there that each breath feels like the best one your lungs have ever experienced.....until the next one.  Each one, outdoing the last.

We found a restaurant and camouflaged our soaking wet children with sweatshirts around their waste.....we partook in some island food and headed back to the room.


Our day had been full of new experiences and we were beat....
It didn't take long for the kids to drift into slumber land....almost as soon as their tired heads hit their pillows.  We followed shortly after.  Sleep in Hawaii, is better than sleep I have had anywhere else.
Maybe its because of the way we ran ourselves tired.....maybe its because, in Hawaii...my headaches were on vacation too....or maybe it was because everything there was just right....and we were all there to enjoy it together.....

The second day ended in sweet dreams.