Time for a real vacation! We're off to the Big Island of Hawaii with my mom. We stayed at the Mauna Lani villas. This place is so unbelievably beautiful. I am definitely not going to want to go home. Our place is on a series of inland ponds that the native Hawaiians built for fish farming. The kids have tons of places to run around and play.

We spent a lot of time over by the snorkeling area. We could spend the whole day there on the beach. There was also a great little restaurant we enjoyed lunch at regularly. I'm hanging out in my regular attire. I wish I had some underwater photos from our many snorkeling trips. The reef is spectacular and all the kids got the hang of it after a while.

One day we headed out for a road trip. We drove north along the coast and then cut across to the town of Hilo. We drove from dry lava surroundings, through tropical rain forest environments, to the opposite coast. It was such a varied collection of environments across a pretty small area. The cliffs on the coast reminded me of Kauai.

Another day we headed over to the Hilton for a look around and dinner at the local restaurant. This was a fabulous hotel, though more mainstream style than the Mauna Lani. They had a great dolphin area where you could swim with the animals. There was quite a line. We enjoyed their many pools and shopping.

I sure wish we had taken a lot more pictures on our trip to Hawaii. It was such a great place, I can't wait to go back again. I never did make it to Mauna Kea. I was dying to go, but it would take the whole day and I didn't want to spend it away from the family. I of course regret it immensely now, but I guess it's just a good reason to go back sooner rather than later.