random leftovers from our fabulous Kona trip

These are the last of our Kona trip!

I love the "diverse" topography and scenery that all the Hawaiian islands have to offer roadtrips. These beautiful cliffs were so cool on the north side of the Big Island! It was a great roadtrip to take when the winds were way too strong on our pretty beaches!

We did plenty of laughing and this picture just makes me laugh some more! Love that God has blessed me with a family where we can: be silly together, pray for eachother, disagree, encourage eachother through rough times AND always find things to laugh at!

And, since we were without our toddlers... we made sure we ate out at nicer restaurants! Tommy Bahamas had amazing Mango Pina Coladas, non~alcoholic for sure (cheaper and yummier, that way!!!)!

The infamous "Bubba Gump's" has "2 die 4" Mahi~Mahi fish 'n chips and hot fresh cookie sundaes. I highly recommend dining at one of their locations!

You can't help but take pictures of sunsets even though they are always much prettier in person. But, I thought this pic was cool with the wave clouds!

Our attempt to set the camera timer and be in the sunset. Umm... I still have something to learn about camera settings as my mom is glowing! ;)

LOVE you sisters and mom! I will never forget this time with you! There are so many more stories and pictures but "what happens in Kona... stays in Kona", right!?! I am blessed, encouraged and inspired by each of you...

TURTLES and snorkel CrUiSe

turtles... how adorable are they!?! I don't know why I find them so cute??? I think it's because they are so mellow and gentle and I rarely get to see them! Pretty sure I took more pictures of turtles than any other thing! ;) So, we got to snorkel with those turtles and see some amazing fish right off a nearby beach but we also thought it would be fun to head out on a snorkel cruise! What a fun afternoon relaxing on the boat searching for more whales, spotting dolphins and just enjoying more time with my sissies and mom.

Clear blue water~ that is the kind of water I enjoy swimming in where you can spot a sea creature coming from a mile away! More unforgettable times... boy, do I treasure all these memories and miss life on the beach. Don't get me wrong, I love, lOvE, LOVE being back with my family but 80 degrees with sand or 0 degrees with snow... Ah yeah, definitely prefer the first choice WITH my li'l family in tow!!!!! ;)

volcanO!

Us 3 in front of these cool Banyan trees... love that there is a tree wider than all of us combined!!! ;) I can't wait to see our boys climb these trees on our next Kona visit!

Off we went to the volcano as we got bored after waiting for the tsunami for 3 hours! I know none of us girls would have wanted to "waste" a sunny day driving in the car to a volcano but I'm glad that we were "forced" to go see it! And, it did give us more memories and gorgeous scenery!

Ha... this is a bad picture of us but it still makes me laugh!

There's my cute parents with the smokin' volcano... the layers of craters were pretty amazing!

So, not a day any of us would have scheduled but it was definitely our most memorable day... tsunami and volcano!

pseudo tsunami

Silly dad! We were glad my dad could extend his stay in Kona so us 4 women weren't complete basket~cases when those tsunami horns started blowing. Us ladies were all just a "little" on edge... I was packing my suitcase but my dad was able to be humorous and pose with his essential tsunami emergency food... licorice!

So, the tsunami day started off scary but then it just got humorous and very memorable!!! We had already driven our rental car up to safe ground because we wouldn't have wanted to pay the flood damage... hehehe! So, when we were told to evacuate from our condo we had to HIKE up the hill with our bags in tote! Ha~ not exactly the best planning on our part and nobody else was walking but just another story that makes our "Hogan" gang... unique!!!

Then, once the women knew we were safe... there was plenty of time for humor and pictures. Yep, we're dorky... in our snorkel gear waiting for the big wave, it was fun!

And, none of us "Hogans" last long in the sun without a blended mocha so we drove up to the closest gas station! All in all, it was a day full of emotions and waiting! We were; scared of the wave, sad to be away from our hubbies and families, annoyed by the tsunami sirens, happy to be sitting in the sun, frightened that our beaches would be destroyed ;), worried that people would be hurt, ready to go sit by the pool or beach, disappointed that we didn't see a tsunami, AND overjoyed that the tsunami was PSEUDO!

Blue Lagoon

Sigh... the blue lagoon! I love that my parents and Charis have been to Kona b4 our trip as they were able to take us to some amazing places! You can't drive to this lagoon so you get to take a mile+ jaunt on a lava~rock~beach. So cool! Once you get there... you just HAVE to jump in this fresh water lagoon!

No, that is not a "cow~pie"!!! That would be a lava flow... I couldn't believe the lava cools off in flowing~form!

Those are my cute parents with the biggest turtle~ "he" looks kind~of ugly but once they swim in the water their shells are much prettier. There were about 10 of these turtles just basking in the warm sunshine! And, since I knew that turtles are a very s~l~o~w creature... I was OK with sitting next to one for a photo~op with palm trees! Might be the only live "wild" animal I ever sit beside! ;)

mile 88~ my fav beach

I LOVE this beach! It isn't super big but I love the variety of; lava rock, turquoise water, body surfing, whale watching and soft white sand for sun~burning!!!

Charis and I had a blast catching a few waves reminding us of our childhood days... bodysurfing in Indonesia waters. Charis went to YWAM on Kona some 17 years ago and this used to be her fav beach. She used to hike into this beach and only have to share it with a few people but now just a "few" more people know how amazing Mile 88 is!!!

The 4 of us after a relaxing day on our fav beach!

Kona 2010

We did it! My sisters, mom and I escaped to Kona for 9 days... just the girls! It was difficult to leave our li'l families behind BUT we still managed to have a blast! It was great to reconnect as girlfriends as that is hard to do with all our sweet kiddos running around! So many laughs, crazy fun memories and super refreshing!

Traveling is so much more relaxing when you don't have to worry about any of your toddlers... throwing up, screaming, yelling, having a potty accident, getting bored, pooping their diaper, having friendly people nearby... and the list goes on! I dearly LOVE my toddlers but travelling in an airplane with them is stressFUL! So, here I am with my 2 sisters~ I actually got to finish reading my magazines AND order cranberry juice and Coke without worrying about it being spilled!

My parents were in Kona for a week before us so they met us at the airport with these beautiful leis! That was the last time you saw me in long sleeves for 9 days! The weather was perfect 80s and I enjoyed every second of the tropical warmth and time with the girls!!! My dad treated us all to my belated bday dinner on the beach! Thanks dad~ it was fun to have you join us for 2 days!! Scrumptious mahi~mahi dinner and a fabulous start to our vacation.

This is just the start of many more Kona posts! Believe me... I am not trying to make anyone jealous but I do want to have the posts for memory sake!