We spent Christmas week in Hawaii on the big island, where Mylo's dad and step-mom, Blake and Kristi, have a place. Their place is on the Kona side of the Island, up north by Hawi Town. Although it didn't feel very Christmasy, we had a great time in the sun. Oliver doesn't have a clue about Christmas yet, so it was just perfect. We had a fabulous Christmas dinner with fresh fish with mango chutney (I will have to share that delicious recipe later), fruit salad, rice, green salad, and chocolate mousse. So good! Be warned there are a lot of pictures that follow...proceed at your own risk.

Highlights

• Perfect weather - sunny and 80's everyday
• Lounging and boogie boarding at the beach - Beach 69's, Hapuna Beach, and Puako Beach
• Snorkeling and tide pooling at Puako
• Seeing lots Humpback whales, sea turtles, and a mongoose
• Hanging out with Kristi's awesome family
• Eating our weight in avocados (green butter) from the huge avacado tree at Blake and Kristi's place
• Driving up the Mountain Road to Weimea and then up the Saddle Road to Mauna Kea
• Checking out Hawi Town
• Checking out the sights Kona (farmer's market and waterfront (which is where the Ironman starts and finishes)) and eating lunch at the Kona Brewery.
• Actually making time to read. Ahhh.

The Kimchi. Blake and Kristi's place is a converted Kimchi factory. It is an eclectic place with lots of nooks and crannies for Oliver to explore. It has 3 bedrooms and a bathroom, with a big living area, kitchen and an outdoor shower. They have three acres that include a duplex that they rent, the Kimchi, and whole bunch of fruit trees, avocado trees, and a Macadamia Nut orchard. From the Lanai, you can see Maui. Not a bad view. We saw several pods of humpback whales breaching and spouting from the yard. Pretty cool.

Aren't these little Keens adorable? You gotta to love REI clearance.

Hapuna Beach. We frequented this beach because it was so kid friendly. Super soft sand and lots of room to wander. There were a couple days where the waves were huge, so we had a great time boogie boarding.

Checking out the rocks with Grandpa. Oliver loved the rocks.

The hat bandit. He was actually pretty good about keeping his sun hat on,

but he had his moments.

Mauna Kea. This is a volcanic mountain where there is an observatory at the top. If you measured the mountain from the base (under the ocean), it would be the tallest in the world. We drove up to 9000 feet to go to the visitor center where they set up all kinds of telescopes that you can check out for free. The moon was almost full, so we didn't get the full effect of the stars, but the moon was pretty amazing in the telescope. You could even see the craters in great detail. We also got to see the rings of Jupiter and its moons. We got there just before sunset, so we hustled up to the viewpoint, to watch the sun go down.

Sunset from the viewpoint.

Kristi and Blake.

The view from the Mountain Road on the way to Waimea and Mauna Kea.

Mahu Kona - This is the swimming "hole." Blake and Kristi swim here most afternoons. It is just a short drive from their house. On this day the swells were a bit too big to venture into the water, but we had a good time getting drenched in the waves as they broke on the pier. We also saw several sea turtles.

Pololu Valley - We hiked down to Pololu Valley to check out the gorgeous view of the 7 valleys and the black sand beach.

Beach 69's. It has a really long Hawaiian name, but everyone just calls it 69's. It was the first beach we went to and Oliver was a little freaked out by the waves at first, but he loved eating sand.