Our last few days in Hawaii were really special. We truly valued every single day that we spent in the sunshine with our family! 
Day 6 was a long, but wonderful one. We got up early that morning and went to the City of Refuge, which was only a few minutes down from where we were staying. This "city" is now a national park, and sea turtle sanctuary of sorts. It was literally a place of refuge for the Hawaiian people and an old religious site.....in the old days if you broke some sacred laws or made the chief angry, you were usually sentenced to death. The only way that you could survive is to make it to this city before your pursuers got to you first. If you made it to the City of Refuge, you were safe, "home base" if you will, and all prior crimes would be forgiven.
We spent the morning reading and seeing the history of this beautiful place, and take some great pictures with the family. Afterwards, Teage, the boys, and I went and found our own personal tide pool area, and literally spent almost two hours just hanging out in the shallow water, throwing rocks, looking for shells, and watching the ocean just a few yards away. It was a wonderful peaceful afternoon.
Day 6 was a long, but wonderful one. We got up early that morning and went to the City of Refuge, which was only a few minutes down from where we were staying. This "city" is now a national park, and sea turtle sanctuary of sorts. It was literally a place of refuge for the Hawaiian people and an old religious site.....in the old days if you broke some sacred laws or made the chief angry, you were usually sentenced to death. The only way that you could survive is to make it to this city before your pursuers got to you first. If you made it to the City of Refuge, you were safe, "home base" if you will, and all prior crimes would be forgiven. We spent the morning reading and seeing the history of this beautiful place, and take some great pictures with the family. Afterwards, Teage, the boys, and I went and found our own personal tide pool area, and literally spent almost two hours just hanging out in the shallow water, throwing rocks, looking for shells, and watching the ocean just a few yards away. It was a wonderful peaceful afternoon.
The twins with the twins
The whole group minus myself at the site of the old city
Once the boys were down for a nap, my brother, stepmom, and I went back to the City of Refuge to take some pictures of a sea turtle who had come on shore to rest in the sunshine. There is a rule there that you can't get within a certain distance to the turtles, so all of the animals feel extremely comfortable coming onto the shore. They know no one will disturb them. We were able to take a ton of pictures, which of course is one of my very favorite things to do!
Isn't he cute?
That night we took some family pictures at our Hawaii house as well. We all dressed in our Hawaiian best, wore beautiful matching leis, and smiled for the camera, hoping that the boys would cooperate. :) We actually did end up getting quite a few great family pictures, even with me clicking a remote while trying to pose with the boys the whole time! And afterwards, dinner out for one of our last nights in the beautiful state of Hawaii.
Poor David....we were making fun of him all week for not finishing his food, so I think that he felt like he needed to show us up the last night with all you can eat pasta! :) Go David!
Day 7 was simply amazing. Our house was just above Captain Cook bay....a historic and beautiful landmark, where there is no street access what-so-ever. That morning, there were dolphins swimming in the bay, so my wonderful stepmom took the boys for us, and Teage, myself, my brothers, and sister all went down and rented kayaks to go into the bay and over to the Captain Cook monument on the other side. This is also a sight for some of the very best snorkeling on the big island, so thankfully we were able to take our snorkel gear as well. :) Since we were such early risers (thanks Dylan and Lucas) :), we were the very first ones to tie our kayaks up to the billowing trees, take a walk around to the Captain Cook monument, and get into the water. We also arrived before all of the site-seeing boats, so we had the place all to ourselves. What an amazing sight it was!!!!!! The most fish I have ever seen. And since there is no access to that side of the bay besides a full day hike, or kayak across the bay, the fish are not afraid of people and will swim right beside you the entire time. I have never experienced anything like it. Teage and I literally spent about 15 minutes in one shallow spot near the rocks, surrounded by hundreds of bright yellow fish going in and around us, coming so close that we could reach out and touch them. It really was an amazing sight. All of us then spent a little time and ate lunch over there as others were arriving, and played out on the big black rocks near the water before kayaking back to the other side of the bay and going home. We had a fabulous time!
You probably can't read this, but it is a plaque that says "Near this spot, Captain James Cook met his death, February 14th 1779"
All of us at the Captain Cook monument
I know this is also hard to see, but I absolutely love this picture. Sean took it at the edge of this very elaborate tree covering, with myself, Teage, Lindsey, and David standing in various places throughout.
Grammy and Papa, thank you so much for all that you have given us, on this trip and always. We had so much fun with you and really cherished each day in our beautiful Hawaiian paradise! The boys still talk about it and want to be back as well. :) They loved being there with all of our family. We appreciate you so very much!!!
We miss you Hawaii!!!!!!! :)
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