Hawaii! Part Two: Little Meets a Dolphin, Chasing waves (and a stranger), Harry H Park, Our "Backyard" Photoshoot & Horseback Riding

After the Botanical Gardens,we headed to the other side of the island to check in at the timeshare, which was in the Waikoloa Resort area. For our first full day, we started off with a Dolphin Encounter at the Hilton for Brady and Kaelyn.

Leaving the timeshare--actually managed to pull all of Kaelyn's wild hair into an adorable curly ponytail. How precious is she?

(The hairdo didn't last) The hotel is really kind of spectacular, particularly the pool and recreation area. They have 11 dolphins and honestly (and this is coming from a total animal sap, who sobbed at Free Willy even the 100th time I saw it), the dolphins seem really happy in their lagoon home.

I got Kaelyn changed into her wetsuit and we hung out in their lounge area and on the deck. There were two other little girls in her group and at the start of the encounter they got everyone in life vests.

At first Kaelyn seemed okay with it, but it didn't take her long to decide that she really, really did not care for that life vest. This is evident in the photos that have her clamoring to take it off. And sobbing. In the "official" photo we bought (which I haven't scanned yet), it looks as though she thinks she's going to be fed to the dolphin. Oh well. She actually did really well with the dolphin. She got to feed him several fish, which she did like a pro. (She has practice from giving the dogs treats.) The sliminess didn't seem to bother her like it did the other kiddos, who wanted nothing to do with the stinky fish.

The view leaving the Dolphin Encounter...ahhhh...

They have a very eclectic art collection at the Hilton. While we wandered around, we came upon a rhino. Kaelyn's favorite book is I Know a Rhino and I make sure to point out every rhino we see, but this is usually limited to live at the zoo or on the zoo's carousel) so she was rather stoked to see him, you know, out and about.





Um, Kaelyn? This train isn't going to drive itself :)



Later on, we ventured down to Kona so we could stock the kitchen with some essentials for the week. While we were in the area, we decided to go to Harold H Higashihara Park, which I had found in my travel planning. It was one of the coolest parks we'd ever seen and we had a blast climbing, sliding, teeter-tottering, pushing Kaelyn on the swings.

We went to several different beaches during our trip (and I've lost track of which beach on which days)--there was A-Bay, which was right by the resort. We went there twice during the trip...these two are from our first visit:

Brady left his mark on the beach. It started as a barricade to protect Kaelyn from the water and evolved from there.

but the best were just a few minutes up the road.

Now, about Kaelyn's swimwear, which I think is really stinkin' cute--We brought a few different swimwear options for Kaelyn, but she spent all her time in this Roxy wetsuit. It was great because it limited the amount of sand that got in her diaper (of course, sand is a tricky thing that gets into everything), it kept her a little warmer since the water was a bit on the chilly side and it had a 50+ UV protection to protect her fair skin. We also had a Puddle Jumper and a swim vest, which she refused to wear. Fortunately, she didn't want to be without her hat, which we picked out at Costco. Notice the color? She's our little sunshine!

Funny story--but it needs a little back story. Kaelyn and I have a little thing we do. If she's across the room or there's several feet between us, I'll say "I'm gonna get yoooooou," and she'll do one of two things: 1) giggle and run away, or 2) run straight toward me. If she goes with the second, I'll run toward her and we'll both spread our arms out and I'll scoop her up just as we're about to collide. She finds it hilarious. Sooo, we were at the beach and I had gone up to all our gear to take photos of Brady and Kaelyn playing in the sand. Here's the sequence:

They took a break from building castles (and pyramids and lounge chairs) to go down to the water.

Kaelyn lost her footing in the wet sand.

She caught a glimpse of someone down the beach she thought was me.

Run, Kaelyn, Run!

"Momma!"

Immediately after this photo, there was an "Uhhh--you're not my momma" moment. Still. The outstretched hands, the huge smile on her face? Makes my heart swell. Love it :)

This one you might recognize from our Christmas card (we used a cropped version). This was at one of the many shopping areas that was all decorated for Christmas. (I think the camera strap or possibly a finger is in the bottom left corner--whoops.)

One early evening when we were just chilling out at the timeshare--I think this was the night we went up to the Observatory (which, besides the drive when I discovered my susceptibility for car sickness, was really awesome)--I took Kaelyn outside to the "backyard" for some photos. There was a huge grassy area and we were on the bottom floor so it was really great for running around and burning off some toddler energy. Even so, she's a moving target in every photoshoot these days so a lot were of her back.

Out of focus, but look at that facial expression! Ooof, don't make her mad ;) I think her nostrils are even flaring. (Oh and she posed herself that way.)

In the next two, she's standing ON the picnic table by the barbecue grills.

One thing I was particularly excited for (you know, besides a beach vacation, not having to work for 12 days, and getting to spend 12 days with the fam) was horseback riding. I tend to only get to go while on vacation, but it's something I really enjoy and thanks to Brady (since the place was difficult to get ahold of), I got to take a special sunset ride (they just so happened to switch the ride time for that day because a couple in the group was doing the BBQ at the ranch that night). It was out on a cattle ranch, which was great because we got to canter and gallop and didn't have to ride nose to tail like on most trail rides. With getting geared up and then the actual ride, it was about 2 hours or so.

Brady and Kaelyn visited the animals and then drove back down to Waimea (which had another great playground) while I was on the ride. Kaelyn ended up falling asleep on the way back up so Brady got some time to take photos of the horses and then the group as we came back.

My horse's name was Sam (Samson from Canada, eh...though why the horses were imported from the friendly North, I have no idea. Eh.) and he was introduced to me as a "military man" in that he does what's expected from him and he doesn't like to stray from what he needs to do. He listened to my direction at times, but if I disturbed him from his frequent snack breaks, he'd growl at me. Yes, I know. Horses aren't known for growling, but I swear that's what he did. I think he would have nipped at my leg had I pushed it any further. He knew what he was doing and didn't really care for his authority being questioned by the Malihini from the mainland so I just let him do his thing. For being so big, he was fast and since my experience on horses is limited, I just held on tight and after a couple spurts of galloping, I was having a ball.

Saying goodbye, eh.

Coming up in Part 3: Why one should not buy a retired Big Island rental car, more beach, another trip to Harold H, favorites from the Momma & Kaelyn photoshoot at the tidepools, and the coconut offering.