Hawaii Trip Day 1 Getting Settled

We were so tired last night that none of us made it past 8:00.  That meant that we had two kids awake at 4:00 am.  The kids were good and they stayed quiet and played games and read but it was still a very early start to the day.  Dan and I were up early too, it will take us a day or two to adjust to the time change. 

Last night we picked up some breakfast food at Safeway so we had breakfast in the room.  Nothing fancy, just cereal and muffins.  After breakfast the kids were anxious to get on with the day.  They wanted to go to the beach, we had to remind them that today was our day to get settled and go shopping for food and other things we'd need for the week. 

Costco was one othe stores on our shopping list and on Sunday it doesn't open until 10 am, normally that wouldn't be an issue but when you wake up at 4 am, 10:00 seems really late. 

We decided to go to Target first since we knew that they opened earlier. The Target in Kona is awesome, it is newer store and we ended up getting a lot there.  I went in with 3 things on my list and walked out with a full cart after spending $200!  We ended up getting a lot of food at Target, the prices were very good especially compared to the prices I'd seen the night before at Safeway.  We also bought supplies for the beach.  We bought boogie boards for the kids, they were $13 each which is cheaper than renting them for a week.  I also got myself a beach chair, last year I sat on a towel in the sand and wanted a chair the whole week.  I'd looked at Walmart last year for a chair but I couldn't find one, Target had a great selection. 

After Target we headed to Walmart.  In general I'm not a Walmart fan, I try to avoid shopping there.  The only reason we went to Walmart was that I had a $50 gift card and it seemed like vacation was a good time to use that up.  Walmart has a small section in the front with Hawaiian type products.  The next time we come to Kona we will probably avoid Walmart and do all our shopping at Target and Costco. 

After dropping off groceries at the condo we finally headed to Costco.  We found almost everything on our list.  It was interesting, some things were identical prices to the Costco at home but a few were quite a bit more.  We had lunch at Costco, it is probably the cheapest lunch spot on the island.  Lunch for the four of us was under $10. 

We made it back to the condo a bit after noon.  I was really starting to fade at this point, waking up at 4 am was catching up with me.  It didn't seem to be catching up with the kids, they were begging to go to the beach.  I told them I needed a short nap and then we'd go to the beach.

45 minutes to shut my eyes did the trick and I felt much better.  Before the beach we went to Miller's Snorkel and Surf Shop to rent our snorkel equipment.  We rented there last year and were happy with the quality and the price.  The owner is a really nice guy, he is super friendly and fun to talk to.  We rented 4 sets of snorkel equipment (fins, snorkels and masks) and one boggie board for $71 for a week long rental!  What a bargain!

Finally the kids got their way and we headed to the beach.  We were anxious to try out the snorkel equipment so we went to Kahalu'u Beach Park.  Kahalu'u is just a bit south of Kona on Alli Drive.  It is about 10 minutes away from our condo.  Kahalu'u isn't a pretty beach but it had great snorkeling. 

There is even a life guard stand!

When we arrived at the beach we quickly found a spot to put our stuff and as I looked out at the other snorkelers I realized that we didn't get a snorkeling vest for Ali.  Oops!  We decided to let her try going out without one.  The entry into the water at Kaualu'u isn't difficult but it is rocky.  You have to be careful where you step.  We were quite a sight getting in the water, Connor put his fins on too early and he was having a hard time manuvering with the fins on. Finally, all four of us were in and we ventured out to see the fish.  Ali was swimming fine but she kept grabbing onto Dan and complaining that she was getting water in her mouth.  I think she just really needed a vest to help her float so she didn't have to work so hard.  She snorkeled in August on our cruise and did a lot better than she did today.  Dan took her back near shore and Connor and I went exploring.  We saw a lot of fish and some cool coral, we didn't see any sea turtles but hopefully we'll see them another day.  Snorkeling late in the afternoon isn't ideal, it wasn't as clear as it is earlier in the day. 

We stopped on the way back to the condo and rented a snorkeling vest for Ali, I think she'll do much better tomorrow with the vest.

When we got back to the condo, Dan took the kids to the pool and I came up and started dinner.   Dinner was easy, we'd picked up a pan of chicken alfredo pasta at Costco so all I had to do was put it in the oven for an hour.  I put some garlic bread in too and tossed together a small salad. 

We had some appetizer/snacks on the lanai while we waited for the pasta to be done. What a great way to end the day. 

We also tested the blender and made these frozen concoctions, what a perfect ending to a good day!