Aloha from Kailua-Kona

This is my friend Terry at her parents home on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kathy and I were able to fly over for a week and stay with her. The 3 of us are lucky enough to work together and have become the best of friends. We had such a BLAST just hanging out and relaxing in Kailua. Every day was an adventure. Terry was our tour guide and knew every inch of the island. She showed us all the great places to eat and shop. Some days we would pack up food and drinks and spend all day at the beach.

Terry has the coolest brother too. Bobby flew over a few days after we did. Kathy and I had fun getting to know him. Bobby took great care of the three of us.

The driveway to their parents house is kinda steep and a little scary to park the cars in. Every night Bobby would park the cars down in the driveway for us. When we would get up in the mornings, the van and car would already be parked up on the road ready for us to head out for the day. We were all very grateful he parked the cars for us and I don't know if I even thanked him for that. Thanks Bobby!

This is the view from the back patio. Her parents home is right on the golf course. Kathy and I about died when we got out of the car and saw this beautiful home that would be ours for the week.

You can see Terry coming up the path. She would get up early every morning and run 6 or 7 miles. Meanwhile, Kathy and I would sleep in until about the time she was done with her run. We created a great schedule. Terry would jog towards town and then call our cell phones when she was at the Lava Java. Then Kathy and I would hop in the car and drive down to meet her. After pancakes we would drive her home. Aren't we such good friends :)

Planning another fun day! If you ever get to Lava Java, get a large Kona Coffee. It is perfect! I brought some back for me and also some for my son-in-law Shawn. He will love his Kona Coffee.

We visited the famous Black Sand Beach

This is where we read about the Legend of the Sea Turtles in Hawaii. The legend says sometimes the turtle would turn into a girl and frolic on the beach and play with the children. At night it would swim back to the ocean keeping watch and always insuring the children's safety. The sea turtle became known as the "Keeper of the Children". Since we are all three school teachers, we felt a real kindred spirit with the sea turtles.

Our spot at Hapuna Beach in the shade. Even so, we poured on the sunscreen!

Kathy and I each had one goal we wanted to do on this trip. Kathy's goal was to see a waterfall and to swim in the river above the falls. My goal was simply to swim with a sea turtle. Just to even see one would have been enough.

We barely finished setting up our chairs when a sea turtle came looking for me! He swam right up to Terry and hit her on the leg! He wanted us to know he was right there! I ran so fast to see it, I about ran over a kid boogie boarding.

On this day, I was able to swim with 3 of the most beautiful, amazing sea turtles all morning long. It was a perfect day, and I had achieved my goal.

The next day Kathy accomplished her goal.

We all cheered as she waded in the stream above the falls.

Terry's mom told her about an avocado tree down on the golf course. One night, we walked down to see if we could find it. SCORE! We found beautiful big avocados just hanging there for the picking. These are the ones I picked off the tree. When we walked all the way back to the house we about passed out....well, actually, I about passed out! It was dark, hot and humid, and I was not in as good of shape as Terry and Kathy....plus, I had the heavier load to carry since I risked life and limb to climb on a golf cart to reach 7 avocados. Walking back, we were all laughing so hard it made it hard to go too far without resting. This night ended up being one of our most fun adventures!

We went to the Farmers Market and found these necklaces and rings. When ever we wear them they will remind of us the fun we had together and the memories that we made. It was a trip of a lifetime, and we couldn't have ask for more. Thank you Terry for sharing your family's beautiful home in Kona and all you did for us to make our vacation completely amazing!

I feel so blessed to have these two women as friends.