Wawaloli Beach

Sophia loves water.  I think she is part fish as she will spend the entire day in the water, if we let her and if she stayed warm. She has been in swimming lessons, off and on, since she was 6 months old and she can't seem to get enough of it.

This was on the second day in Hawaii.   She was able to swim across the pool, unassisted with flippers.

  The pool at the condo was a little bit chilly but it had a hot tub beside it which helped warm Sophia up.  We literally drag her out of the water on a few days.  She even met a couple of friends, Bella and Harrison, from Fargo, North Dakota.  It was awesome to watch!

Beach time at the tidal pools, aka Wawaloli Beach, aka Natural Energy Lab.  Based on our description in the best ever Hawaiian travel book (The Big Island Revealed), we were not sure what to expect.  It mentioned that the best time to go was high tide and we thought we had missed it.  In the hour or so that we were there, the water filled and drained and filled some more. It was really interesting to see what impact a large wave would have this pool.   We placed our beach gear on the hill while we were wandering around and the water almost caught up to it all.  The best parts were that the it was sandy bottomed and very calm for the kiddies to play in.  We were able to see some fish and a couple small crabs here and there.  The other neat part about it, for Dad and I at least, is that is is right beside Kona International Airport and the arriving planes flew fairly low, right over us!  Sadie was not a fan of that and would stop whatever she was doing to cover her ears...

Sophia in her usual position in the hot tub.  I love that she is getting to a stage that we don't always have to be right beside her in the pool.  We keep a very close eye on her, of course, but especially when the water is cold, I can sit on the pool edge and watch my fishy swim.

The view from our pool.  It was an infinity pool over looking the golf course, a little lake and the King's Shops.  It was a gorgeous view...the very odd thing to the island of Hawaii is that there is so much lava, almost everywhere!  Driving from the airport north towards Waikoloa, you feel like you are on the moon.  There are a handful of trees and such that have grown in the lava, but it is mostly lava (from Hualalai and Mauna Kea volcanos in 1800 and 1859).  Suddenly, out of these odd landscapes of moon like terrain, a beautiful, lush resort pops out.  As soon as you leave the resort areas, in any direction, you are right back onto the moon.  It is really bizarre but fascinating to see.  I would love to learn more about the volcanos and most definitely visit this island again.

The Fish and the Dads.  The hot tub was just around the lava rocks from the cold pool, where Tyson and Max are.  There was a little waterfall at each end of the pool that Casey loved.  He wanted you to take him to them every time he got into the pool.