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This trip to Hawaii is really the first true ‘vacation’ that we’ve taken as a family. It’s not a typical ‘Kelley and Irving’ trip either. We usually go-go-go-go and visit as many landmarks and historical sights as we can possibly squeeze in.

This time is different. We had no real agenda. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. Traveling with Adele has been easy and fun. She’s a great traveler anyways, but she really kicked it up a notch on this trip. I think we’ll keep her.

Friday afternoon, the three of us boarded a non-stop flight from LAX to Hilo. We were lucky enough to score a whole row to ourselves, so Adele got to stretch out and play in between us. She did great, we even got compliments on how well behaved she was at the end of the flight from fellow passengers. She took a nice two hour nap on daddy in the middle and both Irving and I were able to read a few magazines. Bliss. She snacked on puffs, a food pouch and some milk when she woke up and before we knew it, we were landing.

We booked one night in Hilo so we wouldn’t have to make the two hour trek to Kona at 11 o’clock at night. Irving spent a couple of years going to college in Hilo before we met, so he always gets excited to see his old stomping grounds. We had to stop at one of his favorites restaurants when we were in town, and the owner recognized him! It’s been almost 13 years since he had been there! Crazy!

Our hotel room had two beds. I got a glorious bed to myself and Adele and Irving shared. All three of us slept for a solid 8 hours. Irving was up early and headed out to explore Coconut Island while Adele and I got another hour of sleep in. He was out there before sunrise, it looked so peaceful and beautiful.

There really isn’t anything like a Hawaiian sunrise/sunset, right!

Meanwhile, Adele and I got ready and took some pictures in the room.

Soon, Irving came back to get his girls, and the three of us were out the door for a walk at 6am. (Because of the time difference, we’ve been going to bed pretty early and waking up between 5a and 6a. I NEVER do that at home, but out here, it just feels right!)

You can’t really read it, but this Banyan Tree was planted by Emelia Earhart in the 1930s.

The purpose of our walk was to get some fresh air and take in the pretty scenery — err… just kidding. That is a lie. We were on a mission to find some fresh malasadas. Mission accomplished. We split a Coconut Cream and Passionfruit Jelly one. Mmmm.

We headed back to the room around 7:30a to pack up and get on the road. But first, let’s just take a minute to check out the amazing signage inside the hotel. Huh?

I’m embarrassed to tell you how long it took us to find our room for the first time.

Anyways, around 8a, we hit the road to travel to other side of the island to Kona. It was a pretty drive and Adele slept the whole way there.

Pinch me, I can’t believe our little family is in Hawaii! More pictures to come!