Waikoloa Village, HI - Day 2
Sunday, April 4
Happy Easter! Tory and Aden were relieved to see that the Easter Bunny found us in Hawaii this year. He visited our rented condo at Paniolo Greens Resort in Waikoloa Village last night and left Easter baskets for the kids on the back patio. Inside they found all sorts of goodies an Easter Bunny would leave children in Hawaii — a new swimming suit and cover-up, new ball cap, books, bubbles, Peeps, and chocolate bunnies. Even the baskets can be used as sand pails at the beach.
Andi and I had fun reminiscing about all the different places we’ve celebrated Easter over the years. Grandma Janie was along with us one year while we sailed in Puerto Rico over the Easter holiday. Tory remembered hunting for Easter eggs on the boat. Another year, we celebrated Easter in Sayulita, Mexico and two years ago, we celebrated with my cousin Tara in Atlanta, Georgia while traveling in our RV.
After Tory and Aden opened their Easter baskets, Janie and Tory went outside to collect beautiful Hawaiian flowers for our breakfast table. Tory fashioned vases out of used soap bottles and toilet paper. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure to this little girl. She can craft and create something thoughtful from almost anything.
Andi made scrambled eggs for breakfast with fresh arugula salad, radishes, and sautéed asparagus. Tory and Aden each had chocolate chip pancakes. We also ate hot cross buns that we picked up at the farmer’s market yesterday.
After breakfast, Janie wanted to call Andi’s nephew Arnie on FaceTime before he went down for his afternoon nap. Minneapolis is five-hours ahead of Hawaii, so it was already 1:00pm there. We all took turns chatting with Andi’s sister Lindsay and Arnie on FaceTime. Andi’s dad, Jim, was at Lindsay’s so we also got to wish him a Happy Easter.
I wanted to take a nice family Easter picture before the day got away from us, so I asked Tory and Aden to “put on something nice” for the picture. They each returned from their bedroom wearing swimming suits and flip flops. I guess when celebrating Easter in Hawaii, beach wear is the look!
It is so, so windy on this part of the Big Island. Tory and I could barely see to take a picture underneath all our hair blowing in the wind. Oh well, we got our Easter picture in Hawaii.
Next, the kids hunted for plastic Easter eggs that Andi hid throughout our condo unit and then the five of us watched a recording of our Wisconsin church’s Easter service on Facebook. It was a great service! Thank goodness for technology with allows us to participate in special events such as this one.
Later, the five of us met Andi’s friend Clark at the beach. Clark wanted to take us to a “secret” beach that we hadn’t been to yet called Mau’umae Beach, located between Spencer Beach Park and Mauna Kea Resort on the Kohala Coast. I wasn’t so sure about this place when we pulled into the Spencer Beach parking lot. There were tons of local families celebrating Easter there will large tents set up, lawn games in full effect and BBQs cooking good-tasting meats. From the parking lot, Clark led us down the sidewalk toward the park bathrooms and then instructed us to follow the coastal trail to the left, through the trees, about a quarter of a mile to Mau’umae Beach. Andi, Janie, Tory and I set off carrying our beach bags and coolers to the beach while Aden rode with Clark on his stand up paddleboard via the ocean.
The walk to the beach was absolutely gorgeous! The 4:00pm sun lit the trees up with a warm golden glow. The view of the beach didn’t disappoint either. What a quiet, serene place compared to the noisy celebrations happening at Spencer Beach Park.
After Clark and Aden met us at the beach, Andi took Tory for a little spin on the paddle board. She wasn’t so sure about the waves pushing them around out there. I guess I can’t blame her since she wasn’t wearing a life jacket.
We hung out with Clark and his friend Tony for a few hours on the beach. After the sun set on the day, we made the trek back to our cars parked at Spencer Beach Park. The park security guard made it very clear to us when we arrived that he planned to lock the park gate at 7:00pm and anyone who hadn’t left by that time would be locked inside the park. We were sure to be on the correct side of the gate by 6:55pm.
Before we left the park, we made sure to take one more family Easter picture. Sticky from sunscreen and covered in sand and sweat, these photos are more reflective of our Easter holiday spent in Hawaii. Picture perfect, if you ask me.
