Hawai'i in August: Hamakua Coast, Hilo

Tuesday, August 6, we went to Hilo via the Hamakua Coast. The first stop was Tex's - malasadas for us, more exciting breakfasts for others.

Then we stopped at the Waipio lookout. Ever and Wrenzy refused to join the cousin pic.

They reluctantly joined the family photo, but Tiny became uncooperative. Jim joined her in "mad face":

Next, Laupahoehoe Point:

Christian or Rob (I don't remember which) requested a stop at Hakalau, which most of us didn't know about. The road down to the old sugar mill was closed, but a few of us walked down a bit past the barrier to get a glimpse of the bridge and the remains of the sugar mill. 

At the top, by where the road was closed off, the gang was enthralled by the sleeping grass or whatever that plant is that has the leaves that close up when you touch them.

Anna gave Ever a lesson on noise making with grass. I don't know the trick, but it's something about putting a blade of grass in your cupped hands and blowing to make a loud, weird, animal-like sound. After hearing Anders do it, Ever was determined to learn. Thanks to Anna's tutelage, she finally figured it out.

Akaka Falls was next. My matching biggers, hand in hand:

Tiny decided to hold things up by hopping down each step.

Tiny nailed the family photo.

It was incredibly hot. Ever does not do well in heat.

But she managed to put on a happy face for some photos.

The littles fell asleep on the way to Rainbow Falls, so Jim stayed in the air conditioned car with them. He was not sad about that. It was so, so hot. Apparently there were record-breaking temps that week we were there. Lucky us.

The nicest man made animals out of lauhala leaves for the kids. Ever was super into him, and we even brought her creature back to California with us.

There were a number of other people at the banyan tree, but some of our people got in there to climb. Tucker and Anders went way up. I wished we had the place to ourselves, and I would have climbed, too.

Anders is in blue/purple way up high in this pic:

In keeping with tradition, we ate at Cafe Pesto. Wrenzy took down the last of her ice cream Papa-style. Who is her mother, and why isn't she teaching her kids manners?

A new tradition we started was jumping at Coconut Island. Christian had heard about it and requested a stop there. It's just a tiny little place in Hilo Bay that is accessed via a short footbridge. There's a shallow, calm area in which littles can swim.

Then there's the area with the jumping. Ever started jumping into the water from a little wall on the east side and was freaked out even by that. It took her a while to muster the courage. It was not high but must have been freaky just because of jumping into the ocean. Clara accompanied her and encouraged her.

And she jumped.

The exciting area is across from that wall Ever started on. There's a lower platform that's maybe eight feet high and a higher one that's maybe 15 feet high. When we got there, these two crazy, hilarious boys (maybe young teens?) were jumping. They had no fear and were doing crazy tricks. They were incredibly friendly and showed us the ropes. One of them jumped in to show me how deep it was. We jumped with them for a while, and then they left and we had the place to ourselves. 

Ever told me she wanted to jump, and she stood on the lower platform with me for a while trying to get up the courage. I wanted her to do it because I knew how much she wanted to do it. She gets so frustrated when she wants to do something but is too scared. We were standing on the edge holding hands, talking about jumping together. I realized that could be dangerous. I worried that I'd count to three and jump, she'd chicken out, and I'd drag her off. I said something like, "If we do this, you really have to jump." I totally didn't think she would, but I counted, and she jumped! I was shocked, and when I registered that it was really happening, I quickly jumped, too. Then Ever jumped a few more times from the lower tower.

Jim brought Wrenzy over, too, because she said she wanted to jump. Wren is a teeny, tiny, four-year-old who hasn't even been swimming that long. She was a little scared but wanted to do it, so Jim offered to toss her in. She accepted that offer, and he held her up and tossed her off. I treaded (trod?) water so I could be there when she jumped and then swim in with her. She was absolutely amazing. She jumped a few times and swam through that dark ocean by herself to the side. I was so very proud. From what I hear, the bystanders were amazed. 

I had to prove to myself that I still have some moves, so I threw a couple back flips off the lower tower. I think I also did a front one-and-a-half from the higher tower.

Of course Ever, who has to do all the hard/dangerous things, became intent on jumping off the high tower. Jim offered to throw her off as he did with Wren on the lower tower. She asked him to do that. When he tossed her, however, he tried to throw her out and ended up tilting her so she landed on her face. She cried and cried and cried and cried, and the people watching certainly thought we were abusive. Unfortunately we had to end on that note. It was really late, and the nonjumpers in the fam had been waiting forever. I think some of our clan had even left by then. We went to the bathroom and changed, and by the time we came out of the bathroom, she had finally calmed down. Despite the face plant, Coconut Island was the biggest highlight of the entire trip, and Wrenzy and Ever have talked about it so much and told so many people about it. They can't wait to go back and jump again.