As you may know Hawai'i is full of wildlife not common to the mainland. On our first day out to the beach we spotted two of the rarest species.
The first was the black-billed flycatcher. She was so still and patient waiting for her prey. At one point I thought we might need to check for a pulse.
The second sighting was of the purple breasted oompah. What was unusual was that she was accompanied by the black chested oompah male (unpictured). They were off for a water hunting expedition.
There were many others but we were not fast enough with the camera to capture them.
We entered the water and snorkeled for a while but I had an equipment malfunction which cut my time short. Today the waves were too high for snorkeling so we spent the day out and about.
We hit the farmers market in the morning to find some local fruit but ended up with other items like baked goods, beads and other items.
We hit a coffee farm for a tour and found some more wildlife. Here is Brianna with the chameleon that Kathi found in the orange tree. We all took turns holding the little guy. We also saw two pigs that were roaming but again they alluded the camera's eye.
After the caffeine fest we headed for lunch and then to a market that was on the main street through the center of Kona. We had the obligatory shaved ice and the kids picked up some souvenirs.
We spent a little time watching the waves and letting the kids play on the beach before heading home to grill some steaks on the lanai.
Alex and I went with Sue and Jim to explore a lava tube. We climbed and crawled back as far as it went. Alex was loving it, my knees were not.
Here's the boy at top at the end of the journey.
The lava fields look like Mars.
We cooked some yummy dinners. This was ka-bob night with chicken, peppers, onion and fresh Hawaiian pineapple.
The kids discovered the macademia tree. Uncle Jim let them use a hammer to crack them open so they could be eaten.
We met with the king.
We explored valleys.
We watched a rescue.
We teased the ass-horse.
We witnessed His art.
... and more of His art. This is the surf at the bay we were scheduled to tour.
We got in touch with nature.
This poor critter was patient with the kids.
Here's the troopers that walked with me down the mile long 25% grade road. The walk down was a challenge and I'm very glad we had a ride back up. The blue book we use as a guide to many things said that it's a mile down but will feel like five miles going up. I believe it.
The water was great. 
We came across some of the wild horses feeding. They were beautiful animals.
Here's Capt. Jim driving us back up the hill. You can see the car ahead pulled over to wait for us to pass. The road is steep and narrow.
The sunset from the lanai is just wonderful. 
