Our Big Island Hawaii Family Vacation | Day One

​As our time to leave Hawaii is coming to an end, we are quickly checking things off our bucket list, one of these being a trip to the Big Island. We bought our tickets two months ago, made reservations at Kilauea Military Camp and a cute AirBnB in Captain Cook last month, and secured a rental car last week for 6 days and 5 nights on this beautiful island.
Wednesday morning we woke the kids up and loaded them (with a mouthful of breakfast) into the car for the airport. Kids require a lot of gear and a lot of planning, but Team Vier has it all under control and we are lucky our kids are such travel troopers. The flight from Oahu to Kona is super short and we were there by 9AM. 

After we got our rental car situated (hello, minivan!) and loaded with car seats and snacks, we headed towards Kona for an early lunch.  Yelp never lets met down and directed us to Umeke’s for some delicious Poke. Kaitlin even downed an entire tub of tako (octopus) kimchi with a side of strawberry lemonade.

Tako at Umeke's

After lunch, we figured it would be a good time to drive towards Volcanoes National Park so the kids could take a nice nap in the car. We set out to take the 190 through Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa to Hilo but somewhere we missed a fork in the road and ended up in Waimea. There are never mistakes when it comes to road trips, only new adventures. Waimea is such a cute little town and I wished we could have spent more time there or come back to explore more, but we got some coffee at Waimea Coffee Company (a cortado for me, and a local pour over for the Mr.) and were back on our way down the Hamakua Coast, which is such a beautiful drive (see, no wrong turns here!).

​We stopped by Akaka Falls to explore and let the kids get their sillies out. Warren walked a lot of the way on the paved path with his fire engine (it came with us everywhere) and had fun finding rocks to throw.

​When we got to the Volcano, we checked in to our cabin and got some groceries at the general store for dinner and s’mores, which we enjoyed next to the fireplace after a chilly outing to see the lava glow at the Kilauea Crater at the Jagger Museum.
TIP: It is COLD up here at night, and the wind makes it feel even cooler. Bring layers to keep warm, even if you are running around chasing your kids, you will still be cold.

​After a fulfilling day of plane and car travel, we turned the heater on in the cabin and said our goodnights to rest up for a fun day ahead. Have you traveled to the Big Island with your family? What did you do while you were there? I would love to hear from you. 

---