Our flight was delayed due to a “security breach” in Orange County and traffic from the Kona/Keahole airport was abysmal but we are here in Hawaii at last, our home for the next 12 days.

We’re staying at Ono Mango, a rental house just above Kealakekua Bay. The house sits in the southern part of the Kona district, slap in the middle of coffee country. We’re close enough to the big tourist meccas to do some “touristy” things (whale watching, luau, etc.) but far enough away that we can relax and not be bothered by crowd or noise.

After unpacking our things at the rental house we tossed the kids in the car and headed down to Kealakekua Bay (try saying that 10 times fast!) for our first taste of Hawaii.

You’d never know that we lived in Southern California, a scant 10 miles from the ocean, had you seen the way Emma and Henry acted at the beach. They were skeptical at first, wanting nothing to do with the water or waves. After an accidental splashing, though, Henry dove right in – literally! – and Emma soon followed. We left Manini Beach just as the sun was setting with both kids dripping wet.

The sunset from the house was gorgeous. The sky was crystal clear and we were able to see the “green flash” that I’ve so often read about on the Astronomy Picture of the Day.

We had a quiet dinner (taro-crusted ahi – yum!) at the Aloha Angel Cafe and called it a night. And so ends our first day in paradise…