Colorful Beaches by Isabel

Today the Staats' went to two beaches, the first one was a green sand beach.  First we walked 2.5 miles to get to it.  We took the ghost path and my brother and dad took the human path.  Soon we arrived at the beach and climbed up a big hill of sand and then ran back down.  It was amazing because we had never seen green sand before!  Me and my siblings got soaked and we didn't even have our bathing suits!  Next we went to the southernmost point of the United States.  We saw windmills and Daisy the cow!  Finally we went to the black sand beach.  Here we found a ginormous sea turtle.  My brother even went up to it and talked to it and it nodded it's head.  It was sooo cute!  After this, we went in the freezing water and I never got used to the icy water.  After this we went back home and ate.  Then we watched the Discovery channel.  

A TRIP UP MAUNA KEA

Today, my dad decided that we were going to drive to the top of Mauna Kea which is the biggest volcano in the world!  The first thing we saw when we drove in was a sign that said there were caves so we went to check it out.  Unfortunately, we needed a flashlight to hike it like when we hiked the lava tube in Kilauea which was also pitch black.  We turned back and continued our way up the mountain.  There were tons of turns so me and Amelia started to feel really sick so we pulled off to a short trail that went up a small hill.  There was a really steep part but dad didn't let us go up it so we took the trail.  It was a pretty good view because you could see the whole mountain.  There was snow on the top but it didn't look like there was a lot.  After a lot of begging, dad finally let us go down the steep part of the hill.  It was a cinder rock trail and we slid down the whole thing like a water slide.  After that we headed back for the top of the mountain.  Halfway up the mountain there was a stop where we got soda's, candy bars, and watched a video about how the observatory at the top was the biggest and best in the whole United States.  Then we went for the top.  When we got there, it turns out that there was really a lot of snow.  Enough for people to ski and snowboard.  There were ski marks everywhere.  There were also about 12 different telescopes which were huge.  On our way down we stopped again to use the restroom and then set off again.  When we got home we watched T.V. and went to check out the beach down the road.  On our way back, our local neighbor talked to us and asked if we wanted to have a cookout with him.  WE'RE ACCEPTED!!!!! (sorry, forgot the camera, no picture :( 

HOT BATH IN A NATURALLY HEATED SPRING!!!

Today we moved from our house in the town of volcano to the house near a town called Hilo.  We were supposed to meet the rental person in about 4 hours so my parents opened up Hawaii Revealed (a book that has pretty much everything you need to know about Hawaii) and found that there was a thermally heated spring near by which works just like the steam vents and heats the rocks to make a hot tub like spring.  When we got there we took turns going into the port-a-pottie to change our bathing suits.  I was the last one so I was the last one in the spring.  When I got to the spring, my dad and sister's were already in the water which was surprising because it usually takes them forever to get in the water.  When I stepped in, it was amazingly warm.  It was like a natural hot tub.  It was about 100 degrees.  There were mostly old people and young couples.  At one point, about 10 ladies did some kind of dance in the water where they held hands in a circle, chanted, and moved around.  There were also snorkelers but I don't think they saw many fish because when I opened my eyes underwater I didn't see any blurs or anything.  After a while dad told me to go get mom to go in the water because she had stayed in the car to work.  She wouldn't come to go in the water but she came for a while to take some pictures.  Suddenly, someone over by the wall separating the spring from the ocean yelled, "LOOK, A WHALE!!!!!!"  I'd seen tons of whales before but I decided to go check it out but I was too late.  Before we left, we stopped at a hot dog stand to get hot dogs, chips, and soda for the road.  It was really hard to get out of the water because it was so comfortable but after about 30 minutes we got out.  After that, we went to our new house which ended up being awesome because we could just walk to a beach down the road.  The house was pretty nice to because it had a nice deck and 3 bathrooms.  Later that night we went into Hilo to get food.  We were planning on going to a Mexican restaurant but there was a Thai restaurant in it's place.  We decided to go to it and it ended up being amazing.  I got some gravy noodles thing that was the best Thai food I ever had.  When we were done eating we went to the grocery store for groceries and a desert.  We got a fudge brownie thing.  The groceries were way overpriced!  For a box of cereal, it was more than 6 bucks!  

A trip to an active volcano!

Today we slept in until about 8:00 and I did my research for the project we're working on about the Hawaiian islands. I finished all of my reasearch (about 6 pages) and I'm ready to do my 4 page report. Dad was up and when breakfast was ready we had overeasy eggs and french toast. We also had a delicious orange juice and it actually tasted freshly squeezed (like they always advertise but it never really tastes like it). When I was done eating I took a shower and we headed out for Kilauea, the active volcano that's only a couple miles away from our house. Before we went up we picked up some snacks and drinks (nuts, sunflower seed, beef jerkey, and flavor waters) and went another 5 minutes to the National Park. Our first stop was at the visitor center where we learned facts about the volcano and watched a 10 minute video in a miniature theatre. It was really cool, it showed eruptions and lava flows. I had always thought about putting my finger in lava. That's about the stupidest idea ever because you wouldn't even be able to get anywhere near the lava because it can reach a temperature of 2,200 degrees farenheit. When we were done watching the movie we went to a lookout point that showed us a lookout of the whole volcano. It was incredible. It had steam vents everywhere. Our next stop was the steam vents. Steam vents are holes that have steam coming out of them which is really hot. What happens is rainwater falls into the holes and reaches a bed of hard rock at the bottom where magma heats the rock which boils the water. As you know from boiling water on a stove, it creates steam. It was amazing because this all happens about 2 miles below the surface! After that we headed for another lookout with a museum on it. You could see the crater close-up and there was steam coming out of it and sulfur on the edges. We were planning on hiking through the crater but the trail was closed due to sulfuric acid in the air. When we were done admiring the view, we went to the museum where we learned how the whole volcano used to be a lake of lava. Mark Twane had visited the volcano and said something along the lines of "The sulfur here smells terrible to most people but not so bad to a sinner." He was obviouly comparing it to what hell might look like and it was probably fairly accurate. In the museum it also showed the types of instuments that geologists use to measure different things in the volcano such as temperature of the lava and when the volcanos about to erupt. The temperature insturment worked almost like a thermometer except it had a long nozzle to they didn't have to get too close to the lava. The other machine measured when a volcano's about to erupt. I can't believe I can't remember what it's called but it's the one where the little line goes up and down. It also measures when there's and earthquake about to happen. It's so sensitive that even though it was in a glass box, if you jumped, it would move the line a lot. When we were done with the museum we headed for our next destination, a 2.4 mile hike through the crater. It was voted one of the best hikes on the islands and it was incredible. First it brought you through a tropical rainforrest and then it went on to the harddened lava where there was steam vents everywhere. We stood over them, in them, and I even put my finger in one! It hurt a lot. I pulled it back right away and I yelled ouch as my dad and sisters laughed their heads off. I guess that's about as close as I'm going to get to touching lava. When we were done with this hike we headed for the lava tube. This was easily the highlight of my day. Lava tubes are formed when there's a lava flow and rock forms on top of the lava but the lava keeps on going making a cave of hardened rock. The first one we went through was lit by lanterns and we could see fine. The second one we went to (which is about 3 football fields) was pitch black and we needed flashlights to get through it. When we got to the dead end, we turned off our flashlight to see how dark it would be. It was perfect darkness. I mean you couldn't see a fraction of a millimeter in front of you. If it weren't for everyone talking, you'd feel like you were sleeping. When we got out we went out of the park and ate dinner. This is a great start to our Big Island trip.

We venture to a new island.

Today we got up at about 7:30 to go to the airport, from there we would go to the Big Island where we would see many new sights. The one difference is going to be that some of the volcanos there are active and Maui doesn't have any active volcanos. I'm very excited because it will be a whole new experience. When we got to the airport, there was no one to check our bags and get us tickets so we had to wait a while until somebody showed up. Usually we can get our tickets in about 5 minutes for free because of our dad but this time we flew Aloha airlines because we were only going on a 20 minute flight and we'd have to wait another 4 hours for the next United flight. When we finally got our tickets we went through security and were randomely chosen for secondary screening where we go in a little glass box with airholes while they search through our bags. After another while, more people went into the box with us and it got very crowded. When we got past security we had another hour before our flight so we grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the gate. When we got to the gate though, my stomach started hurting so bad that I was almost ready to tell my dad that I didn't really feel like going on the flight but ended up feeling better right before we got on. When we got to the Big Island it was really cool because it was an outside airport. Me and dad went and picked up our rental car while the girls watched our bags. When we got to Hertz, we had ordered a compact car at first but decided we needed something bigger so we got a fullsize, but it ended up being a grandma type car (you know, one of those luxury cars or whatever). You should have seen the look on my moms face when we pulled up in it. We had to drive another hour and a half to our rental house and when we got there, the gate was closed and locked. We had to call the person in charge and she said it was the wrong house even though it was the same address we had written down. When she got to us, she led us to another big house with a wild chicken in the driveway. It had about 14 eggs but my dad refused to eat them. My mom argued that that's about as fresh as it gets. 

Waves by Isabel Staats

Today was our last day in Maui, so we tried to make it special. Well, I guess it didn't turn out to be the specialist day, but it was still fun. This morning I worked on my homeschooling assignment about Hawaii. I learned that the plants in Hawaii got here two different ways. One way was that birds ate the seeds then flew to Hawaii and used the restroom. The other, people brought their own plants over. If I had to choose the most specialist part of the day, it probably wouldn't be the report. But, what was the specialist thing was going to the beach. We went to the beach for about five hours. First we got used to it by playing in the ocean and riding waves. Then, we went to the big rocks on the side of the beach and played. After this, we went back to mom and dad and made a hot tub in the sand which took a long time and it turned out it was a rip off because it got ruined by the waves. After this, we played in the ocean more. That was our day today at Baldwin beach!

The Maui aquarium By Amelia

Today we all slept late because we were all tired from the past hike through Haleakala. When we did finally get up we decided to stay out of the sun since we had been in the sun all day the past day. We came up with a conclusion that we were all happy about. We would go to the aquarium. We would be staying out of the sun and still getting to enjoy the beauty of Maui. When we got there we got these audio tour guides to take with us through the aquarium. With the audio tour guides we would type in the number on the sign and we would listen to a brief description of what we were looking at and a little about it. First we went and looked at many different types of fish like the trumpet fish and the Idol Morish. We also saw a moray eel that kept opening and closing it's mouth and showing it's white teeth as it wiggled around. Finally, after watching the eel for a while we moved on to a shallow pool of water surrounded by rock that held starfish, sponge, and sea cucumbers. We got to touch the sponge and the sea cucumber and the starfish before moving on to the sea turtles. The sea turtles were just gliding through the water on it's stomach like it was in a carefree, lazy life. They seemed so peaceful. Next, we watched some hammerhead sharks swim in a tank with a baby stingray that was just born last month. Finally, we carried on to the tunnel of the aquarium which held sharks, sting rays and many, huge fish. Right when we entered the tunnel there was a room that had games about whales, dolphins, and fish, which we stayed there for awhile playing games. In another room in the tunnel there was a clear glass looking glass so you could see the sharks, fish and sting rays on the other side of the glass. We even saw one tiger shark that kept moving back and forth swinging it's tail. Then a man came and gave a talk about sharks. He said that some only have to feed twice a month. Next, we headed into the real tunnel which was like a tube that was a clear, glass looking glass on 3 sides so while there would be a shark above you there could be a stingray at your side. When we had gone through the tunnel we went to the gift shop where me and my sister got our names written by this guy where he would turn the letters of your name into other Hawaiian things like inside the triangle on the A in my name there would be a seal or a waterfall. Then we went and looked out into the ocean to see a whale flipping up into the air and flinging it's tail up. Finally, we left the aquarium and drove back to Haiku and had a cookout, an gradually went to bed. 

A hike through Haleakela!!!

Today we got  up and I had bacon and cereal for breakfast.  We all decided that today we were going to take a 13 mile hike through a volcano called Haleakela.  We got everyone up and headed for the Haiku grocery store to buy snacks and water for the hike.  When we had everything put together and had our sunscreen on, we headed up the giant inactive volcano.  It's not a very fun road because there's a turn in the road every 25 yards and eventually you get really dizzy and sick so we had to pull over.  When we finally got to the top, we dropped off the girls and me and my dad went to park the car in the lower parking lot where we would come out.  Since we didn't have a car to bring us to the top, we had to hitch hike.  One guy got really annoying and when a big group of cars were going by, he came right in front of us in his big truck and blocked us from the other car's sight making us wait another 20 minutes or so.  When we finally got to the top we set off.  At first I thought it was gonna be cake, I was feeling great as if I could walk forever and the sights were completely amazing.  It was a huge crater that went for miles and it was almost all sand and rocks.  After 4 miles of the hike, we finally got to the bottom of the crater where we took a short break and regrouped.  Little did we know that this wasn't even 1/3 of the hike.  We walked another mile and came to a huge hill that was very tiring but we didn't take a break after that because we had to finish the hike before dark.  We walked another few miles through rocks with not much to see when me and my dad came to an old lava pit which we crawled into and it looked like a huge cave.  My dad cut his hand on the way down because the rocks were very jagged.  After another short time, we came to a cabin where people stay at the bottom of the crater for a couple of days and it looked like paradise to me because they had and amazing sight of a lot of the crater and it was so high up that you could see the clouds beneath you and it felt like you were on top of the world.  After another mile or so we came to the bottom of the exit, a huge, jagged cliff that seemed to go on forever that we had to climb up, it was hell.  Every time we thought it was about to end, there was another switchback and it seemed to go on like that forever.  When eventually we got to the top, we rode back down the twisty road and had to stop because Amelia was feeling sick.  After we got to the bottom, we went to Polli's, our favorite restaurant in Maui and got to bed really early.

We pick up dad and go to the beach!!!

Today we had a really late start to our day and just sat around on the computer and watched T.V.  Later we went to the airport and picked dad up.  He looked really funny in his leather coat in Maui:)  After we picked him up, we went to Polli's and I had a burrito.  Even though me and my mom split one, it filled me up just fine.  When we were done eating, we went back to the house and got ready to go to Baldwin beach.  The waves weren't very big today but we still had fun with dad and it was also fun because usually Isabel can't go in the water but today she could because she didn't have to worry about getting leveled by a huge wave (which happens all the time).  The sunset was beautiful!  It was orange and red and it it was right above Haleakula, a huge volcano.  When we were done swimming and it got really dark, we took our showers and prepared to leave.  Almost immediately after leaving the beach, there was a lunar eclipse right in front of us!  It was amazing and my mom took a bunch of pictures too!  Right as we were admiring the lunar eclipse, our gas tank showed almost empty and  a red flashing light and beeping sound went off.  We were nervous whether we'd be able to make it back in time or not, but in the end we made it.  When we got back we drove to Mana Foods in Paia and bought food for dinner.  

Day at Baldwin beach by Isabel Staats

Today we went to Baldwin Beach. At the beach we would try to get in front of the waves so they would push us onto the shore. Sometimes there would be coral on the beach and you would end up running into the piece of coral. We also attempted to build a sand castle but the waves kept pushing the walls down so we would have to start over, eventually we just gave up. Some of the waves would be really big and would be like a wall of water. Then we played on the big, black rocks that were on the side of the beach. As the waves hit the rocks the water would spray up over the rocks. Finally, we went home eager for are dad who hasn't been with us for a long time to arrive. 

We take a trip to the Redwood forrest. (or at least we thought we were going to

Today we slept in until about nine, which is really late for us and I watched cage wrestling and Reno 911 for about an hour.  When everyone was ready to go, we headed up the winding roads of Haleakala on our way to the Redwood Forrest.  When we finally got there though, it was closed off which was a big disappointment because the road up there was hell and it was apparently for nothing.  Luckily though, there was a lavender farm nearby so we still had something to do for the day.  It was beautiful, the rows of purple lavender and the scenery of how high up we were on the volcano.  It was all so green and purple!  My mom had read earlier that they had lavender tea and scones so we decided to try them out.  They were delicious!  Everyone agreed that that was the best scones that they'd ever had.  Unfortunately, we couldn't bring any with us but the tea was amazing too so we bought a pack of lavender tea (which was ridiculously overpriced.  I guess everything is in Maui).  We took one last look and photo of the farm and left happy.  The ride down wasn't as bad as the ride up but it still wasn't fun.  Halfway down I was feeling nauseous so we pulled over to the side of the road so I could get some air and there was a trail leading through a vast pine forrest.  We all decided a short hike wouldn't hurt so we were off.  My mom let me use her $2,000 dollar camera and I took hundreds of photos.  We eventually came to a really steep slope that seemed to go on forever and it led to a spring.  The spring was pretty cool with a huge waterfall and giant rocks everywhere.  Little did we know that it was all fun and games until we have to walk up that long steep slope.  Even me (being fairly in shape) had to take a few stops and was still aching a little when I got to the top.  My mom had planned on eating cheap that night but she decided to just take us to Polli's.  (Polli's is deffinately not cheap)  I was definitely happy eating that enchilada and chips and salsa.  The rest of the night was back at the house reading and editing photos on iphoto.  

Slimy Sea Cucumbers and A Beautiful Blue Bird by Isabel

Today we continued our Hawaii journey. We went to two beaches. The first one we went to was Mama's Beach. Mama's Beach has a lot of tide pools. First, we explored the tide pools and then we built sand castles. In the tide pools we saw sea cucumbers and baby crabs. We also saw a lot of sea plants. When we were building sand castles, we found a secret hide out. We tried to make the secret hide out look better, but it didn't work. After this we made a small tube and tried sliding down it. Also, we saw a beautiful blue parrot swooping over the water. Next we went to Baldwin Beach. At Baldwin Beach we tried sitting on the edge of the water and letting the tide bring us back. Then I played with Amelia on the rocks. We saw crabs, both black and red. We also found little pools of water and put in seaweed and coral to make a pretend soup. After this we went back in the water. There we met a girl. We also caught the waves. Then Amelia and I tried making seats in the water but the water ruined it. We would try to make a seat before the big waves came. Then it was time to go. We went to the grocery store. Here we bought dinner and dessert. Then we went home and cooked dinner. We had a fun day in the Staats family today.

The Whale Festival

Today our journey continued with a Whale festival to "save the whales". We got up at 7:00 and drove to Kihei where the festival would take place. After driving for awhile we finally got there. As we approached the park where the festival was we saw tents set up everywhere, and a beautiful view of the ocean where the waves were shooting up over the rocks. We saw that everyone was preparing for the parade by the road we had to find a shady place to sit since we had gotten sunburned from the day at the beach. The parade finally started. There were floats decorated with ocean animals, shells and we got to see the high school play. Since the parade was going as slow as a snail and we were so hungry, we left after the third float which had mermaids on roller blades and people throwing out candy. After we went to the store to get drinks we found pizza at a stand. Behind the stand they had grills and the smoke from the grills and the sunlight that seeped through the trees put together formed a smokey light going up and a smokey light coming down which formed a foggy light. Once we did some souvenir shopping we headed back to the house. On the way home we stopped at the book store and got some books and a movie on pearl harbor. After a great day we settled with books enjoying are time in Maui.

A trip to Baldwin beach.

Today we went to Baldwin beach, located just a little bit out of Paia.  On the news earlier this morning, it said the ocean was going to be a little rough with big waves and probably a strong current so our mom was a bit hesitant on letting us go but we ended up going and having a fun time.  Before we went, we wanted to get a few snacks, but the grocery store we were going to had no unoccupied parking spaces nearby so we had to drive another few minutes to Kahalui.  The grocery store was called Down to Earth and it had a bar with hot food that was vegan, vegetarian, and other healthy foods.  We picked up a few snacks and warm food (I got an enchilada and spicy pasta) and headed for the beach.  When we got there we ate our snacks before going into the water.  We then headed down to the water where we bodysurfed on the waves.  Bodysurfing is where we jump into a wave just before it's about to break and it spins us around like a washing machine.  We did this with a kid on a cruise from Oregan who was really nice and although he was only ten, he was very smart.  Later we walked up the shore where there were some rocks and climbed around on them while Amelia and Isabel picked up seaweed and smashed it into goop with rocks.  There were also tons of crabs on the rocks, but they were more scarred of you than you are of them so we didn't have to worry about them a whole lot.  As the day went on, the waves got bigger and bigger and funner and funner until we were being smashed against the sand.  When we were done playing at the beach we took a quick shower in the shower they had just about 100 yards from the shore.  When we were done we went back to the house where I took another shower because I was still covered in sand.  After that I convinced my mom to take us to my favorite restaurant, Polli's.  It's a Mexican restaurant and it tastes amazing (probably just because it's in Maui).  The one thing about it is their portion sizes.  They're ginormous.  My mom thought I'd eat about half of my burrito and then save the rest for later.  Me and my sister had a little competition to see who could eat more of their burrito.  Unfortunately, I won.  I ate the whole thing.  The whole thing.  The whole thing.  Yeah, stomach ache.  Was it really worth it.  I think so.