Peterson Ohana Kona Vacation Day 5

 We had to get up and get ready to make it to church on time. We reheated some breakfast left overs and put on “church clothes” (Hawaiian shirts and dresses) and headed to Kona. We decided to turn on the Shaka Guide on the way! We also went to one church building but then decided to go to the one near the Kona Temple instead. Church started at 10:30 and we got there right on time. The temple is under a massive renovation and was pretty much completely demolished which surprised us! But church was really nice and it was good to honor the sabbath in the Lord’s house. 

We ate a picnic lunch under the pavilion right outside the chapel and it was nice! We checked in for our VERY late night dive tonight and continued on with the Shaka Guide. We stopped at Captain Cook monument and listened to a lot of cool history stories about that side of the island. 

We got back to the condo around 3:15 and made dinner. Tanner and Parker grilled ono fillets and we had rice with teriyaki sauce and sautéed squash. We then raced to Hapuna Beach to catch as much time as we could before the sunset. It was a beautiful evening and we swam in the ocean and saw another turtle friend. We stayed and watched the pretty sunset and played on the beach for a while. 

After the sun went down, we headed to the King Shops to grab a few things from the market. But the most special part of the evening was that Ella got her ears pierced! The “Auntie” working at Claire’s was so sweet and did such a great job! Ella was nervous and cried a bunch. But nothing a little shopping didn’t cure. She got pink sparkly flower earrings that looks like hibiscus flowers. What a fun way to experience this momentous event! Yay! Ella!

We needed to kill some time before headed to our manta ray tour and we were going to sit in the hot tub but they closed at 8. So the kids and I laid down on the basketball court to star gaze until it was time to go. 

It was LATE and we were all so tired on the way to Kona for the tour. It was a 40 minute drive and the kids fell asleep. We were sleepy and cold when we arrived. Our bodies were so confused to be up so late and getting on a boat in only our swim suits. But let me tell you, this experience was incredible! We took a little raft on about a 4 minute ride to some deeper ocean just off the shoreline of the Outrigger Hotel. They had big bright lights in the water to attract plankton which the gigantic manta rays come up to eat. Since we were the last tour of the night, there were a TON of manta rays and they got incredible close to us. We hopped in the water (a little hesitantly in the dark) and swam over to a paddle board they had set up with a rail to hold on to. We donned our snorkel masks and put a floatie on our feet to keep them up. We looked down and woah! There they were! Everywhere! So many huge mantas!! We stayed out there for about 20 minutes which was perfect. The kids did amazingly and Tanner got some great video of the out of this world experience. 

We were so invigorated afterwards but quickly settled down for the drive home and the kids fell asleep again. We got home around 1am which is 4am CA time. Our sleep schedule is so outta whack and I’m glad we have about a week to readjust before going back to school when we get home.