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We are a busy family, with 3 little kids 2-1/2, 1-1/2 and 7 mos, we have always got something going on (but then again, who doesn’t when you have kids??).  So down time to just enjoy our family to me IS our ultimate family vacation.

I could list a number of different things we would love to do with our girls, Europe, skiing, a trip around the world….

but for this stage

for right now

to leave tomorrow (or tonight is just fine too!!)…

We would love to go to our FAVORITE vacation spot, the Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii.

(Image: Mauna Kea)

There are loads of sentimental reasons why we would like to take the girls to the Mauna Kea…

• My husband and I had just started dating (maybe 2 or 3 weeks) when I flew over for a very good friends wedding. We talked on the phone like school kids the entire time I was there (Remember those days?  When your heart goes SUPER pitter-patter the moment you hear his voice on your phone, not that it doesn’t now, but you know what I mean….that SUPER NEW dating pitter-patter.).
• A year later, those same friends took an anniversary trip back to the resort with a group of friends. And you bet we were with them as our first big trip together.
• We were engaged shortly after, and seemed only fitting to us to return to the same spot for our wedding.  November 2006 we spent an unforgettable week at the Mauna Kea with close to 200 friends & family.  (Honestly, how often do you get to do that???  A once in a lifetime vacation!) It was 3 weeks after the earthquake on the Big Island, and the Mauna Kea was closed a couple of weeks after our wedding to repair the resulting damage. It sadly remained closed for the next 2 years.

(Image: Liz Banfield)

Each vacation at the Mauna Kea is a special one.  There is just something about it. We let go of the world of worry and stress that seems to mount itself on our shoulders. It is not only beautiful and breathtaking, but also beyond family friendly.  The moment you arrive you feel that “comfortable house shoes” feeling wrap around you.

But there are no big pool slides, or fancy toys and kids programs.  What there is, is a big, BEAUTIFUL beach.  With no waves to fear sweeping your children away.  There are just families that have been returning for years, and years, and some for generations. There is an understood “knowing” that you have all come to a very special place. A place that you want to share with your children and their children to come. A place were memories are made, not in fanciness and 5 star luxury, but in just “Being”.

Truly, simply enjoying “being” with each other on a beach of such honest and pure beauty.

(Image: Mauna Kea)

As the resort has been closed, and because we have had a baby every year since we’ve been married, we have not been able to return to the Mauna Kea.  This November is our 4th wedding anniversary, and it is the first anniversary we have not been pregnant (Can I get a “woot-woot”??! I know I can from my husband!!).  It is a family vacation I would love to take!!  To a place so very special to us, encompassing so much of our time together, newly dating, dating, and then our wedding. It is a place that will always be a part of us.  We would love to see our baby girls playing in the ocean and digging in the sand.  We would love for them to experience the same casual, comfortable, specialness that makes this place hold such a dear place in our hearts.

We would love to see them just “be” on that beach. “Be” kids, “be” happy, “be” in love with the same place we are.

Thank you Mauna Kea, I hope we will see you soon!

Don’t forget to enter the “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, for a chance to win your own ultimate family vacation. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.