This is part of our 100 Things in 2015 challenge. Here’s the full list.

Two years ago, when Will turned seven and went on his first Disney adventure, we took Lucy to Hawaii. This year Lucy turned seven, which means it’s Will’s turn for the tropics!

In order to optimize our flight cost, we had to split up. Becky took the early-early flight, while Will and I boarded midmorning. One of the attendants grabbed him and shoved him into the cockpit (which he loved), and six hours later we found our lodging – a spacious and comfortable condo in a resort-like complex on the northwest side of the big island.

You may notice the pool in that last photo. That’s the view out the back door of our condo, and Will didn’t last long before jumping in. The weather was unseasonably warm (even for Hawaii), and it felt like getting into a bath. He loved it, and it was a great way of getting used to his new snorkeling gear before taking it into the ocean.

When doing research about things to do on the big island, one of the most interesting that came up was this seahorse farm. Apparently seahorses were in danger of extinction at one point, because people wanted them in their aquariums, but they kept dying. This farm singlehandedly saved the species by breeding aquarium-tolerant seahorses in large volumes. It’s a pretty interesting story. Plus, we each got to hold hands with one! We celebrated with shave ice.

We also visited the Pu`ukoholā Heiau, an old royal palace, with lots of interesting artifacts, replicas, and carved figures.

We made sure to book a snorkeling adventure on a boat. The fishes were gorgeous, and Will loved it. Since this island is the newest one, much of the coast is rough volcanic stone instead of sand, and there are lots of lava caves that a skilled pilot can poke a boat into. Our guide was happy to show off his abilities.

We went to a luau, and when we got there we were surprised to see some of Will’s classmates there! The luau was unfortunately rained out, but Will got an armful of sharpie tattoos.

We tried to explore as much as we could in the short time we were there, and sampled as much shave ice as we could. On our last morning we went boogie boarding at Hapuna Beach, then packed up for home.

We had a great time, and made some memories that will last a lifetime. Hawaii is definitely a place we’ll be back to when the kids are older.