Joy in the Journey: Kona Here We Come!

Last Tuesday morning, the entire "Boyd" clan headed to Kona, Hawaii!! I'm going to do my best to blog about the highlights of our trip, although, it seems nearly impossible to truly capture every moment with a camera...and a camera doesn't near to justice for the beauty that we experienced. But, I will try my best!

My dad qualified last November at Ironman Florida to compete in the World Championship Ironman in Kona, Hawaii! HUGE accomplishment! For those of you who aren't familiar with triathlon...Ironman distance itself is a phenomenal achievement...just to complete it. The race is comprised of a 2.4 mile open water swim, 112 mile bike and finishes with a 26.2 marathon distance run. So, just to say that you completed an irnonman is a major, major big deal!! My dad began running in his early thirties and has loved the sport of long distance running the past couple decades. When Linz married John, he introduced us to the sport of triathlon. Linz, Jer, John and I had fun training for short distance sprints! In the fall of 2007, the four of us volunteered at the finish line of Ironman Florida, which was a super cool experience! We were in awe of the amazing athletes! We all knew in our guts that if my dad ever got a glimpse of what we saw, he would definitely be into that type of race! Well, needless to say, my dad competed in his first sprint distance triathlon soon after and volunteered the following year at the Ironman Florida race. He registered and completed his first Ironman in November 2009! HUGE...Awesome! We were all so proud and blown away that in one year he basically trained and did amazing! Well, from that race on my dad has been "addicted".....he loves it! So, he has continued to run but also mostly train and compete in triathlons. We all have watched the World Championship Ironman on TV...but honestly, everyone in their right mind knows that that sacred Hawaii race is only for extreme athletes...I mean it's awesome enough to complete an Ironman but to actually finish in the top 2 of your age group and qualify for Kona is like way off most peoples radar!...MOST people ;) Not so for my Champion Dad! He has set that as a goal now for 4 years and he qualified last November!! OF COURSE, my sisters and I made it a must that we would all save our pennies and make this a once in a life time trip to Hawaii as a family! SO...here is our journey!

Early Tuesday, we flew from Charlotte, North Carolina and met up with the family in Atlanta...

My kids did amazingly awesome! Snacks, games, snacks, projects, snacks, naps and more snacks was the key for us!

Then, this happy bunch was on our way to LA! So, if I haven't mentioned we had 3 sisters, 3 brother-in-laws, 1 Pappa, 1Mimi and 4 toddlers ages 3, 2, 1 &1. Party aka: Traveling Zoo!

Some nice long naps helped us on the long flight from LA to Kona, Hawaii

And we made it!! How fun! They just throw down the stairs and there we are! The entire airport is outdoors...Island living is the best...80 degrees year round!