Kauai: Friday 12.02.11

When we got up Mike was on the phone with work and so I shuttled the kids out the door to explore. We chatted with the friendly ladies at the front desk and they told us where the beach access was off the property and about the surfing lessons in the pool at 10am.

We headed to the beach to explore and found crabs and spotted a few turtles floating with the surf. It was a beautiful sunny morning!




So the "surf lessons" turned out to be paddle board lessons. There were a couple of locals from a surf shop that taught us the basics of paddle boarding. I think we all picked it up good enough to take a few laps around the pool. It was hard work especially with the wind. I think we all had a new appreciation for paddle boarding after we had tried it for ourselves.




We decided to head up to the North Shore. There is only one road around the island of Kauai and the North Shore is at the end of it. So we drove for awhile and took it all in. Saw a huge cruise ship for the first time. The kids had spotted coconuts on the trees and then found some on the ground. So we pulled over a couple of times and stole some coconuts. Then we began collecting "baby coconuts". Lunch at McDonalds to keep Amy happy. Mahalo!
Our first stop was at 'Anini beach and this was the first time I got in the water to snorkel with Mike. Beautiful beach protected by a long fringing reef, but not many fish and water was cloudy. So we trudged on into Princeville.

This was a bit scary to me. There was a little hike down a vague trail through the jungle. There was a large pool carved out of the lava shelf with an inlet from the ocean. The sea was angry this day and we had a hard time telling what was what. We gave up after Amy slipped on a rock and Mike kept exploring. He found Queen's Bath and we watched the very powerful waves as they pounded the rock over and over. There were lots of crabs seeking shelter in the rocks as we walked around.







I was just amazed at how many long waterfalls there were all over the mountains.They get so much rain year round that the water is always flowing. I love this picture because it shows the variety of foliage.


Mike rented a couple of boogie boards in Lihue and we took them out into the waves of Hanalei Bay.



Everyone was good to take a turn with Jessie while mom played a bit. I had a blast boogie boarding at this beach. Who wouldn't want to babysit this toot baby?

Katelyn made a replica of our family using turtles. The waves washed it away a few times before being finished, but we finally got a picture of the whole family.


Amy loved to play in the sand.




Tyler's surfin' stance



On the road before Ha'ena Beach Park we actually drove through a stream headed into the ocean. The cliff walls that we were driving along were amazing. Some so steep they actually inclined in. This beach was located across from the spooky Dry Cave.




Ke'e Beach This is as far as you can go on the North Shore. We watched the sunset on the Na'Pali coast line. It was rainy and cold and still absolutely beautiful.


Mike said it was all worth it when he saw Amy in her hotel robe. Now that is a true vacation!

Aloha Kauai: Day 1 Thursday

When we got to Kauai on Wednesday night it was already dark. We picked up the rental car and headed to Walmart and Costco for some dinner and groceries. Yes, a hot dog and soda for $1.50 is a great deal in Hawaii too. We got to our hotel/condo and it was amazing!!2 bed , 2 bath, full kitchen and living room with laundry and all super nice. The pool was awesome and we could not resist so we hurried and changed into our suits for s dip in the pool and hot tub. Just giddy with excitement!


Thursday we awoke to the roosters crowing. It was a bit overcast but we were excited to get going.




Chickens are everywhere. Katelyn, being the animal lover she is, couldn't help but take a million pictures. I wonder where she get her love of birds from?

After some waffles and eggs we headed out to go east to Spouting Horn. A place where some sugar cane laborers blasted a hole in the lava rock and when the tide comes in there is a blow hole effect. It was neat to see and then we walked through all the souvenir stands.



We went back to the hotel to change so we could see what the beach was like. On our drive back we spotted some dolphins swimming along the coast.



Our first beach we went to was Poi'pu.


We had heard many great things about it and this beach did not disappoint! Lots of snorkeling. I stayed dry with Jessie while Mike took the kids out for their first snorkeling trip. They were a bit nervous and stayed close to their dad. Saw lots of fish- even an eel.




This lifeguard was coming in and asked Tyler if he wanted to try to surf. Heck yes!!!
Tyler jumped right on and the old, extremely muscular guard took him out and waited for a good wave and you know Tyler... He stood right up and surfed like a pro. Of course, I don't have a picture of that because I was recording it for him to watch later.
Surfing with a real Hawaiian was awesome and on his first day in Hawaii. Luckeeeee!


Our sleek rental car



To get back to the Lihue you drive through the tunnel of trees.



We headed to the east side of the island to try to see some waterfalls. One we wanted to go to had been closed due to a drowning.

We were able to drive to the next waterfall called Wailua Falls. This one was huge and there were these amazing white birds with long tail feathers just flying around in it's mist. There were some homeless guys there with a pet pig making hats out of palm leaves.The kids were fascinated.



We found another waterfall after a short hike-Ho'opi'i Falls on the Kapa'a stream.
I don't have a picture of this one because Mike's phone had died and our camera didn't have any battery left. It was a soothing short waterfall. A beautiful wooded area just down a trail in the middle of a residential area.

On our way back to the south part of the island we stopped at 'Opaeka'a falls. I think I had gotten a picture of this falls with my cell phone, but it died when I went swimming with it so all pictures have been lost on it. Oh well! It was a beautiful big fall and across the road from it we looked at the Wailua River.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Read this post backwards. I am using Mike's computer and can't figure
Aloha Kauai!!









This was the first time our chillins had been on an airplane.

Electronic Madness

Packing for Kauai to make sure the "kids" can be entertained for the trip.
Times have changed!

Amy's Surprise Party

A couple of months before her birthday Amy was telling me she wanted a surprise party for her birthday. I told her you can't "want a aurprise party"- then it won't be a surprise! her took her a month or so to grasp this concept and let the idea go. Then it was time for Katelyn and I to get bust planning her SUrPrisE PArTy!!!

We decided to copy Ethan's Minute to Win It idea. Katelyn made the guest list. I delivered invites and we crossed our fingers that 12 eight years olds could hold a secret 4 days for Amy! If I was able to talk to their mother's I suggested not telling their child until the day of the party!

You won't believe it! All those girls kept the secret and Amy had a genuine SURPRISE PARTY!! It was so fun!



We had Amy and Katelyn go down to play at the Warburton's until all the girls arrived. Then I called Amy and told her she had to come home to help babysit. I had her friends hiding behind the kitchen bar with confetti to throw. When they heard her come in the garage door they jumped up and yelled SURPRISE!!! It was awesome and Amy turned bright red!

 

We headed down to the basement for the games. I can't remember all the names now, but I think they had a good time. Then back upstairs for a brownie cake and presents.


Good thing we had this huge party for Amy because on her actual birthday later that week she was really sick!
I hope this party made up for the "Worst Birthday Ever" that I gave her last year!

Fall Soccer

Brigham impressed Katelyn and Amy so much this past spring they decided they wanted to try soccer too! So we lived at the soccer fields for the first couple of months of fall. I also just signed up my oldest FOUR all for soccer this next spring!

Marcia and LeGrand were able to come to one of Briggy's games so we got some great pictures. I love the picture of him worried on the sidelines. He didn't like it much when his coach made him sub out because then his team was vulnerable. He was a ball of nerves the whole time he sat on the sidelines. Then he would jump back in and head for the goal!!

 

Christian, Jessie and Tyler were good sports to follow everyone down to the fields all week. There was a great play ground nearby and that was fun to play on during the games!

 

This was Katelyn and Amy's first time playing soccer. They both did really well for being newbies. Katelyn had some tough opponents, but managed to hang in there, learned a lot and got one victory. Amy was the sole scorer in one of her victorious games and had some other goals as well.

It was a great season!