Family trip to KAUAI

Prepare for

PICTURE OVERLOAD!

DAY 1:
The kids (except for Violet) had never flown before so this trip was full of firsts! Aaron being super special or something like that :-) was able to get us into the sky club as we waited for our flight. We're talkin' big screen TVs, sofas, and FOOD. Nice. We boarded our plane and headed to LAX (where our flight was delayed...then delayed some more...) and we then we boarded another plane to Lihue, Kauai.

We arrived later than expected, and it got dark quickly (Hawaii doesn't do daylight savings). So as we drove to the north side of the island we didn't see much of it. Our condo was nice (thanks to Aaron's parents who let us use their time share). We stayed in Princeville in the Cliffs Club.

DAY 2:
We woke up to this view from our lanai. It was absolutely beautiful!

"A double rainbow! What does it mean???"

We explored Hanalei, which was only about 5 minutes from where we were staying. I decided it was my favorite little town of all. Here's a view above Hanalei Valley where they grow taro.

As we wandered, I endlessly snapped pictures. I love this little church.



Everyone was excited to hit the beach, so we did! We swam in Hanalei Bay. I think we were at Waikoko Beach, but they all blend together so it's hard to know for sure.



DAY 3:
We decided to hike the Kalalau Trail from Ke'e Beach to Hanakapia Beach. Kauai had received a lot of rain so the trail was muddy and slippery and there were waterfalls and streams across the trail that normally weren't there. But the views were amazing so the steep slippery trail was worth it.

Here are the kids toward the beginning of the hike overlooking Ke'e Beach:

And of course the pack lama and his wee little one:


Breathtaking views along the Na Pali coast line:

There are no roads along this part of the coast, so if you're going to see the Na Pali Coast you'll have to be in a boat, a plane, or hike it!

Here we're thinking our hike is almost over...overlooking Hanakapia Beach:

Little did we know that the little stream that we needed to cross had turned into a fast-flowing river! Aaron decided to take the older two across first. There were deep pockets in the river so the kids were in up to their arm pits. There was a rope to hold on to, which was necessary because a few times Sam's feet were floating down stream and the only thing that kept him there was his grip on the rope, and his dad's grip on him!


After crossing with Sam and Kaeli, Aaron came back across and scouted out the area for a better way to cross. He was able to cross by jumping from boulder to boulder back to Sam and Kaeli, but decided it too was too dangerous to cross with the littler girls and Violet. Sooooo we found our own little beach on our side of the river and ate lunch. It was a pretty spot, but the water was rough.


On our way back we decided it was good we didn't cross it, even if we had we wouldn't have let the kids into the water:

Our hike was up and down and up and down and...you get the idea. But the mountains of Kauai are like none other so the views were worth it!

There are tons of wild roosters and chickens all over the island. They freely roam wherever. In fact, that is what woke us each morning, but it wasn't obnoxious. I thought they were pretty neat. We saw them along roads, on beaches, parking lots, towns...they were everywhere!

After the hike we swam at Ke'e Beach!



DAY 4:

breakfast on the lanai.

We drove to the south side of the island and visited Koloa and Poipu. We also saw the Spouting Horn. It's pretty cool. Water bursts out of a lava tube 50 feet into the air each time the waves crash up against the rocks.

Here is the view toward Poipu:

We discovered that Poipu Beach was pretty, but small and crowded sooooo... we scouted out our own little beach which ended up being one of my favorites. We took a dirt road, and several turns and found what I think is Mahaulepu Beach right next to Shipwreck Beach. So we walked Shipwreck Beach...



and swam at Mahaulepu Beach. There were only a few other families there so it felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Violet and I found a nice shaddy spot to chill.

There was a lot of lava rock, but the waves and water were perfect. We just had to watch out for the rocks.


DAY 5:
We drove to Opaekaa Falls:

And then to Wailua Falls. Do they look familiar? They were featured in the series Fantasy Island. I've never seen that show, so...Ok.

After a lot of driving around, seeing sights, but mostly giving Violet a good nap in the van, we drove to Kealia Beach. Kealia has super big waves and a strong current. So the big kids loved it (aka, Aaron, Sam & Kaeli). There were times when we got tumbled around pretty good. In fact, Aaron lost his sun glasses in a wave and Sam lost his snorkeling goggles in a wave. Kaeli and I also did some somersaults.





This little girl has a crush on her daddy:

But he's just as smitten with her...too cute!


We love our beach baby. Poor thing was constantly smothered in SPF 70, forced to keep a hat on, and was in shade whenever we could find it...and if we couldn't find it she was in the stroller with an umbrella....

Sara made friends with a naked native. It's sweet how a child really doesn't care if you're dressed or not and no judgement is made.


DAY 6:
We visited the Kilauea Lighthouse. Everything around it serves as a nature reserve for thousands of birds.

Here is the view looking toward Anini Beach:

This little island was at the end of the peninsula, also a bird sanctuary:

Then we drove to the south side of the island again to see Hanapepe. This is the little town that "Lilo and Stitch" is based from. We decided the drive was a waste of time. Hanapepe wasn't very impressive. But we did go across their swinging bridge just for the heck of it.

We drove to Lihue and swam at Kalapaki Beach. Kalapaki has a lot of fancy hotels and resorts right on the shore. It wasn't too crowded and we had a lot of fun. This is where I finally figured out body surfing!





Our first day we ate at a regular ole restaurant and when the bill was over 100 bucks we decided we weren't going to do that again. So after that we searched for little "hole in the wall" places or bought our food off the street. And we loved everything and never spent over $50 for a meal of 7 after that. (We bought food from grocery stores for breakfast and lunch). My favorite place was called "Chicken In A Barrel" in Kapa'a. They had picnic tables set out next to their little trailer, and had metal barrels within a chain-link fence where they smoked all their meat. It was soooo good that we ate there twice.

Here we passed up the fancy-shmancy restaurants and found a fish-n-chips shack. The kids were excited to eat upstairs and the view was nice!


DAY 7:
OK, so this was one of the highlights (in my opinion) of our trip. I loved, loved, LOVED this hike. We drove clear over to the east side of the island and up Waimea Canyon. They call it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, and you can see why.

Purdy, ain't it?

We had a plan to hike the Alakai Swamp Trail and I was really excited about it, but finding it was tricky. We drove to the visitor center to buy a map and I asked the ranger-lady there questions about it and she was really trying to discourage me from going. It was weird. But she insisted we needed 4 wheel drive and would not make it in a mini van. She really had no idea who she was talking to, and being in a mini van had never stopped us before :-)

So we hit the 4x4 road. It was pretty gnarly, and a bit slippery in places but we made it to our trail head. This is where we ate lunch before the hike. Nice view, huh?

The trail started off pretty nice. It was green, wide, and grassy. A long time ago they attempted to cut a road and failed. Sara was the leader and she runs more than she hikes so we kept up a good pace. We were worried about driving our crazy road back in the dark and if it rained it would be impossible to get out, so we were in a bit of a hurry.

Soon enough we discovered why it was called a swamp.

A boardwalk was built on the trail for about half the hike. I accidentally slipped off the boardwalk on the way back and I sunk in past my ankle. I was lucky to get my foot up with my boot still on!

Lots and lots of steps:



I loved the swamp/jungle feeling throughout the hike. The wettest place on earth is actually on this very island!


When we finally arrived at the Kilohana lookout we were disappointed to have fog blocking the view.

But we waited a little longer and sure enough it cleared up and we saw the most AMAZING view of a deep valley and the ocean. We could see Hanalei Bay and the cliffs where our condo was. This picture doesn't do it justice. It was truly breathtaking!

We ended up hiking 7.5 miles.


DAY 8:
We honestly needed a day that wasn't super crazy. So we did some laundry, let Violet take a nice long nap, while Aaron and the kiddos swam in the pool.

And yes, I had to get a picture of Violet in a hula outfit. And yes, I'll probably dress her up again, take some more pictures of my sweet hula baby.

We headed back to Hanalei Bay and walked the pier.


Sam and Kaeli even jumped off the end of the pier. And of course we swam some more....

The water here was really mellow and shallow...perfect for Violet. Sara was even able to wear her floaties!



I love this sillohuette of Aaron and the kids.

(L to R; Kaeli, Rylie, Aaron, Violet, Sara, Sam)

The mountains that surround Hanalei make it feel like paradise! Could it be more perfect!

DAY 9:
On our last day we spent the morning packing up and then hit Kealia Beach again, since everyone was craving the big waves. We got to the beach early enough to get a perfect parking spot on the beach and in the shade. Doesn't that look like a nice set-up for V?

Rylie and Sara loved playing in the sand when the waves were too rough or current too strong. They were able to go into the water with Aaron or I.

Aaron helped Sam-man become and sandman. Nice abs!


We showered up at the condo, finished packing and headed out! On our way to the airport we ate in Kapa'a. We flew out at 9pm to LAX and then onto SLC. Violet had it rough but eventually slept. On the last leg of the trip we were told that the flight was full and discovered that it wasn't. So Sam sat behind us (next to STRANGERS!) and Violet took his seat. She ended up falling asleep like this at the end of the flight:

We arrived in SLC at 9 am in our flip flops and shorts and it was SNOWING! I was ready to turn back around and head back to Hawaii!!! When we got home we slept for hours!

I already miss Kauai. I loved the sunshine and loved swimming in the ocean. It was great to have time to spend with my kids and amazing hubby with no other obligations, interruptions, or pressing schedules...it was paradise!