Kauai - July 9, 2011

After breakfast, we got packed up and drove over to Ke'e Beach, which is as far as you can go on the north end of the island.  The last time we were in Kauai, we spent a lot of time at this beach because it's calm and warm since there's a protective reef just offshore.  It seemed like a good spot to get the kids back into snorkeling since it had been two years since they'd had the chance to do it and our youngest had been too little the last time.  Mike and I knew the snorkeling was just okay there, but figured the kids wouldn't really care as long as they saw something.

The older two headed for the water right away and took off for some rocks to the side of the beach.  They immediately started exclaiming over the fish that were swimming around them and spent a long time looking around the rocks and swimming back and forth between them and the beach.  Our little one had been hesitant to swim at the beach in the past, but decided that this time it was a fine idea, so she was diving down to gather rocks and check out the little fish that were coming closer in to the beach.  Mike took the older kids out to check out the reef when they were ready to swim a bit farther, which they both thought was really cool.

After spending the morning swimming and playing in the sand, we dragged the kids out of the water and they tore into the snacks we brought like they'd never seen food.  While they were occupied, Mike and I got the gear packed up and we wrangled the kids and stuff up to the showers to rinse off the sand and salt, which turned out to be unnecessary since Mother Nature decided to do it for us.  We then went into Hanalei for lunch at Bubba's, followed by the kids' first experience with shave ice.  They now agree, by the way, that there's no going back to snow cones!

After lunch, we thought we'd go see a couple of other beaches and decide if we wanted to spend more time at one of them.  We ended up not staying at either one, since one was very rough (although our son was game to try boogie boarding anyway) and our youngest was asleep at the other.  We did stop by the Kilauea Lighthouse, but it was closed by the time we got there, so we only got to see it from a distance.

On our way back to the condo, we stopped at the grocery for some dinner and then enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the bluff behind the condo.  After a busy day, it was a lovely way to end.

Kauai - July 8, 2011

We took our time getting up (okay, I took my time getting up, while Mike dealt with the kids) and had a lazy breakfast in the condo.  When we finally got ourselves organized, we drove down the road a bit to do a hike to a (large) tidepool called Queen's Bath.  We actually did this the last time we were here, with our son in a backpack for the hike down and back.  This time, all three kids managed it on their own, even though it was a bit slippery from the rain the night before.  Once we got down to Queen's Bath, they jumped right in and started swimming around to check it out, with our little one hopping in after her brother and sister.  They thought it was the coolest thing they'd ever done and they had a blast sitting in the water that flowed over the rocks, swimming around checking out the fish, and jumping off the rocks (our son) into the pool.  On the hike back up, we stopped to rinse off in the waterfall that flows next to the path, just like Mike and our son did the last time.

We headed into Hanalei for lunch and ate at the Hanalei Gourmet, which we remembered being pretty good last time.  It was even better this trip and our youngest discovered her new favorite sandwich - peanut butter and banana with honey.  From there, we went over to Blackpot Beach on Hanalei Bay and checked out the pier.  The signs say no jumping or diving from the pier, but there were lots of people doing exactly that, so our son wanted to give it a try.  Needless to say, he was occupied for a long time jumping in and climbing back out (it's about a 10-foot drop to the water).  His sister had to give it a try, too, of course, and the two of them spent the rest of the afternoon out there.  Our little one was happily walking the beach, singing and playing a game of pretend while I sat and watched from the beach.  Mike supervised the shenanigans on the pier from the water.

We finally dragged them all out of the water and got them cleaned up enough to head back to the condo.  We stopped at the grocery on the way back to pick up a frozen pizza for the kids and a roasted chicken for us and enjoyed a quiet dinner at our place.  Bedtime was quick and easy after that!

Kauai - July 7, 2011

I'll bet you thought I'd abandoned this blog!  Well, I'm back!  With baseball and soccer and baseball and gymnastics and swimming and baseball and school and baseball this spring, my spare time was pretty limited, so I didn't even attempt to keep up with blogging.  I do hope to at least finish posting pictures from our trip to Orlando back in February, but for now, I'll be working on stuff from our current trip to Kauai.

We haven't been to Kauai in about eight years, since I was pregnant with our older daughter and our son was not yet two.  We'd been wanting to go back, so when we were able to purchase a week at a condo in Princeville in a fundraising auction, we jumped at the chance.  The kids have been excited to see a new island, but really weren't sure about what to expect.

Our son's favorite part of any trip is the flight, but he was disappointed that we were flying out of San Jose this time instead of San Fransicso and he wouldn't get the chance to see the planes from the international flights.  The rest of us were thrilled that we didn't have to get up an hour earlier and the dog was happy that he got to spend an additional night at home instead of having to go to day care the day before.  Our son got over it, though, when we flew into Honolulu and he got to see the planes there when we changed flights.

The flights were uneventful (thank goodness!) and the kids did really well. It was quick and easy to get our luggage and rental car and we were off to the condo without any trouble.  We debated stopping on the way for food, but the kids weren't hungry and just wanted to get to our condo, so made our way north to Princeville.  Two of them fell asleep and the third was dozing, so by the time we got to our place, they were ready to go again. 

We got unpacked and threw on bathing suits to spend some time in the pool and let the kids burn off some energy after being cooped up for so long.  The pool here is really cool, with 2 pools for swimming, one kiddie/splash pool with a waterfall, and a spa that's been perfect for loosening up my back, which I tweaked the day before we left.  After some time in the pool and showers, we headed to Hanalei to find some dinner.

Hanalei has a small shopping area, with a number of stores and probably 8 restaurants.  At the Hanalei Surf Shop, we got to talking to the guy behind the desk and found out that he does stand-up paddleboard (SUP) lessons, so we decided to schedule a morning with him for four of us to learn how to paddle (our youngest is too little to manage a paddle yet).  We then wandered across the street to the nearest restaurant, called Kalypso, for some dinner.  The food was surprisingly good (I had chesse ravioli with local mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes that was terrific) and by the time we finished the kids were barely keeping their eyes open.

So far, so good!