Hawaii (Kauai island): Day 4

Sunday morning we didn't get to enjoy breakfast at the B&B because we had to get to the dive shop for a 7am check in time. So we headed right back to the South shore. We grabbed a quickie breakfast at a Starbucks (yummy spiced cider!) and then checked Trent in. They told us to meet them down at the boat dock. By the time Trent finally left it was almost 8:30. Trent thought I should go back to the Sheraton beach and hang out there for a while. But I wanted to check out a couple beaches on the South shore that we hadn't been to yet.

First I went to Shipwreck beach. I brought a beach chair and my book, but I just had no desire to read. I just wanted to soak everything in. Shipwreck beach was really cool, because you are sitting at the edge of a pinetree forest that comes right up to the sand. I climbed the little trail up to the cliff to check out the view. It was really pretty up there and I walked a little further on the other side to look at some other cliffs. Then I headed back to the beach. There were tiny little sand crabs popping in and out of the sand and running sideways everywhere.

The water was pretty rough, so I didn't get in. There was a young man on the beach with a pile of fresh coconuts. He was ripping off the outer green peel with a sharpened stick sticking out of the ground. Then he would hack the top off the coconut with this big machete knife so people could drink the juice out. He wanted you to pay him after that and he would cut it in half for you to get to the fruit. It was pretty cool to watch.

Then I decided to head over and check out Poipu beach park. It was a great family friendly beach with tons of kids and snorkelers all over. By the time I was there for 20 minutes or so it was time to head back to the dock and get Trent. Trent had loved his dives and was excited to go back the next day. I was not as excited to spend another 3 hours alone on my romantic anniversary trip. I wasn't really happy about it, but we decided to let Trent do the dive the next day too.

We drove out to a diffenrent secluded beach off some long dirt road but it was starting to sprinkle and the waves were big and we didn't even get out of the car there. I took Trent back to see Shipwreck Beach. We had borrowed some boogie boards from the B&B, so we took them out to try. Trent got a couple good rides out of his, but after I got knocked around and flipped upside down I went back to my chair to watch.
Before heading off the South shore we grabbed lunch at Keoki's Paradise. The atmosphere was really cute and I liked the place. My sliders were okay and Trent's fish tacos were tasty. We headed up North. We hadn't seen anything North of Kapaa yet, so we decided to try to see a few more spots while we had light. We drove to the Kilauea Lighthouse. The road down to it for visitors had closed about 10 minutes before we got there, so we just stayed at the lookout for a bit.
 Then we headed just a little bit further North to Kalihiwai where we took the road to a place that looks to be nowhere by a beach. You park by a cool home being constructed and there is a little trail by a fence that leads to a little downhill hike through some thick trees. Then you pop out at this gorgeous, secluded little beach called Secret Beach. It was beautiful and we could see the lighthouse from there as well. Then hike a little farther to the left on the beach and up onto some lava rocks and you come to a little waterfall and Secret Lava Pools. It was really a cool place. The ocean was pretty wild, so we mostly just climbed around checking it out and got a good view of the sun going down over the cliffs the the Northwest of us. I would definitely go back to that spot.

When we got back to the car it was getting pretty dark and we were tired. We headed back towards the East shore, got dinner at a chinese/pacific place that was recommended in my guide book called Pacific Island Bistro. It was gross. Or maybe we just ordered the wrong stuff? Then we ready to get back to our room adn get cleaned up and tucked in.

Hawaii: Day 3

On Saturday we woke up and took our time getting ready and putting our bags into our rental car. We decided to skip the $20 hotel breakfast buffet and go back to the place we went the day before. I got the hawaiian sweetbread french toast, which was way too sweet for breakfast, but still enjoyed some of it. Then we went back to the hotel beach and Trent introduced me to snorkeling. At first it was awkward. But it isn't too hard to get the hang of and we were out there swimming hand in hand in no time enjoying the brightly colored fish swimming all over the area. As a bonus we saw a darling sea turtle on our way back to shore after about an hour! I loved it! We dipped our legs in the hot tub again to warm up and then it was time to check out of the Sheraton. Then we headed to Keiki Cove- a little beach next to Beachhouse Restaurant (which we never got to try) where there were a lot of snorkelers and the dive shop told us was good snorkeling. We snorkeled another hour here and I loved it just as much as the first time. The water got a little rough a few times, but I would just grab onto Trent and we would ride the waves. We got to see more of the same cool fish plus a few more kinds and another even larger turtle.

 Before we left the South shore we grabbed some "plate lunches" at Sueoka's Snack Shop in Koloa and found a nice big shade tree to sit beneath and eat them. We headed to the East shore which led us through the Tunnel of Trees. It was pretty cool.

We first drove to see Wailua Falls which was gorgeous,

then as we continued North we drove to the Opaeka'a Falls lookout. These falls weren't as close for viewing, but still really pretty and worth the little trip. When you cross the road from these falls there is a nice view of the Wailua river which we ended up kayaking down on our last day.

 I know I am not looking cute here, but it is one of the few pictures we got together on our trip, so I had to include it.

 From there we headed to our Bed and Breakfast- The Dilly Dally house, the drive was a way out of the main town of Kapaa. The drive was pretty and the grounds were beautiful. Our room was really nice. We settled in and got showered and cleaned up. I actually put on some make up and we went back into town. We decided to try Scotty's BBQ. I wish the sun had been up because it had a great location right on the ocean with great views, but it was too dark for us to see much. I wasn't impressed with most of the food we ate on the island, but got good ribs here and Trent said his pork was really good, so it was probably the best meal we had while on the island. I wanted to try the coconut cream pie, but was too full-and I've been craving some ever since.  With the time difference we were always tired pretty early, so we just headed back to our room to relax and get in our really soft bed :)

Hawaii Trip: Day 1 and 2

Thursday October 6, our plane left Phoenix at 8:40am. We had a short flight to LA, where we had about a 3 hour layover. We loaded onto our plane and were all ready to go when the pilot announced that a latch on the door of the plane was broken and they were having some mechanics try to fix it. shortly after that we were all deboarded and told that we would be waiting a couple more hours. After a couple more hours we were told they were sending us a different plane from Salt Lake and we wouldn't be leaving LA until 7:15 pm. The generously (not!) gave us each a $6 voucher to buy food at the airport for our troubles. So we had a really long day hanging out at LAX eating overpriced airport food and trying not to go crazy. At least I was spending time with Trent. We finally got into Lihue, Kauai at about 11pm Hawaii time (2am our time). We grabbed our rental car and drove to our hotel in the dark.

In the morning we got to sleep in a bit. One of the highlights of the trip for me was waking up that morning in a quiet room to my sweetheart kissing me and then looking out our hotel lanai to see this gorgeous view.

We got ready and headed west to see Waimea Canyon and take a hike. On the way we stopped at a popular spot for breakfast called Kalaheo Cafe and Coffee Co. The cornbread muffins they served with everything were delicious. We thought it was interesting that one of the starch choices besides hash browns or toast was rice. Anyway, from there we headed west and up the windy canyon road.

Our attempt at using the camera's timer.

There were some great lookout views.

We hiked the Canyon Trail to Waipo'o Falls. It wasn't too difficult, but wouldn've been much easier if I were in better shape. I heard it could be cooler up in the canyon and wore jeans. I was sweating like crazy and rolled them up as high as I could. The trail led to a small waterfall with a very cold pool beneath and then to the top of a larger fall. It was hard to get a good view of it from the top though.

Trent taking a business call in the middle of our hike.

This water was freezing. I dipped my feet in, but Trent got all the way under!

After the hike we stopped at one more lookout point. The Pu'u o Kila Lookout, which was gorgeous.

 Then we drove back down the windy road, where I had to make Trent pull over because I was getting sick. We had a nice lunch at Wrangler's Steakhouse and then delicious Shave Ice at Jo Jo's. They put a scoop of Macnut icecream at the bottom which was really tasty.

Then we headed back toward our hotel. We went to the Spouting Horn, which was a pretty cool spot to see the ocean spray up through a blowhole and hear air hissing through another one.

Then we went back to the hotel and changed into our suits. We went out to the beach. It was cloudy and the sun was going down, so I stayed on the sand while Trent jusmped in and snorkeled a bit. Then we warmed up in the hot tub for a bit before heading to bed. We were too tired and still full from our late lunch to bother with dinner that night.

Just a few things

Tucker-
Is starting that awkward, my teeth are too big for my face, phase. It makes me smile whenever I see his jack-o-lantern grin.

Charlotte-
May seem quiet and shy to the average onlooker, but she is the biggest goofball! She is loving Kindergarten (straight A's on her first report card!) and starting the sound out words, which usually has some pretty funny results!

Henry- Darling and loveable. Sensitive. Always pulling a face. Makes us all laugh and is Paisley's best friend. Really wants to name the new baby "Chubby". (Oh, did I mention that I am 15 weeks pregnant and we are all really happy about it!)

Paisley- Says "Oh my gosh" about everything and describes most things as "wonderful" and "beautiful". She used to want to do everything by herself, but lately whenever I ask her to do anything she replies, "I can't do it." Pretty annoying when she wants me to do everything for her again :)

I am thrilled to be leaving on our trip to Hawaii! But really anxious about being gone from my angels for that long!