Kaua'i * Day 2 * 6.15.2010

One thing for sure...when you're operating on a 6 hour time change, you tend to wake up early! We walked to the shore and read by the ocean...until it started to rain. But rain there is not like rain here. It's more of a mist that lasts for a short time. We learned that there's really no need to run when it starts raining!

This is right out from the building our room was in...ahhh! Notice the layers of volcanic rock. It was interesting to watch the waves slowly eat away at the rock...there were areas along the shore where it was just sand and also areas you could see another 'shelf' out in the water a ways.


After returning to our room, we ate a little breakfast and headed down to the concierge desk around 8:00am to take advantage of some discounts on activities. We talked to her for awhile...planned a helicopter ride for that afternoon at 2pm. It had been recommended to us to do that in the early part of the trip to better acquaint ourselves with the layout of the island, and we're glad we did! We can now look back at some of the pictures we took and say, "Oh yeah, we were there!". We spent the rest of our morning trying to decide what other trips/activities we wanted to do. Then we left a little before noon to get lunch on the way to the airport.


Here we are after our 'orientation', waiting for our helicopter and pilot to come!
Me getting settled, buckled, and headphones on. Got front seats...yippee!!

Menehune Fish Pond and Hule'ia Stream...we drove by there on our last day.

Ha'upu Range--this mountain range is beautiful to drive along!

Manawaiopuna Falls...better know as 'Jurassic Falls' from the movie Jurassic Park.

'Double Falls', upstream from 'Jurassic Falls'

Waimea Canyon...the 'Grand Canyon of the Pacific'




Nu'alolo Kai on the Na Pali coast....we docked here on our Zodiac trip and snorkeled on the reef you see.

Rugged Na Pali Coast.
Here you can see some sea caves that we went into on our Zodiac trip. The one on the left is Open Ceiling Cave.

Honopu Beach and Arch--also saw from Zodiac.

Falls along the coast

Hanakapi'ai Beach....we hiked here on Day 3

View of Ke'e Beach, Tunnels Beach (and others) and Hanalei Bay--Yes, the water really is that beautiful!
The following pictures are in the Mt Wai'ale'ale Crater. The view is stunning! You'll have to look past the raindrops on the window....the mountain is always covered in clouds and is one of the wettest spots on earth with an average rainfall of over 426 inches--the record year being over 700in.! Our pilot told us, 'No rain, no waterfalls'...so, we were glad it was raining! It is a three-sided (one side of the crater collapsed, allowing helicopters access) wall of 3,000 foot waterfalls!!!! It was simply breathtaking! I had to remind myself to breathe and tried not to let the tears blur my view! Looking back through these still takes my breath away....and they don't even come close to capturing the vastness and the beauty! Our God is an AWESOME Creator!




This is a view of the start of the Wailua River going out of the crater.


Ear to ear smiles after our amazing ride!

Now HERE'S a story! This family below....well, on our flight from SFO, we sat by the gentleman (I don't remember their names, but the daughter was Olivia)! When we were checking in for our helicopter flight, I saw Olivia and I was SURE it was that family. Well sure enough and they ended up on the same helicopter as we did! So fun!

After our heli ride, we drove out Kuamo'o Road to an overlook to 'Opaeka'a Falls on one side and the Wailua River on the other.


Then we drove through some neighborhoods in the Wailua area...wouldn't it be a bummer if you had to live someplace like this?.....

We made a few other stops, then shopped at the Coconut Marketplace where I got some Keen sandals for our Kayak/Hike trip. Then we took a swim, sat in the spa, and swung in the hammock before bedtime--this soon became an evening 'routine'...(the spa and hammock part, not the shopping!)

Thus ends day 2 on Kaua'i.

Kaua'i * Day 1 * 6.14.2010

To start, I need to backtrack a little to the day before...Sunday, June 13, 2010.

We began our day as most any Sunday, getting ready for church. Afterward, we tried to leave as soon as possible, but that's always SO hard! We are thankful for friends and family who prayed with us, blessing our trip....

Once we arrived back home, we had about two hours to throw in the last few things, change clothes, etc and head to the airport. Our plane left about 5:30pm....short flight to our first stop....loooonnnnnggggg layover (3+ hours).......then flight to SFO, arriving around 11:30pm local time (2:30am home time!). Eric's parents picked us up and we went to the hotel they had reserved for us to stay in. It was about 1:30am (again, 4:30am body clock) til we went to sleep. A short 'nap'.....up at 5:00am to get ready, eat breakfast and catch the 7am shuttle to the airport.

As you can see here, no one was quite ready to get up! The kiddos slept sideways on the bed...such fun memories! Even baby Sophie came along....she looks wide awake though!



Soon, it was time to load up the kiddos in Gpa & Gma's Tahoe and say our good-bye's. They were SO excited! I won't lie....WE WERE TOO!!!



Our flight was scheduled to leave SFO at 9:27am. I was not necessarily looking forward to the 5 1/2 hour flight! Biggest bummer of the morning....I forgot to take my Leatherman Squirt out of my purse (I've actually taken it through security MANY times) and the snooty SFO security girl made me relinquish it. I was ticked, but I knew I had to let my frustrations go....I prayed God would help me with my attitude and soon I was able to move on with my day :0)

The long flight really wasn't that bad. We tried to get some sleep since we hardly got any the night before. On the plane they played a 'Halfway to Hawaii' game. We were given some info....such as the time we left, expected arrival time, headwind, speed, etc. and we were given forms to guess the exact time-down to the second!-we would hit the geographical halfway point! That took up some of the time, plus they showed two movies....but I just snoozed as much as possible. BTW, we were pretty close on our guesses for the game, but not close enough. They gave away a CD as the prize. We ended up buying one just like it anyway!

Here is our first view of Kaua'i! We arrived at noon (6pm body clock). Thank You, Lord, for a safe flight!


By then, we were completely running on adrenaline! All thoughts/feelings of tiredness--GONE! We made quick phone calls home to let family know we made it safe, got our luggage (and leis!) and headed to the car rental counter. Soon we were on the shuttle to the car lot where we picked out a Chevy Malibu....and away we went!


We drove to Kapa'a, where the Kauai Coast Resort is, to check in. Since it was only early afternoon, our room was not ready yet (which we totally expected), so we decided to try to find something to eat. Wahooo, was just up the road, and was recommended to us by some family members who spend about a month every year on Kaua'i. It became our favorite spot to eat, but it may just be because it was the FIRST place we ate! I dunno, though, the food was incredible! Oh, and the atmosphere...ahhh....such calming, relaxing Hawaiian music filled the air as we sat on the lanai in the warm sun and island breeze.....{sigh}


Eric ordered the BEACH BOY CHEESEBURGER--Choice ground sirloin with cheddar cheese, grilled Maui onions and mushrooms, served with steak fries. I had a very scrumptious TERIYAKI GRILLED CHICKEN SANDWICH--Seasoned chicken breast topped with grilled pineapple, served on a sesame bun with wasabi mayonnaise and steak fries. Ooo la la!


After enjoying our first delicious meal on the island, we headed to Safeway to get some groceries. It was hard to buy for 2 people when I'm used to buying for 5! We got a few breakfast items, fruit, stuff to make fresh salsa, some drinks, champagne, etc. Hmm, a few small bags...cost as much as a weeks worth of groceries at home! Oh well, we were prepared for that :0)

Eric's phone rang, indicating that our room was ready, so we went back to the resort to put our groceries in the fridge. Here is the view from our lanai....pure beauty.....God's wonderful creation! I didn't take pictures of our room until the last day--dumb on my part, cause then it was messy--so I'll post them when I get to that day!


After getting things a little settled in our condo, we left quick, trying to make it to Kauai Fruit and Flower Co. aka 'The Pineapple Store'. We had no idea what time they closed and didn't look at the sign when we pulled in. Had I not gotten so enamored with the humongous plumeria trees...and taking pictures of them...and smelling them...we would have made it inside before they closed!


We felt like we knew the owner of the store, even though we'd never met him. My brother and his wife met him on their trip to Kaua'i 7 years ago. We've heard so much about Chucky Boy Chock and have listened to his music for several years. He is a neat brother-in-Christ....who just exudes joy and smiles! He is a pastor, singer/songwriter, and so much more. He is a very busy man, so we had to stop back in several times to try to meet him!

We left there after 'drooling' over the flowers and drove to Lihue...stopped at the mall, got Starbucks, then headed to Wailua Falls. You can drive right up to a lookout...no hiking required! So beautiful!


We returned to the Resort and walked around the Coconut Marketplace which is right there on the grounds. It's just an bunch of little shops/places to eat all in an outdoor mall type building. We shopped til they closed at 8pm, then walked over to the pool area. It was dark by then, and the tiki torches were lit...ahhh! We sat there, soaking up the ambiance--crashing waves, waterfall at the pool, crickets/frogs?, brilliant stars, crescent moon, swaying palm trees, gentle breeze....and oh, yes, the occasional rooster crow! Then we returned to our room for showers, champagne and sleeeeep....

Thus ends our first day on Kaua'i.

home again.

Well, I WAS caught up on here.....now we have just returned from 16 days of vacation, 11 of which we were on Kaua'i! The children stayed with Eric's parents/family in CA while we had a 'second honeymoon'--a belated 10th anniversary trip (our 11th is Saturday!). What a blessing! We thoroughly enjoyed God's beautiful creation and the uninterrupted time with each other!

Not sure how I'm gonna do this....1500 pictures and all.... I definitely won't be posting them ALL! I'll probably share a day at a time with you all....the highlights at least!

Until next time....

garage sale finds

I just couldn't leave this old card file and alarm box at my neighbors garage sale! I have a few ideas for them, but would love to hear yours! I'll post later what I end up using them for :0)

recent sewing projects

Ever since I MENTIONED making an apron for Miss G. she bugged me about it DAILY until we finally made a trip to JoAnn Fabrics and picked out material and a pattern! She is quite pleased with the results as you can see and I am too! Now I have to let her help me cook/bake....ACK!



Several months ago I finally got my OWN NutriMill to grind my wheat, so I wouldn't have to bug my friend and use her grinder! I've been making our bread since.....um, I'm not sure when......early this year anyway. I didn't have any nice linen towels though, so I found some fabric and made my own! Here is one of them, sorta at least, with my prettiest loaves to date!



We've had this rug since we got married...almost 11 years ago! I've always liked it because it was a simple white and it's reversible....none of that 'grippy' stuff on the bottom. Well, it's had a small hole in it for quite some time and some of the fringe was unraveling. I just couldn't throw it out, so I found some fun remnant pieces and went to work. First was an nice zig-zag all the way around it to tack the fringes down good again, then I went to work cutting out options to applique a patch on. Funny thing is.....a hole goes all the way through--weird, I know.....and since it's a good rug on both sides....I had to figure out something for each side..... Anyway, here's the finished product and I'm pleased enough with it! Maybe it'll last another 11 years, who knows! *Oh, please try not to notice my 'severely in need of a washing' shower curtain, YIKES! -insert embarrassed smile*

random silly kids!

R. built a tower clear to the ceiling!

I. made a guitar and mic from Duplos and gave us a concert...

I. also was a monkey in our hallway!

Miss G. had fun wearing Gpa's slippers :o)

random yummy foods!

Some things we've had over the past several months......


'Panera Bread Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich' on homemade whole wheat bread....it was DELISH!

Cilantro Lime Salad (you can find the recipe here) and frozen peaches and berries


Homemade pizza....before the cheese....I loved the colorfulness of it and the taste was great!

Not sure what to call these...they were an experiment. Homemade english muffin rubbed with garlic and a little butter, then topped with fresh basil, tomato, sea salt, pepper, oregano and mozz cheese. It was a hit!

Ice cream from Al's Sweet Treats! Looks kinda like our family!