Okay, I do realize that we're on the brink of December and we took this trip to Kauai in the beginning of October. I went back and looked at these pictures today and it seemed as though we took this trip eons ago. It seems as though so much has happened in the past 2 months that I can barely even remember what went on during that blissful week in Hawaii. I had this grand idea of doing a total trip recap, with what we did everyday, where we ate, etc... We sadly, that did not happen. So I'll do my best to recall what happened. I'm not sure if I can remember the order, but this is my best shot.
Oh, I'd also like to thank Julie for some of these pictures!
First off, let's start with the flight. For any parent of a child at ..... any age, this is the most frightful part. Seriously. To the point that Wilson and I have been strategizing for weeks. We had agreed that we would ween Anderson off his pacifier at 15 months, but then realized that it coincided with our trip to Hawaii. Would we dare enter a 5 hour flight with a child that was just been weened off his paci. No way! We are not that stupid. But, it actually ended up being quite uneventful and Anderson is a great traveler. He's already traveled to Chicago, Seattle and Hawaii and he's never really had problems. (Well, except for the one leg in to Chicago, but we're trying to forget about that one.)
We arrived in sunny Kauai, picked up our rental car and headed to the condo. Our little family of 3 was on our own for a little while before my brother, Julie, and my parents arrived later that night. We didn't do much. Just explored the resort, bought some food, and hung out at the pool.
The next day, we again headed to the pool (which Anderson loved) and then attempted to find a local farmers market. On our way, we stopped by a small waterfall. (I couldn't upload ALL the pictures from the trip so sadly there is no picture of the waterfall. But here is one from that day)
The next day, we went to a local beach and tried snorkeling. Only the water was pretty chilly and since it was a little cloudy, not so warm. I think only Asher (my brother) and Wilson actually went snorkeling. Julie and I did go into the water eventually, but I was not up for snorkeling that day. Anderson was not a fan of the waves in the ocean. I think he much prefered the calmer waters of the pool. But, he did become a fan of sand. Well, moving sand onto a bucket. My mom found an old plastic spoon and gave to Anderson to use as a shovel and he had a grand ol time moving sand onto a small leaf.
The next day, Wilson, Anderson and I were awake early so we headed out to the beach to get a glipse of the sunrise.
Later, we all headed towards the South and West shores of the island to visit Waimea Canyon. It was a pretty long drive since we were staying on the East shore, but it was worth the drive. It's hard to look at these pictures and truly understand how amazing this place was but we were all in awe at the beauty of this place. Many people call this the Grand Canyon of Hawaii.
I think this is the only picture of all of us on the trip:
Afterwards, we headed to Jo-Jo's from some Hawaiian shaved ice:
Mmmm...good.
Anderson got a little taste too:
"Yummy! This stuff is good! Outta the way grandma. I can handle this on my own!"
"They cut me off Uncle Asher! You wanna give me some more?"
I think you've had enough little guy
The next day, we decided to go on this hike. It didn't seem to bad. Just a 2 mile hike along the Napali coast to this beach that was supposed to be gorgeous. Everyone did mention that it was strenuous, but we thought that since it was just 2 miles, it wouldn't be that bad. Ummm....we were wrong. We didn't even make it the 2 miles. Anderson was having a serious meltdown (he was in a baby carrier) and we figured we had to cut our losses and just head back. I think we made it a little more than halfway there (at least that's what some random guy told us) and it took us 3 hours for that round trip. The hike was brutal to put it lightly, but it was beautiful.
Wilson took on Anderson in the carrier. And you see that banana on the side of the picture? That's me trying to appease the little man.
This was the "trail" for most of the way
And some of the beautiful views on the hike
On our last full day in Kauai, we again headed to the North shore where Asher, Julie and Wilson had surfing lessons. My mom, dad, Anderson and I hung out on the beach under a tree. This time, we bought Anderson a sand bucket and shovel and sat him next to a big pile of sand. He was happy as a clam :) Here's daddy catching a wave
And after a long day at the beach, another order of Shaved ice was needed. This time, from the Wishing well where I encountered a mean old lady who questioned whether or not I ordered an paid for the condensed milk that I was requesting. I did. But she probably spit on my shaved ice later.
And of course, when we get shaved ice, Anderson gets shaved ice
And after all that hard working digging in the sand, it was time for a nap
Our last day in Kauai was filled with some small sightseeing. Some waterfalls and blowholes. But nothing outrageous since we all had a flight later that night.
The flights home were pretty uneventful. We took the red eye to LA and had a layover there for 3 hours. Anderson was awake for some of it, but later passed out
We did have TWO celebrity sightings at LAX! We saw Catherine Keener (actress from "40 Year Old Virgin") and Chuck Liddell (UFC fighter).
Well, that's about it. There were many more highlights (including a seriously fabulous buffet at the Marriott) but there is only so much I can post about here. Hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse into our vacation!
One last picture of the pool at the Marriott. Everytime there was a pool, Anderson would head straight for it and either yell "Pool!" or "Water!"
