The Last of Our Hawaiian Vacation

Here are the activities that filled the last couple of days we spent in Kauai.

Lindsay, Curtis, my dad, Patrick, Luke, Chris and Josh went scuba diving one morning. Mari, my mom and I stayed at the resort and got massages. While Mari and I were waiting for our appointments we were just sitting on the beach and saw a huge whale jump completely out of the water four times! It was so cool and I wish I had had my camera ready.

Here is most of the group before they headed down for their dive.

After seeing this picture I realized how a shark could mistake a human for a sea creature. This scared me...I hate sharks, I even have nightmares about them on a fairly regular basis.

Here is cute Josh.

I love the bubbles in this one of Patrick.

Curtis and Linds

My Dada.

Later that day the boys went golfing while we relaxed. The next morning we went to Hawaii's Grand Canyon. It was amazing! I couldn't believe how enormous this canyon was. It was filled with red rock, rivers and streams, waterfalls, and lush jungle. I have never seen anything quite like it.

This would be my dad.

After the Grand Canyon we played Bacci Ball for a couple of hours. It was a gloomy day so we just took it easy. It was very enjoyable.

We then went out for a yummy sea food dinner. On our way down to the restaurant we had to hold the elevator door open for someone and it started to make this horrible screeching noise. I made the mistake of saying, "Gosh that is the most annoying sound ever." My dad said, "No, this is though:

"eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
It was sooooo hilarious. You can almost hear it just by looking at this picture. Chris and Mari's reactions are perfect! He didn't just do this for a second but for the entire ride down. It was pretty dang funny.

At Breneke's

Later that evening we enjoyed watching a gorgeous sunset. I LOVE Hawaiian sunsets. They are calming but at the same time so full of energy. This one had the most amazing colors. There were pastels and then firey oranges all in one.

On our last day Josh and I headed to Princeville and Hanalei for the day. We strolled around and went sight seeing. We found the neighborhood we want to retire in. If I can't retire in a neighborhood like the one we drove through I want to retire somewhere that has a view like this:

I think lighthouses are magical.

Thank you Hawaii and Mom and Dad for giving us an amazing week. It was wonderful to go somewhere to relax, play, and enjoy the company of family for an entire week. We had so much fun and can't wait to go back again.

I get fifty miles to the gallon on this hog

We spent one of our days in Kauai touring the island on scooters and it was so much fun! This was by far my favorite day. I got to enjoy views like this, with the wind gently blowing in my face (which I love) for an entire day:

The scenery along our entire drive was breathtaking. I love stunning landscapes and we definitely saw many throughout the day. That whole day smelled like rain and fresh cut grass. It was heavenly.
I was really nervous before I got on my hog, pathetic I know. I had never driven anything like this before and I was scared I was going to make a dumb mistake and kill myself, or someone else. The guy we rented the bikes from was way hyper, maybe on drugs, and was telling us that it was likely that we would have a few spills with a group as large as ours. He was panicking and making us scared. We were fine and didn't have a single problem the whole day.

This is what our navigators looked like about ten times that day, somehow we still made several wrong turns:

One of the stops along our drive was a river that had a waterfall and rope swing. Crazy Patrick was cartwheeling off the edge before the rest of us had our shoes off.

Everyone but my mom and I jumped off the edge of the waterfall. I was sick and she didn't feel like it so we were the designated photographers for the day. It was funny to watch everybody before they jumped off the cliff. Some were nervous, others just walked off of it like it was nothing.

Cool Hand Luke.

Josh, Daddy, and Patrick.

String bean Mari.

Nose plugger Lindsay. I think it's hilarious that she still plugs her nose.

The daredevil boys headed to the rope swing after the waterfall jump. My timing was off when my dad and Josh did their swings. Sorry boys, no pictures of you.
Luke:

You have to be sure to watch the video of Luke on the rope swing at the bottom of the page. His legs go crazy and it is hilarious. There is one of Chis as well.

Patrick:

Chris:

Luke decided to climb the tree back up instead of take the ladder. Crazy boy.

My cute dad:

and cute mom:

Seriously, so so so dang good looking.

How did I get so lucky?

Proof that my mom and I were there.

Linds and Curt.

After the waterfall we scootered on over to a huge beach where we were all alone. It was great, the boys got to play volleyball while the girls enjoyed relaxing in the sand watching wind surfers (actually they weren't wind surfers but I don't know what they are called. They are on something that looks like a wake board and they are harnessed to a big kite. They jump waves and seriously get twenty feet in the air and do quadrouple flips. They are crazy and very entertaining. Anyone know what that is called?).

Court and Josh

One of the cutest couples on earth.

Me and Lukey at one of the many beautiful scenic stops we made.

We stopped for Hawaiian shaved ice. We saw some sea turtles while we ate them on a lava rock wall. It was pretty rockin.

Afterward we headed back to the resort and spent some time in the hot tub. I would like to publicly thank whomever invented jetted hot tubs. Sometimes there is just nothing better.

We also headed to dinner and then made a visit to the doc for a big fat shot of penicilin in the rear. Sounds like a fun night huh?

Tropical Paradise

We just returned from a much needed trip to Kauai with my family. We had an amazing week of fun and relaxation. We were both really sad to return on Saturday, but such is life. We have been back to work on the house and are starting to see progress. Josh and I still have a couple of months worth of hard labor and organizing before everything is complete but we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Here are some highlights of the first few days of our trip, the rest will follow in just a few days.

Our first day was spent zip lining. It was a wet and windy day but in Hawaii luckily it's warm enough that you aren't completely miserable when this type if weather hits. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to get warm the rest of the day and ended up getting strep throat for the rest of the trip. I was only able to get int he water one day but still had the best week! Because it was so wet out, it was also soooo muddy. We rented these sexy kicks to protect our running shoes:

They hauled all ten of us in this totally rad safari truck to the ranch land where we zip lined. I have decided I want one of these magical little cars, it was awesome.

Dad, Patrick, Mom, Chris, Mari, me, Josh, Luke, Curtis, and Lindsay

We had a contest to see who could go the longest crossing this bridge without grabbing the sides. Everyone did surprisingly well and I can't remember who won. Mom or Mares, do you remember?

You have to be sure to check out the videos on the bottom of this page. There is one of Josh running while zipping and it is hilarious, or at least I think it is. Here he is on his take off.

Where's Waldo? Can you find my dad? He is doing a Superman flight in this one.

We were soaking, dripping wet not even half way through our adventure.

We had a picnic by a stream and a little pond, where we swam and played.

Cute Chis and Mari

We tried to take the famous jumping picture but it didn't really work. I guess it's hard to get 10 people in the air at the same time. Check out the specials on each side. Josh and my dad are my favorite in this picture.

After zip lining we went to a humongo cave to explore. I have never seen a cave like this before in my life. It was enormous.

We all tried coconut milk, not the best thing in the world but you'd be happy to have it if you were ever stranded on a deserted island. Supposedly it's really good for you so I think I might start putting it in a morning smoothie for some needed extra vitamins.

On our second day we went to see a famous waterfall and picnic at a blowhole on a beach.

We couldn't go somewhere without breaking the rules so we hiked down to the jungle by the top of the waterfall. My dad has always had/found/collected hiking staffs since I can remember. Here is the gem he found on his way down.

We love this picture of Lindsay and her cute boyfriend Curtis. Poor Curtis comes from a very small family and was probably very overwhelmed by our large, loud group. He was a good sport and seemed happy the whole trip. They are standing at the edge of a cliff by the waterfall in this picture:

The rest of day two was spent with us playing on the beach. It was pretty cool.

Chris, Mari, Patrick and Josh ventured off to a little island right beyond our beach and there was a turtle waiting there to greet them.

I was sicky sick this day so I didn't do much more than lay on the sand.

I bet you didn't know that when Chris gets in the water he turns into Wolverine/chipmunk man, did you?

Day three the boys all rented surf boards. Some of them had surfed before, for others this was their first attempt at the sport. It was really fun to watch them and the girls even played on the boards for a minute. My glasses fell off while I was out there. I didn't notice until we were back on the shore.

I love him.

My husband was my hero and went hunting for my glasses. We didn't think they were findable. They dropped 50-75 yards off shore and I didn't notice for at least ten minutes. I thought they were long gone. Joshua came back with them in hand and I was a happy camper.

Poor Chris and Josh didn't wear rash guards when they surfed in the morning. They both came in with bloody nipples...ouch! So we bandaged them up, they put t-shirts on and were back in business later that afternoon.

Josh rode this one all the way in.

My surfer brother.