Hawaii

Last night we returned from an 8-day trip to Hawaii. We spent the bulk of our trip on Kauai, and had overnight layovers on Oahu. It was such a fun thing to spend time as a family on vacation - no people to visit, activities to be at - just us. We made it our duty to check out beaches rated as GEMS (by our favorite guidebook writer and resident of Kauai - I'll put a link here when I'm more motivated), and also made it our civic duty to taste test as many of the shave ice places, bakeries, or general eateries that were "ono." Totally fun. Here are a few pictures from the trip.



This was one of two times we saw a monk seal. This guy swam up not far from us and took a nap. The lifeguard came after awhile and roped off a large area so people would leave the seal alone. We didn't have to move -just kept our front row spot : )



We were at Ke'e beach on this day (seal #1 day). For those who've been (or are interested), it's that very last beach before the Na Pali Coast begins.


I love the above-ground roots thing. The hala trees do it even more - but not in a way that lends itself to standing under them (especially if you're more than 2 feet tall).


Our first of many taste tests. Check out my Hawaiian-born son's sweet T. It probably means nothing to you - but was Liza's when she went to preschool in Hawaii. Landon technically tagged along too, though he only knows all of the songs because we still listen to our CD regularly. "E na keiki, o kaina... oh, tutu and me traveling preschool, in Hawai'i ne!"



The sunrise from our porch. We had a SWEET setup at the Westin in Princeville. If we'd realized before we left how much space "two bedrooms" entailed, we would've invited friends along. Instead, we just spread out and enjoyed ourselves.



Liza turned 5 while we were gone. Doesn't she look older? Sheesh. Where'd my baby girl go?



We scheduled this Hawaii trip upon returning from our every 2-year trip to Newport Beach with the whole Mark Walker family. The beach is such a perfect place for kids, ya know? Humongous sand box, water that plays with you, things to collect (shells, sticks, whatever), seals and whales to watch, what's not to like? Landon and Liza both loved it. Liza also loved when I'd take her out into the waves. "I love going up and down in the waves, Mom." On Landon's first day, he was simply fascinated by the waves themselves. He called them bumps until we taught him otherwise. "Oh - the bumps are coming to get me!" and, when we were packing up to go back to our hotel on Day 1:
"When does the ocean stop?"
"Stop? You mean, like, the waves?"
"yeah."
"Oh - never. Isn't is wonderful?"



Tyler shreddin' em at our favorite beach for the week: Moloa'a. Don't go there. We like it that way :)



The benefit to getting called in hourly for new sunscreen and water? Regular treats and snacks. Liza started being weird about pictures until I pointed out that she should take cute pictures to print and share with her friends at pre-school. After that she was all smiles. Too bad I didn't think of it earlier in the week.



Tyler was a doll about trying out the sweet camera he borrowed from work for our trip. He tried all the settings and lenses and just played around with it. It's so much fun to take pics with that camera - you can actually capture a quick-moving toddler. Here, obviously, Landon's not moving - just contemplating the mysteries of the ocean.


A friend of mine was sitting shotgun and said, "You've got freckles! I never realized before." I swear that says nothing about our friendship, or the 2.5 years I've known her, but the teenage Sarah would've been thrilled to hear it. By now I just laughed.


The kids signed on really quickly to our mission to test various shave ice places. Our favorite way was with ice cream on the bottom and all that delicious goodness on top. Those things we call "snow cones" on the mainland have a long way to go.


Kilauea lighthouse. It's set out on a bluff and a sweet spot for whale watching and bird watching (there's a sanctuary there where some 6,000+ birds hang out - don't ask for names, it makes me giggle).



For those who weren't avid watchers of our website while we lived in Hawaii, or who have sat around and wondered, deeply pondered, the minutae of that time in my life, here is a picture reminiscint of that time. It's actually taken from the bluff at Kilauea lighthouse, but was, to us, the most striking resemblance to our shores in Pahoa. After the week we spent showing ourselves around Kaua'i, we couldn't help but feel that the Big Island's windward side has been shafted. No beaches. Apparently that's not the norm on the other islands. See these cliffs above? That's our norm on 'da Big Island. Poor youngest child. Maybe one day.



Come on - just one of those things we love about Hawaii.