Kauai Vacation: Mon Dec 14 - Hanalei Bay

Our children, not quite on "Hawaii Time", were up before the roosters on Monday morning. Emily and David got me up at 5:30 to tell me they were hungry. It was very dark outside. By 7:00 we had "been up for hours..." (according to Emily) and were ready to get out and explore. There is quite a population of roosters (by the way) in Princeville. They don't just "cock-a-doo" in the morning - that is definetly a misconception. They sound off at all hours of the day or night... but you get used to it. We were out for our morning walk well before 8:00 with the whole family. It was a beautiful morning and we had fun exploring our new surroundings. Everyone seemed to be waking up and getting ready for the day. There were tons of people on the hike and bike trails near the golf course and we saw lots of kiddos on a school bus... Emily should have been in school that day too... she was very glad to be on vacation!



After breakfast we spent the rest of the morning on the beach at Hanalei Bay. It was beautiful... a little cold to be in the water, but that didn't stop my Dad, Emily and Chris from their morning swim. You can see Emiy holding her Grandpa's hand in the picture above. Again, not too many folks to share the beach with. Nice. My Mom and Dad supplied their grandchildren with a great big bag of sand toys so they were in heaven on the beach. We picniced at Black Pot - the grassy area near the beach and pier and saw the "black pot".... Chris pointed it out and I don't think I had ever noticed it before. After lunch, the kids had fun chasing roosters - this is very funny to see! Chris and my Dad set out to find us fish for our dinner while we got the kids cleaned up from the beach. The grills by the pool are awesome. While grilling our Mong Chung to perfection, Chris and my Dad enjoyed some Hawaiian beer while they worked. (Kona Brewery LongBoard Lager and FireRock Pale Ale to be specific... it is part of their service fee for cooking.) A lovely first day.

Happy New Year!

I'll have to pause from the vacation recap to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Emily informed us she was going to stay up on New Years Eve and watch the clock for everyone. She was pretty determined and asked for extra pizza at dinner because, "I'm going to need my strength to stay up tonight, Mommy." She did it too. In the process of waiting, she made it through two Betsy books and a good part of Paddington Bear (till she got scared...). That girl is quite the reader. At midnight, she ran all over the house shouting "Happy New Year!" I think David told her to go away when she ran into his room. Then she climbed into the guest bed (where Lia sleeps now) and spent the night there.

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I took this sweet picture of Lia today, New Years Day, while we were getting ready for church. She tolerated the cute red bow for an hour or so before ripping it out. ;-) Gosh she's cute!

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Chris has informed his family that this is his day to watch as much football as he likes with no complaints so he is happily watching 3-4 sporting events right now and switching back and forth. I am indulging in some blog time and the kiddos are happily playing... for the moment.

Kauai Vacation: Sun Dec 13 - Travel Day

Here is the scenario. It is travel day and we have a 9:30am flight from Houston to Honolulu. The goal was to leave the house at 6:30am. This means all the bags had to be packed and ready to go the night before so our children could be escorted from their beds to the car. The packing kept us up till midnight. My alarm went off at 5:15am (ugh.) I got the kids up at 6:00. Emily was so excited she jumped out of bed and said, "I'm not going to miss out on Hawaii!" Emily is not usually a morning person so this is big. David and Lia were pretty much half asleep. They cooperated but didn't really understand what was going on. As you can see, pulling out of our driveway, we were only 7 minutes late. I'm sure this was built into my husband's contingency plan.

Our flight was uneventful. 8 hours on a plane with a 6, 4, and a 2 year old is pretty much what we thought it would be... Emily, our super traveller, kept busy with all her new stuff. She had snacks, crayons, coloring sheets, paper dolls, a Mickey Mouse paint with water book, and a new Pippi Longstocking book. Throw in the Continental entertainment of music and movies... she was set. She entertained herself the whole time. We couldn't have been more proud.

David stayed busy but had some issues dropping his toys and crayons... luckily sister could help him most of the time as they had the two seats by the window. David liked looking at the real time map display so he could see where the plane was and get all the stats about how fast we were going, how much time left, etc... And he overcame his fear of the airplane bathroom on our last trip so all was pretty good in that department.

And Lia, on my lap went as well as it could. At some point she was screaming on the floor for about half an hour and I kicked myself for not packing lollipops for the inconsolable child. Oh well, such is life. We made it though. In Honolulu, there was a short layover for a flight to Lihue. My sweet and loving husband got me an espresso to wake me up.... and David in pure boy fashion rammed into me causing 'said espresso' to spill all over me. Lovely. I smelled like a coffee shop. Ahh.. memories.

At the airport, while Chris got the rental car, Emily found a Hawaiian red ginger flower to be put in her hair. So exciting. More adventures to come.

Merry Christmas, We're Home!!!

We must be one of the luckiest families around. We spent Christmas on the north shore of Kauai with my parents this year. As always, I will attempt to re-cap our vacation one day at a time till I finish. What a project! My Dad has many good photos on his computer since we took turns with the camera... I will have to go back and fill in once he cuts me a CD. For now, I'll share what I have. To get started... here is David enjoying Kee beach. The Na Pali coast line (in all its splendor) is in the background. Added bonus... very few tourists.

Lighted Carriage Parade

Dinner and an Evening Out with Friends

We braved the cold and the drizzle to meet friends for dinner and see the lighted carriage parade at Town Center. The kids ate down at their end of the table and we were amused to see Emily and Travis with so much to say to each other. Emily was very hungry this morning at breakfast and told me... "Mommy, I didn't eat much last night because I was too busy visiting with Travis. He's so funny!"

The kids, especially the baby, loved seeing the horse drawn carriages, and even the parade of dogs at the end... the Dog Park club... who knew? Free glow sticks were disributed and Santa made his appearance in an old timey car so it was very fun for all.

Early Christmas with Nana and Grandpa

We exchanged gifts with my Mom and Dad early this year since we will all be travelling during the holidays. The kids were very happy with their new toys and books, we ate out at Cafe Adobe, and we watched the Longhorns win against Nebraska for the Big 12 Championship... though the game was too tense to be enjoyed according to my husband. ;-)

Our 1st Gingerbread House

I saw this gingerbread kit at Kroger and thought my kids might have fun with it. I helped them assemble the pieces to make the house and they did the decorating on their own... while consuming quite a bit of candy as well!

I think they were very proud!

Side view...

Kiddie pyramid.