We are back from our magical trip to Hawaii! Thanks to my Aunt Sharron, we stayed at her timeshare Marriott resort and also traveled with Karin Gonda and my sister Laura. We went to the island of Kauai, which is a small island with breathtaking beauty. I will never return to another island... my heart belongs to Kauai. Here is a travel log of our adventures. I know it is long, so read at your own pace or skip it all and catch a few pictures. WE HEART HAWAII!!
DAY 1: After a long day of flying, we arrived at the resort. Already the beauty of the island was captivating. We had a "slight" problem with the room and the first night was spent with 5 adults and 1 baby crammed into a small hotel room with one king bed. I will spare you the details, but it was interesting. We figured things out the next day and now just have a lot to laugh about. Greg surprised us at the airport with beautiful leis that was a great way to kick off our vacation.
DAY 2: We spent the morning figuring out a solution to our "room problem" and enjoyed a day at the resort, which boasts the largest swimming pool on the island of Kauai and was spectacular! We enjoyed "Puka Dogs" for lunch and an evening at the resort restaurant for dinner, where Emma danced the night away in her high chair to the island music.
DAY 3: This was Sunday, so we ventured to the closest LDS church. At the end of sacrament meeting the congregation stood at the front of the room, sang to all the visitors and gave us leis. Pretty cool. We kept it low key the rest of the day. Played Phase 10 (which I won!) and walked to a lighthouse that is on the resort property. On the way home we got stuck in a little tropical down pour. Hey, even when you are drenched, Hawaii still makes you happy! The view in these pictures is from our hotel room!! Right on the beach!! Our own little paradise.
DAY 4: We packed a lot of sight seeing into this day. We started out by driving to Opaeka'a Falls because it was raining, across the street from the water falls, was the beautiful Wailua River. Someday, we would love to kayak down the river... but we ran out of time this trip. We followed this with some wonderful snorkeling at Lydgate Park Beach. We stopped for lunch at a highly recommended "Ono Burger" (Thanks Thomas Family!) and individually gained 4-6 pounds (respectively) in one sitting. Kilauea Lighthouse was our next stop and a postcard view of the crashing waves against a rocky shore. Pete's Dragon anyone? I'll be your candle on the water...
DAY 5: Half of Kauai's coast is uninhabited. All of the original beauty and wonder is still in natural form. It is called the Na'pali Coast and we had the privilege and honor of hiking along 2 miles of it's shore. It was the most amazing beauty I have ever beheld with my little eyes. To the right was crystal blue ocean and to the left was lush green mountain. These photos do not do it justice. But they are REAL photos and the colors have not been "photo shopped". Along the way, we saw a group of about 30 dolphins flipping, jumping and spinning around. At the end of the hike you reach a secluded beach, which was equally magnificent in beauty.
DAY 6: This was our beach day. We began with a fantastic island breakfast at Kountry Kitchen (because everything is better/cuter with a double "K") and yes folks, they had coconut syrup which made my coconut french toast AMAZING. We began our beach day snorkeling at Ke'e Beach, which is said to be the best snorkeling on the island. Basically everywhere you went there were MANY bright, colorful fish all around. I was a human caught in an aquarium and I loved it!! We then went to a second beach to gawk (err, uuuuh,) I mean, objectively observe the professional surfers of the island. We left shortly thereafter because little miss prissy Emma was "scared" of the sand and screamed louder than the waves if any brushed her hands or feet. Lovely child, huh? Good thing we don't live by the ocean.
DAY 7: We took a very windy road (read: made 3 out of 5 passengers VERY car sick) to explore the beauty of Waimea Canyon. Said to be the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. That it was. Very beautiful and very grand indeed. To celebrate the nausea we took a second trip to our favorite shave ice location: Jo-Jo's. It was dirty and nasty and hot inside, but those shave ice flavors come straight from the Hawaiian gods.
29 comments:
Hawaii is one of our favorite places too Tammy! Beautiful scenery, friendly people, a wonderful place to go! So glad you guys got to enjoy it with family.
Kauai really is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I'm so jealous--it looked like great fun!
Oh my gosh, I wish I could have come with you guys. Your pictures are AMAZING! I can't believe those colors. And I could hear Karin's laugh, and Sharron's laugh, and imagine all the conversations and fun you had. But my fave part...I WILL be your candle on the water. Thanks for putting that song in my head for the rest of the day. :)
All I'm saying is, say WHEN for your next Kauai trip and we're in :) Looks AMAZING and there were so many fun pics. Love that Little LJ, too, and I'm glad she got to make it happen with you.
You look great, PS.
Melanie
Seriously, I have already been drooling over Hawaii for years, and those pictures reaffirmed to me that we HAVE to go there for our 10th anniversary!! :) It looks like such an amazing trip. I'm glad you blogged about all those places because we need to see all the good stuff in Kauai. Glad the trip was so amazing!!!
Kauai is the most beautiful island. I've been to all but one of the islands and it is by far my favorite. I'm glad you got to do so many of the fun things there. I agree with Emma those the sand is yucky! Great pictures, they made me home sick for my ohana in Hawaii and some ono food.
All I can say is jealous!
Holy amazing! I believe you had Kokonut syrup at Kountry Kitchen ;) Oh, I'm envious, I'm glad you had a wonderful time!
Holy Hannah those are gorgeous pictures!! I bet you had so much fun!! Chris was just there for a quick layover-with his boss, unfortunately (this mid to late 50's bikini and high heeled german lady...yeah). But the upside is he may actually pay to take me there sometime! I will have him look here and let him get more inspired.
So who did take all of those amazing pictures anyhow? Know where I can find 270 more like it? :) Wish we were back there!!
We are headed to Kauai the end of November for 10 days with all 4 kids (I am taking Bruce too!) We are so excited. We will stay at the Marriott. I am glad you had such a nice time, it was fun to hear what is in store!
that picture with ...Laura?... and Emma looks like a heart. Do you see what I mean?
Wow! What a blast. Emma is SO beautiful! Laura took some awesome shots of her. You all look like you are in heaven. Wish we were there! Loves
I love the photos and it made me miss my beloved islands of Hawaii. I am glad that you guys had such a great trip. Love you!
I love the pictures! It looks like you guys had an awesome trip.
How divine! What lovely memories!
Do me a favor? And say hello to Karin for me?
Yay for Hawai'i!! Beautiful pictures! I'm so jealous that you were able to partake of the shaved ice. There ain't nothin' like HI's shaved ices!
wow, gorgeous. what a great family trip, and so fun that you took emma.
looks like you all had a ton of fun! i'm glad you got to go to Ono Burger. for some reason the Thomas family travels for the food.. haha. sadly we will only be staying on the Big Island this Christmas, but soon i'm sure we will go back to Kauai. Kauai is the most beautiful of all the islands, and looking at your pictures reaffirms that!!
I am so jealous. I've always wanted to go to Hawaii... someday I'm sure it will happen. So, Hawaii is beautiful and you guys got some incredible pictures... especially some of those on day 5... wow.
I HEART Puka dogs!! With papaya relish. And I loved that Napali Coast~ some of those pictures take me right back to that very spot! Ahhh awesome. I want to hear more about 5 little monkeys in a bed.
Mahalo for the pics and captain's log. Looks like you all had a "fabulous" (as Karin would say) time. I need to see you guys soon so Auntie Char-Char can pinch Emma's sun-kissed cheeks. I miss you guys!
Those pictures are incredible! I'm so jealous. Some day I will make it to Hawaii.
Those pictures are incredible! I'm so jealous. Some day I will make it to Hawaii.
Ooh, next time I'm going with you guys! Kauai looks beautiful! We went to Maui in May and it was not as exotic and tropical as I remembered so we'll definitely have to visit Kauai next time. I didn't have time to read your whole post yet but I will be back. How did Emma adjust to the time difference? Ian was up every morning there by 5:30am! Oh well, it got us rolling so we could go snorkeling every morning. Oh, I'm very jealous! My heart skipped a beat when I saw your beautiful photos! What program did you use to do the vignette's? Beauty!
SOOOOO jealous. I LOVE Kauai!! Isn't it the best. When I went, we stayed in Princeville. Ke'e beach was just down the street from us. Kayaking down the Wailua River is a great experience. I wouldn't trade mine for the world. Wish I would have known you were going to Kauai, I would have told you to eat at some GREAT places.
I'll be your candle on the water
My love for you will always burn
I know you're lost and drifting
But the clouds are lifting
Don't give up you'll have somewhere to turn
I'll be your candle on the water
'Till ev'ry wave is warm and bright
My soul is there beside you
Let this candle guide you
Soon you'll see a golden stream of light
A cold and friendless tide has found you
Don't let the stormy darkness pull you down
I'll paint a ray of hope around you
Circling in the air
Lighted by a prayer
I'll be your candle on the water
This flame inside of me will grow
Keep holding on you'll make it
Here's my hand so take it
Look for me reaching out to show
As sure as rivers flow
I'll never let you go
I'll never let you go
I'll never let you go...
Of course that was the ONE THING that stuck out to me more than anything else on your blog! I love you! Wish we could have been there with you!
Tammy, How do you add a blog to your follower list when they don't have the follower gadget on their blog? I hope that made sense.
Thanks for the help! I figured it out.
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