Kauai

Over Labor Day week-end Chris and I had planned a romantic belated anniversary trip to Kauai. Long story short - we ended up taking the whole family, and Grandma Lambert. It worked out great, and we all had a blast spending 6 days on Kauai.
We flew in before we could check into our hotel, so we toured around a bit. First stop, Wailua Falls. It was amazing to see people hiking down there and swimming.
We got some fresh coconut from a roadside vendor. It's a little different than we expected (not sweet at all, and a little rubbery) but still pretty good. We were lovin' our suite we reserved. It was right on the ocean, and big enough that we all had room to sprawl out. This is our dining lanai, and each of the other 2 bedrooms had a private lanai. Heaven!Here is the view from our room. Can you believe how beautiful?! The kids were more interested in swimming than anything else, so after unpacking we hit the pools. Masen loved the little toddler pool that had sand at the bottom. It was like his own private beach. After we wore the kids out swimming, we wanted to go explore this beautiful island a little more. I just wanted to drive around and take in the beautiful scenery. There is a reason this is called The Garden Isle. We ended up at the Kilauea Lighthouse. This is also a wildlife sanctuary, so it was cool to look down the cliffs onto the rocks below and spot a seal. I guess in the winter you can see whales too.That evening we took a sunset walk on the beach at our resort....and to our surprise, what did we see...but a seal, taking a nap right there on the beach. He was roped off since apparently seals can get aggressive when provoked. Who knew?Day two we explored in the morning. In the afternoon Corynn and Grandma went on a horseback excursion. The ranch was so beautiful.

For 3 hours they rode horses into the mountains, then stopped for a picnic at a waterfall where they were able to swim and let the horses rest. What an adventure! Look at those cute cowgirls!Day three was spent driving along the west side of the island up to Waimea Canyon, which was dubbed by Mark Twain to be the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." Mt. Wai'ale'ale was beautiful from what you could see of it. The top is ALWAYS covered in clouds, thus the wettest place on earth. It averages 460 inches per year! One year when the island was hit with a hurricane the mountain received over 680 inches. This is the most you can see of the Na'pali Coast by car. The cliffs were amazing.

We stopped off for a picnic near Kokee Lodge. There were so many chickens, it was crazy! They were totally unafraid of us, and would come right up begging for food. Day four Chris surprised me with a helicopter tour over the island. Grandma stayed with the kids (Mahalo, Mom!) while we were whisked away over land and sea.

It became a game of "I spy another waterfall." Literally, there were dozens of them.
The Na'Pali Coast by air.One of the pretty little coastal towns. After the helicopter ride was over, I told Chris that aside from getting married and the birth of my children, that was one of the biggest highlights of my LIFE!

Day five we took a river cruise up the Wailua river to the Fern Grotto. It was a huge platform boat with a tour guide who spoke in such a thick Hawaiian accent nobody could understand what he was saying. After a while I just tuned him out and enjoyed the scenery. If it weren't for the the kayakers and paddle boarders on the river, I would have felt like we were on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. Once we disembarked the boat we went on a little bit of a nature hike to get to the Fern Grotto. It was hot and really muggy, with no trade winds. Dallin was complaining so bad I finally told him to take off his shirt. Dallin was so happy shirtless I took Masen's off too. Here are my two happy campers.

Day six was a blur of getting ready to leave the island and pack in just a few more things before heading to the airport. This little village is the one that was filmed at the beginning of the movie "Outbreak." Here is Chris at Opaeka'a Falls. What a handsome guy :)

We were sad to leave this beautiful island. Chris and I still want to come back for our romantic getaway...someday. We loved the feel of Kauai. It is what I imagine old Hawaii would have been...very small, quaint, and laid back. Next time we come back we want to do more hiking and swimming at the many beaches. I look forward to that day :)