Polihale

Of all the beaches on the island, Polihale is my favorite. It is not easy to get to. You have to drive 4 miles over bumpy roads, but when you walk out over the dunes, it is so beautiful. There is a huge stretch of beach with nothing but ocean ahead of you. What makes it amazing is that it ends at the Na Pali Coastline.

We spent our last morning out there and it was, of course, raining, but that didn't stop us! This is where Kara and I hung out while the boys played in the water & built sand castles:Levi with the "sand bunnies" he wanted to build:I mean, how often do you get to play at the beach with this as the scenery?:Kara and I did venture out into the rain briefly...only to have her get all wet:Garet wanted to make a sand castle on the "cliff" before we left. I thought it made a cool picture:Tired from all the festivities:To give you a little idea of the terrain to and from Polihale, I filmed this on our way back. We started sliding around just as I started filming. You can hear our Hawaiian Christmas Music in the background:

Levi's Palm Tree & Friends

Everyday on our walk to the beach, Levi went crazy over these little palm trees. He thought that they were just for him & Kara since they were little. I had to get his picture next to one.

Although I have NO pictures of them, what made this trip extra special is that our friends Brad & Kendra, their son Harrison, and Brad's mom Vicky were on the trip as well. Our schedules didn't work out quite as good as we would have hoped, but we got to eat dinner together most nights as well as play on the beach together one afternoon. Here's the only picture I got of their crew! The weather was perfect that day!

Hula Pie

My favorite restaurant on Kauai is Keoki's for one reason and one reason only - Hula Pie. This is one of the best desserts ever. Levi thought so too. Towards the end of the dessert, Levi got tired and laid his head on the table, but he kept eating! That's my son!

My other favorite restaurant is Duke's (owned by the same people as Keoki's). This trip I had possibly the best fish I've ever had - Duke's Style Opah. Yum. Here's a picture of Garet & Kara at Duke's. I thought it was funny because Kara looks like she is so excited about the food!

At the playground...

We go all the way to Hawaii, and Levi kept asking to play on the playground at the beach!

The Jeep

We decided to rent a Jeep while in Hawaii. When we first arrived, they were out of 4-door Jeeps and amazingly we fit all of our luggage and the kids in a 2-door - not comfortable! Thankfully, we were able to exchange it for a bigger one the next day.

We had all these high hopes of riding around the island with the top down, but that just didn't happen. It was either raining, or it looked like rain and we were afraid we wouldn't be able to get the top up quickly and the kids would get soaked.

On one of the sunny days, I got ambitious though and I tried to "drop the top" myself. It was a horrible experience...this is NOT an easy process. I got the top down, but this was the result. Thankfully, nothing fell off the Jeep on my way home!

Overall, we were glad we got the Jeep except for when I couldn't get out of my seatbelt. Garet had to hit the release just right to get me out!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

You might think it never rains in Hawaii - unfortunately that is false. It rained most of Sunday and ALL DAY on Monday and sporadically during the week. We had to get creative with the kids...this condo is only so big and we didn't bring many toys with us!

We made a mountain out of the cushions as well as lots of forts:

We went to get ice cream:

Kara played under the coffee table:

The kids sat in their car seats forever and just laughed. I wish they were as entertained in them in the car:Levi pushed Kara around the floor on the boogie board:Did I mention we made forts?:

Levi made Kara's bed, complete with putting her dolls on the bed:The kids "hid" in the night stand:

Foggy Sunday

Our friends arrived on Saturday Night, so Sunday, we decided to drive up the Ridge to view Waimea Canyon. First order of business was a stop at the base at the Shrimp Station for Coconut Shrimp - Yum!
Waimea Canyon is nicknamed "Little Grand Canyon" and for good reason. It is an absolutely amazing site to see. At the first look-out, we were able to see a little of the canyon as the fog wasn't too bad. I think this picture of Kara is the cutest. She is holding her Hawaiian doll "Kaitlyn" in the picture - she loves that thing:The first time I looked at this picture, I thought that Harrison & Levi were leaning over the canyon guard rail and then I realized that it was just the walkway guardrail - whew!Let me preface this next picture by saying that the Kalalau Lookout at the top of the ridge is truly an amazing experience. The first time I looked over the edge, my breath was taken away and I thought "What an amazing God we have". There is this huge canyon that leads right out into the blue, blue ocean. That first time we went, there was even a rainbow leading right into the water. There is now another lookout farther up the ridge that has recently been opened: Pu'u o Kila Lookout. Garet said the view is fantastic. I couldn't wait to get to the top. As we traveled up, the fog got a little thicker and the rain started coming. I would not be deterred though. I put on my hood and trudged through the rain up to the top. And here, folks, was the view:Seriously. I was up there all alone (actually for some crazy reason, I took Kara with me in the rain) and it was so spooky. You couldn't see 10 feet over the edge. Oh well. Maybe we'll get up there again on this trip. At least the view on the way down was pretty!

Big Waves & Bikinis

As much as we love the "baby beach", Levi loves the big waves too. He is quite the character when he is out in the water. Kara in her first bikini! Swimsuits were on clearance in AL before we left, so I snagged this for $3!