Sunday Silly Time

Aiden's newest gesture--putting his hand over his mouth when he giggles.

There is never a shortage of big, hands-free laughs. :)

Back to Reality

The worst part about taking a vacation is the day it's over and you're back at the normal routine. The skies are dreary, the ground wet and there are no beaches in sight. *sigh*

Between catching up on laundry and cleaning the house this afternoon, I looked outside to see the sun peaking out from behind the clouds. A much welcome surprise! Aiden and I bundled up and hurried down to the playground for a stolen moment in the sun. After exhausting the swings, riding all four seesaws and splashing through every puddle in sight, we turned around to head home. This is what we saw:

 
The only full rainbow I have ever seen in Portland. Perhaps a little reminder from our city that it is still beautiful in it's own way.

Polihale State Beach

We drove to the very end of Hwy 50 on the East side and then off-roaded it for 5 additional miles over rocks, potholes and sand. We finally arrived at Polihale State Beach.

Looking North you see the beautiful Na'Pali coast. Local lore says these cliffs are the jumping off point for souls leaving the island. You never want to take a rock or shell from this beach because you just might bring a soul who had yet to jump home with you.

By the end of the day Aiden was sun-kissed and sand-kissed.

On our way back to the hotel, sad knowing we would be leaving the island the net day, Kauai gave us a beautiful good-bye. David captured it through the car window:

Botanical Gardens

One of my top priorities while on Kauai was to check out the Botanical Garden. Even though it was Winter and very few flowers were in bloom, the gardens were well worth the visit.

I feel in love with the variety of tree in the photo below--and if you look closely you can find me!

 
As far as tropical flowers go, orchids are my favorite. And this is by far my favorite shot of the day:

Here are some other beautiful flowers:

There was a huge, twisted vine so large it created walls, caves and tunnels. Amazing!

At the end of the garden tour was the most striking tree I have ever seen--it's bark is multi-colored and peels off in layers to reveal the colors. Simply. Stunning.

Waimea Canyon

Today we took a drive through the spectacular Waimea Canyon.

The road ends where Waimea Canyon meets the Pacific. This landscape is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Hideaways Beach

On our way to the beach this morning, we passed the taro fields and stopped to capure their simple beauty. Taro is a perennial, tropical plant primarily grown as a root vegetable for its edible starchy corm, and as a leaf vegetable--toxic until you cook it.



We then headed to Hideaways beach which was a steep 10 minute walk down the cliff.



Aiden has become a total beach baby--loving the sand and seeking out the water (quite a shift from the beginning of the trip).

Late in the afternoon we got a surprise visitor. A giant sea turtle made his way up onto the beach to warm in the sun.

Kalaula Trail and Hanakapi'ai Falls

We hiked as much today as we had in the entire trip so far. We did a total of 8 miles (with 2400+ feet of vertical ascent/descent) that was a healthy mix of steep ups, steep downs, rocky sections, slick sections and river crossings. Aiden was packed by Dave for 5 of the miles and carried by Kelly for 3 of the miles. It was an exhausting, but thoroughly enjoyable day and well worth the effort for the beautiful sights!



The first 2 miles of trail were along the Na'Pali coastline. The vistas were unrivaled and the water was so blue it looked fake.

 

The second two miles of the trail turned inland and followed a river. After 4 major riving crossings (3 of which involved removing shoes) and a serious scramble up a rocky cliff we arrived at Hanakapi'ai Falls. A beautiful 300 foot waterfall of which no photo does justice.

Tunnels Beach

Hanalei Bay

Today was all about relaxing on the beach. We went to the picturesque Hanalei Bay and found a perfect spot with sun and shade--not far from the surf rental tent.

 

We made a few lizard friends:



At the end of the day Laird Hamilton sat down by us. If you don't know who he is (or even if you do) click here. The man is certainly easy on the eyes! After I decided he was my new crush, David decided he had an equal or greater man-crush on him. ha! I didn't get a great shot of him, but you get the idea...

We were lucky enough to have our friend Michael (who moved to Kauai five weeks ago) over for dinner. It was nice to see a friendly face and enjoy some great company. I meant to take a photo while he was here, but we got so carried away discussing the never-ending reasons why Kauai is so fantastic, it totally slipped my mind.

Sleeping Giant Trail & 'Opaeka'a Falls

Here is the view of the valley to the South from the Sleeping Giant Trail.

The tree at the top of the trail had a magical quality to it. It begged to be photographed.

I like to think I captured the tree telling Aiden a secret--a wise, old secret.

David couldn't resist climbing it. Aiden was in awe.

Some other interesting trees along the trail:

This photo of the stunning 'Opaeka'a Falls doesn't do it justice--massive and majestic.

Ke'e Beach Day

We woke up this morning to a sunnier version of our beautiful mountain view.

After a strenuous hike yesterday, today was all about the beach. We spent eight hours relaxing on Ke'e Beach overlooking the strikingly beautiful cliffs of the Na'Pali Coast. Aiden loved the beach. He splashed in the waves, explored mini tide pools, collected sticks and ate a lot of sand.

Kauai Honeymoon Adventures Begin

We arrived in Kauai late Wednesday and by the time we got our car, stocked up on Costco goods and drove to our rental house, it was dark. We awoke the next day to this amazing jungle mountain view:

We ventured to Hanalei Bay where we soaked up some sun and ate lunch.

From there we headed out on our hike up the Okohehao Trail. The guide books warned it was a tough trail--only 1.8 miles long but with 1200 feet elevation gain. The book did not lie. After an exhausting trek, we arrived to find amazing views of Hanalei Bay to the North and the lush mountains to the South. We relaxed, ate snacks and soaked in the beauty. Here are some stills and a video of the view:

And here are some shots of us on the hike: