Thursday, May 24, 2012

HAWAII (part 1)

*Warning- lots of words and pictures. This is as much for you to read as it is for me to remember our awesome trip to Kauai!


9 days, child-less, in paradise with friends. I'm pretty sure that may never happen again, at least not in the near future. There was a lot of prep leading up to our trip--- I was a crazy lady with lists all over the place trying really hard not to forget anything. 9 days is a long time to leave a 2 year old and he was jumping around a a few different family members. Not to mention, packing for myself and cleaning the house, flowers and cards for my mama and mom-in-law and baby gifts for baby showers the weekend we got back. Like I said, crazy list lady. Aaron and I decided we were only going to pack carry ons. Neither of us was interested in spending 200 extra bucks on bag fees. This meant I had to choose outfits carefully and decide what I thought we'd do each day. Enter more lists and a few nap times full of trying on clothes to see how things were going to look on this baby bump of mine. Even after 2 weeks of lists and checking things off those said lists--- I was still up packing and getting ready until midnight the night before our trip. Figures.

finally ready

 6am and airport bound
We set off bright and early on Thursday the 10th with our bags packed and Everett in the back seat. We met up with Aaron's brother Luke who took us to the airport. Not only did I have lists leading up to the trip, but some apprehension as well. I had no idea how Everett would be with us leaving for so long. I'd been praying about it for months and enlisted the prayers of others. I sat in the backseat on the way there holding Everetts hand and soaking up the last of him that I'd see in 9 days. I've never considered myself to be one of those crazy moms that never leaves their kid, but I felt a little crazy that day. The longest we'd been apart (Everett and I) was about 36 hours. Was he going to freak out? Would he feel abandoned? Would he be terrible for the family watching him? I was a little nervous and worried about all of it. As we said goodbye Everett started freaking out. Crying and screaming from his car seat. Let's just say mama may have put on her sunglasses and had a good cry too. I blame pregnancy hormones and months of anxiety. Thankfully I didn't have very long to think about it. We headed to security, which so kindly moved me forward because of my protruding belly, and onto our gate to wait for our flight.

sunset over the Pacific


We flew from Philly to LAX and then LAX to Lihue, Hawaii. If you asked Steve, it is pronounced Lee-way and to everyone else Lee-whoee. We ended up with an almost 5 hour layover in LA because of some plane issues. We got some free ice cream and a voucher for 50 bucks each, so it wasn't entirely terrible. Thankfully we ended up on a different plane and finally arrived in Kauai around 9 pm their time. It was a 6 hour time difference and by the time we got our rental car and made it to our resort it was dark out and 4am in Philadelphia. Phew. 24 hours of being awake and a full day of travel was exhausting, but totally worth it when we woke up the next morning to this:

view from our balcony with the Pacific in the distance


We spent Friday checking out the ocean and lava rocks and sea turtles right in front of our condo. We drank our (much needed) coffee and walked along the shore. The views were abosolutely amazing.




Friday was also spent grocery shopping for the week, getting chairs and snorkel equipment and then finally hitting up the beach for some sunshine. Steve and Helene brought along our lifelines--- the Frommer's guide (red book) and the ultimate Kauai guidebook (blue book). We used these multiple times a day for advice on the best beaches and places to eat and visit. If you ever got to Hawaii- buy these. We snorkeled at Poi'pu Beach park and soaked up the sun. Aaron and I were identifying fish like hey- that looks like a Nemo fish or a Dory fish. I don't know what to say other than we have a 2 year old and he likes watching Finding Nemo. haha We saw a sea turtle up close and personal at the beach too. Aaron literally touched its shell, which we later found out was a big no no. Apparently the turtles are endangered and we're supposed to stay 100 ft away from them. Oops! We spent some time poolside and then hit up the much raved about Keoki's Paradise for dinner. It had a really cool atmosphere, amazing calamari, and best of all - hula pie. I can't explain how good that pie was. Macadamia nut ice cream, cookie crust, fudge, whip cream and more macadamia nuts. It might have been one of my favorite things that we ate all of vacation! One thing that we didn't really think about pre-trip was the time difference. I don't think we stayed up past 10 pm any night that we were there and often woke at least once in the middle of the night (430 almost every day for me) because of the times. I think we were all zonked by 9pm on Friday.


Saturday was one of my most favorite days of vacation. We hiked along the Maha'ulepu Trail. The trail weaves along the coast and ends up on a deserted beach. The views were amazing.









You know what else was awesome? Our husbands surprising us with an hour massage at the Hyatt. It was the fanciest, nicest place I've ever been to. Lava rock showers. Watermelon infused water. Fancy robes and fancy hair products and lotions. Hot tub and sauna, although I couldn't use them. An hour long pregnancy massage looking out into a Hawaiian garden. My husband thinking about me and loving me and telling me that I deserve it because I'm an awesome mama to his kid. It was perfect.



We finished up our day with burnt husbands and kabobs on the grill. Let's just say, we laughed a lot on this vacation. Steve and Aaron were constantly doing ridiculous things to each other and us. I think that's part of why Helene and I get along so well, our husbands are so alike and we both just laugh at their ridculousness. 



Sunday was Mothers Day. I missed my little man. He was busy having fun with both of our Moms though, which made the day sweeter. We drove up the coast to drop Steve and Helene at the Kalalau Trail. They brought some camping gear and hiked 6 miles and stayed overnight. They got some amazing photos of the Napali Coast, which you can't get to by car.

North Shore

our vaca buddies

Napali Coast




Meanwhile, Aaron and I took our time driving back down the coast to our resort. We got some gifts for family and stopped at Wailua Falls, a drive up waterfall. 
 









We did a little hiking around the falls and then headed back to the pool to read and relax. We had a great dinner at Dondero's at the Hyatt and headed to bed early. It was probably the most relaxing day and was nice to spend some time with Aaron. 

Back tomorrow with less words and more pictures...

1 comment:

Jan said...

Beautiful pics of Hawaii!