Day Five in Kauai

Our last full day on the south shore. It started off with Matt and Adam heading out to go for an early surf run. Hydee and I had decided to walk over to the market with the kids and find some breakfast. By the time we got all packed up and headed out the front door Matt and Adam appeared. We were surprised that they were back so soon, I guess the surf wasn't great so they decided to skip it. We thought they were going to join us for breakfast but in the end Matt stayed and tried to take advantage of the time catching up on work, and I think Adam did the same. So we finally got out, but the market place was disappointing. In the end there was only one place that had breakfast and it was pretty over priced so Hydee and the kids just ended up shopping in the market and I ordered a crepe dish to go. I have to admit that although it was expensive it was delicious! When we got back we ate and then I called and made sure I had a reservation for horseback riding for Matt's birthday. Since Matt was too large to go on the ride with Adam and the kids we just decided to do our own. Adam had to be up to the north shore by 8am for his ride and that didn't seem all that appealing to me either since we had to check out in the morning, so they were nice enough to offer to watch Ollie in the afternoon so we could go- it was Matt's birthday after all.

Once all the arrangements were made we packed up again. We thought the plan was to hit snorkel beaches that were down on the south shore since it was our last day down south. After picking up snorkel gear we caught up to Hydee and Adam at the tree tunnel. Colton was standing out on the road waving his arms at us while Hydee got a picture of us in the tunnel, we in turn took a picture of them from the back.

I really was grateful for Hydee because I knew I was going to get more pictures of us with her around! We followed them all the way through Lihue, and after turning around few times we made it to the first beach. We got out, packing all the stuff onto Ollie's stroller and headed to the beach. While Adam, Macey, and Colton ran ahead to get going on snorkeling, Matt stopped to take pictures of Ollie and me. The scene was too cute to pass up, Ollie had on his cute little Puma board shorts and rash guard, and I had put on his sunglasses and little quicksilver sandals. He looked so dang cute, and there were cute little short palm trees to lean up against so we took advantage of it and got some shots. Hydee was feeding Emmie so we weren't in any hurry anyway.

But before we even got down to the beach Adam came up and told us the snorkeling wasn't all that great so he wanted to just do a quick swim and then move onto a better beach. I was fine with that. Matt went in and joined them and at one point it looked like they might have found something wort looking at so I decided maybe I should head in, but by the time I got to the beach they were getting out and Matt confirmed that it wasn't all that great. Strike one.

It was getting time for lunch at that point so Hydee suggested heading to one of their favorite little places that was nearby- Cafe Coco. We packed up and followed them over. I was excited when we arrived, it looked like a cute little local place and there were cute shops next door that looked like they would be fun to explore. But after we all got out of the car, had pulled out the stroller and the babies and had even taken some pictures we headed to the front door only to find they were closed on Mondays. Strike two.

So we packed up again and resorted to yelp to help us find some place worth eating at. It took us a little further north but we ended up at a fish market with high ratings and I have to say I was impressed. Everything was fresh and delicious. I think we stressed out the lady taking our orders because being goodies we wanted her opinion on which items were best, etc. and for whatever reason that seemed like a hard thing for her to do, maybe because they were all delicious and when we would ask her which dish she would pick over the other with two dishes being completely different she was having a really hard time knowing what to suggest.

After lunch we headed further north, our next stop was for ice-cream. I can't even remember the name of the shop I just know it was a favorite destination for Hydee and Adam and they were excited about it. We pulled up and saw cold stone and joked that it better not be the place evven though we knew it wasn't. The guy behind the counter was the owner and he was a big talker. He talked about how amazing his ice cream is, where it has been featured, how many gallons he goes through in a day, how he is opening a store in Phoenix, etc. He had both gelato and ice cream. It was very good but I'm so in love with gelato and especially with my favorite places back home that maybe I wasn't quite as impressed as I should have been for all the guys big talk. We were all surprised at the cost, I think Adam spent nearly $50 for his family and Matt spent $20 for just the two of us. It was still a good treat though, and I was happy to find a Jack Wyland whaling wall right there in the shopping center so after we got our ice cream we all walked over to look at it and get a picture. It is looking old but I remember seeing it in the book of his that I bought in college so it was fun to see it in real life. I cant say that Wyland is one of my favorite artists or anything, I think there are others that are much better at the details and making it look more realistic, I've just always had an admiration for the scale of his artwork and his ability to create it in proportion when he is so close to the work- he says he does it with his minds eye, he doesn't sketch it all out in huge scale he just paints it from his minds eye, thinking of where he would be in proportion to the whale when he is diving (paying careful attention to the size and proportion when he is next to it in real life) and somehow in the end he had a huge whale painted in perfect proportion. That is what is impressive to me. And he has done these huge scale projects over night before which is also impressive. So it was fun to see one of his pieces again.

After we were all stuffed we headed further north following Adam to the next beach for snorkeling.  As we went further north the scenery started to change. The north is definitely greener and the houses, they were impressive! Matt kept talking about what we needed to do to move out here permanently. This is of course the topic of nearly every vacation we go on, New York being the one and only exception. The beach was beautiful. It had a grassy area with trees, at the edge of the grass there were big pine trees, and there was a short drop down to the sand, the grass acting like a ledge. The sand was actually difficult to walk through at first because there were pine cones everywhere- such a strange landscape but beautiful none the less. It was cold and windy out so Hydee was nice enough to let me use her wetsuit, otherwise I think I would have passed on the snorkeling. After getting Ollie situated Matt and I left him with Hydee and Emmie and joined the rest of the gang in the water.

It was still cool getting in, even with the wetsuit but definitely bearable. I felt bad for Matt and Adam. The reef was huge! The water was shallow for quite some distance, I never really ran into the edge of the reef. It was fun to explore it with everyone. There were parts where it got really shallow and it was hard to stay flat on top without touching it. And then I started having mask problems, mine kept fogging up even with the defogger stuff applied so I kept having to stop. I don't know why but I totally got the giggles out there. Just little things kept making me laugh, mostly Matt he wasn't trying but watching his big feet stop and step down on the ground in those flippers all of the sudden it all seemed so funny and I would start giggling and then choking and then that would make me start flailing around trying to get to the top for air, and then that would make me laugh even harder. It was quite the experience but really I did have a great time just being with Matt. We were near Adam, Macey, and Colton but it was hard to keep up with everyone so we at least stuck with each other. There were some interesting fish and there were a lot of them but no big schools. I love to see the big schools moving together. And the reef really wasn't colorful, it was pretty monochromatic so I wouldn't put it at the top of my snorkeling experiences but it was still fun. Unfortunately despite the fact that my body was comfortable my ears are super sensitive to the cold and after a while they really started hurting so I had to head in, I didn't want to leave Hydee with both kids for too long any way. Matt had pretty much seen it all so he headed in with me. Adam and gang didn't stay out a whole lot longer.

When we got the beach and I had to take off my wet suit I wanted to die. It was so cold! But somehow I survived and once again we packed everything up and headed back to the condo (which at this point was an hours drive back south).

When we got home Adam picked up dinner for the kids and we all showered and got ready for a night out. We went to a restaurant Hydee and I had been eyeing. It was fun to get dressed up and enjoy a good meal. We got there late so we didn't get to sit outside, but the restaurant was upstairs and the windows were all open to the outside. It overlooked a cute courtyard that had this big tree full of a variety of lanterns that were all lit up so I wasn't disappointed with the atmosphere at all. We had a great waiter and we didn't talk about work at all during the meal so it was nice and enjoyable. I finally picked a good dish- my best meal yet! And the dessert was amazing! The only down side was Hydee wasn't feeling well at all so she didn't eat much. We left completely satisfied and I was happy! The start of a great birthday eve for Matt. When we came home we walked in the room to find Macey and Ollie on our bed, Macey was watching a show and I feel bad because Matt and I both took one look at Ollie in his diaper, with his onsie up above his big belly and we both got the giggles and started laughing. We were laughing because his diaper was looked so funny, it was pulled up all tight and then fanning across the top with g-string looking sides. Since Macey was the one that did it we didn't say anything we just tried to talk to her about how he was in between our giggles. I don't know why we thought it was so funny. Poor Macey I don't think Ollie gave her an easy night either she said he was fussy. After she left the room we snuck a picture of him in his diaper so hopefully someday she can look at it and laugh too!

Day four in Kauai

Today we went to church in Lihue. It was a sweet experience. We were 10 min late so we missed the sacrament and it was hard to find a seat but it was a sweet experience. I couple from Colorado spoke, it was their last Sunday before going home. The wife talked about how the atonement heals all pains and related how pain is necessary to heal like a physician giving a shot in order to heal, our spiritual pain reminds us to repent and be healed. The last speaker was a guy that has been home for 6 months from his mission in the Marshal islands, I was really touched by his talk, he was so humble. He talked about a companion that was from the islands that had visa trouble and didn't get to go to the mission he was called to much less even the MTC. They literally picked him up from his house. He talked about how he and his last companion were having a lot of success and he thought if he just kept doing the same thing he would continue to have success and how frustrating it was with his new companion. He said in a discussion he taught about Joseph Smith and the first vision and then turned it over to his companion to bare his testimony and instead his companion taught about the book of Mormon and the lost transcript and had to do a lot of explaining about Oliver Cowdery. I laughed at that, and then he related how when he prayed he was talking to heavenly father about his frustrations and when he said in confusion "I haven't changed" that is when he realized what the problem was, he hadn't changed. He talked about how the atonement is not just for those committing sin, we can be doing good things but there may still be a need to do better. If we aren't doing better we aren't progressing and that is what we are here to do, to become like him not to simply not sin. I thought that was a good lesson/reminder. At the end of sacrament meeting they asked all the visitors to stand and then they came around and leid us with these home made yarn lays that were so sweet, even Ollie got one. And then the ward went up to the front and sang to all of us. I don't know what it was I didn't even know what the song was saying but it was beautiful and the gesture brought me to tears. It was a sweet experience to be there and feel so at home with complete strangers who opened their arms to welcome us.

After church we came home and Adam made us a breakfast for lunch. Everyone pitched in and we sat out on the liane and enjoyed each other company.

Matt and Ollie took a nap afterwards and I went and played a little put put golf out on the lawn with Colton, Macey and Adam (I beat them all- hehe) and here I am now writing in my journal in beautiful Kauai...

(When I went out to play golf I found Macey laying on the ground waiting for me perfectly positioned in the shade of the palm tree- it was the only shade on the entire lawn and it was just the right size for her.)

After my brief moment of relaxation writing in my journal we packed up to go have a picnic dinner on the beach at sunset. Just as we were loading Ollie into the car he started puking. It was so sad, his face turned bright red and he projected everything out, he did it a few times until there was nothing left. We were grateful it happened before we got on the road because there was a ton of it all over him and the concrete. We headed out on an hour drive to a secluded beach on the west shore called polihale. The last five miles to the beach is on a dirt road, super bumpy, Macey was giggling the whole time. The beach was nice, just locals and not that many. The sand was super soft and we had a good time just kicking back taking pictures, walking Ollie down to the water and letting him touch it with his feet. It was so fun to see him feel the water and the sand with his little toes. He talked excitedly to the ocean, but it was short lived.

Ollie had a rough night, he wasn't crying but he threw up a few more times while we were out there and I wasn't having any luck getting him to drink water or his bottle. After every little sip he would refuse to drink any more and then moments later he would start heaving. But beyond that he was perfectly calm and didn't cry or act like he was in pain. We watched a beautiful sunset and Adam was nice enough to make us sandwiches right there on the beach. Macey and Colton shared a rootbeer and Macey picked up my little tradition of saving sand in a bottle I drank from, she was nice enough to collect some for me too. While we sat back and relaxed on the beach, Macey had fun digging in the sand building castles and Colton had fun running wild, yelling at the ocean while he threw sand at it. I can't forget to mention the topless girl and her boyfriend frolicking in the ocean right in the middle of our sunset! We stayed well into the dark and finally left when Ollie refused to drink anything and I began to worry.

When we got home I tried again to feed him, and then he pooped the smelliest poop of his life! None of us wanted any part of changing him, even Macey turned down a $5 bribe, so Matt and I tag teamed and did the deed. When he was all diapered up again I thought he still smelled and upon taking his onsie all the way off I discovered why, it was all up his back still and all over his onsie! Everyone was very entertained by it all, Adam even recorded the whole thing without us knowing. Little guy finally finished 4 oz and he is laying asleep snuggled up on Matt's chest right now as we sit in the living room with all the windows/walls open enjoying the cool evening air as it breezes through the house. I love Sundays!

Day Three in Kauai

This morning while we were getting ready Ollie was in a playful mood as he lay on the bed waiting for us. We gave him his shark and he just lay there making his funny noises and laughing as he played with it. I of course was completely distracted by his cuteness and had to stop and take pictures and obviously I had a hard time narrowing down which ones to share because they were all so cute!

We had a little bit of a charade getting out of the house (Adam couldn't find his car keys). We went back to the same breakfast place for another delicious meal. Macey wasn't feeling well so after breakfast Colton, Adam, Matt and I headed out for the swamp hike, while Hydee took Macey and the babies home. We took a long windy road that started making me feel sick, about that point I was feeling grateful that Macey hadn't come because she gets motion sick (we later found out she hurled on the way home). At the very start of the hike we hit an amazing lookout, and while taking it all in a rainbow appeared so we stopped to take a few shots.

The hike was fun and interesting all at the same time. I was entertained by Colton, we swung through trees together as we skirted through a muddy path.

Colton and Matt loved talking about poop, both of them stopped along the route to do their business and we joked that Colton got it all over his face because he did have black streaks across his face. There were lots of green plants all around us, my favorite was this vine that looked like all of the petals were positioned to drop rain down to the next petal beneath it. The interesting part was keeping up with Adam, he set the pace and if we weren't paying attention he would soon disappear and and I kid you not I started full on sprinting to catch him.

The cool thing about the hike is you were walking on boards through most of it and there were areas of big wooden stairs. Colton loved the boards because he would find loose ones that would flop up and down when you stepped on them so he would work extra hard to jump on the boards.

We did stop a few times along the way for pictures, there were just too many interesting things to see, like a big huge tree that had fallen over and created sort of a cave with it's roots big enough for Colton and I to hide in.

At the top you are walking on a boarded path through a swamp and it is crazy because all the trees are gone and you feel like you are on top of the mountain where you think it would be lush but it really was swampy around us- Colton and I called it snot and none of us were interested in falling into it.

We had a lot of time to talk and Adam shared with us his dream about someday building orphanages. We talked about adoption and and I remember at one point sharing with him how I had recently learned that when the disaster happen in Haiti how arrangements were made for lds couples that were waiting to adopt were able to adopt the children that were left as orphans (currently lds services does not handle forgein adoptions which is also what made it unique). I don't know why but when I was relating this to him I got all choked up, it just hit me once again the miracle of adoption and in an instant I knew that Heavenly Father had prepared those couples for that moment to be there to help those children. I was touched by the evidence of His love for those children to prepare a way for them and at the same time I wondered what had happened in the lives of those couples and families that prepared them to be in that time and place to be ready for those children. What amazing stories they must have to tell on both sides of the heartaches and trials that they all faced. I literally had to wipe back tears as I thought of the tragedy those kids faced and at the same time I was so humbled by the amazing families that open their hearts and their homes to love children all over the world that would otherwise suffer more than they already have. There are quite a few families in my ward who have adopted internationally and I know they have faced different challenges than I did and I'm just in awe of how the Lord's hand has been there to make it possible in all these different circumstances for families to be together. Truly amazing. While I was thinking about all of this Matt's cell phone rang- it was Garison his best friend in high school that he hasn't talked to in a while but whom he still keeps in pretty regular contact with. He had no idea we were in Hawaii and we had no idea the phone would be working up there so it was a fun surprise for Matt.

Once we made it through the swampy part we finally reached the look out. It was another breath taking sight to stand up there in the clouds and look down on the north shore. After taking some pictures we sat and enjoyed the view and some snacks.

Adam shared some thing called Goo that is an energy thing you are supposed to suck down. It really was like goo, thick, neon green, and jelly like. I tried to suck it down but it wouldn't go straight to my throat instead it got all over my mouth and was hard for me to swallow. I really tried to suck it down so I wouldn't offend anyone but in the end I filled up my mouth with it and started laughing because I couldn't force any more down, in my laughter I started somewhat choking on it and ended up spitting it out all over the ground. Oh well. We tried calling Hydee to see how Ollie was doing but she didn't answer. It had taken us nearly two and a half hours to hike 4.5 miles and I guess I was anxious to get back so as we started heading back I decided why not run? So I took the lead and Colton and the boys jogged behind me, I think in my mind I was pretending I was on biggest loser getting pushed to try to do something that was hard so I started yelling out to the boys silly things as if I were their drill sargent and they were nice enough to play along. My goal was just to run until we made it through the swamp to the trees. Surprisingly I still had some energy to job a bit in the trees, but at some point in there I gave the lead back to Adam (not that any of them couldn't have taken it at any time!)

One of my favorite conversations during this part of the hike was Colton explaining to me what kind of grandfather he is going to be- he summed it up by saying he was going to be a fun one that did stuff with their grand kids and that he would let them do fun things and not get mad at them they they throw apples at each others heads. (I'm assuming there is a story behind that!) When we hit all the stairs and had to go up I let Adam and Colton run up it while I slowed the pace, the stairs kicked my butt! We pretty much lost Colton and Adam at that point (or I guess more accurately they lost us!) We caught up again when the planks were gone and we were back in the mud.

Being with Colton made Matt and me excited about what it is going to be like when Ollie is his age. It also made me a little sad that I will be 10 years older when Ollie is Colton's age! But it is what it is and there is nothing I can do about it other than enjoy my life and what it has given me no matter what age I am. On the way out we saw a lady that looked like she must have been in her 70s hiking through rugged terrain with two walking sticks. At first I was a bit surprised and felt sorry for her and then I thought good for her for doing what most people her age would never dare to do! I have to say that one of the best things about the hike was doing it with Matt. He is still my best friend and I'm so glad we can enjoy things like this together. We still laugh and being with Adam and Colton it just made me realize how much Matt and I are alike we see the world the same, we laugh at the same jokes that we make to each other and I still look at his hot body and find myself thinking how lucky I am to be his wife :)

It was no surprise that Colton and Adam beat us back to the Jeep. With all our running it only took us an hour and twenty five minutes to get back to the car. While Adam had them doing stretches Matt and I took the top off the Jeep so we could enjoy the weather on the way home. When we walked in Hydee was surprised we were back so soon, and we found her with a baby on each knee!

I scooped Ollie up, so happy to see him. And we all just relaxed and watched movies. We were just going to finish the one that was on and then head to the pool and then dinner, but none of that occurred. By the time the movie finished it was too late for the pool and by the time we showered and dressed we weren't really up for going out to dinner so Matt ordered pizza and picked it up and brought it back and we just watched another movie in bed. It was a good day.