Kauai, Hawaii - a WONDERFUL vacation!

We just got back from a WONDERFUL vacation and thought we would share some of our photos and tips and tricks. This was our first adventure flying with Alex. We were scared, a bit about the flight, but the whole week turned out so wonderful!

Here is Alex carrying his own suitcase of toys for the flight in the airport. He just loved the escalator at the airport. He learned the word "airplane" and has been saying it ever since. He LOVED watching the planes take off. Have one parent get on with all luggage, then get on the airplane at last call with a kid - works wonders. There is a wonderful playground in SeaTac airport. It's on the lower left of the central terminal in the picture below. It was a wonderful place to let him play before the long 6 hour flight to Hawaii. Play-doh turned out to be the surprise winner of the most fun toy.

The flight was better than we expected. Alex didn't sleep as long as we would've hoped, but it turned out to be fine. There are diaper changing stations in the restroom on the plane and we used them a couple of times. Having Alex on our lap was definitely a challenge, but it was worth it. On the way back home, the flight wasn't full and we got an extra seat!

This is THE Best book for visiting Kauai Ultimate Kauai Guidebook We saw tons of people around the island reading the same book. We used many of the suggestions in the book, and from friends.

Alex and Mickey

Alex and MickeyWe stayed here Hale Nui in Kapaa on the East Shore. It was a wonderful location and a wonderful 3 bedroom 3 bath house that very comfortably slept 6 adults and 3 children for 7 days. We were close to the grocery store and it was easy to get to the North shore or the South shore. There was a wonderful front yard for the kids to play. We were one house back from the beach.

Alex's favorites for the whole trip were chickens and Mickey, a 7 year old boy that is kind of like a cousin to Alex (Lance's Dad's girlfriend's Son's Son = kinda step cousin?). Anyways - they had a BLAST! They were two peas in a pod. They loved the same things - chickens and playing outside. Alex learned to kick a ball from playing with the boys, learned to drink from a straw while on vacation, and the word elbow. He just learns new words all the time! It's hard to keep up!

Although Alex LOVED the chickens - they did wake us up around 5 AM every morning. One morning, when Alex must have been pretty tired, the chickens woke us up and Alex sat up in bed and said "Chickee's - Bye bye" meaning - Go away chickens - I want to sleep!

We went South and we went North. Here are some Highlights of all the places we went:

South: Jo Jo's Shave ice (I tried the Haupia and tropical flavorings over the decadent macadamia nut ice cream). Lydgate State park along with the playground there. Hamura siamin in Lihue - wonderful noodles, food for very cheap prices in Hawaii. We got noodles, satay and a whole lilikoi pie one night for dinner. It's where the locals go - i.e. you wouldn't find it unless someone told you to go there. It's an interesting place! Kokee State park/Waimea Canyon and Kalalau valley lookout with views of the the Na Pali coast were amazing!

East: Wasabi Ahi salad from Foodland, coconut festival in Kapaa,

North: Kalalau Trail with views of the Na Pali coast - I had Alex on my back and hiked just the first 1/2 mile and it was worth it! But, without a permit, you can hike 2 miles in and 2 miles up to a waterfall. Lance did this along with his Dad and they said it was really nice. The trail was slippery, so we went slow. With a permit - you can hike 11 miles into a secluded beach and camp. Macadamia nut cream pie from the China Young center in Hanalei. It was really good! Ha'ena State Park Beach/Tunnels beach - great beach for playing, snorkeling.

The weather was good for the most part. There was one morning of rain, a really windy day, an really humid day, and some "perfect" days. But, it was all wonderful since it was warm and tropical...

All the books reminded visitors that the waters are dangerous in Kauai, and telling you what beaches are "safer" than others, but even so - 4 tourists died within 2 days because of the high surf. News article Kauai World. Here is a good site for checking out what the conditions are Hawaii Ocean Safety.

Lydgate state park swimming

Alex chasing chickens

Waimea canyon views, Kalalau valley view

In the end - we were tired (and needed a vacation from our vacation, but thankfully we had 3 days to recover before going back to work) but we had such a good time! The time change coming back was pretty rough. Thank goodness for the 3 days at home!

Alex also got his first freckles on his forehead! Tear... Tear... sniff... sniff...

Nobody got sunburned - you know our skin! We loved the spray on SPF since it didn't make you feel all lotion-y.

We would definately go back!