Hawaii Reflections

OK, so we had some interesting weather, but it also makes for great memories!  Like when my brother wakes up and realizes the power is out and strolls out and announces that we need to take inventory of our food, start rationing and anyone caught sneaking food is thrown out of the house!  Or when the power goes out for the second time and Elizabeth takes delight in telling people that we used our iPads as flashlights.  All the rain wasn't ideal, but our helicopter pilot told us we saw a lot of waterfalls because of it. 

A view from a bedroom window - so lush!!

The helicopter tour was an awesome experience.  Brandon, David and my dad and I did this together.  We joked afterwards that the pilot was probably a Vietnam Vet pilot. A few times it felt like we were a little too close to a side of a mountain, but I'm sure Bogart had it all under control!  The mountains of Kauai, that were formed by volcanoes are absolutely breathtaking.  There is so much of the land that is protected/preserved that being in the air is only way to see it and we did see a lot of waterfalls!  We have a DVD with the pilot's narration being sent to us! 

The other way to see the natural landscape is by water.  Sara joined us on the Na'Pali coast tour.  My mom was so generous to stay back with the kids.  We had to drive around to the west side of the island, about two hours one way, to a small harbor to board our 30 foot HBI (hard bottom inflatable) boat.  Now from our previous helicopter tour we had noticed how the calm the water looked.  I can confirm, as the passenger sitting in the very front of the boat, holding onto the roped sides, like I was riding a horse...the waters were not all that calm!! I guarantee the people on the larger boats were looking at us saying, "oh why would you want to be on that little boat."  Well, because we got to go places that they couldn't!  So it the rough ride was worth it, but we all felt pretty beat up by the end of the day.  The goal of our tour was to see dolphins, whales, sea turtles, caves formed by the volcanoes and snorkel.  Mission accomplished!  Within 10 minutes out to sea we saw bottle nosed dolphins and we were quite impressed, but in another 10 minutes we had 50-70 spinner dolphins swimming right next to our boat!  Another plus of a smaller boat is that we could reach over and almost touch them!  We didn't realize it at the time but we could have gotten in and swam with them, but we had just started the day it the water temperature was 78 degrees and I don't think any of us were feeling quite brave enough.  I think we all regret not diving in though!  My biggest regret is not having my Flip camera.  We only took a waterproof disposable camera.  I dropped it off for processing today so we will see what quality of pictures we get from that.  Next we saw were NASA used to be and where the military station is now and were told about their underground control center.  We all agreed there was some major secret squirrel stuff going on there!  Our captain actually pointed out a helicopter that was toting a torpedo and told us that they play "war games" here.  Interesting stuff.  We saw some sea turtles laying on a reef at a distance.  They pretty much looked like big rocks, not all that exciting, but then we got into snorkel and we saw one swimming underwater and that was pretty cool.  We saw a lot of fish and Brandon and I even spotted an eel.  That water was pretty chilly and some family members would say that once you got it and you got used to it.  I was still shaking when I was eating my sandwich!  But it was fun and worth it.  We continued up the coast and explored the natural volcanic coast line and mountains.  Our captain was very informative, but I don't think I retained all that well.  A big thing that our smaller sized boat did was enter into the Queen's Bath, which is a cave that the ceiling has fallen in on in the center.  So it is a cave, but with an open ceiling and a rock (the ceiling) in the middle.  The water inside is like a washing machine!  It was thrilling to actually be inside.  The last thing on the list was whales.  We had seen a few puffs in the distance, but nothing too close.  The whales (hump back) are migrating towards Alaska this time of year.  The captain spotted a few puffs and this time we went after them (remember how smooth that water is??!!)  Well, he had good eyes because we were probably withing 100 yards of it, which is pretty close, considering the size of this mammal and given reports of them ramming boats until they sink. We wanted to get close, but be at a safe distance too!  The whale came up and we were all "ooh and ahh" and the captain tells us that was just a calf!  It was huge and it was the baby!!  The adults can stay underwater from anywhere to 8-20 minutes, but the calf was playing and came up often.  We took off and then found another set.  These were both adults and you can't even describe their mass.  The motor was turned off and we just sat there in silence and you could hear them breaching and then watch them wave their side fins all the down.  It was simply amazing and mother nature at it's best!  Thank goodness that tidal wave lost momentum and didn't make it to Hawaii so we could enjoy the best the ocean had to offer!!

The kids loved the beach.  Elizabeth loves to run into the water with daddy.  Unfortunately the first time she did it a small wave at her ankles took her down.  You cannot underestimate the power of the ocean and especially in Hawaii, the waves are so much stronger than what I have ever seen on the East coast, the Gulf of the Caribbean.  We got the salt our of her eyes and she was right back out there!  We collected a lot of seashells and coral.  We even found a shell that was still closed, the two halves still together.  My dad got it open to show us the oyster.  Grant was a little uncertain about the sand on his feet at first, but once he was ok with it, there was no turning back! We had sand everywhere!  Let me just say sand sticks to boy parts really well!  He is all boy and loved just digging in the sand.  He liked to get rinsed off in the ocean with daddy or pops, but mainly preferred the sand. 

We had different sleeping arrangements every night within our family.  Initially we thought the kids would share the room with two double beds and we would be brave and give Grant his first big boy bed experience.  He falls asleep on Brandon's chest easily, so we figured he would really just be sleeping there, not actually trying to go to sleep.  Plus, he typically sleeps through the night.  Well after arriving and checking out the bedrooms we realized that the double beds were just too high off the ground.  But there was a daybed with a trundle bed under it.  Perfect!  We just pulled it out and laid Grant there.  It was a soft spot, yet low to the ground and not confiding like a pack and play.  All was good until 1 am when my mom is at our door with Grant in her arms.  She had heard him wandering in the hall.  I was zonked and the storm was so loud I didn't hear the monitor.  Poor guy!  We don't know how long he was out there for!  He wasn't crying but when my mom opened her door she said he just put held his arms out!  So into our bed he went.  We only got kicked in the head a few times before we used pillows as barricades!  Of course a few nights Elizabeth slept between grandma and grandpa.  When we didn't have power I slept with Elizabeth and Brandon with Grant.  We finally got out the pack and play for Grant and he slept some in there, but usually ended up in a bed!  It all worked out fine.  Elizabeth napped quite a few days.  Mom played baby with her one day and got her to fall asleep.  My dad tried it the next day, but ended up playing puppy, but that worked too!  It didn't really matter when I went to bed, I was up at the same time....whenever the roosters started!  Have I mentioned the chickens? They are protected in Kauai and they are everywhere!  Why did the chicken cross the road jokes must have started here!  The roasters take their job very seriously and are relentless! 

With all of the rain we saw a handful of rainbows.  However, the biggest one we saw was on the way home from the airport in Illinois!  It was big, you could see both ends - right here in Illinois - go figure!!  We watched a lot of basketball (some more than others), but the games were always over before dinner with the time change and often gave some a reason to roll out of bed! 

We had some great meals.  I had fish tacos for the first time and there were really good.  We also had Ono fish and all agreed that if we could fish like that at home we would probably eat it once a week!  We discovered a great new mustard called Hawaiian Gold and are awaiting our shipment! 

Some of us learned new hobbies, like knitting.  No, not me, but Brandon.  My mom asked if anyone wanted to learn and he was the first one to raise his hand.  He is actually pretty good and has almost completed his hat.  We found a great yarn shop in Hana-lei Bay.  My mom asked me to pick a color for him and I picked a basic brown.  Well, once again I know how to pick them, it was $50!  Apparently, this was a very special hand dyed brown color! Needless to say, I re-picked!  I will keep you updated on his progress.

Elizabeth is laughing so hard because daddy is signing the wrong words to Baa Baa Black Sheep.  I just love this moment!

All in all, we just enjoyed the time together in a beautiful surrounding.  Our family likes to talk about making memories and we made some good ones on this trip!  We only took pictures with my parent's camera, so these aren't the best pictures, but I will post more later!