From the mountain to the ocean from the windward to the leeward side.
On the Island, we do it Island Style!
Aloha!
We just returned from our journey to the island of
Kaua'i.... Crazy to say that this marks our third visit to this majestic place. We honeymooned and babymooned here as well! Words cannot describe so pictures...
The
Na Pali Coastline - hard to tell where the sea ends and the sky begins. This is about an hour and a half drive from the North Shore, where we stayed.
Secret Beach - we spent most of our time exploring the rocky masses on the far end of the beach. Water pooled in low-lying areas creating 'baby pools' for swimming and playing. The ocean waves and currents were actual insanely strong this day. No one was swimming, only watching the waves storming in and out - they were huge and fast. Well, no one went in that is except for me. A guy had to pull me out! Seriously, what was I thinking!
Connor and Ian stopping to check out the views on the
Kalalau Trail (~14 mi). We made it about a mile in and back. Noah hiked the whole way - even lost his shirt about half way! Many fellow hikers likened him to a mountain goat. This trailhead began right next to the
Ke'e Beach, great for snorkeling.
We lived off local fruit (papaya!!) - the Starfruit in particular was a hit.
Connor and boys on
Hideaways Beach (Princeville - near St. Regis Resort) - this was a picturesque spot where waves crashed against the rocks behind (of course, not in timing with the smiles...) To get to this beach, you must shimmy down several hundred feet of bumpy dirt, holding onto ropes, rusted pipes, even garden hoses!
Our duo in diapers - Ian and Ayla
We managed to fit in some romance...we celebrated our
7th anniversary while here! On the night of our anny (September 5th), we opened a bottle of Vueve (champagne) and laughed over our favorite memories together thus far.
Kari and Bob also celebrated their anny (5th) while there (September 3rd)...actually this is how the idea to take this trip originated...over a bottle of wine in California I believe...
Ian's "cheese!"
Connor and Noah on Ke'e Beach.
Jackie and Ian on Ke'e Beach
Now, my favorite beach - the one where they filmed a scene from the movie, South Pacific:
Lumaha'i Beach. Long stretches of fine sand and turquoise waters combined with steep rocky structures and low-lying rocks where the ocean rushes in and gets trapped, creating warm shallow pools.
Kari and Ayla
Bob and Steve did end up jumping off the far end of the rocks!
Ian n Ayla
The bus! Sophia is the driver, then we have Ian, Noah and Rocco. This outdoor patio area was a Kingdom at times, a bus and even a late-night cocktails location for the adults.
Sophia our driver
Ian, "cheese!"
Girls on our way out for cocktails: Patty, Kari, Gene (Kari's mama) and Jackie
Oh we had some fun! My face seriously hurt the next day from laughing so hard that night!
This is a locals favorite, and became one of ours as well. When we walked into this joint for the first time, the live Hawaiian band randomly hit it with our theme song: We Do It Island Style. We could have died!
Ian in one of the caves we visited.
More from Secret Beach.
The "Daddy Express" - How we made so much headway on the island.
Our room
The Na Pali mountain range.
And, for our last night, we stayed at the Marriott (for free on Connor's points). Nice, but we much prefer the do-it-yourself / take on Kauai version of the experience.
Ian finally crashing out by the ocean.
Mr. Cool Kat.
So thankful for this experience. It was not only gorgeous, amazing island-style experiences, it was 100% pure family time, which is a treasure these busy days.
