Above the Clouds

We headed over to the breathtaking Waimea Canyon and Polihale Beach to celebrate Thankgiving. I discovered Mom has a fear of heights, or at least a fear of hikes with my kids running around! After driving "all the way" to the the west shore, we were richly rewarded with one of the most incredible views on earth. We also got to put the truck to the test on some deep sand and rugged terrain on our way to the beach. We made it home in time for the 4th quarter of the UT/A&M game and Texas won in a nailbiter! Happy Thanksgiving, Dad!

Sela's Sand Art

We stick together

In the past, my sister, Erin, and I have lovingly (and somewhat jokingly) referred to one of her children as "holdie." Well, I'm afraid I have a "holdie" of my own. Even though Evan loves Mom, he is still my attachment here in Kauai. He is getting easier, but he still would be much happier if I had a permanent pouch just for him. I've been lucky to have my parents here because it has afforded me the luxury to just sit and hold him more, and he is a sweet little cuddle bug. At home he is always commanding me to "sit." I sometimes feel guilty about that because I probably could slow down and just sit with him more than I do. Hopefully I'm making up for lost time here. He was so happy to discover the horses on the property bordering ours. He's also been the only one to get sick over here so he's been watching Flicka over and over. You couldn't force him to sit and watch a cartoon, but he LOVES his horsie movies.

Everybody's Learning How

They've caught the bug!

The kids have been surfing at the far end of Hanalei Bay where the Hanalei River empties into the ocean. The water isn't as pretty as the rest of the bay, but the waves were the perfect size to learn on.

Rollin is already trying to do tricks. He did two back-to-back 180s while riding a wave and didn't fall off the board. Not sure why catching a wave isn't enough, but he feels he needs to add tricks!

Nina got up surfing several times but I didn't have my camera with me, so her shots are coming!

Massaged Kale Salad, Kauai Style!

Imagine my excitement when I saw Massaged Kale Salad on the menu at Common Ground! It was amazing and the kids were fighting me for it. Kale, Bean Sprouts, Papaya, Macadamia Nuts, and a killer dressing. We devoured that thing!





I think this salad is a sign  Kauai should be my new home.

Shipwreck Beach (Poipu)

Dad, Nina, and Rollin met Jimmy down south in Wailua to go on another crabbing expedition, this time in the river for big, blue crab. The kind with big pinchers! They got up early and headed out. We followed later and went on down to Poipu, which is a little further south. Poipu is totally different than the North Shore. You start to see tour buses, people everywhere, more restaurants, shopping centers, parking is harder to come by, beaches are smaller and more crowded...it's just a different scene. Most people who come to Kauai stay in Poipu. It's very touristy. We went to the beach next to the Hyatt and hiked along the coastline. When we got back, the kids had fun fighting the waves in the surf. It was hot and beautiful and we wore ourselves out.

Shell Collecting in Anahola

The first few days we were here, our friends, the Fairbanks, were also in town. When we went to pick Sela up in the morning after a sleepover with Hannah, the girls were already down at the beach. We headed down and had a wonderful time looking for shells. While not a big swimming beach, this beach is gorgeous and ideal for beach-combing. There are tide pools, lots of little coves, tons of pretty coral, and it is rare to see anyone else on the beach.


 

Rollin's New Friends & Hobby

We spend a lot of time at Hanalei Bay because the surf is usually pretty calm. Rollin likes to play on the pier and on his first day back here he met a couple who were catching crabs from the dock. They are the nicest people and Rollin ended up helping them all afternoon. They had 8 crab nets hanging from the pier and they let Rollin be in charge of checking them every five minutes. He would count to 60 five times and then eagerly run around and pull all the nets up. If there were crabs, he would take them out and run them to Jimmy. He did this for hours. He was calling them Uncle and Auntie by the end of the day and insisted that we exchange contact info with them so he could see his friends again. Two days later, I got a call from "Uncle Jimmy" and he said he had made Rollin his own custom crab net. Poppy took Zig to the airport on Sunday and they stopped to pick up Rollin's new net. To Rollin's suprise,he had made him not one, but five nets! The people on this island are pretty fantastic.