Friday morning we met the Kahlers at the CR airport and we are off to Kauai! First leg to Denver (about 2 hours), next leg to Los Angeles (another 2 hours) , and last leg to Lihue, Kauai (about 5 1/2 hours).
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| Owen and Landon packed and ready to go. |
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| Melissa and Scott |
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| The pilot invited Owen and Landon in to check out the cockpit. |
We arrived in Kauai at 7 pm (midnight Iowa time) and we were all tired. Owen slept the last hour of the flight. We stayed at the Marriott Beach Club in Lihue the first night as it is close to the airport.
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| Waiting for our bags |
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Owen fell asleep on the floor while we waited for bags!
Poor dear little boy. |
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| We made it to the hotel! |
Lihue Marriott Beach Club
We spent one night at the Lihue Marriott Beach Club because it was close tot he airport and we knew we'd all be tired from the trip.
Saturday morning Scott and Owen were up at 5:30! The rest of us slept in until 6:00. We have some adjusting to do to Hawaii time. We ate at a breakfast buffet at the hotel and then to the POOL and BEACH.
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| The view from the 10th floor. |
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| Breakfast |
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| The water slide at the children's pool. |
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| Now it's Owen's turn. |
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| Huge, beautiful pool enjoyed by all. |
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| Testing out the waves on the beach. |
Marriott Waiohai Beach Club in Poipu
We head to Poipu to the Marriott Waiohai Beach Club where we will spend the next week! The first stop was at Humara's for lunch. Chicken kabobs and a big dish of noodles was the menu for lunch.
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| Lunch at our favorite noodle place. |
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| Tired Owen slept on the ride to Poipu. |
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| The van was packed. |
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Building 2, third floor
We got upgraded! |
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| Early evening rain brought a double rainbow. |
Lydgate Beach
Monday we headed to the east coast to play and snorkel at Lydgate Beach. It was a calm place for Landon to try snorkeling. He and Scott saw some fish and we all enjoyed playing on the beach.
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| Ready to snorkel, Landon? |
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| Way to go! |
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| Scott and Landon snorkeling in the rock enclosed beach area. |
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| Picnic time |
Luau
We attended the Smith Family Garden Luau near Kapaa. The pig was unearthed and then we had a delicious buffet meal. The grounds of the Luau were beautiful. The cultural program was entertaining and informative.
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| Scott and the boys up on stage learning to do a hula dance. |
Tuesday at Poipu Beach
After a late night out at the Luau we decided to spend the day at the resort. Everything we love to do is here - pools and the beach, plus its convenient to ran back and forth to the room for lunch, naps, etc.
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| An endangered Monk Seal came up on the beach! |
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| Lunch on our balcony |
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| Poipu Beach |
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| Spouting Horn is a few miles from our resort. |
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| Shave ice in so many flavors! |
Ke'e Beach
From the south shore to the north shore we journeyed on Wednesday. Ke'e Beach is one of our favorite Kauai beaches. It is at the end of the north shore road. Down through Hanalei and across numerous one-way bridges makes this a fun trip.
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| Beautiful beach set in front of the mountains |
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| The start of the Na Pali coast which is unreachable by car. |
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| Fun in the sand. |
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| Snorkel time |
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| And a picnic on the beach |
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| Steaks on the grill back at the condo. |
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| Winding down after a busy day - Scott reading to Owen. |
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| Melissa reading to Landon |
4th of July Kauai style!
A helicopter tour of the island and a trip to Waimea Canyon highlighted our 4th of July.
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| Waiting our helicopter trip |
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| Landon was the first on and got the middle seat in the front! |
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| And we are off! Landon & Scott in the front with the pilot. |
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| Beautiful |
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| Owen in the back by the window. |
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| View from Waimea Canyon to the Na Pali coast |
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| And we've landed! |
Off to Waimea Canyon in the center of the island - the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. We flew through the canyon on the helicopter and we drove to get another view.
We ended our 4th of July outing with shave ice at Jo Jo's and then pizza at Brick Oven Pizza.
Pool time and then off the The Shrimp Station for supper. We ended the evening on the beach watching the fireworks and doing sparklers. Happy 4th of July Kauia style!
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| Shrimp - yum! |
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| Fireworks on the beach |
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| Owen with a sparkler |
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| Landon with two sparklers |
Friday in search of Anini Beach
Friday we trekked off to the north shore again for Anini Beach. We landed a bit short of it but loved the beach there and stayed. Don drove on and did find Anini Beach. It was a great beach to use the boogie boards that we found left in the recycled beach toys area of the resort. What a great find!
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| Date night for Melissa and Scott to the Beach House |
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| Brats, hot dogs and Uno for the rest of us |
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| Stories and bedtime |
Saturday - moving day back to Lihue
Boy, that week at Poipu went fast and it's time to move back to Lihue and we'll be staying at the Marriott's Beach Club again. The boys love the huge pool with spouting animals and the children's pool with the water slide.
Landon wanted to see the Spouting Horn again so we visited it again. Then off to see some falls - Wauila Falls and Opakaka Falls.
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| How many suitcases and bags for 6 people - MANY! |
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| Spouting Horn |
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| Wailua Falls |
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| Opakaka Falls |
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| Poolside lunch today. |
Last Days in Lihue
