Kauai Day 7 - Saying Goodbye

Our last day in Kauai. I guess it did have to come to an end eventually. The kids spent the morning playing in the pool with the friends they met at the resort. We also had lunch with them in their room. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches... yummy! We exchanged contact info so that the kids can play together when we are in San Luis Obispo.
Then we went on an exploring walk in a "forest" right next to the resort. Below is a picture of Connor climbing a tree.

And the "forest" we walked through.

And, of course, made time for some relaxation!

After lunch, we drove to see a waterfall.

Then went to play at a park.

There are beautiful views everywhere. This one is from the park.

Then we drove to see another waterfall.

Then we went to Costco for our last Hawaiian meal. Yup, hot dogs, pizza and chicken bakes was our last meal in Kauai. Much cheaper than any other restaurant.

At the airport, Clover and Bunny had to have their head sticking out of Connor and Ryan's backpacks so they could see and breath. Don't want them to suffocate inside the backpacks!

Now we are back home and back to reality.

Kauai Day 6 - Anini Beach

Today we spent the morning at Anini Beach. There were some cool trees to climb through and the water was super calm.

With the trees right on the beach, there was plenty of shade.

The water was almost too calm. There were practically no waves. I like the bobbing of the waves.
In the afternoon we went in the swimming pool and the kids played tag and had races in our "backyard."
They ran around until they dropped.
Tomorrow will be our last day here with our flight in the evening.

Kauai Day 5 - Lighthouse, River Cruise and Luau

This morning we went to Kountry Style Kitchen for breakfast. The pancakes were huge! I can't believe Connor ate that whole pancake. But, then he wasn't hungry for lunch after such a big breakfast.

Today we drove the North Shore. We stopped at the Kilauea Lighthouse.
The kids got Jr. Ranger books and had activities they had to do throughout their visit to earn a prize.
The activities included bird watching, identifying plants at the lighthouse from pictures in their book, etc. The kids enjoyed doing this while exploring and learning about the lighthouse.

After visiting the lighthouse, we continued driving the North Shore. We stopped and explored some caves. The below picture was taken outside the caves, looking up along the cliff to the sky.
Here is the opening to the cave.
Here we are inside the cave looking back at the opening. It got pretty dark towards the back of the cave and the kids thought there might be some dinosaurs hiding in the dark corners.
In the afternoon, we went on the Fern Grotto Wailua River Cruise.
We cruised a couple miles up the river and got out to see the fern grotto. There were tons of pretty flowers and plants.

This is the fern grotto. It is a cave with ferns growing down the cliff. This was a sacred place for ancient Kauai people.

Walking back to the boat...
This is our boat waiting for us...
After the cruise, we walked to the luau. There were tons of peacocks and other birds everywhere.
Another peacock...

Digging the pig out of the ground for dinner....
Here is a video of Connor and Ryan learning to hula. Be sure to view the video at http://daneya.blogspot.com/ since it won't show up if you are reading this in an email.

The kids loved the luau show. There was a volcano, hula dances, drums, fire dances and fire eating.

Kauai Day 4 - Plantation Railroad

Today we enjoyed the pool in the morning then went on a train ride at the Kilohana Plantation in the afternoon.

Before the train ride, Ed did the rum tasting at Koloa Rum Co that is on the plantation. The rum is made in Kauai with the locally grown sugar cane and Kauai mountain water.
Most of the sugar cane that was once grown on the plantation has been replaced with orchards of fruit. They are experimenting with many different tropical produce to see what grows best in the Kauai climate.
One stop on the train tour was to see the wild boars.
We were given bread to feed the pigs. The pigs really liked the bread.
This is Oreo. He liked the bread too. He had a really slobbery tongue.
Here is a picture of part of the orchard seen from the train.
We also visited the Kauai Coffee Plantation before heading back to swim in the pool some more.

Kauai Day 3 - Waimea Canyon and Salt Ponds Beach

Today we drove up to Waimea Canyon, which is the largest canyon in the Pacific. The views were beautiful.

The chicken is Hawaii's state bird and they are everywhere. There are lots of baby chicks right now too.
Ryan really enjoyed Waimea Canyon. He kept asking to stop at the different lookout spots, so we stopped at three different spots for lookout.
After we saw the canyon we looked around the town of Waimea, did some shopping, stopped at Shrimp Station for lunch (they have great coconut shrimp!) and JoJo's for shave ice. Below is a picture of Ryan eating his shave ice.
Then we stopped at Salt Ponds Beach. This beach is partially protected by a reef to make the water calmer for the kids to play in. The kids really enjoyed an area that was shallow and right against the reef where they could wait for waves to come over the rocks. Below is a picture of Connor one of the first times the wave came over the rock. He was a bit surprised by the waterfall.
But, then the kids would wait for the waves to come down on them.
I climbed up on the rocks to take a picture with the kids.
Then, a wave came....
Ryan and I ended up being pushed off the rock by the wave, but Connor managed to stay up there.
Here Connor and Ryan are waiting for a wave to come.
After the wave...
The kids also enjoyed making sand castles and watching them get washed away by the waves.