This trip is totally different! We can take long walks with everyone powered by their own two feet. My little fish-like swimmers are boogie boarding, body surfing, fish watching and night swimming in the condo's pool. They are reading books, practicing math facts and journaling about our trip (we ARE missing a month of school). Dave is practicing the piano, I am doing yoga and drawing. We wake up and decide what beach to explore that day.
We booked this trip in honor of celebrating David's 40th birthday and invited both our moms to start and end our trip with, to celebrate their 70th birthdays. A monumental year for a big trip! It has been a nice pause in the day to day back home. A chance to slow down and be here and feel grateful for so many things, including this great age that our kids are right now, 8 and 6 years old.
Our first week here, we spent revisiting all our favorite beaches we remembered from the last time we were here. One thing I really like about Kauai, is how different all the beaches are from each other. Some have these great protected Keiki (kid) pools that use rocks to break the waves so there is a calm pool like area to snorkel in. Other beaches have bigger waves that are fun to play in or practice boogie boarding. Even the sand varies from very fine to quite course, almost sesame seed size sand (my favorite) which is easy to brush off.
I LOVE all the palm trees!
Check out these custom kid trucker hats I had made special for this trip. A fun way to keep the shade on these sweet cheeks. This palm tree filled, hammock swinging pathway is a nice walk along the ocean from our condo.
Loving the photo shoot session of this walk, before putting the camera away to take it all in. The smells, the breeze, the barefoot walking. This is day 2 of 29 and we are loving it!
We were so lucky to have beautiful, hot Hawaii weather to enjoy all the beach days we spent by the ocean that first week while my mom was with us. Every day we went to a different beach and soaked up all the sun and salt water we could. What a memorable way to spend her 70th birthday...on vacation! This is the start of a new decade for my mom and I loved that we could celebrate that special moment with my mom in style!
It was an action packed week, yet we had lots of time for hanging mellow too. She and Jett played about 50 games of war with a deck of cards. She listened to the kids practice their reading. Piper is still talking about how Grandma even went UNDERWATER in the pool!
I loved the one on one chats and simply seeing the joy in her face watching my kids run around being their silly selves.
Sand Art is a favorite part of spending the day at the beach.
This picture cracks me up...Jett thinks CJ is so funny!
Shhhhhh, this is the neighboring condo's pool! I hope they didn't mind the Staley BOMB trying out their waterfalls and hot tubs! At least we bought their Mai Tai drinks!
 |
| CJ the underwater goggled fish |
 |
| Jett the pretty shell spotter |
 |
| Piper the reader extraordinaire
Jett reading from his journal...notice his drawing of him underwater with a surfer on the waves above and all the little fish chasing him.
|
 |
| Hang Loose Grandma Linda! |
 |
| Tide pool exploring |
 |
| Staley BOYZZZZZZZ |
The week went by fast, but so happy to share it with Grandma Linda. Our condo definitely isn't as tidy since you left, but I have done a few loads of laundry! You would be so proud of me! Love you lots, I hope your sun kissed cheeks stay with you but your sun burned feet heal quickly. Thank you for all the love you shower us with! Aloha!!!
 |
The trees in Kauai were so fun and captivating to explore. There were lots of climbing trees, rainbow eucalyptus trees and tall canopy trees that reminded me of the acacia trees in Africa. I loved all the vines that climbed the trees and of course all the PALM TREES. Beautiful vegetation in this wet, wet island in Hawaii. |
 |
This is the condo compound. The big grassy field was a great place for the kids to meet lots of other kids to play with. There was soccer and frisbee and lizard hunting to keep the kids busy while we did dinner prep in the condo or relaxed on our ground floor lanai. I am proud to say that we went technology free for the whole month we were in Kauai! No movies, no iPads....just books, beach and outside play! It was easy and everyone was on board, so not even complaints were heard! |
There was a big coconut palm tree forest towards the end of the path we liked to walk along the ocean. All the resorts tend to keep their palm trees coconut free by chopping them down before they have the chance to fall and crack someones head open. But this beautiful patch of seemingly unused palm tree forest, was filled with fallen coconuts. We must not of seen the private property signs and luckily no one saw my bare foot crew sneaking in to hunt down a few coconuts. We got in and got out and walked back to the condo as the sun set, with our prized coconuts!
The lesson to crack the coconut was saved for the next day, but proved fruitful after lots of whacking on a sharp rock to shred the outer layer and a stick to hit the inside coconut in just the right place...WHALLA! Coconut flesh for the tasting!
One of my favorite beach outings was Big Wave Beach (well that is what we called it) and here we spent the day playing in big waves. Over and over Piper and CJ would get pummeled by the big waves and Dave and I gave a go at boogie boarding.
Jett loves the water too, but this day he had his fill and spent most of the time building in the sand. All while looking adorable in my sun hat!
 |
Speaking of adorable...I can't get over this picture of my beautiful beach babe. Those freckles, that smile and of course that twinkle in her eyes! Oh, Piper, you have my heart! |
What a fun day!
A new day, a new adventure...this was a great beach/cliff hike we did at the end of a really long pothole filled dirt road that our rental car was not supposed to go. We made it and it was worth it!
But the best part was the Makawehi Lithified rock cliffs. The views from the cliffs were amazing, but even walking on and near this rock was so cool. Holes and neat formations.
There was even a wind tunnel blow hole of sorts that sounded like a dragon when the waves hit just right and push the air up through this underground hole.
Towards the end we found a beautiful labyrinth that we walked, not quite in peace or silence, but followed the path none the less.
And at the very end of the hike we saw our first humpbacks breaching off the shore!
Such personalities, such sweetness, such mischief in all three of these monkeys! I love them all!
Fort building! A favorite beach pass time. This awesome little corner of paradise was just down the beach from our condo and had a great climbing tree, rope swing and lots of drift wood for creating and building and playing!
A good lesson in temporary, as the tide would come in and wipe the slate clean every day. We even saw a turtle rise in the waves, just off shore.
Whale watching! Well, of course these are dolphins, but very exciting to watch as well! These spinner nose dolphins did just that, spinned and followed the boat and put a show for the excited tourists.
I knew it was humpback season while we were in Kauai. I had grand dreams of recreating the amazing (orca) whale watching experience I had as a kid with my family in the San Juan Islands. I was about Pipers age when we came up to a pod of orca jumping and showing off tails and one even swam half way under our boat where I was standing. This is such and intense and fond memory for me, I have never forgotten and love to tell the story.
I admit I thought the up close personal experience of whales was a given on this trip. When I saw the one jumping way in the distance off the shore, I couldn't wait to get on a boat and feel the splash! This was a bit unrealistic. Dave even talked me down, rehashing a terrible whale watching trip he had been on in Alaska, where they barely saw whales and everyone was sea sick below deck. My expectations were dropped, but I still couldn't help but hold on to the possibility of seeing whales up close. We did see quite a few whales, lots of tails, a few sprays, even some breaching. But these humpbacks were pretty shy and steered clear of our boat by time we got within a certain distance.
The boat ride was amazing, being on the water, a beautiful day, views of the Napali coast were magnificent. I am so glad we spent our Valentines day on a wonderful family date! It was a big day and by the end, the swells got big and the sea sick stomachs ached! So, the humpbacks didn't swim under our boat...just being near these beautiful giants of the sea was an honor!
I didn't take any pictures of the whales because I was so into just "watching" the whales I couldn't be bothered with the camera!
Happy Valentines Day
Waterfall hiking! Big tree admiring!
 |
| Panorama up the tree! |
From hikes to beach days...that about sums up just about every day in Hawaii. We did have a week of not so great weather...it rained and rained and rained...this IS near the wettest spot on Earth! And we did get bummed out...but it passed.
We found windows to get out and play between the storms, we got our fill of the tourist trinket shops, and we spent lots of time on the kids journals, reading and even got in some spelling practice during car rides to "the other side" of the island in search of the sun. Not always successful with the sun, but man did the kids get good at spelling!
This beach right in front of our condo was one of the best for playing in the waves and riding the boogie boards down the natural lazy river that formed from the tide and the sand bar. I loved noticing how the sand would get pushed around every day and the beach always looked a little different from the tides movement.
 |
| Sweetness! |
The videos were better in slow motion on my camera, but still fun!
This "Hideaways" beach was another really cool spot that was a tiny crescent moon sliver of sand between the beautiful black rock cliffs and surrounded by a steep jungle of vine covered trees. The trail down to it was REALLY steep and slippery. There were some rusted railings and some ropes to help the decent, but very adventurous to get down. Once there though the snorkeling was some of the neatest, but most intense with strong currents for the kids. Dave got out a ways and had a very cool encounter with a sea turtle swimming and hanging out right next to him for a bit before taking a breath and heading back out to sea.
Speaking of David, this man is now 40 years old! The whole month of February in Hawaii was the recognition to this monumental moment in time. Forty seems old when you say it and look at the number, but then you are who you are and you've been where you've been to create the person standing tall before you. David has lots to be proud of! All the successes and failures and adventures and stories has combined together to create a beautiful soul. He is strong and and sensitive. He is passionate with his beliefs and brave enough to test his ideas. He wants the best for others and he works to better the world around him. He loves his family, friends and living life to the fullest. 40 isn't old, its just a number, more important is it's the number of NOW for him, present tense, life meant to be lived in the moment because everything else is memories or future unknowns. The month away from home and work and the day to day was good. A chance to step away and notice perspective shift. I don't think Dave felt taller on his birthday, but he is grateful for the path in life he has led and has hope for all the goodness that has yet to come in the future. Can I dare say...PRIME of his life! I love you David, I am grateful to be sharing this life with you and our kids. Life is better with you by my side. Thank you and Happy Birthday!
 |
| Climbing boy! |
 |
| CJ, the little lover! |
 |
| Team Staley! |
Our last week in Kauai happened to be the same time that Dave's childhood friends Mike and Dan Shaw booked their family vacation to the same island we were on! Neither of us knew it, Chad Dickey made the connection because he is a rock star at keeping in touch with the old crew. And BAM...built in friends to enjoy our last week with. Even Chad decided he could finagle some work on Kauai and booked himself a ticket to join the reunion of old friends. With Dan Shaw booking an action packed vacation for his family, we got to join in on a surf lesson from his friend that happen to live there too, a kayak trip to a secret waterfall that was not so secret, muddy hikes in the Wiamea canyon and Napali coast trail. Thanks to Mike and Chad we had plenty of resort pool time on the dime of the Hudlows...The Sheraton and the Grand Hayatt really know how to build fun pools in Poi'pu.
Mike and Sebrina came to enjoy our condo compound before the rest of the crew arrived and they so patiently read through every page of each of our kids journals to get caught up on our trip and learn some very interesting Kauai facts, like why there are so many wild chickens and roosters on Kauai.
We barbecued, we saw whales from the shore, there was lots of joking and stories shared and new memories made. Nothing like time with old friends. Especially fun to see our kiddos running and playing and making memories of their own together. We will let some time pass before joking about little 2 year old Natty pushing Jett in the pool, fully clothed. He was safe because we were all there, it was funny, but not so funny when poor Jett felt humiliated and cold. =-(
And with all that fun, the only picture we got of the whole crew together was this one INSIDE Dan's condo. We may as well been in Arizona...oh well, we were having too much fun to bother with pictures I guess!
Grandma Alice was also with us the last week in Kauai. In honor of her 70th birthday we wanted to share this vacation in paradise. We saved the Wiamea Canyon adventure for when Alice arrived and luckily the fog lifted to show off the beautiful vistas. With all her time in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, this was a special place to see as well. Grandma Alice got to snorkel for the first time in her life and even was lucky enough to be part of the sea turtle encounter at Anini Beach. Two sea turtles were hanging out in about 4 or 5 feet of water eating seaweed off the bottom not caring that all six of us were floating directly above and beside and around them for 5 minutes or more. This was the kids highlight of the whole trip!
 |
| Night swimming was a treat and so special to experience with the kids. They thought it was so wonderful to swim under the stars...we always had the whole pool to ourselves! |
The Napali coast trail hike was our very last day in Kauai! It was steep and muddy, but when we made it up to the look out, so magical. I would like to hike on this whole trail some day but for now this look out was perfect. The crashing waves were beautiful(this winter swells were at record heights, so we were lucky to see some humongous waves crashing while we were in Hawaii). The other fun sighting was all the whale tails and I even saw one more breach. I never tired of the whale watching...some day I WILL see them up close again! =-)
Happy Birthday Alice and cheers to new adventures in this new decade!
 |
| Can you see the whale tail? |
 |
 |
| Hiking down, back to Ke'e beach before one last swim in Dan and Alyssa's resort pool. |
Awwww, baby chicks! Jett was fast enough to catch one and generous enough to continue to traumatize the poor wild chickens by letting everyone have a chance to hold the fuzzy baby chick. The chickens and roosters really were EVERYWHERE on Kauai. It's all because of the hurricane in 1992 that busted all the cages open and let them all free. I know you wanted to know how they took over the island! And of course there were lots of "Why did the Chicken cross the road jokes!" You couldn't help it.
And poof, the trip was over!
Thank you Kauai for sharing your beautiful beaches, sand and surf. The warm tropical air, the fresh salty smells and the barefoot walkable pathways. I can still taste the super sweet and yummy pineapple we ate from the farmers market and the sticky sweet shave ice that the kids liked so much.
I hope to hold this trip in my heart for a long time and feel grateful for the time with my kids, Dave and the Grandmas. The suntans will fade, but I hope this pause in life will be a reminder to take time to enjoy this life.
