Life With Cason AND Molly

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Hawaii Day 3 {Explorers}

The 3rd day we were on the island of Kauai was one of my favorites. My parents hired a hiking guide and the 3 of us went exploring and hiking. None of the kids could go so the McFarlands and Toby stayed behind to watch them. They went to beach and the pool. Apparently they swam most of the day! For lunch they went to a hole-in-the-wall mexican food place and they said it was pretty good. It was similar to chipotle.

The name says it all

Our guide (Jeremiah) took us the the Waimea Canyon. Beautiful does not even begin to describe this place. It's weird because you are surrounded by a tropical paradise but then you drive inland for an hour and you are in this amazing canyon. Kauai has many different land forms. As we drove through the canyon we would stop at some lookout points to take pictures. At lunch time he took us on an unmarked hike to a waterfall. We also hiked part of the way down the slope of one of the canyon walls.

We are looking at the north side of the island which is uninhabited and hard to access. You can take a 4 wheel drive, helicopter or boat to see this part of the island.

This spot on the island was really cool because you could stand in one spot and see the south shore and the north shore.

This was our unmarked hike up a river bed bull of boulders. We ate lunch on the ledge of a waterfall.

My view during lunch

This was right before my dad stepped in the river!

There were redwood trees in Kauai too!

This is when we hiked along the canyon slope

My dad is standing just a couple of feet from the edge of a cliff. It was like this on both sides

More pictures from the drive in and out of the canyon

Every good hiking experience must include coconut milk from a fresh coconut.

After we got back to our condo we ate dinner and took the kids out for some racing on the lawn.

Everyone tried to beat Aunt Sarah. Didn't happen.

This little guy really wanted in our car. I heard something on the back window , turned around, and saw him!

Hawaii Day 2 {Kayaks and Hot Dogs}

On our second day in Kauai Toby took Cason on a Kayak adventure. Molly was a little to young so I stayed back with her and had a girls day.

Toby and Cason left early in the morning and kayaked 4 miles up the Wailua river. Let me rephrase that. Toby kayaked. Cason enjoyed the ride. After the trek up the river they hiked 2 miles to a waterfall where they ate lunch and swam. They were extremely tired when they got back!

While Toby and Cason kayaked my dad and I went for a run. My dad rode a rented bike as I ran. It was nice to have some company. And oh my....Kauai has some hills!

father daughter selfie

After the run/bike ride Molly and I went to the beach with the McFarlands and my parents.

A monk seal swam up and rested on the rocks a few yards away from us! I loved seeing all the wildlife there.

Attempt of a grandchild picture minus Cason

This picture makes me laugh. This is proof of how strong the waves were. We could hardly sit without being washed away!

Success! Although I'm pretty sure we all started sliding again right after this was taken.

After a couple of hours at the beach Molly, my mom and I showered and went to lunch. We had heard about this local hot dog stand named Puku Dog. They only served Hawaiian style hot dogs. It actually had an appearance on the travel channel as one of the places you had to try if you were on the island of Kauai. If you know me well, you know that I don't do hot dogs. But since this place was on the travel channel I decided to give it a try. Molly had a regular hot dog and my mom and I had a polish sausage with the mild sauce (a garlic butter sauce) and pineapple relish. It was actually good for the first half. These things were HUGE! After that I was over it. Anytime anyone mentioned hot dog for the rest of the trip I would gag. It's going to a very long time before I eat another one!