Kauai Vacation Part 2

Day 4

We spent this day on the North Shore.  It was gorgeous!  Beautiful mountains 

and farming valleys.  I made an honest but futile effort to convince Garrett that maybe we could live here. ;)

We had some yummy Hawaiian waffles (with papaya, banana, macadamia nuts, and coconut syrup) for brunch 

and then moved on, stopping by the Mokolea tidepools and various beaches and lookouts.  

The beaches were gorgeous but the day was incredibly windy and a little rainy and conditions for swimming and surfing were horrible, but I hear that the North Shore is the place to surf, so maybe next time?!

The highlight of the day was supposed to be a hike along the famous Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali coast.  It's known to have the greatest views and I really love hiking.  However, with high winds and sporadic heavy rain showers, the trail was closed.

The Parks and Recreation guy explaining to us to turmoils of the trail in these conditions.

Honestly, we were a little heartbroken (guess that just means we'll have to go back someday!). 

So we explored some beautiful caves, shopped a little around Hanalei, and headed back to our condo on the south shore. 

a perfect depiction of why these two are so fun to vacation with

Since it was Valentine's Day, we cooked a delicious Tri Tip with salad and asparagus and then Garrett and I went and sat on the rocks and watched the sunset. 

Garrett surprised me with my wedding ring--resized, since it hasn't fit my ever-growing, knobby Oberg knuckles for several years.  

He got down on one knee to present it to me, I gave him a quick peck, thanked him, gingerly put the ring on my finger, and we continued to watch the sunset--much to the confusion of many onlookers who were probably thinking they had just witnessed the most anticlimactic, unromantic marriage proposal ever, void of tears or excited squeals. ;)

But lest any of them were thinking that this marriage will surely be doomed, I have to say that nearly 8 years later I'm still pretty crazy about this guy.  

His non-stop energy and sense of adventure when we vacation make life so fun and it is so nice to get away with him and do all the things (hiking, biking, swimming, playing) that we can't quite yet do with such tiny children around. 

Yep, most definitely copping a feel.



Day 5
Our fifth day in Kauai was Sunday.  We started with this amazing sunrise:

(no filter needed)

and then we went to church.  It's amazing how much more you get out of a church service when you aren't wrestling three small children!

After church we had planned to walk through the National Botanical gardens (because I LOVE gardens), but I don't love gardens enough to hand over $40/person to see them.  So we enjoyed some of the beautiful fauna at the garden's entrance.

We then moved on to see Spouting Horn, which was quite spectacular and a definite must-see if you're in that area of the island.

The Four Amigos

We spent the afternoon eating dinner with Garrett's aunt and uncle who were staying in condos not far from us.

Because it was Sunday, we decided to forgo getting in the water, but Garrett and I still went out and found a few gorgeous and more secluded beaches (Gillin's Beach and Kawailoa Bay) at the end of a bumpy, dirt road. 

We decided we had to come back here and that's exactly what we did the next day......