Kauai 2013

This past week we went to Kauai for Beau and Megan's wedding with my family. It was a dream vacation for sure! NO kids, no make-up/clothes (just swim suits) and LOTS of fun!! I want to remember every detail because it was just amazing. We left at 4:15 am to catch our Las Vegas airplane. It took us a little longer to check baggage and go through security than we planned so we ended up running a bit to catch our plane. I kinda like getting on last minute so you don't have to sit on the plane 30 minutes before it even moves. We flew a 35 minute flight to LAX, then got on a big plane to Honolulu. That was a LONG 5 hrs. 45 minutes, but in ways it went fast. Here we are happy to just have landed!-

We took a city bus to Pearl Harbor.

At Pearl Harbor we took the USS Arizona tour which consisted of a 15 minute movie that explained about why Japan bombed us. Then we rode a boat out to the USS Arizona memorial building where you are supposed to be able to look into the ocean and see the sunken ship. We couldn't see very much, but it was a really cool historical place to be. A LOT of people gave their lives in Pearl Harbor.









After Pearl Harbor we rode the bus back to the airport for our 30 min. flight to Kauai! YAY!! We rented our mini van and drove to our condo. I can't say enough good things about it! It was SO nice and was PERFECT for all of us. Here is the view out our bedroom window:
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Luckily Kauai is 4 hours behind us so we had lots of time to recooperate. The next morning we rented or snorkel gear for the week, got boogie boards, and went shopping at Costco for food. We made a quick stop at the Beach by our condo to test our boogie boards. Then we had to go get ready for the wedding. It was at Kukiolono Golf Course and Park. It was GORGEOUS! The view was amazing! On all our scenery pictures you have to imagine them 10 times prettier. It is just unbelievable how pretty it is. Here is the view:


Beau and Megan getting married! She looked gorgeous and Beau looked so handsome!




















After the wedding we went back to their place and watched a wedding video of Beau and Megan. Then we went to dinner at what ended up being at OUR condo. Crazy! It was an outside restaurant right on the beach. It was such a pretty, romantic spot. The food was yummy, too! Us kids sat with Megan's brothers and sister-in-laws. It was fun to get to know her family. (On a side note, I think I might be allergic to shrimp. I tasted it cause I wanted to see if I liked it, and about 2 minutes later I felt awful. My heart was pounding, I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I was all tense. It was so strange! After a bit I felt ok and enjoyed the night.) It was too dark for any great pictures, darn!

The next day I woke up feeling SO sick. I had a fever and was so pale. Chris and my dad gave me a blessing and about an hour later I was feeling a lot better. I know it was the blessing that made me feel better! The shrimp? Who knows? Anyways, we drove about an hour up to Tunnels Beach. The drive there was just indescribable! The scenery was to die for! We snorkeled and played there for quite awhile.







Friday was our Zipline day. This was definitely the most thrilling thing we did. What a BLAST! Beau and Megan joined us that day. We did the Princeville Ranch Zip'n dip tour. It consisted of 9 huge ziplines, and lunch at a hidden swimming hole where we had a picnic and could jump/dive into the water and tube around. It rained on us most of the day, but that didn't stop us from having fun! Here we are waiting to drive to the ziplines:

The scenery was once again amazing. We zipped over the prettiest trees, rivers, plants, etc!






Here are some pics of the swimming hole. It was the coolest spot!-







Our last zipline was King Kong, a 1200 ft. zipline where two people can race to the end.



Random note: There are wild chickens EVERYWHERE on Kauai. We were so fascinated by them.

After the zipline we drove to Queens Bath, a place we had heard that we needed to go to. WOW! It was probably the prettiest place on earth! It's this totally hidden, 15 minute "hike" down to the ocean. There were a couple waterfalls, and was just beautiful to walk to.





When you get to the lava rocks you walk a bit down the way to the Queen's Bath. An area that is surrounded by lava rocks but you can dive in and snorkel. Lots of creatures get swept into there so it makes it really cool. It was raining so we didn't swim, but it was still really cool to see. It's actually a really dangerous spot because some people stand out on the edge, the waves come up and knock you down into the ocean and you die. Scary!



Saturday we had to check out of our amazing condo and say goodbye :( We packed up our stuff and went to stay with Megan's family at their huge beach house for the next two nights. They were the nicest people to stay with and gave us our own rooms. It also made it so we could stay on Kauai a few days longer :)





After we unpacked we went to Brenecke's Beach/Poi Pu Beach. There was LOTS of snorkeling and cool things to see. We SWAM with TURTLES as big as us! CRAZY!! Chris and Kaden actually touched them! (Later we found out it's a $10,000 fine, WHOOPS!) We also got to boogie board a lot and got beat up by the waves! So fun! I only took a picture on my phone so I will have to upload it later. It's just of me in my snorkel gear, but it's pretty funny.

Sunday morning we drove up to Waimea Canyon. It's nicknamed "little grand canyon." It really looks like the grand canyon. REally pretty! This was on the other side of the island, from where we had been spending most of our time. It was neat to see the difference from one end of the island to the other. Where we ziplined it was so lush and green, and Waimea Canyon was almost deserty like.




On our way home we stopped for lunch where Chris and my mom tried some fish tacos and we ate Hawaiian shaved ice. Then we drove on down to "Spouting Horn." A place where the waves come in and the water shoots up out of a hole in the lava rocks. Not to mention the beach was pretty! So cool!










Later, we walked to Shipwreck Beach just for a "romantic sunset beach walk." We wrote the kids' names in the sand.










We had to catch our 8:45 am flight Monday morning and leave paradise :( It was another long day of traveling and arrived home at 3:30 am Utah time. We will probably be jet lagged for a few days, but worth every second of being tired!

Thanks so much to the many people who helped watch our kids while we were gone! I missed them like crazy, but there wasn't a time that I wished they were there. Ha! It was so nice to do adult things and not have to worry about feeding them, naps, and schedules. We wouldn't have been able to do most of what we did if we would have had our kids.They already told me that they had way more fun while we were gone, than they do with me! Thanks to the Whiteheads for making it possible for us to be there for Beau and Megan's wedding!