3/3, 3/4, 3/5 and 3/6

3/3
     Today marks the start of a cold and rainy 10 day forecast on the entire island.  We decided to have a low key day since Joe had to work the whole day.  Brooks and I made pancakes for breakfast then built a fort.  He thought it was cool for about 2 seconds then just wanted to tear it down and jump all over it.  So much for a good rainy day idea.  :)
     Brooks went to the park with Joe in the afternoon and tried to swim a little in the early evening.  We went for one last albatross walk across the street from our house after dinner.  We saw 6-8 of them.  They are such a huge bird! Since Brooks walked to whole way he was able to have ice cream when we got home! :)

3/4

     Wednesday we were in desperate need to get out of the house.  Even though the forecast didn't look great we still took and chance and drove down the east side of the island.  We finally stopped to check out Opaekaa Falls.  It was beautiful to see! Across the street they had a look out point that over looked the Wailua River.  We have been here for so long but still are so impressed by the beauty of the scenery.  It never gets old.  

Crazy Roosters we will not miss you! :) 

     We braved the cold and went back to Lydgate Beach.  Brooks didn't seem to mind but Joe and I were FREEZING! Thankfully he made a little friend to keep him occupied because there is no way this momma was going in the ocean.  (bad mom?) We played there for a couple hours then got one last smoothie from Moloa'a.  We came back for naps and then grilled out dinner.  

     After dinner we went for a walk around the golf course near our house to watch the sunset.  Another beautiful Hawaiian sunset.

3/5

      Happy Birthday To Me!!! 

      We started out the day with me being able to sleep in a little bit. WOOHOO! Then we went out for breakfast in the Princeville shopping center.  Can you guess what I ordered??? You guessed in an Acai bowl! We figured we won't be eating them for a long time might as well have two of them in one week.  After breakfast we drove up the north shore of the island until the road ends.  It literally ends at the top of the island, pretty cool/weird.  We literally felt like we were driving through the jungle.  It's pretty remote up there.  There is a hike at the end that you can do up the Napoli Coast.  It starts with a 2 mile hike that leads into a 14 mile over night hike.  We decided to not do either.  It was muddy and we had sandals on.  (I may have planned that)  

Since its been raining so much the mountains have incredible waterfalls running down them.

This stream was running across the road, so we had to drive though it.  It was about a foot of water.

We went back to Bar Acuda for my birthday dinner.  We had such a great time getting dressed up and relaxing at dinner! I had a great 29th birthday! They put a candle in my dessert, and Brooks paid the bill! He had so much fun handing the waiter his credit card, and saying "Thank you, sir".

If you are wondering...yes thats my belly basically resting on my sons head.  Really cute! HAHA

3/6

Today we are cleaning and packing up.  We don't have anything crazy to do on our list, so this is probably going to be our last blog post.  What a wonderful 5 weeks we had in Kauai! We made more memories than we could have ever imagined.  We feel so grateful and blessed that we were able to experience this as a family.  We are already thinking about where we are going next year.  (Maybe not as long next time)  We can't wait to see all of you soon! Thanks for reading about our crazy Hawaiian adventure! 

2/28, 3/1 and 3/2

2/28
     Today was grandma and grandpas last day. :( We were all sad to see them go.  It was raining and cold in Princeville so we headed down to the east side again.  We stopped first at Kilauea Bakery for some breakfast. They have by far the best most freshest croissants ever!
     We really liked Kealia Beach where we were on Friday so we decided to go back.  It's fun watching all the surfers catch waves.  While we were there we saw whales breaching in front of us.  By in front of us I mean way way way out there but we could still see them.  I think they knew my parents were leaving so they wanted to say goodbye. ;)
     We grabbed some burgers for lunch and headed back to our house.  We all napped and hung out while my parents cleaned up and packed.  We grilled dinner and then Joe took my parents to the airport.  What a great two weeks we had with grandma and grandpa Troyer!

3/1
     Today was a lay around the condo type of day.  We walked up to Princeville for breakfast while dodging rain drops.  Joe had his first acai bowl and he now understands why I talk about them all the time! We basically ran home because of the rain and spent the rest of the day resting and playing games.  Seemed like a waste of a Hawaii day but we needed it.  We ran to the grocery store (not literally) and picked up some pizza for dinner.  Sorry really boring day.  This is the only picture from the day and I get it I look a little homeless...when in Hawaii I guess. :)

3/2

     We were planning on going to the Grand Hyatt for the day but they were booked.  The Grand Hyatt is where Joe and I honeymooned and they have an amazing pool that we knew Brooks would love.  You can buy a day pass there but only if they have available rooms.  They give you a room so you can shower/nap etc.  So we went to Poipu Beach instead.  Poipu is on the south side of the island which happens to be the only sunny place for the next week.  So, we may be heading down there a lot this week.  The beach had a rock wall that made the cutest little kids pool which was awesome! Brooks LOVED swimming in it.  While at the beach we saw a 6 month old monk seal resting on the beach.  Their moms leave them to fend for themselves at 6 weeks, which is just crazy.  They swim around and then usually rest on the beach.  They can hold their breath for 30ish minutes so most of the time they look like they aren't breathing.  They have the area where he was roped off and have volunteers hanging out to make sure people don't touch them.  Then, while we were swimming a giant turtle crawled up on the beach.  The volunteers told us how people get so close to turtles and forget that they are wild creatures.  He said he has seen people prop their babies on the turtles backs.  I thought he was crazy and didn't really believe him....well I do now.  When the turtle came up on the beach people swarmed it and got so close to it.  I was afraid for them! It hung out there for a long time! They are crazy little things.  (not really little but you get it) 

     Brooks took his nap in the car on the way home.  When we got back to the condo it was actually sunny and not raining so Joe and Brooks went to the pool for a little early evening swim.  We grilled dinner and then ended the night with ice cream.  We had a great day! 

There was a playground and the beach and Brooks named himself the official beach chef.  He took a lot of orders and collected a lot of "money"

2/25, 2/26 and 2/27

2/25

We spent the morning at a new beach. Getting there was an adventure, as we parked in an area where we had to walk across a knee deep wading pool / stream to get to the beach. That was because we took the 1st Kalihiwai road instead of the 2nd, and they no longer connect :). It was an amazing beach, and we were able to see spinner dolphins jumping out of the water. Brooks also saw his friends that he met at our pool the day before.

That afternoon we went back to the house for Brooks' nap. After that, Ashlee & Brooks went to the pool for the afternoon. Joe, Al & Debi went to the Princeville Ranch for an ATV Offroad Adventure. That was a lot of fun, and we went up to 45 mph on the ATV's. Al & Debi shared one, and Joe had his own. During the adventure, we hiked to a 60 ft. waterfall, and a lookout point. Tons of fun!

2/26

In the morning, Joe stayed back at the house to work and have a few meetings. The rest of the clan headed to the East Side of the island for shopping, lunch, and lookout points. They ate at a small food stand that we ate at during our honeymoon. Brooks even got to go "surfing" at one of the shops.

In the evening, after Brooks' nap, Al & Debi took Brooks to the pool. We went out to celebrate a late Valentine's Day / Early Birthday at the Makana Terrace at the St. Regis Resort. We sat outside, hand a wonderful meal, and saw the most amazing sunset over the mountains overlooking the ocean.

2/27

It was raining in Princeville, so we headed 20 minutes south to an East side beach called Kealia Beach. What a beautiful place to spend the morning. We hung out there for a few hours watching surfers, boogie boarding, and eating sandwiches we had packed.

In the afternoon, after nap time, Brooks and Daddy went to the pool. We ended the night with dinner at the Dolphin in Hanalei, one of our favorite spots. Brooks did some shopping while we waited for our table, and really liked a certain hat. He was upset when the "waiter" took his corn dog while he was in the bathroom. We capped the night off with Shaved Ice & Ice Cream (people got one or the other..haha) in Princeville.