The best of Kauai and Matt

We took the one on the left.

Wow, we've done so much since I last wrote, be prepared for a long post...or maybe just lots of pictures. So, to backtrack a week, Donnie and I set out one of the coolest adventures we've had on this island.

Gorgeous day

Last Monday, we woke up at 5 am and drove across the island to a harbor town called Port Allen. We arrived around 7:30, and checked in for our five hour sailing trip. The name of the service taking us was Captain Andy's Sailing Adventures, and I would highly recommend them to anyone!! Donnie got a craigslist deal, so we got the trip for about half price and it was spectacular. We boarded a large catamaran with about 20 other people at 8am, and set off for our tour of the Na'Pali coast. It was a crystal clear day, no clouds and a calm sea, so the outgoing trip was smooth and relaxing. We stopped a few times to watch dolphins jump in the waves and see the sea turtles swimming smoothly through the ocean. Our crew was a trio of super friendly and funny locals, and they told us stories about growing up around there, the wildlife, and local folklore about that area. The backdrop of the mountains were unreal.

So Beautiful

Fighting seasickness

 I couldn't really capture with my camera how beautiful that area is, so I spent most of my time just taking it all in. About 2 hours into our adventure, it was time to stop at a nearby reef and snorkel. I was a little nervous about getting in the water, not really knowing what was down there, but we jumped in wholeheartedly. The water was crystal clear, the reef was alive with fish, turtles, sea cucumbers and urchins, and Donnie and I had a blast diving down to get a closer look. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes into snorkeling, I began to feel motion sick and nearly vomited in my snorkel. :( I was mostly worried about attracting a bunch of fish, so I swam back to the boat as fast as I could. Much to my dismay, the seasickness only got worse sitting on the boat, I couldn't stomach lunch and I spent most of the ride back trying to hold down the Sprite I was nursing. Stupid motion sickness. It didn't stop Donnie from having a blast! It was really choppy on the way back so we hung on for dear life and chatted with the other people on the boat. Overall, despite the nausea, I would say it was a fantastic day. We were back on dry land by 2pm, and since we were on that end of the island we decided to explore Poipu beach. Another gorgeous beach, but this one was split down the middle by a sandbar that led to a little mound of sand at the end. It was like a water park walking across it, but it was empty when we arrived and the view of the beach was beautiful. After a long day, we drove back across the island, caught up on bad reality tv and headed to bed.

Poipu!

So excited to see Brother!

We were back on the road Tuesday morning by 5:30am to pick up Matt from the airport. He was ready to make the most of his Hawaiian vacation, so we stopped by the grocery store, came home, had breakfast, then it was back out to the beach! We spent a few hours on Hanalei, then went for a swim before heading to bed early since we were all pretty tired.

Soccer watching at Kalypso

Wednesday started out slow, but we went for a run along the coast near Kapa'a. It was later in the day than I normally run, and was mostly in full sun, so I'm pretty sure it could only be considered a jog for me. But Matt and Donnie toughed it out the whole 6 mile trek. Then we cleaned up and headed back to Kalypso for some USA soccer. It was an ok game, but I was tired so I skipped out for a nap and came to pick the guys up a few hours later. Again, being tired led to an early bed time, which was good because Thursday was exhausting!

Nice lookin' hikers

That's me and Matt!

So the plan was to do a 12 mile hike on Thursday, but I wasn't quite sure I was feeling well enough to do all 12 miles. I was able to talk the boys down to just doing an 8 mile hike, and I even got my way and we hiked up to the falls. We got an early start, as learned from our last hike, and started up the trail around 8am. It was another crystal clear blue day, and the first two miles didn't seem hard at all. We arrived at the Hanakapa'ai beach pretty quickly, but we didn't stay long and continued on up the trail to the Hanakapa'ai Falls. The trail was not always easy to follow, and we had to cross the river four or five times, but when the falls were finally were in view, we knew it was worth it. It was spectacular, and when we arrived at the bottom, there were only a few people there. We jumped in the icy, fresh water and swam up to the falls and around to the sunny side of the falls. There was a moment that I was floating at the base of the falls, looking up at it and I knew I would never forget this place. It was a rewarding and beautiful moment. We didn't stay long, it started to get crowded, so we fueled up on Cliff bars and water and headed back to the beach. The walk back was easier because I had given up trying to keep my shoes dry, and we were back on the beach in no time.

"Oh, Matt."

Hanakapa'ai beach and Matt

  Hanakapa'ai beach is a pristine white beach, but the waves are a little rough. We went for another swim, then explored some sea caves before taking on the last 2 miles of the hike. We finished around lunch time, and headed back into Hanalei for some lunch. The guys decided that we had not had enough adventure for the day, so we rented snorkel gear and headed to Anini beach. Given my previous experience with snorkeling, I was willing to try it again, but nervous about how I would feel. About 20 minutes of swimming around in the not so clear waters of Anini, and I was done. The guys continued to snorkel for another hour or two and made me nervous about how far out they were going. I was pretty mad when they returned, but mostly glad they had made it back safely. Again, exhausted from the day, and a little bit sun spent, we headed back home to get some rest.

Thankfully, Donnie and Matt went golfing on Friday, so I spent the day lounging around the condo, and visiting them when they came to the hole closest to our place. Matt made a solo trip down to Hanalei and Donnie and I laid low when they were done. It was a nice break for me, but the next morning we were up early again!

Poipu beach

Matt's the surfer in the middle.

On Saturday, Matt and I piled into the car around 6:30am to head back down to Poipu beach to surf. I was going to take lessons again, and Matt was going to rent a board and try to surf on his own, but he ended up doing the lesson with me also. It was great fun! Our instructor was a quintessential surfer dude named Josh and he had a dry sense of humor, but a serious knack for teaching people to surf. I was nervous I was going to struggle again, but my muscle memory took over and Matt and I took turns riding waves with the help of Josh. After 2 hours, and countless successful rides, I decided to take a break on the beach and take pics of Matt surfing on his own. He's a bonafide surfer! He paddled into the waves and rode them to shore. :) It was fun to watch! After a quick stop at Poipu to get some sun and relax, we headed back to the North Shore. It was a long drive, we got stuck in parade traffic, and Saturday traffic, so we made a pit stop for some tacos. They were al-pastor tacos, the kind we used to get in Puerto Escondido, but somehow, nobody makes them quite as good as they are in Mexico. The food was good, but I really do miss those street tacos in P.E. We got home in the mid-afternoon, cleaned up and headed to the one hour of happiness at Roy's Tavern down the street. It was delicious, but short-lived, so we headed back down to Hanalei to while away Matt's last hours. We settled into a spot at Tahiti-Nui (as featured in the Descendents) and enjoyed each other's company. Too soon it was time to drive back across the island to the airport.

Rockin' our Kauai gear

It was super fun having Matt here, he has an energy that motivated us to do more in this week than we've done in the past 20 days, and I'm going to miss him. I wish he knew how incredibly loved he really is, he's such a caring, and empathetic person. I really respect him. I wish we had more time to just relax, and I hope he knows how proud I am of him. He's accomplished a lot at a young age, and he might not give himself credit for it, but I do. ;) Love you, Matty.

So now here we are. Less than a week left here in the islands and a week and a half left before we leave for China. At the risk of sounding jaded and spoiled, I really just want to go home. I knew it would be hard to be away from Paul this long, and having Matt here was definitely a good distraction, but now I just feel like I'm waiting for the week to go by to get back to my little man. I'm going to try my best to stay in the moment and enjoy these last few days here, but I can't help looking forward. It's weird to be wanting the summer to end, but at the same time savoring all of the downtime. To me, next week won't come soon enough.

Bonus video!! Dolphins!

The Lost World

Mountain view from Hanalei Bay

 It's been almost a week that we've been here in Kauai, and I still can't get over the view of the mountains every time we leave to go somewhere. The beaches are just as beautiful, and I'm overwhelmed by the stunning scenery on this island. If anyone asked me which island to visit, I would definitely say this one. We've had a little bit of adventure, but mostly have laid low since we've been here.

We arrived on Monday, scoped out a grocery store, which led to a crazy expensive bill, then settled into our new condo. It's a cute place, with a slightly Asian feel, right on the golf course in Princeville. Princeville is about a 5 minute drive from Hanalei, which is a quintessential beach town on the edge of the world. It's right on Hanalei Bay, which is a crescent beach stretching 2 miles from end to end. We stopped by there when we first arrived to take in the beauty of it, and plan out a beach trip.

The beach at the "End of the Road"

Donnie, the super hiker

After a good night's sleep, albeit weird without Paul, we decided to try our hand at the Kalalau trail. This is an 11 mile stretch of trail along the Na'Pali coast, which becomes increasingly difficult the farther in you hike. You have to have a permit to do the full hike, but the first 6 miles in you can do without the permit. It was so packed down there at the "end of the road" (literally, the road ends at the trail), that we parked a mile away from the trailhead. Since we had a late start, we ended up agreeing to only hike 2 miles in, and save the rest for another day. The first mile is all uphill, and not just slightly uphill, like climbing up stairs uphill. But the scenery was breathtaking. It took us an hour to hike down to the 2 mile mark, then hiked back to our car 3 miles away. I couldn't stop taking pictures or just taking in the amazing view. There is no other way to explore the Na'Pali coast, except by helicopter or boat, so the raw natural beauty of it is just stunning. We were pretty spent after our hike, so we grabbed some food and drink at Kalypso, (which we have since become regulars at), and then came home for a bath and bed.

2 Miles into the hike

Na'Pali Coast, wow.

The rest of the week has been uneventful. We've made some trips into Hanalei and over to Kapa'a, spent a few afternoons at the beach and the pool, tried to carve out a new running trail that won't kill us, and mostly have been relaxing at the condo. It's so weird to be parents without our child, sure we see him twice a day on Skype, but the amount of free time is overwhelming. It's hard not to feel unproductive and selfish, but I know he's having a good time back in San Antonio with Ron and Angie.

In two weeks we begin our journey back to San Antonio, and in less than 3 weeks we fly out for China, but it still doesn't seem real. We've seen our visas through Skype, and we know the deadline approaches, but we still have no idea about what our apartment looks like, where it will be or what life will be like after the next 3 weeks! Kind of scary, but also kind of exciting. I struggle between wanting to savor these beautiful days in Kauai and wanting to be back with Paul on our way to our new adventure. I know I need to soak up the relaxation while I have it, but it's hard when half your heart is in Texas.

An afternoon at Hanalei Bay

In other news, my brother, Matt, is coming on Tuesday! We can't wait for him to get here. He'll be here for 5 days, but I know it will go by fast. I remember the lazy days we all spent together in Mexico, and I know we'll have a good time. More tears when he leaves though, I'm sick of tears. :(

Princeville sunset.

Tomorrow we head off on a 5 hour boat cruise/snorkeling adventure, so we have to get to bed early because we have to be at the dock at 7:15. I can't wait to see the views of this gorgeous island by boat, and I'll post as soon as I can about that. :)

Till then, safe travels, Matt! And Andie, I miss you daily...hourly!! Love to all.

More Tears.

My rockin' Sis.

So I hate the Honolulu Airport. The majority of time I spend there is saying goodbye to people I love. First Paul, Ron and Angie, and today it was Andie.

Her last full day was yesterday, and we made the most of it. We had a late morning, drinking coffee and watching TV that Donnie disapproves of. ;) Then after our workouts, we headed to the pool for some sunshine and pool side relaxing. It was heaven. After that, we headed to a restaurant down the street called Monkey Pod, it was delicious, but ended on a low note. So we ended the evening with an upbeat movie, The Heat, which Andie and I laughed with.

Today we had coffee again, watched a movie and sat together. We both knew that the time was nearing that we would have to say goodbye, but neither of us would face it. And I know it's not goodbye, because I plan on seeing her again very soon, but it still hurts like a goodbye.

I don't know how many tears I've cried in the past few days, but a lot were shed today. Andie is an amazing person, I'm not sure she know how truly precious she is to me. I know that I will be miles away from her, but she is never far from my mind or heart. I love her dearly. No matter how far apart we are, she will always be close to me. She inspires me and I know she'll be successful with everything she faces. I can't wait until the next time we are together. Until then, we'll stay close through email, google chat, and phone conversations. I know she's always going to be there for me, just like I am for her.

A walk by the beach.

To distract ourselves from all of the heartache, Donnie and I went for a walk along the beach in Honolulu. We made it all the way down to Waikiki, which was fun to see, but I was exhausted from being so sad. So we walked back up to the car, grabbed some food and headed home.

Honolulu.

Tomorrow we relocate again, for the last time this trip. We are headed to Kauai. I'm excited to visit this island, but right now all I feel is pain. I miss Andie and Paul, but I know it will be ok. At least that's what I tell myself. Only a few more weeks, and we're off!

Fun Fun Fun. :)

Beach fun with DeeDee

She's the best. 

 There has been so much going on this week, that I haven't had much time to write. I've also been enjoying the company of my family so much that I didn't want to take the time away from them. Selfish, I know. ;)

Luau!

So since my last post, we left Kona and traveled to Oahu. Our final days in Kona were fun. We played hard at the pool, and went back to A-Bay. Paul has so much fun digging in the sand and playing in the puddles. We all take our turns to play with him and his trains. He also loves the waves! He could bounce around in them all day. I've included some video of him on the beach, he's been so awesome there.

Hula Dancing with Daddy

Fishing was the favorite activity.

On Tuesday, we gathered up all our luggage and took two trips to the airport to get all the people and stuff there. Waiting around at the airport took longer than the actual flight, and some struggles with the rental car meant that we were finally on our way to Ko'Olina by 11am, after starting the process at 5am. Despite being tired and super excited about our new digs, we all piled in the car and set off for the Polynesian Cultural Center for a luau and the show. I didn't realize the cultural center was a huge park with so much to do! We explored all of the different cultures that are found here in Hawaii and Polynesia. Paul mostly chased the birds, but he did take the time to try fishing with Donnie. We wandered around for a couple of hours, then got in line for our luau. Dinner was pretty fun, and the food was really yummy! We filled our bellies, then set out to go see the show. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to film or take pics at the show, but I can say it is incredible! It was about 2 hours of dancing, story telling, drums, fire throwing, and general mayhem. We drove home and all fell into bed exhausted.

Lovin' on Mickey

Mickey Waffles!

Andie loves pineapples!

Pineapple heads!

On Wednesday, we woke up early and headed over to the neighboring Disney resort for a breakfast with Mickey! Paul couldn't stop talking about it, what he would say to Mickey, how he would hug Daisy, and kept pointing to his "house" next door. He was a little bit afraid at first, but after he got comfortable he danced with Minnie Mouse, hung out with Goofy and hugged Mickey. I think he had a really good time. He was still talking about it a few days later. :) From there we jumped in the car and took off for the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Andie was set on this as one of the few things she wanted to do while in Hawaii, and I have to say it was a good idea! It was a pretty cool excursion, we took a train around the farm, then tried a maze (Paul didn't last very long in there), and of course ate the delicious Dole Whip. We ate a ton of pineapple and bought some yummy pineapple bubble bath, then headed back to our condo in Ko'Olina.

Ko' Olina

Our condo here is amazing. It is so beautiful here, I can hardly wrap my brain around it. The pool is twisting through the resort with a bridge, and even a fake little beach to play at. They also built 4 man-made lagoons to play in. It is unreal how blue the water is and how picturesque the scenery is. Kona was gorgeous, but this place is what you picture in your mind when you picture Hawaiian beaches.

On the Pineapple Express!

Thursday we hung out here, went to the pool and the beaches and spent every moment possible with Paul. I went swimming with Andie on Thursday morning in the lagoon outside our building, and it was really fun! A hard workout, but pretty enjoyable minus all the salt water in our mouths. :)

Cuties.

Friday came too soon and we spent the day swimming, playing and packing up Paul, Ron and Angie. We headed into the city for an early dinner at a hidden away restaurant, the mood was sad since we were saying good bye. We did see them filming Hawaii Five-O, which was super cool, but other than that I was mostly just fighting back tears.

We took them to the airport around 8pm and I am pretty sure my heart broke when I was saying goodbye to Paul. He's so much a part of me that not being around him makes me hurt. :( But I know he'll have a great time with Ron and Angie, and Donnie and I will have fun in the time we have alone. It's just hard to reset my thinking to not involve Paul in all of my plans everyday. :( It makes me want the days to go faster, but at the same time I want to enjoy these last few weeks of summer. I know everything will be fine in the long term, but I will miss him everyday until we see him again.

"So how is paradise?"

Paradise to me :)

Surfing

Lot's of people have asked me how I'm doing in "paradise," so I've done some contemplation on this. I do my thinking mostly when I'm running, trying to distract myself from the incredible difficulty I am facing. I get asked this question, with the implied answer being "wonderful!" But I have to say I don't think it's location that makes paradise. I know I'm saying this from one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I know it's beautiful. I just get this feeling that it wouldn't have mattered where we spent our summer. We may have well been in Port A, or Mexico. My point is, paradise is wherever you are. I think paradise is lazy summer mornings when Paul craws into bed with us and we watch cartoons. Or spending the evening cooking and enjoying a meal on the patio with your family. It is accented with an exotic locale or nice weather, but it is really found inside you.

YUMMMMM!

Ok, with that said here's an update of what we've been doing in "paradise:"

Painted Church

Since the days have blurred together, and I'm not sure the order of things, I'll do my best to recap. Last Friday I took my first surfing lesson since before Paul was born. It was successful in the sense that I did catch 2 waves and rode them to the shore, but it took about an hour of complete failure to get there. I refused to give up, my instructor was super supportive. I'm not sure how he kept his patience, watching me start to get up, then bail out whenever I lost my confidence. But the important thing is that I did it! Donnie was a great support and stayed out there and watched the whole thing. :)

Then next day we took a trip up into the hills to see the Painted Church. A missionary in the early 1900's thought he could better reach his congregation if he could show them pictures of important stories in the Bible. It was down a winding road, up in the hills, and the view was spectacular, both inside and outside the church. Then we went to eat at the Coffee Shack. It was no shack. Another incredible view, and homemade bread. We ate our fill and headed back down to Kailua-Kona.

More of the Painted Church

Unbelievable!

The next few days were lazy. We went to the pool for a long time on one of the days, then went to the beach another. Settling into a routine of running, doing a water activity, then taking a nap, and finally cooking and hanging out. It's a hard life here in paradise. ;)

Can you spot the fish?

Kailua-Kona Bay

On Wednesday, we went for a glass-bottom boat tour. Donnie, Paul and I wandered through town and looked at the first Christian Church built in Hawaii, then met Ron and Angie at the pier. It was a perfect boat trip, just an hour long and we could peek at the creature in the ocean below us. I had no idea how extensive the reef was and how close it was to shore. Paul had a good time spotting the fish, but I was glad it was only an hour. I would highly recommend it though, especially if you don't like snorkeling.

Patriotic Paul

Thursday was a highly anticipated day because my sister Andie arrived! We picked her up at the airport and then whisked her away to A-bay to start her Hawaiian vacation off right. :) I'm so happy she's here, I just want to spend long lazy days with her and soak up all the time I can with her while we're together.

Dee-Dee's Here!!

Thursday also happened to be the 4th of July, the first 4th we've been in the States for in I have no idea how long. But it was Paul's first experience with the holiday, since we were in Montreal his first summer, and Munich the next. We went down to the town for the parade, which was really just a lot of island people driving in cars. In fact, we had a hard time figuring out when the parade was over, and when normal traffic had started up again. At 8pm, there were fireworks over the bay.  Paul was startled at first, but then mostly mesmerized by the beautiful display. I can honestly say, it was the most beautiful arrangement of fireworks I've ever seen. But then again, do you expect anything less of paradise? ;)

Watching the parade...sorta

Fireworks!

Anyway, I think that mostly catches up all that we've been up to. We leave Tuesday back to Oahu to spend the week there. I am trying to avoid thinking about the fact that Paul leaves with his grandparents in a week, and Andie leaves shortly after that. I am focusing on the moment and enjoying this time.

Oh! Our Chinese visas have been completed. They should arrive in Texas on Monday, and we will officially be allowed to travel to China. I hope that they are all in order, kind of nerve-wracking not getting to see them, but we'll have Ron and Angie open them to make sure their all there. It's been a long journey getting them, hard to believe that the process may actually be done. :)

Ok, off to enjoy the day!