Hawaii - Day 5 (Tuesday) - NaPali Coast Tour

If you did not see Hawaii Day 1-4, scroll down. You may need to click on older posts at the bottom of the page.

For our first full day in Kauai we hired a nanny to stay with Oliver and we went on a boat tour of the NaPali coast. Essentially it was a big motorized raft. There were 13 tourists and 2 tour guides. We had to be there at 6:45 AM. What is with all of these early morning adventures?! The trip was about 6 hours long and included a stop on a beach to tour an original Hawaiian habitat, snorkel, and lunch. On our way out to the coast we saw several turtles swimming in the water. We also saw spinner dolphins several times. They were right next to our boat and swimming all around us. They even surfed in our wake. I'm not sure how many we saw but we would see about 8-14 on the surface at once and the guide said that there could be seven times more under the water. We saw different dolphin pods several times. They were EVERYWHERE!!! It was amazing!! http://www.kauaiseatours.com/tours.html

Dolphins beside the boat with the NaPali coast straight ahead.

Do we look awake yet?

The guide tried to get the dolphins in the background but missed them. You can see the dark spot over our heads, which was where they were.
Some of the NaPali coast photos we liked.


Inside one of the caves that was more like a big bowl.

On the beach and ready to go snorkeling!

When we got back to the hotel we took Oliver swimming. The water was very warm, which he loved. Do you see Keith's little friend in the picture?
That evening we went to Tidepools for dinner. Tidepools is rated one of the best restaurants on the island and we were fortunate enough that it was at our hotel.

"Hey there big guy!"
"You talkin' to me?!"

Family photo, ahhhh
The view by our table
Having fun at dinner
MMMMM Mai Tai!!!

This is what we saw out the window all through dinner, begging coi fish.

Keith thought this was quite humorous so he took their picture.

We had to take a picture of Oliver's very first personalized pupu platter. His meal came with an appetizer, entree and dessert. Lucky kid!
This is to showcase the macaroni in his hair. I took a video clip of him rubbing macaroni and cheese in the side of his hair but it turned out very dark. We have noticed that this is the new tired and done eating sign.

For more photos of Day 5 go to:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=19ph730x.7t3vsv0l&x=0&y=-8e5wyx&localeid=en_US

Hawaii - Day 4 (Monday) Oahu to Kauai

If you did not see Hawaii Vacation posts for Day 1-3, scroll down. You may have to click older posts at the bottom of the page.

On our fourth day, Monday, we were leaving the busy city of Honolulu and heading for quieter times on the island of Kauai. We had an afternoon island to island flight out of Honolulu to Lihue, Kauai. Since we had a day of travel ahead of us, we started with a light breakfast and a walk around town. I was quite exited to be greeted by a Coors Light truck right outside of our hotel. I thought all of your Coors fans and employees reading this would appreciate this too :) It was great to see our presence in Hawaii and Yes, we had Coors Light in the hotel refrigerator at all times.

Have you ever seen a Ferrari store?
Oliver showing off the Ferrari in the window. This picture almost shows off the new bottom tooth. There are actually two bottom teeth but the second one is hard to see. You'll just have to trust us on this one.
After the city walk we strolled through a park we found right next to the trump tower that is in the process of being built.
And then... it was nap time. If we bore Oliver THIS much now, just wait until he is a teenager.
Keith thought this was quite entertaining to take all of our picture through these bushes. Do you think Oliver was entertained as he snored the day away? HA HA!!


Our flight to Kauai was event less. We expected a small prop plane but it ended up being a small jet. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt http://www.kauai.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp, which I highly recommend. The grounds were beautiful and the rooms were beyond our expectations. Here are a couple of pictures I took before we destroyed it with all of our luggage. I took pictures of our ocean view, but that wasn't until day 5 or 6. Oliver's favorite part of the room was tumbling on the bed and the fuzzy bathroom rug.

Hey, why is this refrigerator empty?

The lobby of the hotel from the ocean side.
The grass was nicer than most golf greens I have been on.
This is the slide that was BEYOND fun!!! Keith and I took turns going down since Oliver didn't meet the height requirement. I know it looks mellow in this picture but it was actually much longer and quite fast.
After a long day, we headed out to find some groceries and dinner. We happened upon a pizza place and had a Hawaiian pizza, in Hawaii.

For more Day 4 photos, go to:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=19ph730x.8imyvz7p&x=0&y=-6om90q&localeid=en_US

Hawaii - Day 3 (Sunday) - Waikiki Beach and Luau from Sunrise to Sunset

If you did not see Day 1 and 2 from our Hawaii vacation, scroll down.

On the third day of vacation (do you feel like we should sing the 12 days of vacation (Christmas?) we spent time at Waikiki beach and topped the night off with a Paradise Cove Luau.

Oliver had us up at 5:30 AM, just in time to enjoy the sunrise over Waikiki.

After breakfast and a stroll on the beach, we decided to go for a swim. Here is Oliver's first time in the Pacific ocean.

Not so sure about this ocean swimming...

AH.... happy flotation device, Oliver LOVES the ocean now!!! Family photo. Who's that tough guy in the middle? HA!
Let there be sand!!!

I just thought these two were too cute not to share.

Hey Dad!

Just because it is nap time does not mean that Mom and Dad can't be in vacation mode! Nothing like relaxing in the sunshine with an ocean view.

This was during Oliver's one and only nap in the crib. We knew that we had a long night ahead of us so we thought he should take a decent nap. Little did we know that the rest of the vacation naps would be on the go.

At 3:30 PM the bus picked us up for the sunset Luau at Paradise Cove.
http://www.paradisecovehawaii.com/

Mother and son.

Self Portrait

I have always admired the slipper necklace from NaHoku in travel magazines. We spotted a store in Waikiki so we had to go check it out. Keith surprised me by buying it for me for our 4th anniversary (Sept 25). Here is a photo of it in the sunset light.
Hugs and Kisses from Hawaii!!!
Oliver received a Shell lei when we arrived. There were also games to play when we got there and they gave you a shell lei. Oliver donned the shell lei's with pride and LOVED playing with them.
The sunset behind us while they pulled the pig out of the roasting pig. I will also point out that my feet were literally attacked by red biting ants while I was taking these photos of the sunset. I must have been standing in a nest or something because all of a sudden I felt them biting my feet. I haven't had a red ant attack since I was too little to remember and I sat on a log full of them, according to my Mom. After this, I can't imagine having them all over my body. My feet itched like crazy. We went to the gift shop for some benodryl or something but they didn't have any. Luckily, their first aide guy came to the rescue and gave my some hydrocordizone, which did the trick. Without it I would have had a LONG night.
Dinner was OK for the luau, but we really enjoyed the show. Oliver LOVED the music and dancing. He was a clapping machine!


Even with all of the excitement, Oliver couldn't keep his eyes open for the whole show. He fell asleep and slept all of the way home.

The photos uploaded out of order but for more photos of Day 3 go to: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=19ph730x.5w1zmbqd&x=0&y=swimtz&localeid=en_US