Month: October 2010

This October has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays, all in one month. It happens once in 823 years. These are money bags. Bless everyone you see and wish them great happiness and unlimited abundance. If you do this, there is an excellent chance that you will be blessed with abundance surprises; if you don’t do this, based on Chinese Fengshui, you may still be happy, but think of all the chances you may have let pass to bless each shining moment(s) of your life. Pass it on!

[Thanks to Richard Diamond’s Muse Letter / Heart Beat of Kauai]

Leilani sometimes has wild hair, it’s the longest in the family by now. She was playing with the blanket on the plane and Andy noticed how the static electricity attracted her hair

Arrival on Kaua’i is always a bit stressful because we never plan anything. We know we’re going camping but never reserve ahead of time. We landed in the early afternoon, quickly got the car, and went to Lihue to figure out which campgrounds work the best. We got lucky that the campgrounds weren’t all full on the weekend.

After an hour at the county and and state camping offices, we drove to the house to get our camping gear, and went to Anahola to set up the campsite. Leilani built a sandcastle and took pictures while we built the tent and set up:

She was pretty impressed when we moved a big table:

Later we met Olivia, Luci and their parents Amy and Andy for dinner at Mermaids. The girls go to Leilani’s school (Olivia graduated already), and had been on Kaua’i almost a week already.

After dinner, the girls were all wound up from seeing each other, so we went for a little walk,and window-shopped at “Tropical Tantrum” (especially the girls).

Andy had to go back to the house to install an internet cable to the office so he could work. In order to have 10 days on Kaua’i, he had to work 3 days after arriving. So he got up early each morning and drove to the office.

The first Kauai sunrise for us after such a long time…

Andy came back briefly for breakfast then went back to work. Later in the day, Luci and Olivia and parents came to play at Anahola beach.

Andy went to the Kapaa Farmer’s market after work and brought a soursop for an afternoon snack at the beach.

For dinner we went to Cafe Coco and had live music. We gave the girls their own table and had a mostly quiet meal. The girls requested “Somewhere over the Rainbow” and the musicians tried (1/4 of the song…). Our waitress was Monica, a sister of Chloe, Leilani’s first babysitter who lived not too far away, she recognized us.

With fresh fruit, we have a tasty Island breakfast in Anahola.

Anahola closes on Thursday, so we had to pack up–we had reservations at Anini that night, but didn’t go there until late in the evening. Instead we went by the taro patch, where we had our wedding reception and Leilani’s first Birthday. It’s still as beautiful as ever:

The Ulu tree (breadfruit) we planted has grown surprisingly:

John was not there, I don’t think he would mind that we picked a breadfruit:

Andy dropped off Sonja and Leilani at the Waipoli Resort to visit our friends. He had to go back to work.

The main attractions are the water slides, the kids played at the pool most of the day.

Later, they were almost too tired to take a shower and go to dinner. Andy brought mangos from Kirk to share.

We showed them our house and then went to dinner at another of our favorite restaurants–Kintaro’s:

We got to Anini late, it was dark, but we were able to find one of our usual spots by the ocean and set up the tent. The campground was full of big family groups, but luckily it wasn’t the weekend yet.

Sunrise at Anini:

Andy had to work one more day back in the office, so Sonja was stuck at Anini. Fortunately, Amy and her family came to play, but none of us remember much else about the day and Sonja can’t find a bunch of the photos. Amy and family were leaving the next day, so they headed home early to pack.

Then we went for a walk along the beach at sunset:

Unfortunately, that was Friday night, and while the big family groups eventually turned off their big screen TVs (yes, camping is a weird thing even on Kaua’i) and went to bed, we were next to some partiers who made noise all night.

Another beautiful sunrise at Anini. There is almost no wind in the morning and the lagoon is glassy…

We went to the Hanalei farmers market and met Julian and other old friends:

They have live music at the market now, and a great lawn to sit and listen on. It’s right next to the Kalo (taro) fields/paddies and easy to get a great shot of the mountains:

Then we all went to the Hanalei pier to go swimming. the only parking space Andy could find was on the beach, facing the water and Hanalei River mouth (all the other cars were parked there as well). Sonja calls it a “Beach Park.”

We watched an outrigger race from the pier

Leilani got a swimming lesson from uncle Julian; she is really doing much better and will put her head in the water and dive down by herself. Hanalei beach is perfect for her, with a wide shallow area, no rocks and only small waves.

We got lucky again and found another nice campsite far from the noisy people, so we moved our tent. Later on Delfi an her parents came to visit us. The girls had fun playing together and Leilani made herself a limu-beard:

Typical camping on Kaua’i photo (though usually not this well organized):

Now that she’s almost swimming, Leilani is getting interested in this snorkeling thing that Mommy and Daddy keep doing all the time–I think we’ll have to get her a mask for her next birthday on Kaua’i:

Every sunset is different:

And every sunrise is unique too:

Leilani and Sonja arranged some found objects into camp-art:

In the end, it’s good that we moved: not only was our new campsite quiet, it was sheltered from the wind, and it had the perfect little tree for Leilani to climb. And how she loves to climb. We turn around and she’s 6 feet up in the tree:

We went hiking on the North Powerline trail with Julian and a friend of his, Malia. It was hot and humid, but everything was lush and green (no color enhancement needed on these photos):

Ferns (native, I think):

And wild orchids (non-native):

Unknown flower:

We realized we are all very geeky hikers:

Junior geek looking at the GPS:

There is a little side trail that leads to a great view of the Hanalei River valley:

After the hike, Andy found some firewood that we brought back. Leilani was proud of how strong she is and how much she could help us carry:

More campsite beach art:

Relaxing:

Jaya and her little sister Lila came to visit with their parents:

Leilani and Jaya played like old friends again:

And Lila charmed everyone with her smile:

Adam and Aditi: