Kauai June 2021

Monday

Drove to LA. A little traffic and kids complained tummy hurt, but overall not too bad.
Embassy Suites near LAX.
Dinner at The Ramen Joint. Really good. Ramen, chicken rice bowl, shrimp spring roll, arancini fusion thing.
Back at hotel, snuggled on kids' bed doing checkers, Ada reading, mom wine shopping online

Tuesday

Kids up around 5...
Left hotel around 615
Parking so sketchy barely any left. Shuttle took forever to come!
Made it to our gate with good amount of time though. Thankful security w pre check was a total breeze. Waited longest ever for coffee at coffee bean. Basically until right before boarding.
Flight went well, kids did good. Couple next to me was so considerate and the guy was super anxious about flying.
Took forever to pre screening, shuttle for Dollar never showed so walked there. Hot and humid!
Took long to get our car.
Went to Kauai brewing. Good! Fam met us.
Costco together then us Walmart for Ryan clothes cuz mix-up left all them at home.
Checked in and got settled. Pool time.
Dinner at Tap House. So much good food (j/c ordered a ton of stuff) and cheap cuz happy hour! Def would go back.
C took the kids back; I did Safeway and Wailua Shave Ice (Now a brick and mortar right near Safeway) with the rest. Two bored annoyed teenagers working there. Food truck vibe was better. It was delicious but I wish they had macadamia nut ice cream instead of only vanilla.

Wednesday

The theme of this trip is waiting waiting waiting. It's so much more crowded here than were used to! Maybe it's the time of year and also kapaa more popular than where we were last time.

Morning: I woke up at 4:30 which I guess isn't too bad. The kids were up at 5:00? But they might have been up for a while before that. I went down to watch the sunrise and C and the kids followed shortly after plus J&C. They came back to our room for a tiny bit.
Grabbed Starbucks, then met all at
Ho'Opi'ai falls trail. Took a while with kids, and was a bit more challenging or long than expected. We made it to the top of the waterfall, then Cliff and the kids went back with Mom while the rest of us hiked down to the pool.
Lunch from Pono Market next to pizza food truck and we all ate at the picnic tables the rest got pizza. Really good poke bowl but I'll have to see if you can add things. It's pretty basic but quality is good.
Pool the rest of the day. Went down to beach at the resort just to check it out; not sure why we never ended up there with Amy and Kevin after the very first time deciding it was too short of a shore and strong current. Doesn't seem like people swim there but it still seems like it'd be a good place to hang out during the day.
Kids watched movie w Grammy/Pop Pop while Cliff, Christy and I got Kenji burger. I loved the fries. Burger was fine.
Ross with mom. I was looking for clothes for Ryan but I ended up with just a summer dress for me.

Thursday

Sunrise on beach with the entire fam.
Drove to Hanalei. Mudslide has caused construction to shut down the highway leaving only three times of day you can get in and out. It's a good thing we left early because the weight wasn't too bad but coming back was worse.
Tunnels beach with everyone. My dad and Christy snorkeled and saw lots of fish. Kids had fun with sand and staying in the shallow water. Rained a little before everyone else got there but thankfully it stopped. Boys through water ball around.
Brazilian food truck Da Fazenda was only one open so we ate there. It was good!
Wishing well shave ice afterward. Disappointing for how freaking expensive it is!! Mine melted soo fast even though it wasn't that hot out. It seems like there wasn't as much fresh fruit and I thought I remembered coconut flakes or something to make it fancier and feel worth the $11. Also where was my snow cap?? It was so crowded there It just made me feel negative about the whole thing.
Our timing was lucky. We headed back to get in line to leave Hanalei and it started raining. We're back at our hotel and it's still raining.
Everyone came here; ordered Kenji burger and sipped wine and beer; dad and I went to Safeway which was a shit show cuz no workers helping problem and so so slow, only 2 cashiers open.

Friday

Ada's birthday. Sunrise on beach. Actually slept in and was woken by 5:45 alarm.
Ada zoomed, sung hbd by class.
Java Kai; delicious breakfast burrito and Mac nut latte.
Kamalani playground while others headed to Waimea and Kauai coffee co. Cloudy and sprinkly.
I went to Walmart for beach and other stuff.
Back at Lydgate, the sun had come out. Snorkeled. Kids too afraid. I stayed with them while Cliff got lunch from Passion. Good loco Moco.
Back to hotel; pool/Mai Tais with everyone.
Chicken in Barrel at coconut marketplace was no bueno. Got Wailua shave ice for Adas birthday dessert;

I treated her to picking out two things at ABC store: Hawaiian dress and flower hair clip.

Saturday

Small town: delicious hand pies and coconut latte.
Mahogany Grove. So pretty! Regular first part closed so diff entrance. Sounds of roosters. Friendly horse with a few other horses. Lots of butterflies!
Sushi Girl. Mine was delish (Action poke bowl) but Cliff didn't like his sushi burrito.
Kalalea Juice on search of shave ice but no ice cream so I got a coffee
Hee Fat for shave ice. I think they're my fav. Homemade syrups. Others found fresh lei for Ada!! Finally! She loved it.
Down time then met j&c at pool for cliff pickup El Rey del mar. Good! Not amazing. Mom dad ate at Oasis by pool. Back to our lanai with everyone.

Sunday

Sunrise, drove to Hanalei. Holey Grail donuts. Soo good. Taro?? And a nut milk chai that was so different and delicious. Cardamom flavor.
Snorkeled at Tunnels. Gahhh so cool!! I was ambivalent about going back cuz of the traffic/convoy but I'm so glad we did. My parents etc were like two steps behind and ended up stopping at random beach/river. I feel like we stopped there on our first trip??
Did the club med hike real quick. Gorgeous views but was starting to get hot. Still love it though and NEED to go back and eat at the food stand right there, Nourish Hanalei.
Everyone met back up at Kapa'a food trucks. Al Pastor. Good and fresh; preferred the pastor to the ahi cuz more flavor. Maybe fried fish better for tacos.
Down time then pool time. Tried to eat up our remaining food, Mai Tais, beer. Ada started doing the waterslides and swimming to steps by herself!
Tap Room for dinner.

Monday

Boooo leaving day.
Sunrise, then packed up.
Everyone met at Passion Bakery. So good! Chorizo sandwich, all baked goods were amazing. Haupia hand pie, pineapple scone-croissant, lilikoi shortbread, pecan sticky bun (need to come back for Mac nut bun!)
Airport with plenty of time.
Flight okay other than a few tantrums. No one in middle next to me!
Shuttle actually came right after we got outside. Ryan fell going up the stupid stairs and was bleeding mouth. Aaaand our freaking car died!! AAA to the rescue.

Next time: baby powder for beach. Lotion in car cuz saltwater dries you. Water shoes! Lydgate breezy so cold if raining but really nice when hot. There's shade if you can snag it.
Watch surfers (Kealia?)
Hā Coffee
Nourish Hanalei food stand (Club Med hike)
Waipouli has beach umbrellas sitting by spa window. Can we rent them?
Carabellas wood pizza. 808. Kauai bowls and hand rolls. El taco feliz. Nourish Hanalei webcam. Kalihiwai river. How can I get down there?? Lydgate Farms Chocolate.
Pondering side of island to be on for sunrise/sunset. East makes sense for us since we're up early when we're there and can more easily watch the sunrise as opposed to staying up late what with kids' bedtimes...