I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane...

...Don't Know When I'll be Back Again....

This was our family them song for a week before we left on our trip.  Emmett wins the prize for the cutest rendition.  It was fantastic to wake up at 4 am to the snow and know the same day we would be lounging in the warm sand.

Berkeley had a great plane trip out.  She was happy and cheerful the entire time.  She didn't sleep a wink but handled it marvelously since we didn't travel at night.

The children took turns watching their favorite movie on Dad's ipod,  Swiss Family Robinson.

Emmett was most enthralled by looking out the windows.  All the kids were as good as gold.  They kept quiet and behaved politely.  Callista brought a terrible cold with her.  Unfortunately it passed from her to Berkeley to myself through the course of our trip.  We went to the tropics and brought the sickness with us.  Go figure.  Despite this we were undaunted in our pursuit of fun.

We stayed on the East side of Kauai in a town called Kaapa.  We had a beautiful condo with 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a top notch kitchen, and sweeping view of the volcanic mountains in the background with a stunning Safeway in the foreground.  Wink.  I guess we couldn't do everything perfect the first time.  I was really hoping for a ground unit facing the pool, to avoid the hotel feel, but they were booked solid and we couldn't even upgrade from out Safeway view.  Oh well.  Still undaunted.  The East side of the Island spoiled us with fantastic sunrises, with humpback whales splashing in the distance right in front of our complex.

The beach our condo lay on was not the best for swimming.  It was a bit rough but we enjoyed strolling along it each morning, watching for whales, monk seals, crabs, and just splashing our toes.

You'll notice how few teeth Ellery has left in this photo!  In one week she lost 3.

Berkeley enjoying the sunrise from the stroller.

One of the amazing things about this island is that while everything was full, it still felt empty.  Usually we had the beaches and pool almost entirely to ourselves.  The traffic was a bit crazy during rush hour on the one 2 lane road that courses the island.

The weather was fabulous.  It hovered around 75-85 degrees the entire visit.  We had a couple rainy days but nothing we didn't relish in the hot tub and swimming pool.  If it were up to Brent and I we would have spent a lot more time searching out exotic beaches...

But this trip was all about the kids.  And boy did they LOVE the pool!  We chose the only place on the island we could find with a fabulous salt water pool.  We wanted that warm, saline water in their noses and lungs from air, pool, and ocean.