HAWAII JOURNAL 2012
(see a zillion pics on our Facebook Page)
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday morning we got up at 3:30 AM and loaded up into the truck with all our bags picking up Dad (Gpa Collings) and made it to the airport by 5. Everything went very slick and we were airborne by 6:10 for San Fran. The connecting flight to Kauai was quicker than expected and we even had the entire back 3 rows of the plane to stretch out. In Kauai we got a free upgrade to a 4 door jeep which was also a huge deal since we almost didn’t even fit in it with all our bags. A 2 door would have been a disaster.
We hit Wal-Mart for a car seat and some snacks, camp chairs, and other sundries. We had some Micky D’s and headed to our hotel about 20 minutes north, The Aston Islander on the Beach. The hotel is great and for the price, it’s perfect. We spent the entire afternoon in the pool and playing on the beach. Lijah had a ball playing stick sword fights with me. The kids have been near perfect so far, even after the long tiring flight and so little sleep. Lijah pulled his own luggage through the airports. I was near tears quite a few times admiring my sweet kids and appreciating just how helpful and fun they are to be around. Lijah was also a piece of cake on the flights too. He sat a seat away most the time, figured out his headphones and watched the flight movie all without complaining once. He let me lay on his lap, all the time squeezing my head repeatedly and telling me “Dad, I love you tho (so) much”
After swimming the kids watched TV for an hour while I ran up the beach and back for an incredible time. Exercise is my only real relief from the anxiety I’ve been experiencing. When I got back, we drive north a few minutes to Kapa’a and got s plate special at a roadside vendor. I had deep-fried Mahi, Moriah has the kalua pork and Dres and Lij got a hot dog and cheeseburger respectively. We were in the hotel room by 7:30 pm and the girls were in bed together and asleep by 8. We all slept soundly until 7 am.
Tuesday morning the kids watched tv while I went to a local gym. It was open air but they had good equipment and I got a great workout. It was fun to workout surrounded by a bunch of huge poly’s.. When I got back they were ready to go to the pool where we relaxed for a good couple hours. We walked up the beach a mile or so exploring the tide pools and playing games. The wind has been a little strong, but gorgeous! It’s been mostly overcast today, but we all still got sun and were glad to have sunscreen on.
We drove into Kapa’a again for lunch and ate at Bubba’s Burgers, recommended by the guide. It was a good burger and a fun place to eat. We sat at the outside bar facing the highway and watching all the cars go by. We explored the beach just across the way and played for over an hour and then loaded up and went up HWY 580 along the Wailua River. It was gorgeous! We saw a dozen kayaks paddling down. We also stopped at the Opeaka Falls overlook and got some great pics. From there we followed the hwy 580 until it went into dirt road. We did some great 4x4’ing and crossed the river 3 times. Moriah had to pee so bad but refused to go outside so we all laughed as she whined and moaned about it. She finally buckled and got her butt all muddy in the process. Elijah kept saying we should go back home now, because ‘”hat if we run outta gas?”. It started to get dark so we hightailed it back to the hotel, hot tubbed for an hour and are now starting a movie together before we doze off.
This place truly is a paradise. The people are friendly and kind. The weather, even when overcast and windy is amazing and magical. You can smell the flowers and plants in every breath and the humid ocean air is soothing. We are a lucky family to be there together and enjoying this incredible place. We miss Liz and Kennedy though!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Today was beautiful and overcast, but mostly rainy! We all woke up before light, around 6 am. By 7 I was out the door and did 5-1 mile repeats up the coast line to the north past Kapa’a. I love running at sea level an along the ocean. So pretty and exhilarating! Kids watched their redbox while I tried to go to Yoga, but it already started so I went the the local gym for about 45 min instead. We had breakfast right by the hotel. Dres and Lij had the silver dollar pancakes (covered with sugar and cinnamon) , MOriah had a banana pancake (yum), and I had some delicious scrambled eggs.
Back to the hotel by 9 ish and the kids were ready to go to the pool again. All except Moraih who was still in bed and not feeling so hot. Her tummy was hurting and she just wanted to sleep. I packed up my stuff and then went to the pool to watch Lijah and Dres swim. Moriah came out for a bit, then went back to the room and threw up in the bushes on the way. She was a bit panicked, but felt a lot better after and is now doing fine.
We all loaded up and got a late checkout from our hotel around 1 pm. We drove into Lihue to hit Costco and load up for our journey to the North Coast. We had our usual Costco lunch of pizza, hot dogs, chicken bake, and frozen yogurt. We got some good supplies at Costco like a cooked chicken, hot dogs (more), frozen chicken breast, yams, chips, fruit, and the girls each got another swimsuit which neither of them fits, lol.
The rain kept coming down all day! We drove up the coast to our new home for the week called The Anini Beach Villa. It’s a cozy little house with 3 beds 2 baths and is tucked in the trees about ½ mile from the ocean. I will miss the hotel’s direct access to the beach, but this is nice and secluded and has a certain magic to it as well. Lots to explore this week!
The kids had cereal and chicken for dinner and are now happily engaged in the Disney Channel. Not a super exciting day, but relaxing and enjoyable nonetheless. Another day in paradise!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Today was incredible. I got up this morning and did hills for about 45 minutes. I ran down from our house to the beach below which is a little over a half mile. The forecast called for a rainy day today so I was in heaven to see the sun breaking through the clouds and bringing out the amazing beauty around me. After my run the kids and I did P90X Abs al together. They are such good kids and we had a ball. We had an easy cereal breakfast and packed up to head for the beach. We explored this side of Kalihawai beach but the tide was in and we ended up driving around to the other side. Talk about a gorgeous beach! We were the only people on it for the first couple hours. The kids had a ball getting used to the waves and finally body surfing. We mostly just played in the water and relaxed in the sun all day. Lijah stayed mostly away from the water, happy as a bug to be playing the entire day with some cheap plastic boat toy he found at the house. He is such an easy and fun loving boy. Luckily I remembered to keep the kids mostly covered with sunscreen and no one got too burned. The sun came out off and on and we even had some nice showers that we thought would ruin our beach day. We got lucky and had a fantastic time.
I ran the beach down and back 2 times at my top speed which was grueling for a guy that doesn’t’ do a lot of speed work.
When we were all ready to go, we made our way home and had some delicious hot dogs for lunch. We watched TV and I did a little work on email and phone for a bit. Later we snuck out to Princeville to get some groceries and a Hawaiian shaved ice that was fantastic. We drove down to Anini Beach just down the road from our house and identified some great snorkeling spots for tomorrow, weather permitting.
We came back home and had some awesome sweet potatoes that had been slow roasting in the oven all day. They were smothered with brown sugar, butter, and oversize marshmallows. Everyone enjoyed them except Dresden☺
The kids watched The Mighty Macs and all eventually dozed off. A fantastic day in the sun and surrounded by the most amazing scenery imaginable.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Such a gorgeous day today. I woke around 6 am and went for a 6 mile run along the coast past Anini Beach. I had some of those Ah Ha moments where you can’t help but smile and be grateful for life and all it’s wonderful gifts. Then my Ipod battery died. Ha, kidding of course. Back at the house, the kids were still asleep except Lijah man who was watching his Dr. Seuss show. We all did P90X again, this time chest and back. Moriah even went into the other room to do Abs with the laptop.
After workout, we had a yummy protein breakfast of scrambled eggs and diced up hot dogs. We loaded up our gear and headed to the very north end of Anini (whch used to be called Wanini it turns out) and found a great spot at a river mouth. Anini is lake like waters and great for snorkeling. It was sunny all day with occasional clouds rolling through. We all just basked in the warm day playing in the sand, in the water, and taking naps. The birds were very bold and the kids loved feeding them crumbs right from their hands. Lijah in particular got a big kick from this and would giggle uncontrollably. He’s such a cute kid.
The kids played in the river and each had a turn falling down the collapsing river bank. Moriah took a hard one and scraped the back of her leg pretty good. She has been the Mommy this trip and except for a few moments has taken good care of all of us. She is so responsible and caring, especially for our little lijah boy. Dresden is a great kid too and except for her complaining and dramatization of everything, she is pretty easy going and fun to be around. She is always complimenting me and giving sweet hugs and kisses.
Around 2 pm we loaded up from the beach and made it back to the house for ham sandwiches and some TV relax time. We have more food than we will eat for sure at this point. Hopefully we can dish it off on the Harrell’s when they arrive!
We decided to go for another Hawaiian Shave Ice at the Princeville Center and to grab some groceries while there. For Dinner I wrapped some chicken filets in tinfoil with some BBQ sauce and threw them on the Grill. I did the same with some Asparagus and carrots smothered in butter, salt, pepper and a touch of brown sugar. I also grilled some sliced pineapple from Costco. The dinner was awesome and the kids all ate it up quickly. To keep from dirtying too many dishes, I make one big plate of food and we all eat it together.
It’s 9:30 again and we are all pretty tuckered out from all this relaxation!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Didn’t sleep as well last night at previous nights, mostly due to allowing Dresden to share the King with me. She had some mosquito bites that she scratched all night and would frequently yell out in frustration and rip the sheets off the bed. She can be so funny when asleep, and very unpredictable, like the time she slept walked out the office door in our Orem home, down the front steps and was on the sidewalk crying at 3 am or so.
It rained buckets all night last night and I didn’t think we’d get much done today at first. I took the opportunity to do my long run (I think just 12 miles today, but felt like 18). The kids did chores here at the house as is our tradition at home, then got to watch cartoons until I got back and made a big pan of scrambled eggs and refried yams. We all did P90x together again and then since it was raining we just relaxed and messed around the house till after 12. Moriah had packed a nice lunch for us and made us each PB&J sandwhiches. We ended up eating them here at the house. We got bored and decided to make up some sweet Hawaiian tattoos for each other.
The rain lightened up and we decided to make like a baby and head out. (moriah loves that one). We drove to Haneleigh beach just as it let up and the sun shone through just a little. Moriah and Dres played in the bay and had a ball wrestling and playing games in the water. Lijah and I played paddle ball on the beach and got 6 consecutive hits. We’d have gotten more, but I’m not too great at hitting the ball exactly to his paddle:)
We continued on and discovered a few more beaches that we wandered around and explored. So much raw beauty to take in. The big mountains to the south are adorned with a dozen or so waterfalls right now! We explored the dry cave and the wet cave (home of Puff) and ended up at Ke’e Beach. The kids climbed all over some huge root exposed trees and we all finally ended up swimming in the majestic and clear water bay. M&D, being as competitive as they are, fought over a white coral stone I would throw out into the water to see who could retrieve it the most times. As always, they are laughing and having a ball until eventually Dresden gets a little frustrated from Moriah’s age and size advantage and somehow gets hurt ending the fun. So funny to watch it play out every time. Of course, Moriah is equally at fault for taunting her and pushing her limits until she finally snaps. Moriah is a super tease.
We hit the grocery store on the way back as is our custom now. I swapped out Red Box movies and grabbed a few odd groceries and headed for home. I made a quick dinner of Beef Franks and French Fries with a nice Oriental Noodle salad side. Later I took a PB cookie mix and added some sliced bananas and hersheys chocolate bar on top for desert. The kids loved it.
It’s raining as heavy as last night right now and the sound is so soothing. The windows are open and my eyes are getting heavy again. All this play and adventure makes me so tired. Tomorrow is Sunday and we are debating whether to go to church, and if so, which one to attend!
