Paradise

We drove over a half hour on a BUMPY dirt road to get to this remote beach. It was worth it! On the west side the sun sets in the water (on the east side it sets behind mountains) and we have heard that you haven't really lived until you have experienced a sunset at Polihale beach. It was truly surreal. I felt like we were in a different universe. There were very few people there and I have never seen a more beautiful beach. The white sand went on forever. This is the longest beach on Kauai, over 17 miles. It is hard to get to so it's very private and secluded.




This is where Travis has a weekly appointment with his golf buddies. Not bad ya?

We've got a swimmer (and a screamer)!

We had our first series of swim lessons this week. Mind you, these aren't the "swim classes" we were used to in California where the kids pretty much learn to blow bubbles and play with water toys and they giggle and splash and leave wanting more. Oh no - this was a whole different experience. We knew that living here meant we would need to have good swimmers and we are fully aware of the water dangers here on the island. So Veda and Eve completed a 5 day course of intense private swim lessons. INTENSE! Did I say intense? They both screamed through the first two lessons, then Veda had a break through on the third day. She was doing really well - jumping into the pool by herself and swimming to the other side. She was so excited and pleased with herself. But poor Eve. By the third lesson I couldn't take it any more. We both cried through the whole thing and I told the instructor that I didn't think she was ready for this. Travis felt really strongly that she should finish the last two days so he took her the next day. I took them both yesterday, graduation day. Veda still cried before she got in, but was smiling when she came out. She really learned a lot and I am confident she could hold her own in a pool should anything happen. Eve was so panicked and terrified that she absorbed very little of the technique and I feel like she was just tortured the whole week. I really feel terrible about it. I won't give details because I'm afraid someone will turn me into CPS for letting her go through it. I'll just say that the instructor would simulate a "fall" and then let Evie struggle through it. I know - I can't sleep at night.

She teaches them how to come up from under the water and swim on their back. After they master swimming on their back, she has them roll over and practice swimming face down. She had Veda practice jumping in the pool, coming up, putting her chin up, head back and floating on her back. Then she would swim to the side until her head touched the edge and reach up with one arm, grab the side of the pool, flip over, and climb out of the pool. I think it's a genius approach (for a four year old) because it teaches survival first.

Ohana life

This is our friend and interactive Halloween decoration, appropriately named Charlotte. She lives above the guest bedroom door (sorry mom). With legs and all she is about the size of the palm of my hand. It has been fascinating to watch her catch and wrap up her prey and repair and strengthen her web. I'm not sure what kind of spider she is. I'm fine with her as long as she doesn't


Veda drew a whole little city on with sidewalk chalk, streets and all and rode her scooter around on it. So creative!


Eve and I doing "airplane" on the trampolene.


The girls have been so excited about Halloween. My mom got them these cute Halloween outfits, complete with jingly ghosts on the socks. We have the house all decorated cute. The only problem - I bought Eve a gorgeous Belle costume and she has changed her mind to Ariel. Too bad sister!

Our Hawaiian Homestead

I finally got my act together and got unpacked and organized enough to take more pictures of our house. (We have a guest room, hint hint) This is a really fun and unique place. We are loving it.


Lanai - we eat dinner out here almost every night (when it's not raining). The views are amazing! After dinner the girls ride scooters or trikes around the house on the lanai and Travis and I get to chat.


Living room and Dining room


master bedroom


master bathroom

dinner dialogue

Folks - this one is for the grandparents. If you are not a grandparent of my children you might want to spare yourself the boredom and fast forward to the post about our hike.
I try to explain how well Eve is talking but I can never think of an example. Here is some dialogue from our dinner tonight. This is nothing extraordinary or particularly interesting, but just an example of how Eve talks. I think it's pretty good for a barely-two-yr-old.

We are eating Mac and Cheese (a regular when Trav is working)
Eve: "I like my cheese!"
Me: "Is it good?"
Eve: "Uh huh. It's yummy."
I pour myself some water
Eve: "That's yours. This mine" Pointing to her water.
Eve: "okay"
Me: "what's ok?"
Eve: "Veda's ok. She's happy. My kitty cat ok."
(No, we don't have a cat.)
Veda: "Eve's crying."
Eve: "No I not crying. See? I happy."
Eve: "watch mama. You see me?" (she has scooped up a huge spoonful of mac and cheese)
Eve: "Uh Oh! I spilled. "
Me: "it's ok. I'll clean it up."
Eve: "Ok mama. Clean up. Towel."

She is very much an active participant in any conversation we have now. She is so much fun and has such a cute little voice. I just love hearing her talk.

A hiking we will go...

Thanks for the therapy ladies. On Travis' day off we went out looking for some fun and found it in nature. I am just going to have to shift my expectations and find comfort in other places than I am used to.

We all piled into the car (Haui doesn't miss a thing) and headed toward the coast for a beautiful hike. Travis carried Eve in the Kelty on his back and Veda held her own really well. We hiked to a beautiful secluded beach where we played and rested. On our way back, we hiked out onto the lava rocks where there were many tide pools filled with fun creatures. We found sea urchins, starfish, hermit crabs, fish, etc. I am not an outdoorsy girl, but this was actually fun!





This is the reward after getting rained on during a hike.

This is actually the end of the rainbow, right in front of us! It was so weird - the rainbow started gradually moving toward us until we could see the end of it right there. No pot of gold as you can see.


We followed up our trek with a trip to the best ice cream stop on Kauai. It was truly amazing! The girls had "Tu Tu's concoction", mango and passionfruit sorbet with coconut ice cream. It was so good! I had "kauai pie" - just listen to what's in this: Kona coffee ice cream, chocolate fudge, toasted coconut, toasted macadamia nuts, and pie crust bits all in a homemade waffle cone. It really was as good as it sounds. YUMMY!!

Island Fever?

I have heard the term many times and didn't really think it exsisted. "Oh, I couldn't live in Hawaii, I would get island fever." people would say. Who coined this term anyway?

Do I have the first symptoms of this mysterious ailment? This week Travis has been working more than not and the newness and excitment of living in Kauai has started to wear off. I can't pretend like I'm on vacation anymore and real life has caught up with me. I don't have my usual vices I always turned to when Travis was working long hours. Namely, my best friends whose husbands also work all the time - Amber and Chanel. Other vices I miss - Rubios, my favorite place to dine with the girls when Travis was working so I wouldn't have to cook (fish tacos, chips, refried beans, and a Vanilla Coke, I would pay $50 for this meal right now), and the awesome Redlands parks. Another one is the Citrus Plaza shopping center in Redlands, home of Target, World Market, DSW shoe store, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Kohls, Michaels, 3 Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A, Barnes and Noble and more. I am getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it. Kauai has very limited resources. It's Walmart, Kmart, Macy's (a very tiny one), and Costco. No, I'm not kidding. Oh - I forgot Long's drugs. Seriously. As far as dining goes we have Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, and a number of local joints. Then there are the really expensive fancy tourist places (I hope to try one of those eventually).

Besides the limited retail and dining resources I think the fact that I don't have one single friend is starting to get to me. I guess I felt stranded in many ways this week. On a day when Travis was working 50 hours straight I felt like I had nowhere to go, nothing to do, and no one to turn to. I certainly couldn't hop in the car and drive to Vegas to see family, something I did often while living in Redlands.

"Why not just go to the beach?" You say. We have had consistent torrential rain for a week straight. Apparently this is normal for this time of year. Our winter is the rainy season so we just need to keep the raincoats and umbrellas handy until about...oh sometime around February or March.

Another downer is that Veda's school is not working out and this will probably be her last month in preschool. There are no other preschools with openings. So now I am faced with keeping both the kids home full time - on my own most of the time. I worry about my sanity, honestly!

Here I am in paradise, right? What am I complaining about? Is it island fever, or just normal adjustments and emotions that are part of the package of a big move? Give me some therapy ladies.

Random acts of blogness

I have been in the depths of unpacking boxes and this entry gives you an idea of my unorganized state of mind. Here are a bunch of random pictures and... stuff.

Pics of the girls sleeping in their OWN beds after 3 months of "sleeping around". They were so excited to be in their own beds with their own pillows, blankets and sheets. It wasn't even bedtime yet when we got them all set up, but they both crawled in and fell asleep. Ahhhh.




Here are some pictures of the house we are renting now. We LOVE it! I only took pictures of the areas that weren't a mess so when I get my act together and finish with the unpacking, I will show more. We are sitting on the top of rolling hills and we have views all around. The house has a wrap around lanai and a huge long driveway - perfect for riding bikes and scooters. Haui has 2 acres to run around on and it is quiet and cool. My favorite thing of all though is there are no mosquitos! Well, very few. We are much closer to Travis' work now and right down the street from Veda's school.

These steps lead up to a deck where you can either go left into the main part of the house. This is where you will find the master bedroom, living room, kitchen, and dining room. Or you can go right into a separate section with a bedroom, bathroom, and office. It's not uncommon to see this floor plan in Hawaii. It's not ideal for a young family, but we are making it work for us. The master bedroom is about the size of our last house, so we are all sleeping comfortably in there.

The front door leading to the main part of the house.

Our view from the front lanai (Hawaiian porch)

I almost don't want to cook in this - it's too pretty!

Groovy stained glass in the kitchen.



The Humane Society has a great dog park. When Travis is home he will take Haui on a run or hike everyday. When he's working, Haui gets the dog park. If we are lucky there is another friendly dog or two in the park to run around and play with Haui so he gets good and tired.
I tried my darndest to get Haui and the two girls all in the same picture. But to no avail. Here's the best I could do.




Eve sneaking a hug from Haui.

defacing Hindu

I came around the corner to see this disgraceful sight. Eve finally found a purpose for one of the many Hindu god statues in our rental. I also caught her dancing with Hindu singing "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream...." Let's all say a prayer.