Kauai 2011

We went to Kauai for my April break. I can honestly say it was one of our best vacations ever. Traveling went well. The weather was amazing. We were with friends and family. Poor Adam missed good surfing by a week but thanks to the taco truck and Dolphin Sushi, even he would agree it was still a great trip.

Saturday - We left crazy early on Saturday morning. Who knew actually getting three adults, one toddler, a car seat, a stroller and a surfboard to the airport would be one of the most complicated parts of the vacation? Once we arrived, it was smooth sailing. The flight was great thanks to multiple electronic devices with Tangled and Beauty and the Beast. It was so nice not to worry about diapers, baby food, bottles, etc. Traveling with a kid in her own seat is fantastic as well. It's not so good for the bank account but otherwise I highly recommend it.



Sunday - We spent Sunday at our favorite beach in Hanalei. Ruby spent three hours in the ocean! She could hardly keep her eyes open on the way home for nap.







After nap and some tooling around, we met Auntie, Uncle Kevin, Uncle Kevin's brother, SIL and their daughter for dinner. Ruby loved Emma...and her toy frog. It looked like Ruby was being sweet and playing with the baby but she really stole the frog toy and wouldn't give it back. Note to self, find a frog toy and save it for the plane ride home.



Ruby was still getting her sleep schedule down because she refused ice cream on the way home. I was sad about that =)

Monday - Adam, Grandma O'Brien and our friend Bob got up bright and early to hike the trail at the end of the road. They came home tired and covered in red dirt but said it was amazing. To quote Bob, "I don't know any other mom's who could do that." Go Grandma! While they were gone, Ruby and I had a girls morning. We arrived at the pool before it even opened (I had no idea...no wonder they looked at me funny). Once again, Ruby swam for four hours straight. When Auntie came buy, I finally escaped to get some food in her body. The kid is a fish!







Tuesday - Auntie and Uncle Kevin introduced us to a new beach which they call Grandma's Beach. It was a little rough compared to Hanalei but Ruby didn't care one bit. Ruby boogie boarded for the first time. She loved it...even when she wiped out.











In case you're worried, here she is afterward =)



After nap time, we colored Easter eggs for the first time. I'm glad Easter doesn't come again until next year. Easter eggs + an impatient almost three year old = not very much fun. Fortunately, Ruby was truly amazed when the eggs came out colored.













Wednesday - Surprise! We went to the beach again. Ruby befriended a family with a cool bucket. They have four kids! Can you imagine how much they paid for plane tickets? After nap time, we hit the pool for a bit before going to a BBQ at Uncle Kevin's Uncle Calvin's. Ruby got to play with Emma again and went out to the yard to pick cherries.







Thursday - We took a break from the sun to go shopping in Hanalei. The promise of a hula doll got Ruby into almost every store. After shopping, we went back to the beach for pork tacos from the taco truck. It didn't open for a half hour so we ended up at the beach again. Poor us =) Ruby hearts her new floatie and shave ice with ice cream.

For dinner we went to the St. Regis Princeville Resort for a hula show. Ruby could've cared less about food and eating but was entranced by the hula dancers. She loved it so much she's still doing hula shows for us at home.







Friday - We took a break from cleaning sand off a toddler and went to the pool in the morning. Ruby was already a decent swimmer when we arrived but during this trip she went bananas. She jumps in, swims to us, turns around and swims back. Crazy!





For dinner, we went to Hanalei Colony Resort where Adam and I stayed when we came to Kauai over 10 years ago. Awww =)

Saturday - For our last day, we went to a beach at the end of the road for snorkeling, rocks and climbing. We stopped at Bubba's burgers one last time. Ruby was so tired she laid down on the picnic table. Lucky for us, she's great at waiting to sleep until we get home.









While she was napping, the Easter Bunny stopped buy (never mind that it's Saturday). I was at the pool soaking up my last bit of sun when I got a text saying, "Ruby's up. Came out of the bedroom with a mouth full of jelly beans." She searched for eggs, checked out her Easter bucket and had a blast.











Sunday - Time to go home! Normally we would be sad at the end of a vacation. But, like last year, we booked our trip for nine days. Even with two travel days, that leaves seven full days to relax. Perfect! Our flight home was even more successful thanks some Hawaiian presents and a long nap. Ruby is a rock star traveler.



I can't wait to go back next year =)