Hawaii

In the morning we went down to the beach before sunrise – which isn’t nearly as early as it sounds since sunrise isn’t until after 7:00. We took the camera, of course, and the tripod to take pictures of ourselves. It was early and I didn’t have any makeup on, but the point was not to have a pretty picture of us to hang on the wall, but to have a record of having been there.
I put on my tall socks and nikes, plus a hoodie, because I was sure it would be cool in the morning. Within minutes, though, I was taking all that off. Not only was the air warm, but the water was like a bathtub – far warmer than it ever was during the day!
The beach was gorgeous. After I took the first picture, though, I realized I need a coffee filter to soften my flash. Matt left his cup of coffee with me and ran up to the room for a filter. When he got back I tried again with the filter and got a much better picture. After just a couple more, though, the camera warned me that the battery was low and then promptly shut off. So poor Matt again ran up to the room to put it on the charger for a few minutes. When we came back I took a dozen pictures of the landscape, then set up the tripod. By that time, of course, several of the elderly hotel guests were lurking – watching us take pictures. Oh well!
We played in the water a bit, then walked over to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. After that we spoke to the hotel concierge about which waterfalls offered good hiking. He told us that the hiking areas had all been closed down about a year ago when two women managed to walk themselves off the edge of a cliff…which worried me a bit, but Matt not at all. His attitude was that the women must have been idiots – or at least inexperienced hikers. Lol
We drove to the first falls and took pictures from the viewpoint area, but were thoroughly unsatisfied with the views and the experience. I had noticed an area where the chain link fence had been peeled aside when we drove in, and we decided to check it out – despite several “DANGER – KEEP OUT’ signs posted in the area.
We hiked down a steep incline and found ourselves above the waterfall, where the river fed into it. Upstream was another, much smaller waterfall. The place was amazing looking – very dense with trees and undergrowth and covered in dead wood. I wouldn’t have thought that beavers lived in Kauai, but there were a couple of very obviously animal-made dams on the river. It looked like once the area was being developed – there were gigantic cement towers that Matt said were bridge footings and what looked like a professional zip line set up further upstream – but everything had been abandoned. My guess is that during heavy rainfall or inclement weather the river current becomes very strong and can be dangerous. As it was when we were there it was barely moving and seemed very calm.
The hiking was difficult – not a foot of level ground anywhere in the area. The trees were amazingly tall and their roots were huge and often above ground. The rocks were covered in bright green moss…
Once I saw a frog on a rock and he scared the hell out of me. Matt got a couple of really great pictures of him for me – and he still looks scary in the photographs!

We hiked for an hour or so, and when we left we were damp from the humidity in the forest. After we left we drove to the other waterfall in the area, but it didn’t have anywhere to hike. Then we went back to the hotel and the beach. We played on the beach for a quite a while. Matt helped me build a lounge chair out of sand so I could read without the sun in my eyes and we played in the water. I was brave enough to venture a little ways out and bob in the waves like all the old people were, but I smashed my foot against a lava rock and gave myself a pretty decent cut. It bled for a while, and Matt said that sharks would be coming for me soon. The salt water didn’t make it sting, though, and we stayed for a while longer.
After the beach we went back to the room to shower and rest. We ate more ice cream and packed all our things, then we took a nap. We checked out of the hotel at about 4:30, then went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant that was pretty good. Then we went to see Cloverfield – which is a horrible movie and a complete waste of time. Too bad, because we were really looking forward to it!
After the movie we filled the rental car with gas and then went to the airport.

We got home at about 11:30 on Saturday morning. The kids weren’t terribly overjoyed to see us – the first thing Tessa said to me was “Will youget me some cheese and crackers?” and Asher refused to come to me for 2 hours (which made me cry, just a little, on Matt’s shoulder)
There’s a weird adjustment period after being without your kids for a time. First, on vacation, we seemed to have far more time than we should have. All the time that we would have normally spent taking care of the kids – getting them dressed, fed, keeping them entertained – was just extra time. Then we adjusted – without realizing that we were adjusting. So when we came home all those things that should have been automatic weren’t. Instead of just knowing, it took us 15 or 20 minutes to realize that Asher was ornery because he was ready for his nap…things like that.
Really it was just the first afternoon, things were back to normal after that, but it was strange. It gives you a better appreciation for all the parenting skills you have and normally take for granted. At least, it did for me!