Hanalei, HI

Today Zion told me he wanted to go back to his beach. When I asked him which beach he was referring to he told me it was "dinosaur beach". I knew then that he was referring to Hanalei. Because whenever we are down there we point out the dragon formation in the surrounding mountain range to the kids. I confirmed it by asking if he was talking about the beach with the pier jump and he said yes. He must be so confused to think that I could just take him there right now. Eden tells me almost daily that she wishes we lived in Hawaii. I am comforted by the fact that she has no idea what that would entail and how much she would miss it here. But I would not be surprised if one of our kids ended up living on a island somewhere someday, although I would venture to guess it would be Zi before Eden. Who knows.... 

Eden loved surfing at Hanalei. She felt really comfortable there and was super into trying to do it all on her own. Zion enjoyed the surfing there as well but was much more into boogie boarding. It was something he could do pretty independently, which made it very difficult for him to find time to surf.

Zi made friends with this adorable french 5 year old. On the last day they were taking every wave together.

Tanner Surfing

Tara Surfing

Makai Surfing

Zion would beg daily to jump off the pier solo, this is a picture of what that looked like.

Tara was really fun to have in Kauai with us. She really does have an incredible spirit of adventure. She motivated us to go on some really fun explorations right around this beach that we went to every day but never truly explored.

One day we all rented SUP's and paddled the river with Mimmi. It was slightly short-lived because the kids only want to sit on a board for so long, especially in Kauai it seems, but it was really neat to paddle up the river and see things that we had not before. We were shocked at the number of turtles we saw just swimming around in the there.

This dog (I can't remember his name) was at the beach every day. Making himself comfortable in the shade of any umbrella and begging food off of everyone. Then Jon and I went on a date one night (at a pretty nice restaurant) and there he was again - sitting next to a random couple trying hard to fit in. That is when we learned his story...that he swims across the river from Princeville every day to hang out at the beach he likes the most - Hanalei. But can you blame him? I would probably do the same thing if I were a dog stuck in Princeville.

The grom squad!

The essence of Kauai perfection - sunshine and rain - my very favorite weather pattern!

We had the most amazing rainbow send off. It really did make me feel that God is always with us and that He had anointed our trip and the time we spent together and with all of our friends and family. It was such a special time that not one of us will ever forget (except maybe Zi, he may still be too young to remember).