Noah has a new trick!  He was kind enough to show it to me while I was cooking his dinner!

Guess we will be investing in duct tape…

On Day 6, Amanda found one of her most favorite beaches – Sealodge Beach – just down the road from our condo.  It is a beautiful beach that normally has fewer than 10 people at it.  It is also a snorkeler’s paradise, with lots of reefs, coral and fish.  Noah was able to get into the calm water and paddle around in his starfish.  When he finished in the water, he spent some time playing in the sand.  That evening, we got dressed up and went to Kapa’a for dinner.  Amanda got one of her favorites – Mermaids Café.  I decided to try Bubba’s Burgers, which was a mistake I won’t repeat again.  🙁  Noah started sticking out his tongue at us (playfully) on the trip back; he had had a good day.

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Sorry for the pause in posting about our vacation with Noah.  We had an interesting couple of stormy nights last week – one much more powerful than the other.  It was the hardest storm we’ve had hit our home since we moved here.  We had quarter to golf ball-sized hail pound our house for about 30-40 minutes at 2:30am Tuesday morning.

It started out like many other hail storms we’ve had, but it quickly progressed into a constant pounding that grew ever-louder.  We grabbed Noah out of his crib and hid out under the staircase for the duration of the storm.  After it finally passed, we found that the window above Noah’s crib was shattered.  Luckily, it was a double-paned window, and only the outer pane shattered.

The other upstairs bedroom also had a grapefruit-sized hole through the window.  Again, luckily, it only penetrated the outer pane.

What amazed me was that the hail actually hit our security flood lights so hard that the glass lenses fell out of them!  And, the gutters on the east side of the house “caught” the hail, resulting in lots of dings from the inside of the gutters.

We even lost our street sign, due to the hail storm.  And, within an hour of taking this picture, someone had taken the street sign.  D’oh!  And, our poor cedar tree out back received a whipping.  This same tree survived the fire here in 2004 (just barely).  But, the winds were too much for it this year.  The top 10-12 feet of the tree were literally ripped off and thrown to the ground.  All around our property, the trees shed leaves and small branches.

Amazingly enough, we still had hail stones on the ground after the sun came up.  There were piles of them outside the gutters.

Still waiting for the insurance adjuster to arrive and tell us what the total damage was.  Hoping our roof survived without damage….

We spent a lot of the day in the car this day.  After breakfast, we drove back down to the south side of the island.  We drove up and found our dream homesite at the top of the Kukui’ula development.  360º views of the mountains and the ocean – it was amazing (and not cheap!).  Maybe someday, when we make it big!

We continued on southward, and we visited Spouting Horn for the first time.  It was pretty amazing to watch, with some really large waves crashing in and upward through the blow hole.  Then, we visited the little town of Hanapepe and its famous swinging bridge over the Hanapepe River.  The swinging bridge kinda freaked Noah out, so we didn’t stay long.

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It was getting late in the day, so we decided to drive to the farthest western point of Kaua’i – Polihale State Park – for sunset.

“Polihale State Park is the end of the line. You can’t go any farther north on this part of the island without a boat.” (The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook – the Blue Book)

This is one of Amanda’s favorite beaches in the world, and it really is beautiful, especially at sunset.  The golden sun reflects off the sand and the cliffs that begin the Na Pali coastline; everything is just basked in the warmth of the sun.  Truth be told, it is the quintessential beach on the Hawaiian islands – beautiful sand, cliffs, clear water, small waves, unending sunshine and showers!  I just wish the road to get there wasn’t so difficult (read the reviews here).

It is 5+ miles of rutted, potholed, sandy cane truck road stress in a rental car.  We tried to go to Barking Sands Beach at the southern end of Polihale Beach but I nearly got the rental car stuck in a pothole the size of my car!  As the Blue Book says:

“Locals drive their 4WD vehicles right onto the beach.  If you try it, be aware that you are a long way from Lihu’e.  The first thing a tow truck driver will probably ask you is, ‘Do you own your own home?’  It’s probably cheaper to buy a new car.  And AAA won’t tow a stuck car, only one that won’t start, so yank an important-looking wire before you call them.“

Next time, we’re renting a 4WD – there’s just too much that you miss on Kaua’i without one.

Noah loved Polihale Beach.  He loved the sand (which got into every crevice imaginable!); he loved the water; and, he loved the coconut he found on the beach.  He would try to pick it up and move it around; but, in the end, he really enjoyed stripping the hairs off the outside of it.  After sunset, we began the long 2+ hour drive back up to Princeville.  And, we all slept well that night.  🙂

Day 3 started with a trip to the Kilauea Lighthouse on the north shore of Kaua’i.  In all our trips here, we’ve never been able to get in to the lighthouse; we always arrive too late in the day.  So, on this trip, we wanted to get there in the morning.  Noah loved it; he rode around on my shoulders and enjoyed the signboards with whales and honu (turtles) on them.  Unfortunately for us, though, the lighthouse was closed for restoration.  D’oh!  Oh well; next time…  Noah was tuckered out after so much fun and napped in the car. That night, we had dinner at Keoki’s Paradise in Poipu, one of our favorites.

The next day, we hiked down to Secret Beach and hiked along the beach and lava rocks to a beautiful waterfall.  Then, that evening, we drove to Kukui’ula for dinner – Hawaiian hot dogs! Afterward, Noah loved the lit torches all around Poipu Shopping Village.  He constantly pointed to them and oooo’ed and ahhh’ed every time he saw one.  🙂

The second day after arriving on Kaua’i, we decided to go on a relatively moderate hike – the Kuilau Ridge Trail.  By moderate, I mean there was only about 650-700 feet of vertical elevation over 2 miles.  Doesn’t sound like a lot, does it?  Well, it was…it was almost all uphill in the first half of the hike, with a toddler on my back!

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The hike was a bit strenuous to us flat-landers, but the views were spectacular. We could see Mt Wai’ale’ale (the wettest place on earth) from the trail, along with miles of views on either side of the ridge, even down to the ocean.  We picnicked at the covered rest-stop at the top of the ridge; then, we hiked down to and turned around at the Opaeka’a Stream bridge.

The trail was about 4.5 miles round-trip, and we were pooped.  So, we grabbed some shave ice at the new Ono Ono Shave Ice stand in Kapa’a.  Turns out, this wouldn’t be the last time we visited this particular stand; it quickly became our favorite, and stopping here was mandatory each time we passed through!  🙂

I’ve been dreading a long write-up for these pics; so, instead of waiting any longer for my creativity to kick in, I’m just going to post them with a little commentary and finally get them online!  Without further ado, pics from the first day on Kaua’i with Noah…

(Be sure to click the links for more information/pictures/hidden surprises…)

After a long series of plane flights, cancellations, re-routes and luggage losses, we finally made it to Lihue Airport, Kaua’i.  We got a good night’s rest and woke up for breakfast at the Hanalei Wake-up Café.  Then, after breakfast, we made our way down to the beautiful Hanalei Bay, for Noah’s first introduction to the beach and the water.  He is a confirmed beach bum now and loved it after some initial surprise that the waves chase you, too!

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Desperately needing a high chair (and not having one anywhere nearby), we improvised and used beach towels to “tie” Noah down to the chair for feeding.  He didn’t seem to mind, as long as his mouth was full.  🙂

Friday, June 3rd, marked the end of nearly 8 months of Noah wearing a helmet for his plagiocephaly. So, now we’re finally helmet-free!!

Noah has managed to bang his head numerous times since removing the helmet, so I’m considering getting a football helmet for him, at least until he’s 17 or so. After that, it might be embarrassing… 😉

He did well, and we are just waiting to see him in recovery. He’s just waking from the anesthesia…