A family vacation

The trip to Kaua'i was a fantastic family vacation that I have such wonderful memories of. Even with an almost-12-month-old, we were able to do so much and see so many beautiful things. We took a hike in the gorgeous Waimea Canyon (above). We went to lots of beaches, as shown yesterday, sometimes to sit and relax and soak up some rays, sometimes to take a long walk along a beautiful shore. We saw crabs and sea urchins and lots and lots of chickens (there are wild chickens all over the island, apparently let loose by a hurricane in the early 1990s). We ate at many different restaurants and got to experience plenty of local culture in the mornings at the coffee shop where we often had breakfast and coffee.

The people on Kaua'i are so nice. Not just the locals, but other tourists too. We went one day to the Kilauea Lighthouse. Generally, we don't carry cash and just pay for things with a debit card. We were disappointed to find that the admission to the lighthouse had to be paid in cash only. Then the woman in front of us in line offered to pay our way so we could go in! I'm fairly certain she was another tourist, just helping out a fellow traveler. It was so kind and a great example of the kindness of strangers. The woman in the booth taking the admission money smiled and said, "That's Aloha!" What a happy place.

We also did quite a bit of shopping (mostly just looking). There are lots of small art galleries and we were able to purchase a piece of art done by a local artist. It's being shipped to us and I can't wait to get it and hang it on my wall as a memento of our trip. I'm happy to have taken lots of photos so that some day Miss can look at them and hear the stories of her first trip, and ours, to Hawaii.