The Platt Family

Friday, August 2, 2013

Kauai, day 3!

And we're on day 3! We tried going to the lighthouse in the morning, but discovered that it wasn't open. Instead we found a cool little marketplace and spent far too much time chatting with a bird. Yes, a bird.

But before that bird, there was a bird on our patio. At first I thought it was hurt....but it turns out that mourning doves in Hawaii get cold easily. But oh my, look how fluffed up he is!!

....and then there was this whole laughter over it's feathers being ruffled.....guess you had to be there.

The lighthouse.....way out there....

Two little girls were NOT happy about the lighthouse being closed, but we did get to see some 'very rare' Nene geese. Actually, we saw TONS of them every day. Apparently they like living on the golf course. And they can be loud in the morning.

This is the ONLY family picture we managed to get the ENTIRE trip. At least it's a good one!

So this is the bird we chatted with. It was very silly. And somewhere there is a video of me laughing and the bird imitating me perfectly. Perhaps it's been accidentally destroyed maliciously? No, I just can't find it....

So we went back to the hotel and spent the day in the pool. The girls had a BLAST!! Part of the pool was only 3 feet deep, so Ashley could play with her cousins and swim around without floaties on....TOTALLY COOL!!!!

We did dinner at our place that night, then we sang to Grandpa (we finally got him a cake) with a bit of a twist.

We didn't have candles, so Grandpa suggested that everyone put a finger in the cake! Yes, we all giggled through the song!

Grandma also made special Hawaii clothes for all the kids, which they wore that night! And then piled on top of Grandma and Grandpa for pictures!!

Then we went to a Luau show. Well, almost all of us went. Danielle got a touch of heat exhaustion, so Bob stayed at the hotel with her. (Next morning she was fine!)

Ashley waiting for the show to start...

Once I finally figured out my camera, I got some good pictures. I'll spare you the several dozen I took so that Danielle could see it all!

And home again to sleep VERY well.....

Kauai, Day 2!

Did I mention that the 'rooms' were GORGEOUS?!?!?! We had three total. Dad and Carol had a 1-bedroom suite (Julie bunked on the sofa bed in the living room) that had a wonderful kitchen....and that room had a door into Beth's studio, that also had a kitchen. Those two rooms had walk-out patios onto the lawn. So pretty! Bob and I also had a 1-bedroom suite (the girls shared the sofa bed) and our patio was also on the ground level....on the 13th green of the Princeville golf course. I'm totally blanking on the real name of the course. It was amazing. Yes, Bob brought his clubs. We could also see the sunset over the course.

Anyways, Day 2. Grandpa took the girls for a special trip -- Horseback riding!!! We also got to see peacocks, a very funny goat, the coolest dog, and a pretty cool parrot.

Girl peacock...

Trying on Grandpa's hat over their riding helmets...

Chickens. Everywhere.

Boy peacock.

Funny goat.

Danielle just up on the horse while Grandpa and Ashley watch...

Yeah!!! Happy girl!

Ashley smiles!!

The coolest dog....and Ashley telling it to drop it's toy.

Ashley's turn on the horse!!

Needless to say, they had a BLAST!!! We then went back to the hotel and spent the afternoon at the pool, while Bob took Dad out to play golf for his birthday....on the Prince course!!! Not the one on our side of the hotel, the other one that is even more spectacular!

Documentation. They were actually there!

...and looking pretty happy about it!

Random view off one of the fairways...

I believe this was the tee box and the CANYON beyond was the hazard to hit it over? Yep, crazy!

The birthday man in action!

Why yes, I chipped out of the jungle today....how was your round?

They had a GREAT time, lots of stories, lots of beautiful scenery. After they got back, Julie made us a spaghetti dinner that night -- my girls LOVE spaghetti. And then we all slept like rocks.

Hawaii!!! (2 days of flying and Day 1 on the island)

In April (yes, THAT long ago) we went to HAWAII!!!! Dad and Carol decided that the family needed some time together, and what better place than Kauai? So Bob and I packed up the girls and headed for the west coast....

This was on our layover....they tried to catch some sleep. It didn't really work. Anyways, we finally landed at LAX. Made it to Beth's house, turned in (they were all already asleep), woke up, piled into the shuttles, and made it back to the same airport.....less than 12 hours later. And boarded the plane for HAWAII! No pics from that trip. All I remember is that we all slept at some point. Then we hopped over to Kauai, rented our cars, and drove up to the hotel. Dropped off our bags and decided that the hotel restaurant was about as far as we could handle. It was super yummy -- we visited again later on in the week!

Wednesday morning we woke up, had breakfast in our room, and then Bob and girls and I headed out for a trip to Ke'e beach. Bob and I actually watched the sunset on this beach on our honeymoon, so it's pretty special to us! 30 seconds after we arrived, Ashley was covered in sand. How that happens is a mystery to me.

And yes, we still had a little bit of 'sleepy eyes'....

But sand is FUN! The girls got right to work building castles!!

Cheese!

What better backdrop can you have?!?!? The Napali coastline is SOOOO pretty!!

Yay, a picture with Daddy!

After spending a couple hours as the beach, we packed it up and headed back to the hotel...where a 'surprise' waited for us. Carol rented a lanai (read cabana) on the pool for us to celebrate Dad's birthday!! (My dad, Grandpa Jim.)