Last Tuesday we were so happy to be home after a long day of traveling through the night! Our girls looked so cute in their souvenirs! We got Asher a cute ukulele, but sadly, in my sleep-deprived stupor, I didn’t get a picture of him playing with it. He just wanted to cuddle with me all day anyway. 🙂
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Day 5 was our last full day of activities. We went on a sunset cruise of the Na Pali coast which is inaccessible by foot because of its sheer cliffs that drop straight down thousands of feet. It is so beautiful there! We saw some of it from our helicopter ride, but sailing right next to it was next level.
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| our catamaran |
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| Just starting on our 4 hour tour |
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| do you see King Kong’s profile? |
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| another rainbow! |
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| sun is starting to set… |
I was most excited about getting sunset pictures in Kauai. The bummer was that we were staying on the side of the island where you could not see the sunset (because of the high mountains). I was so looking forward to the sunset cruise where I could get some beautiful shots with the ocean and sunset. “The shot” was totally going to be my new facebook profile picture! 😉 Well, that evening, the clouds took over, and this was the best we could get.
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| tiny sliver of sun setting….:( |
We love you! Happy 8th Father’s day to the world’s best!
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Day 4 brought more exploring the island (Limahuli Garden, a national tropical botanical garden and Hanalei beach) and ziplining at Princeville Ranch!
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| gardens |
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| more gardens |
On the way back from the garden, we found these tunnels right across from the prettiest beach on the island-Hanalei Beach.
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| beautiful |
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| inside |
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| cool silhouette of James taken in the tunnel/cave facing out |
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| James’ “Baywatch” picture. Check out that water!! |
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| Can you see James resting against the palm tree? |
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| ziplining! There was 9 ziplines total to go on! |
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| James zipping! |
On one of the ziplines, they asked us to scream the whole way to scare the other groups that were going before us.
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| blood curdling scream! |
After 8 ziplines, we took a swimming/snack break at a little watering hole with a small waterfall. James has no problem jumping in.
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| 20 feet deep we were told |
This was the scariest thing I did on the whole trip. I hate swimming where I know there are fish around. But, for the picture opp I did it.
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| I did not stay in that water, I kicked like crazy until I got out! |
Our last zipline was a racing one. It was 1500 feet long! Couples can also try to hold hands (we do have video of that!). James and I held hands at first, but then I had to take pictures of James while we were zipping along!
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| wheeeeeeee |
The day after I returned from Kauai, my friend posted this devotional site and when I read it, it was so applicable to me because I had just ziplined and I love the parallel she makes with putting your faith in the zipline wires vs. putting your faith in God. Read it here!
It rained A LOT there (everyday!), and we got poured on several times during the afternoon. It was all worth it though to see this beautiful rainbow that appeared right as we were leaving!
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| perfect way to end the day! |
Day 3 was spa day! We went to the Grand Hyatt (gorgeous hotel!!) to have a couples massage before the Luau. I really wanted to bring my camera into the couples massage bungalow. It was so beautiful, (and used in the movie Just Go With It with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler), but it was even too weird for me to be walking around the grounds in a bathrobe carrying my camera around my neck. 🙂
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| Grand Hyatt |
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| more Grand Hyatt |
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| before the massage, Grand Hyatt lobby |
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| Grand Hyatt beach |
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| ready to go to the Luau! |
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| I got a Henna “tattoo” of the state flower before the Luau started. Henna lasts for up to 3 weeks. |
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| the Hibiscus |
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| the real flower |
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| James enjoying an adult beverage in front of the hula girls |
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| Luau! |
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| This guy was crazy! I’ve never seen anyone throw and breathe as much fire as him! |
On day 2 we drove to Wailua Falls (seen on the television show in the early 80s, Fantasy Island).
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Then we went on a helicopter ride around the island! So beautiful to see the majesty of our Creator in nature!
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| ready for lift off! |
These next pictures were taken in the helicopter. Pretty nice view!
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| Kilauea Light House |
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| the large waterfall at the bottom was made famous in the movie, Jurassic Park! |
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| Waimea Canyon |
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| the Napali Coast |
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| After our ride, James HAD to catch the end of game 5 Mavericks v. Heat. I enjoyed a
frosty adult beverage! |
We are back and somewhat settled from our vacation to Kauai! This was my longest travel time ever and I sure felt the jet lag! We were 5 hours behind Texas time, and I’m sad to say in my old age, I fell asleep by 9 p.m. every night in Kauai! I woke up refreshed every morning though! 🙂
Day 1 we got off the plane and were expecting to be greeted by a beautiful hula girl putting a lei on us. (Why do I believe the movies?) Well, we got the leis…not sure about the “hula girl” expectation.
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| I laugh at this picture because James’ face is like “Is this a man or a woman?” Sorry, but it was hard to tell! |
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| It was indeed a woman. |
After we left the airport, we checked in at our hotel, the Kauai Beach Resort.
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| our hotel’s pool which we never went in! (If you don’t have kids with you, what do you do in a pool?) |
Then we checked out the beach and I made James take this picture with me.
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| awww, how sweet. Happy 10th anniversary! |
We went driving around after that to explore the island and saw this beautiful road. They call it the Tree Tunnel.
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| more exploring at one of the beaches |
We are in Hawaii now while you are reading this and celebrating our 10 year anniversary! We are ready to relax and be refreshed in God’s beautiful nature. James pointed me to Hebrews 4 earlier this week about Sabbath and how we can rest because the goal is already complete in Christ. Busyness is not godliness. Our society incorrectly treats exhaustion as a badge of honor, when in reality exhaustion is a sign of need. And the need is there to point us to Him!
Speaking of relaxing and resting well…my girls were showing me how it is done yesterday morning when I caught them playing this:
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| Ella massaging Rilyn’s arm |
Rilyn asks for sliced cucumbers as a snack normally, so I didn’t think anything strange when she asked for cucumbers this morning. Then I see this happening in the living room and they tell me they are playing “spa”! Hilarious. They must of seen it on TV because I have never put cucumbers on my eyes! I love having girls!
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| Ella’s turn! |
When all was done, Ella enjoyed the lotion a little too much, and proceeded to put so much lotion on herself that it was to the point that I couldn’t see her arm anymore. It was just gobs of lotion up and down. She will be very moisturized this week! 🙂
While I was at Mayfield Park on Sunday, I brought along Rilyn so I could take a couple pictures of her for her 7th birthday photo shoot. She wasn’t in the best of moods, (too hot! she said), but we got a couple of cute shots.
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| daddy’s brown eyes |
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| sass |
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As we were driving to church, I saw this wall, and pulled over much to Rilyn’s dismay.
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James made a sweet birthday video for Rilyn of all her birthday festivities last week!
Was it all just a dream?!? 😉
the paquettes 