Well, after a long time of silence and only belly pictures, Patrick and Ashley decided they needed to do something exciting for the blog.... OFF TO HAWAII AND DON'T FORGET THE CAMERA
First Stop KAUA'I
Here's our hotel the Koa Kea on Poipu beach. Here's our view from the balcony
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| here's the view of our beach! |
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| Of course no babymoon would be complete without some pictures of a beautiful pregnant woman strutting her stuff on the beach. |
Sometimes 6 hour time changes mean getting up at 5 a.m. whether you like it or not.... the plus side? SUNRISES
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| ashley checking out the sunrise from the south side of kaua'i |
AND OF COURSE, 17 WEEK BELLY PICTURES!!!!
Our first activity while visiting Kaua'i was a catamaran trip along the Nepali Coast. It was only minutes in when we realized that this was going to be an awesome trip. Even though they are usually not around this time of year, we spotted a Humpback whale!!
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| the tail shot! |
And no boat ride in hawaii would be complete without a spinner dolphin escort...
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| AND THEY'RE OFF! THE KENTUCKY DERBY OF DOLPHIN RACES |
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| even though our boat usually has 50-60 guests, when they heard that Ashley was coming, they cleared their books! |
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| "keyhole" on Niihau was our snorkeling stop for the day |
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After a long day at sea, Hawaiin Shave Ice is a NECESSITY!
Our next exciting trip was a downhill bike ride down waimea canyon... we have never used so much brake while biking!!!
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| the grand canyon of hawaii! |
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| the trip down the canyon was filled with stops to smell the local flowers, herbs, spices, and other common ingredients that we recognize in everyday products |
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| the one thing the grand canyon doesn't have..... a view of the ocean! |
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| our hogs |
When we had seen Kaua'i by water we were amazed, when we saw it from land we were exhilerated.... only thing left was a view from the air!!!
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| about to load into our afternoon vehicle |
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| no that's not a fanny pack.... forget a parachute.... these are life jackets |
First stop on the flight is JURASSIC PARK FALLS!(otherwise known as manawaiopuna falls) LOOK OUR FOR DINOSAURS!!!
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| check out those booties.... READY FOR SURGERY! |
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| Patrick was not wise enough to hide his jetlag eyes with sunglasses! |
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| in Kaua'i, one falls is not good enough... you need a waterfall that leads to another waterfall.... that leads to another waterfall |
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| more waimea canyon pics |
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| see if YOU can count all the waterfalls.... Hint... I see 8 |
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| back to the nepali coast |
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| WE SURVIVED! |
Well we thought we had done it all... .but then realized that we hadn't even attempted to explore Kaua'i on foot! FIND ME A HIKING TRAIL!!! off to the hanakapiai trail. (side note... there was a hollywood thriller made about this hiking trail called "Perfect Getaway". Don't worry though, everyone survived this thriller)
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| of course the pregnant lady is already blasting up the mountain.... no baby can slow HER down! |
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| we thought that this was as good as it gets, so we stopped for a photo moment on the north shore of kaua'i... what a treat we were in for. |
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| when hiking isn't enough, we fill water bottles and lift weights... |
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| Baby's first hiking trip! WHAT A VIEW! |
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| gratuitous belly shot? YES PLEASE |
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| the trail waps up and down these rocky hills and ends at a 'secret' beach seen in the lower left of the picture. |
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| WAY too unsafe to swim, but worth the hike to see... ashley counting the number of people killed by venturing out into the waves at hanakapiai beach |
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| cat's LOVE hiking.... allegedly |
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| when visitors come to the beach, they leave well balanced stacks of stones for their families |
Everyone knows that pregnant mommies need multiple bathroom stops.... Ashley was not pleased to find out that this port-a-potty was her stop.
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| the face says it all. It may be the bathroom with the best view in Hawaii, however the smell was too much to overcome. |
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| you can appreciate the undulating path as it travels down this little valley and up the other side along the red dirt trail you can see in the hillside |
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| people will do anything to fit a car into a parking spot near the beach... even if it means they won't be able to pull back out because their bumper is holding the car in the air. |
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| our favorite spot to relax at the hotel... forget lounge chairs on the beach with sand in your face... it's like laying on a putting green. all the benefits of the beach without the sand! |
Off to watch the sunset
And then up the next morning to watch the sunrise....
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| the best souvenir's are FREE! |
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| spouting horn blowhole |
Even though we had already seen Kaua'i by bike, we wanted to give it a try.... on a new bike....
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| co-pilot ashley keeping the engine warm |
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| nothing like bbq cooked in a trash can.... I'm sorry... the correct word is 'chicken in a barrel" |
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| the 'barrels' |
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| remnants of a pier with a priceless view |
Sometimes in order to appreciate what you've got, you need to stop by other resorts and sample the goods. We visited turtle bay resort on the northshore to test our their hammocks
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| you may recognize these suites from 'forgetting sarah marshall' |
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| north shore cuisine... manapua (bread stuffed with red char-siu pork) |
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| chocolate haupia pie and some mango soda.... desert from heaven... |
LAST STOP IN KAUA'I... let's check out the entrance to the harbor.... aka lets crash the Marriot golf course and see their view!
Before we knew it, our peacefull Kaua'i vacation was over, and it was off to Honolulu... the south beach of the pacific.
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| residents and significant others pose for a beach pic |
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| walking on the beach is hard... sometimes you need a lift |
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| our view as we leave the hotel |
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| waikiki by night |
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| residents |
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| belly pic group shot? |
Of course we made sure that Pear Harbor was a stop on our journey
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| the arizona as she lays today |
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| oil glimmering on top of the water above the arizona |
Last stop... THE TOP OF DIAMONDHEAD!
