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Trains! If there’s a train, my boys will be riding it! We took a ride on the Kauai Plantation Railroad; antique, open air train cars through a beautiful fruit plantation. Plus the boys got to hop off and feed the pigs. Everyone had a great time- especially mommy, daddy and Aunt Kiki who popped in for an impromptu rum tasting after the ride! 🙂

Early one morning we arranged a babysitter for the boys and the adults enjoyed a wet, wild and gorgeous bot ride along the Napali Coast. Despite the large swells, we were even able to venture into some sea caves a bit. And we capped off our trip with a little snorkeling, complete with a few sea turtles! A highlight for everyone! 

A road trip over to Waimea Canyon! Our initial plan was to go for a hike that overlooked the Napali Coast and the Cathedrals. So we started with Teddy on my back and Andrew walking. We took about 50 steps, looked at the decline, wet mud, 10-inch trail and 3,000 foot drop-off and quickly turned back. #notforkids. So Aunt Kiki braved the trail and we waited at the top. All the boys- Andy especially- were happy to enjoy some snacks and wait patiently instead of hike! Next time! 

Even from the lookout the views were pretty amazing! 

We couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see Kauai from the air! Mountains, waterfalls, Waimea Canyon- the 2nd largest canyon after the Grand Canyon, 3,000 foot walls, the wettest place on the planet, the classic opening scene from Jurassic Park and the infamous Napali Coast all in 60 minutes. ALL- including Tedders- hopped on the blue helicopter for a flight!

How’d we do!?! Nobody got sick, Kelly and Andy took 5,000 photos and Andrew liked most of it. There were some tears at the end but overall he was a rockstar! 

The view.   

We spent the first week of our trip on Kauai high up on the north shore in Princeville near the end of the road in Hanalei. This location is a bit off the beaten path from other tourists which made for a super relaxed atmosphere. A welcome break from the hustle and bustle of our regular lives. Oh and the views! This greeted us each morning on our balcony. Seriously, does it get any more spectacular?!?

We filled our days digging in the sand, walking along the beach and playing in the pool with paradise as the backdrop. And how special is it that we got to enjoy our Hawaiian adventures with Papa, CoCo and Aunt Kiki!   

Part brave, part totally insane, but we packed our bags and flew 12 hours to Hawaii with a 20 month and 4 year old… and lived to tell the tale! Honestly, the kids did AMAZING! I was SOOOO impressed and proud of their ability to go with the flow and amend through a nearly 20 hour travel day.

Truth be told, Andrew was living his best life on the plane! I told him that his job was to eat snacks and watch movies. Challenge accepted! He LOVED watching back to back movies and TV shows with no objection from Mom and Dad. At one point he had my and his TV going with his shows and he’d just plug his headphones in wherever he wanted. 12 hours and no naps. I’m not even sure he even blinked! 

Teddy, not shockingly, was a bit harder to entertain. But he slept, he ate, we played cars, he colored, walked around and flirted with the stewardesses.

We had a direct flight from Newark to Honolulu. And when we arrived relatively unscathed, I thought I had won gold in the parenting Olympics. I was texting all my mommy friends bragging of my travel victory. All that laid in front of us was a 25 minute puddle jumper flight from Oahu to Kauai. After 12 hours, how hard could this be!?! FAMOUS. LAST. WORDS.

To summarize, Teddy vomited 3 times, each time on Andy and once on the people behind us. Andrew finally fell deep asleep and then had an utter meltdown when we had to wake him up. He refused to walk off the plane and I had to drag him (because Andy was covered in vomit) off the plane screaming. Moments before the ‘massacre.’

We changed clothes, cleaned ourselves off with an excessive amount of wet wipes, picked up our rental car and drove our tired butts to the hotel. But we’re in Hawaii…so life can’t be that bad! ALOHA!