We flew to Kauai on Wednesday. We’ll be here for 9 days, 5 on the north shore (staying in Princeville) and 4 days farther south (outside of Lihue).

On our way north to Princeville, we stopped for supplies at Walmart in Lihue and then went on to find the BEST shave ice we’ve ever had, at Wailua Shave Ice.

The story behind Wailua Shave Ice is a good one. I watched the video (below) and thought more about the importance of finding balance in your life. We all want balance and it’s different for each of us.

Next we stopped to pick up dinner (for later) at Chicken In A Barrel in Kapa’a, where there is BBQ that even Texans can love. The sauces are superb!

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We got to Princeville and checked into a fantastic condo called the Nihilani, #22C. Click here to look at the slideshow. It is bigger than our house and the views are (dare I say better?) than the views in Sherman. This is a photo taken nearby.

We went to Hanalei Bay on Thursday. The crowds were light, the water was cooler than it was in Waikiki. Jack made sandcastles and we walked the beach looking for shells.

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We set up two umbrella structures! The one on the left is ours, from Walmart in Lihue. The condo came stocked with the chairs and smaller umbrella…

After a few hours on the beach, we found lunch at a lovely food truck that specializes in local, organic food, followed by more shave ice. (FYI: Wailua Shave Ice is better.)

We are enjoying the freely ranging chickens and roosters. I’m not sure I’d love them if they were all over Sherman, but maybe I would. Who can say?

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There are lots of nene (Hawaiian goose) on the golf course. And there are small lizards in great abundance.

Unfortunately Jack tore up his toe nail Thursday evening. He did learn a valuable life lesson about always watching where you put your feet when walking down stairs. It’s a lesson I’ve had to learn myself, the hard way. I’d share a picture but, no. He’ll be fine but we are taking it easy today (Friday). Tomorrow he should be better and we’ll be out and about.

Oh! I almost forgot to say that I went to a hot yoga class this morning. One woman said it was actually just warm yoga but, dang, I would not want it any hotter than it was. In fact, if I could have heard the instructor, I’d have followed along from the porch outside. I disliked it enough that I might just have to do it again :-).

Aloha!