We had a lot planned for our last full day on Kauai. First we went north through Hanalei and then on to the end of the road at Ke'e Beach. We stopped at Tunnels Beach, not a place for the girls to swim. See those signs? We promised not to put the girls in the water where the surf was not safe.

They played on the beach for a while and then we headed farther down the road to Ke'e Beach, where the road ends.

We did not leave the condo intending to swim today so we were not lathered completely up with sunscreen. And we did not have swimsuits on. Our plan was to check out beaches for tomorrow, our last most-of-a-day on Kauai so it was easy to say, no, you cannot swim here. I would not have been thrilled to see them in the water here anyway. The surf was nice, nice, nice – then this big set of waves came in and about washed our flip flops out to sea. People die here and we have no intention of losing either girl on this trip.

We left after about 30 minutes. Tomorrow we'll spend several hours at Hanalei Beach Park – closer, safer, nice. We are hoping for another clear day!

After lunch we were taken on a special tour of the Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Gardens. Trudy, who was in my class last weekend, is married to Sam who is a volunteer and tour leader at the this marvelous botanical garden. Rather than tell you about it, I wish you would click here to get the real information. What an amazing place and how lucky we were to get a special tour!

They have populations of nene, Laysan albatross, and Hawaiian Moorhens. Here's an albatross in the air…

There are oh so many wonderful plants. The sculptures are marvelous. If you come to Kauai, the Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Garden is worth a visit.

Then we went to the Kiluea Lighthouse. Here's Elanor in the door of the lighthouse. You cannot go up but sometimes you can see whales out in the ocean around the point. We didn't.

Next we went to play miniature golf. Neither girl had golfed before and Steve and I rarely playe. None of us was remotely near par but Elanor and Steve each had a hole in one. Lucky shots, both! Here's Lola, who posed for us before swinging…

We're in for night—showered and fed. The bags are mostly packed. Note to parents: our gift to you is a suitcase full of mostly dirty clothes :-). No time for laundry here.

We leave Kauai tomorrow night at 9:50 PM. When we land at LAX we have 45 minutes to make our flight to Dallas. If we miss it, it will be at least 2 days before there is another flight with seats. Steve says not to worry, we'll make it. I'm trying not to worry and am thinking of what we can do in the LA area for two days.

I've emailed my cousin in Poway to see if she's home now, just in case we get stuck. And Trudy did point out the Disneyland is right there, near LA. Honestly, Disneyland does not sound bad at all. Do any of you know of an inexpensive hotel we might visit for a couple of nights if we get stuck? Steve and I really don't want to be stuck in LA but I have to say that the very idea of a visit to Disneyland has me less wound up about it. If it wasn't so expensive I might be happy at the thought 🙂 but we both have work and really need to get home…

We went back to Poipu Beach today. We rented snorkel gear on the way for Steve and the girls. It was a lot windier and there were fewer people on the beach.

Steve and the girls went out together once and then Elanor's mask fell apart. That was fine because honestly it was better that one girl went out with Steve at a time.

Note to parents: They both like snorkeling! Elanor was a bit undone initially about sharing space with fish but she got over it. Lola just got into it right out of the gate.

The girls buried me in the sand. I was eventually covered up to my neck.

There was a fair amount of laying on the beach…

If you are standing about where we were and look back at land, this is what you see. Gotta love the blue sky!

We may not go back to Poipu because there is Craft Show on the Beach on Saturday and it just sounds like a bad thing traffic and parking wise. So it was nice to be there today. After the beach we went by Spouting Horn one more time. It spouted, but not in this shot.

When we got back to the condo, Steve went to the grocery store and we cleaned up. Steve is the one keeping us fed, 3 times a day. Gotta love him! He took this photo so I could show his work space.

Tonight we are going to watch the Parent Trap with Haley Mills! I do so love Haley Mills. More tomorrow!

We covered ourselves with sunscreen and got an early start for Poipu. Stopped at Walmart for a hat for Elanor (and me) and more wooden plates for Mom. (Note to mom, you may only get 3 plates. I suppose I'll have to come back!)

Got a great parking spot at Poipu but did not take a picture of it. After testing out 2 spots on the beach, we settled on a third. The wind was to our back and there was a great, safe place for the girls to get in the water and play in the sand. We buried them but they didn't stay down for long. Heads on the sand… always a fun thing to see. The folks walking by laughed. 

Not that far down the point from us were these rocks. Elanor has water shoes but Lola and I do not which is just fine. We didn't go too far. Note to parents: no danger of being washed out to sea at this spot. The girls sort of wanted to go farther and I said 'no'. 

Both girls are all about getting in the water, head and all! Neither of the girls seem to mind the fact that this water is on the cold-ish side. Steve says it's not cold at all. Men and kids must be impervious to the cold. I got in up to my waist today and felt fulfilled. It is warmer after you've been in once and I've sort of promised to get all the way in tomorrow. 

I took a movie with my iPhone. I do so love technology! It was so bright I could hardly see the screen but got a good movie. Someday, when these girls are my age, I hope they can still pull this up and remember this trip! 

We got on the road at 8:30 this morning and headed to Waimea Canyon. Steve and I have been to the canyon before several times and we figured that the girls should at least see it. They have come all this way after all. That said, it's a 2 hour drive each way and I wasn't completely sure they would love the day. But they did!

We were blessed with another dry day, even at high altitude. We have pants and jackets and cameras in hand when we got out and over-looked…

A very nice man volunteered to take our picture. Lots of wind. Luckily my hair was mostly glued in place.

I like these unposed photos taken from behind. A person's personality comes through in a way that it doesn't when they are smiling at the camera. It's unguarded.

This is the Grand Canyon of Hawaii and near the rainiest spot on the planet. It's nice to have enough sun to see your shadow.

We went to another overlook where you can sometimes se the ocean. Not today. It was wetter and colder and less clear. I cajoled a big smile out of Elanor.

Lola will offer a smile for the camera in a flash…

I am the mother of boys and girls in general sort of crack me up. Lola and Elanor are different but mesh very well. I'm enjoying being around little girls. They see the world differently than do boys. For one thing, not every stick is a weapon.

On the way off the mountain we stopped at this cool place…

You park off the road. The water was flowing and it was an amazing spot for a phot. Lola said that in this photo it looked like I had photoshopped in a different background. An astute observation.

I got these shots while the girls were digging up a bit of red dirt. Isn't that a great backdrop?!

We got down in time to eat lunch in Waimea. Got ice cream, stamps, boxes, and found a ladies room. All good things. Then it was off to Spouting Horn. We didn't get a great photo. We had time to stop at Poipu Beach. We were unprepared for the beach and it was late in the day so we stopped knowing we'd be there for only about 30 minutes. The girls were very happy.

Tomorrow is a Poipu day. We'll go prepared to spend several hours. And depending on how well we apply sunscreen, we'll go back on Thursday, and Saturday morning. It's an hour's drive each way but the beach is so worth it.

Now, just a note to crack up the adults… Steve and I are each reading a Stephaie Plum novel on the beach. Years ago Steve ran out of something to read on a trip and I gave in one of these. Darned if they are a fun beach read even for a guy. Every book is basically the same and who cares if there is sand in the book. If I could eat wheat I'd be craving donuts…

After I finished the last post the girls and I went for a walk. We left Steve slaving over the stove. He is such a good guy! Gotta share these photos because the sun was shining and the parents of the girls are going to want to see them…

This fountain is by the Princeville shopping center… Great with the blue sky behind.

A very nice lady stopped to take fountain photos and she took our picture. We were not exactly dressed for the photo op but I'm happy to have this picture of me and the girls together.

Seriously, don't these girls know how to pose for a picture!

Dinner was great. We had cookies after. Popcorn soon because we have just turned on Adventures in Babysitting – a classic from the 1980s.

Almost forgot… we took shadow photos:

We slept in. No, wait—the plan was to sleep in. But we went to bed before 9:00 PM and the girls were up before 6:00 AM. They were really nice and let us sleep but we were up with sun before 7:00.

It took a while to get on the road even if we did get up early. It's not exactly like herding cats, but it takes us a while to pull it together to get on the road. It's not the girls' fault, I am one of the cats to be herded.

It was much clearer today! We spent the morning in Lihue and I took this photo on the drive. We went shopping at Hilo Hattie's—THE place for Hawaiian souvenirs. And, yes, the girls opened an oyster and, yes, they are each going home with a nice pink pearl necklace. The girls and I had fun looking at just about everything while Steve went to Radio Shack for a speaker cable that we left at home. 

We were back at the condo for lunch and then we headed to Anini Beach (my first time there). When the sun was out it was nice and warm but it was really, really windy today. The girls didn't mind but I about froze.

The girls messed around a bit with the boogey board but this is not a beach for boogeying.

Note to parents: See the waves out there in the distance? That's where the shore break is. From the beach to there the water is shallow and there just aren't waves of any height even with wind gusts up to 30 mph.

The girls spent a lot of time digging in the sand.

They dug a long pit that filled with water. By the time we left the tide was rolling into their pond. On the way home we stopped for cookies (regular and gluten free) and smoothies. And now Steve is cooking dinner and the girls and I are chilling. We may do some jewelry making soon! Or not. We're sort of tired. Movie and popcorn are on the agenda for tonight. I'm hoping that we can stay awake until at least 9:30!