One Final Hawaiian Memory

Just a few weeks before we left,

Rick decided he would like to go Deep Sea Fishing

while we were in Hawaii.

If they could get six of us to agree, 

they could have the boat all to themselves.

Rick was in...Scott and Austin were in,

Kerri and Leisa decided they wanted to go,

so Rick talked Papa into coming along and they had their six!

Now, I had absolutely no desire to go deep sea fishing at all,

so I never even considered it...

I would gladly stay home and keep Jackson

so they could enjoy their fun.

The gang left the house at 4:30 AM so they could make it

to the dock in time to head out for a day of fishing.

Their boat was the Ke Kila and there were two fishermen 

on board that were their guides for the day.

They headed out and part of the "reward" of the day was catching our dinner.

The guys told them that they would go out and make sure they caught their haul

which was about 30 pounds of fish and then once they made

sure they had caught dinner, they would go out farther and see if 

they could catch "the big one!"

Here is Leisa with one of her fish that she caught.

I think this was called a Skip Jack.

Austin's line was next and he pulled in another 

Skip Jack.

He did not stop long enough to pose for a picture with his fish.

They quickly caught their limit and then headed out for deeper water to 

find the bigger fish.  After about four hours they had still not caught any big fish...

Austin and Kerri had started to get a little sea sick and Leisa

was feeling a little panicked because one of the fishermen

told them that the water below was about 4,500 feet deep.

Leisa does not swim...

So, Rick told them that since they had caught their dinner,

they were happy and they could all head back...

but as they were heading back...

They caught the BIG ONE!!!

They were all so excited.

For about 30 minutes they all took turns

trying to reel in the fish.

They were all so excited to see what was on the end of 

the line!  The fishermen told them that as soon as it came over

 the edge of the boat to quickly get out of the way.

The fish are big...with big  fins that will take your leg off if not careful!

When he hit the deck it was a 170 lb. 

Yellow Fin Tuna!

Then a few minutes later they caught another one!

It was about 100 lb. Yellow Fin Tuna.

The haul for the day.

The little ones are the fish that they filleted 

and the gang brought home for dinner.

And the two Big fish on top

were taken to market and sold to the local restaurants.

The Mighty Fishermen of the Day!

Kerri, Pappa, Rick, Scott, Austin and Leisa.

They all had so much fun...even with some 

seasickness and a little moment of panic,

it was a great memory and great experience with

friends and family!

Worst fun EVER!

So, yesterday I told you about a 

really FUN day in Hawaii...

today, a not so fun day.

I do not know why I thought that 

taking a catamaran ride on the ocean

would be anything like riding around on the lake...

but I did...

and I was wrong...

SO WRONG!!!!

Originally, we were scheduled to take this little

trip on Monday after we arrived in Kauai,

but it was cancelled due to high seas...

The morning started out all fun and games,

and then we left the Harbor.

It had rained earlier in the morning and was still very cloudy

and rained on us a little during the day.

We set out with Captain Sundown for a 

six hour snorkel and sail...

He was telling us that there was some bad weather out

in the ocean that may make us come back early.

but he was going to try and let us see as much as we could

depending on how the water was...

that should have been my clue to abandon ship!

But I tried to be positive.

Leisa and Rick had taken this trip before

and she was willing to do it again,

so it couldn't be that bad...Right?

About 30 minutes in.

I was ready to go back!

Scott and Austin became the photographers

while we were on the trip,

cause I was many, many shades of green on this

part of the trip!

I had called the doctor and gotten sea sick patches

for the guys when they went on their deep sea fishing trip,

but NONE of us thought to use them on this trip!

BIG MISTAKE!

HUGE!

The beautiful Na Pali Coast

There were a lot of little caves along the shoreline...

and little baby waterfalls sprinkled through

the mountain side...

(or so I was told...I was hanging off the back of the boat

trying not to hurl...)

More of the mountains...

and caves along the shore on the way to snorkel.

When we pulled up to our snorkel spot, lots of little 

fishes came up to greet us...

and see if we would feed them.

Austin was finned up and out in the water before we knew it!

Rick, Michele and Austin went out to the natural reef and saw

all kinds of amazing fish.

Austin really enjoyed snorkeling on this trip.

Coming back to the boat and not wanting to miss a thing...

Back on the boat and we were ready to head back to shore.

At this point in the sail we had to put our 

cameras away.  The guys on the boat said that there is a 

wet side on the ride back and a wetter side...

we quickly found out that it was all wet!

My drugs had finally taken effect and I was feeling a little better.

And then I just spent the rest of the ride back longing to be dry.

It was cold...

it was wet...

it was miserable...

When I started feeling better,

I came to the realization that this ride was

NOTHING like Leisa's last ride...

she would have NEVER agreed to do this again..

And I was right...

She was miserable, too.

I think by the time we got back to shore,

everyone on the ship was green.

We finally made it back to dry land and marked

this little experience off as one we will NEVER do again...

except for Austin...he had a blast and loved every minute of it!

Most Fun EVER!

One of our excursions while on Hawaii

was to go Zip Lining!!!!

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!

If you ever have the chance...take it!

I had said I wanted to try it...which made Austin want to do it...

which brought along Scott, 

cause he wanted to see if I would actually do it!

We made our reservations at Princeville Ranch

and headed over one morning around 10.

Sign a little release...

you won't sue us if we kill you....

and we were off!

Getting fitted for our harness

Helmet on...Check!  We are ready to go!

Emmanuel (above) and Dave (below)

were our guides for the day.

They were hilarious!

We had so much fun cutting up with them,

but felt completely safe the entire time.

After some last minute instructions and a safety check...

Austin was on his way....

Oh, yeah, he was having FUN!!!

Austin may not get very excited about a lot,

or show how much he is enjoying something without

pulling it out of him,

but this day, the happiness was written all over his face.

He was having a BLAST!

Michele was having fun, too.

Princeville Ranch is a working cattle ranch on the 

island of Kauai.  There were 2,500 acres to enjoy.

They also have horseback riding and waterfall hikes

around the ranch.

Here comes Scott in for a landing...

Here I am zipping through the trees!

SO MUCH FUN!!!!

There was also a long suspension bridge...

and yes, Dave liked to start shaking the bridge 

when you were about 1/2 way across.

We all made it across without falling!

The morning was a little cloudy,

but the temperature was amazing.

Not too hot....just perfect.

Waving to the ones waiting their turn...

Everywhere you looked was 

beautiful, lush vegetation.

We finally came to the end of our tour...

King Kong.

The longest zip line on the island.

1,200 feet of zip lining FUN!

We had to climb up to the three story tall

platform to take off.

Austin and Michele paired up to take on the last line.

It is a double line so you can zip with a friend.

While we were waiting our turn to climb up to the top,

we watched Rick's 70 year old momma take her turn on 

another line close by!

She was having a blast!

Looking off the edge of the platform on King Kong.

The little platform at the bottom is where we are heading!

I have to admit...for the first time all day.

I thought 

"What on earth am I doing..."

But Austin had already gone down, so I had

to get to him!

(Dave, Austin, Me, Michele, Emmanuel, and Scott)

We all had so much fun!

I think this was the highlight of our vacation!

MOST FUN EVER!

Lighthouses and Luaus

From our house on Anini Beach we could see the 

Kilauea Point Lighthouse so we decided one day 

to take the quick drive over and check it out.

The area is a bird sanctuary and the area surrounding the 

lighthouse is just covered with beautiful birds.

A little education along the way is always good.

The lighthouse was originally built in 1913.

And even though we saw a light from our house 

every night...it is no longer a 

"working lighthouse"

You can still see the big light,

but this little one sitting out front is 

what actually lights up the shoreline.

I got a little tickled at Austin, because he was really excited to 

see a working lighthouse, but when we got down there and saw

what it was he dropped his shoulders and said

"I feel like I have been robbed"

I guess we need to get on the hunt for an actual 

"working lighthouse" and make the trip!

There were several species of birds that make their home on the 

side of the cliffs around the lighthouse.

It was really beautiful to see.

A quick family shot...

it was a little windy out on the point.

Working or not 

it was beautiful to see.

The ocean was a beautiful blue and we enjoyed watching

the waves crash on the rocks...

And even caught a glimpse of a large sea turtle floating off

the shore... it had to have been big, because we were very far away...

One last photo from the road and we were off...

This little guy hopped down on the ground and looked like

he was posing for a picture.  His little red head was beautiful.

Next we were on to our Luau.

Smith's Tropical Paradise.

It was funny to be going to an authentic 

Hawaiian Luau with a name like Smith...

but it really was a family affair and they were all 

originally from Hawaii.

There were a TON of Peacocks and Peahens on the property

and they were doing their own thing and did not seem to mind

that we were there at all.

We all stopped and took a family photo on this little

red bridge and then headed off to walk around the grounds before dinner.

This little Peacock was looking for a girlfriend and almost would not 

let me off the bridge...

Austin really enjoyed watching the Peacocks.  He would stand back

and watch the Peacocks follow around a Peahen and try to fan his 

feathers and shake them to get their attention.

One Peahen in particular caught his attention. 

She would run off any other Peahens that were around this one

certain Peacock, but when she was the only one around and he 

would flaunt his feathers for her, she would turn her backside to 

him and walk away or act like he was not even there.

Austin watched quietly for a while and from a safe distance

and then turned to Scott and explained what she was doing.

Scott started to laugh, put his arm around Austin's shoulder and said,

"Son...you can learn a lot from a Peacock..."

Austin looked at him a little confused and Scott said,

"It is like that for men and women of all kinds in this world...

we try and try to impress them and they just ignore us..."

So, with that, Austin's first lesson on dating was in the books!

Hopefully, he will have better luck with the ladies than his little

Peacock friend did.

Jackson and Papa enjoyed watching the big fish that were swimming 

in the pond.

A view of the lovely lake area.

And more of Aunt Leisa's favorite flowers...

I can smell them now.

Before dinner we enjoyed watching the Imu Ceremony

where they uncovered the yummy little piggy

that had been cooking underground all day.

The Imu is the underground oven where they cook the 

Kalua Pork that we ate at our Luau.

They uncovered the underground oven and 

removed the leaves and rocks they used to steam

the pig and then we were off to dinner.

Pender...Table for 14...

Here is a shot of our group waiting our turn to go 

up and fill our plates up!

Jackson posed for a quick picture with Aunt Leisa and 

then we were off to an amazing show that took us 

through the cultural history of Hawaii.

It was a wonderful day in the islands...

We still have a few more adventures before we

have to head back home...

come on back and see what fun we find next.