H A W A I I

Hawaii! Hawaii! We went to Hawaii!

It was THE most fabulous trip we’ve ever taken (and we’ve taken lots of trips!) and totally worth all the drama it took to get there. We went to the island of Kauai, which – for very good reason – is being super cautious about allowing visitors from the mainland. The island was totally closed to travelers for many months, and then the reopening date kept getting pushed back. Our trip (which we booked in May) was scheduled for October 27th, and Kauai was supposed to reopen in August…then September. Then October 1st. All got pushed back. Blessedly, the island reopened to travelers with negative C tests on October 15th, BUT if at any time the case count on the entire island rose to FOUR, it would be immediately closed again. And given how quickly cases have risen everywhere else, we just had no idea until literally the MORNING OF whether our trip was actually going to happen. Add in scheduling tests, confusion over which type of test would be accepted, contradictory info on the official State of Hawaii website, waiting for the negative results to come in before our flight, packing and planning and doing alllll the trip things for a trip that might not even happen, and, oh, schlepping two small children through this circus….it was a lot of stress and anticipation!

But it was oh.

So.

Worth.

It.

Kauai is the most magical, most sacred, most beautiful, most incredible place ever. We are so beyond lucky and grateful that we got to go! We’re already dreaming and scheming about how we can go back and stay there long-term one day.

(I’m sold for when the kids are a little bit older and can carry their own stuff. 😉 Taking two small children to the beach every day with alllllllll the kid stuff is a big task!)

Since we got back, several times a week, Sawyer digs out his rash guard and swim trunks and hands them to us. It’s actually a little heartbreaking that we can’t take him to the beach every time he wants to go! He is such a little water baby and those blond curls that sprung to major life in Kauai? Hello, natural surfer kid!!

We were there for nine perfect days, which gave us plenty of time to take in the whole island. We stayed in Lihue right near the airport, and while I wasn’t in love with Lihue itself, it was a great central location for exploring the south side, the east coast, and the north side of Kauai. Details to come about all the places we went, but for now, a collection of random photos. (A tiny collection compared to the billions I actually took. Did I mention Kauai is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been???)

I’ve wanted to try stand-up paddle boarding for YEARS, and it was as fabulous as I always imagined! No, better. It was so fun and hard and I absolutely loved it!

We paddleboarded both down the Wailua River and in the ocean; the river was easy and placid, but the ocean was hard!! I wiped out a few times, but then finally rode my very first wave!