Friday, January 23, 2009: Made it to Kauai. No water landings. The non-stop flight from Seattle to Lihue arrived on schedule. Charlie used the air-sick bag. Chris used the free MaiTai.
On Saturday: To those offered the job of baby sitting for us on the island; You may be glad that you weren't here last night, Catilyn screamed for two hours during the night because she has a cold and sore throat. Chris' conference started today. We ate bacon and eggs.
Sunday: During the day we drove up highway 550 till it ended and then took an off-road path for 6 miles before finding the trail head. We hiked for a couple miles and reversed the drive. It was fun. Later, we went to Chris' conference's party, where we ate chicken on a stick and fruit. Last night's sleep was quite restful. The weather continues to be warm and mostly sunny, while it's snowing back in Seattle area. Nice to have missed that.
Monday:, The optometrists went to class. Chuck and the kids played at the house before getting more groceries (including a boogie board and snorkel gear) at Costco. In the evening, appetizers at the conference.
Tuesday: Late afternoon, we did a little boogie boarding in the nearby Poipu beach. Charlie has been buried in the sand several times to date. We hired a baby sitter for many $$/hour so that we could have $20 margaritas at the nearby hotel.
Wednesday: This morning Jon (and kids Shalin and Daven) and Cooper, Caitlyn, Charlie and Chuck hung out at the beach while Chris and Kavita took optometry classes at the conference. Later today we drove to the western most part of Kauai where the corn fields were being combined. It's the western most prairie land in the United States. It's very pretty here and you don't have to drive too far before the scenery changes.
Thursday: Today we drove to the north side of the island. We stopped at a light house and did the tour. Chris got a plate of local food that she raved about for miles. We drove as far west as the road could take us. There at the state park we did some snorkeling and played in the sand. Later we snorkeled in Aninni beach park. Cooper got three naps in the car. The kids sat in the back seat watching such movies as Racing Stripes and Disney Princess Sing along. Though he may not admit it out of embarrasment, Charlie knows all the words and sings the loudest. We saw some waterfalls and got $1.50 foot long hot dogs and cokes at the local Costco. Charlie was shivering and chattering his teeth, so he elected a frozen yogurt berry sundae for a treat. He was colder than before. Though we experienced no bus rides due to striking students nor dog bites on the beach (such as Nancy has experienced in her travels to Latin America). All in all, pretty good day.
Friday: After boogie boarding in the morning, we drove out to HanaPapa and had fish tacos. Later we tasted coffee at the Kauai Coffee Plantation and former sugar plantation. Then we walked across busted glass in our bare feet at the "Glass beach". Etc. etc.
Saturday: The Converse Family left today. Chris sat in three hours of lecture. The rest of us came to pick her up (scheduled for 10:30am) but a manure spreader jack-knifed out on the expressway so we were late. She wanted to swing by the museum where we found the ticket prices to be too high and the art work within Cooper's firing range, so we opted just to peek in the gift shop instead. After Cooper destroyed a few greeting cards, the woman running the place asked us if we would make him stop. Easier said than done, so Chuck took him to a grocery store.
During the afternoon we swam at the resort's community pool, and then went to the beach were we boogied on boards. The waves were great. Later with Cooper crying and us all decked out in sand and swimming suits, Chris decides that the best place for dinner would be the expensive and romantic "Brenneke's" just across from the park. When we sat down in the fancy restaurant with a fussy baby, the people sitting at the next table over asked to be relocated across the room. Caitlyn added a bit of harmony to the crying when she stuck her hand in the hot pizza's sauce. Daddy hurriedly wolfed down an Ahi Tuna Sandwich and took Cooper to the park. He eventually stopped crying when his ears popped and fluid came out. Guess he had an ear infection and ruptured his ear drum. We have a call into the pediatrician.
One day until we will take a red-eye back to Seattle. Since we shopped at Costco, we now have 17 beers, two bottles of wine, 4 bags of pasta, 10 leggo waffles, and a side of bacon to consume before 9:00pm tomorrow. Better get started.
Sunday/Monday: After breakfast of Eggos, toast, bananas, rambutans, bacon, cheese, goats, and eggs (because we were trying to eat all that Costco food), we found a church for mass, although due to problems in navigation we arrived 10 minutes late. The church was full. So we joined other latecomers, sitting amidst palm trees in St. Raphael's outdoor courtyard, right next to a bird resting in it's nest, and actually on the place where it pooped. From there we dropped Chris into,... er, off at the ocean for some snorkeling while the kids screamed for Chicken Nuggets. After a twenty two minute drive, we found a McDonald’s. Those happy meals made Dad happy, indirectly. We returned to the beach to find Chris still alive and raving about the snorkeling, and the fresh sea food. Charlie and I took a turn at snorkeling, though he had mask/snorkel issues. He did 10 minutes or so and as he was struggling with his mask, we returned to the beach, and then Dad ventured to the water again swimming amidst one hundred one colorful fish. That color was grey. From there we went boogie boarding at Brenneke Beach. At 5pm, after ice cream cones and a short stint on "stretch-mark beach" (which has a shallow non-wavy water area perfect for babies), we headed home to let the cleaning begin.
It seemed like we'd take three steps backward and seven steps forward as Cooper would fling his food across the room. This behavior is unacceptable but often observed and makes cleaning quite difficult. So generally at home we don't clean. We rent goats every third week. However the goats were at home. Thus it was time for elbow grease, but we were all out. So we rolled up our sleeves, those wearing clothes anyway, and just kept at it. Eventually all traces of Cooper's research for his new book ("Race to the Bathroom" written under the psuedonym of "Willie Makit") were removed. Finally the house was clean enough.
At the airport, TSA yelled at Caitlyn, bringing her to tears for no apparent reason. The USDA food inspectors yelled at Chris for trying to snuggle with Hawaiian bananas and smuggle rambutans off of the island. Finally we were boarded. The smooth plane flew amid turbulence, but thanks either to the prayers offered at St. Raphael's or the roosters sacrificed on at the top of Waimea (Chickens roam free all over Kauai), the Richter Family got a whole row (six seats) to ourselves (whereas, we paid for four) and arrived in Seattle safely.