We had a fantastic week in Kauai.  We spent the first three days on the North Shore in Princeville and 5 or 6 days with my family on the South shore in Poipu. It was the perfect mix for us.

Lee and I found a terrific deal on a "studio villa" at the Westin in Princeville and LOVED having a washer/dryer and kitchen.  Lee fixed me some tasty dinners those few days.  We were exhausted by the time we got to Kauai - so we took it pretty easy.  As guests of the Westin we got the perk of being able to lounge on the beach in front of the St. Regis.  That place is fancy-pants.  Our first full day in Kauai we spent a few hours at the St. Regis enjoying the sun and snorkeling before moving on to explore another recommended beach -- Hideaways.  The view walking down to the beach was gorgeous!  After being there for an hour or two the weather started to change for the worse and it just wasn't warm enough for me.  We took the long way back to the Westin, stopping at the "Queen's Bath".  It's supposedly a beautiful little lava pool that you can swim in on the shore of the ocean.  Well, from what we saw - you couldn't pay us to swim in the "bath".  Given the tumultuous ocean, it would be more aptly described as the "Queen's Washing Machine".   As it turns out -- a storm somewhere out in the Pacific was brewing and a high surf advisory went into effect that evening and lasted for the next three days.  The bummer about that -- well, it meant no more beach time.  We had hoped to snorkel and explore a few beaches that people told us we just couldn't miss.  But, with the surf and the nearly 30 foot waves -- all swimming and snorkeling was out of the question.  

Day two we attempted to hike along the Napali Coast - but it was wet, foggy and misty.  Rather than being able to gawk at the highly photographed and well-known coast line, we gawked at the gigantic waves.  They were thunderous and incredible.  I don't think either of us had ever seen waves that large. They were impressive!   On day three we met up with my parents and Abbie.  We had until mid-afternoon to meet them at the airport - so we slowly drove ourselves down the coast, stopping at the lighthouse and a beach or two.  Wishing the entire time the surf would calm so we could swim and snorkel!  Oh well - I guess we'll just have to go back.

Once we joined my family we headed to the condo in Poipu (after a stop at Costco of course).  Once we arrived at the condo - the week of complete and total relaxation kicked in.  We didn't do much beyond taking a trip to the airport to pick up Lani on Friday (which was a Valentine's Day Miracle -- it's truly unbelievable she made it at all.  Flights were oversold, computers were down and weather was unfriendly in SF, etc.), go to Snorkel Bob's for basic beach rental gear, and find shave ice.  :)  We spent all of our time at the beach - sleeping, reading, eating, snorkeling, boogie boarding and whale watching.  It was wonderful!  The highlights of those days were definitely the whales.  They were super active and all over!  On one day we took a snorkeling/whale watching trip and saw so much sea life:  spinner dolphins, sea turtles and WHALES.  We saw them breach, flip their fins, slap their tails and dive.  It was really cool.  And then the following day - we saw them again from the beach.  Not all that far out we watched them do all of the same things for at least 45 minutes.  The best part was when 1/2 mile from shore a whale was having a grand ol' time slapping his tail into the water over and over again.  He probably slapped it 15 times and every time we could hear the sound from the beach.  What a treat!

We had a wonderful vacation and it was so hard to come back.  Thanks mom and dad for a great time in Kauai.  We're for doing it again!