Kauai Anniversary - Part I

I knew the only way we were going to fly over the Pacific to celebrate our 10-year anniversary was to surprise Wade with non-refundable tickets. So that's exactly what I did...in January...for a July trip to Kauai, Hawaii. (Say that ten times fast...Kauai, Hawaii, Kauai, Hawaii, Kauai, Hawaii...)

The entire trip was a dream. And if it weren't for three little people waiting for us at home, we may have stayed on Kauai's north shore forever.

Leave it to me, a self-proclaimed (and proud) geography nerd, to plan and map every adventure. It was the perfect balance of GO and RELAX. I read, and re-read THE best Kauai Guidebook, researched every beach and restaurant on the island, and took a copious amount of notes.

Day 1 - OKC to Kauai, Hawaii

Thanks to flying through four time zones, we departed OKC at 6:55 AM and arrived in Lihue before 2:00 PM. After we scored a 4WD/convertible Jeep for the week (thank you, Enterprise), we were off to explore!

We grabbed an early dinner at Tahiti Nui, where I fell in love with Mai Tais, did some grocery shopping for the week, and were at our condo early enough to watch the sun go down.

 

Best Mai Tai on the planet.

 

Did I mention how great the Mai Tais were at Tahiti?

 

The roosters. They were EVERYWHERE.

Even our trip to the local grocery store was lined with one incredible view after another.

 

The view from our condo/lanai...sunset on Day 1.



Day 2 - Helicopter Tour

 

The perfect start to every day on Kauai = Kona Coffee while ocean gazing, followed by a handful of macadamia nuts and a review of the beaches and waterfalls to hit along the day's journey.



 

Sunrise from our lanai. Not a bad view, eh?

The state bird of Hawaii is the Nene (aka. the Hawaiian Goose), which Wade and I found hysterical because this is what Charlie affectionately calls her pacifier. Every time we saw a nene (pronounced nay-nay), we thought of our baby girl.

 

Another frequent morning visitor - Spotted Dove.

 

Every day it rained, but not for more than 10 - 15 minutes at a time. And following the rain were spectacular rainbows. This rainbow greeted us the first morning in Kauai.

And we're OFF! One (plus) hour on a doors-off helicopter. We saw nearly every square mile of the island. AMAZING. Without a doubt, one of the highlights of our trip (for me). Wade tossed his cookies about mid-way through...he studied the back of our pilot's head for the second half of the trip.

 

All of the following pictures on this post are from our helicopter tour. I took HUNDREDS (literally) of photos and tried REALLY hard to narrow them down to my top 20...but failed.

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for more from our Kauai adventure!

 

 

Charlie's 1st Birthday

When throwing parties is part of your full-time job, it's hard not to go overboard on your baby girl's first birthday. Thankfully I have good friends like Becky who lie to me and tell me it's not too much. Thanks to you, Becky, I was able to brush all guilt aside and indulge...and I had a BLAST. And Wade heeded your advice too, and didn't say a word.

Thank you to all our family and Life Group friends who were able to join us for Charlie's special day. Having you there made the day all the more rich.

Charlie's smash cake - a gift from Chrissy Premeaux. Or, Supremeaux, as I like to call her. Chrissy made Henry's first cake, Sam's first cake, and now Charlie's. Such a special gift from a very special friend...who also knows me well enough to know I do better with party decor than cake decor.

Charlie's party favors. Thank you RMCF.

All of Charlie's favorite foods, on the same platter. Heaven on earth for the birthday girl.

Not quite the full spread, but you get the idea.

The belle of the ball.

With her Papa Ward. The one who blessed her (and her brothers) with their blue eyes.

On her birthday, Charlie started WALKING! As if we needed more to celebrate.

Pumpkin painting for the wee ones.

Blakely rescued Charlie and assisted with the candle blowing.

With Papaw Shaw and Una, who definitely has the touch. Charlie loves you both so much.

Her gift from mom and dad. A Little People doll house. The girl LOVES Little People.

Charlie with her great grandpa. Also known as Papa Bo. Or, just "Papa" by his bride.

After the crowd cleared, Charlie cleaned up the berries.

And not five minutes after she devoured all of the leftover berries, she passed out...and didn't move an inch until evening. I think it's safe to assume she enjoyed her day.

Happy birthday sweet baby girl. We thank God for you every day.