Jackie and her husband are moving to Portland next Saturday where they will deliver their baby and spend the summer closer to family before they make a cross-country move to New Jersey where Brant will attend Princeton Seminary in the Fall (they are scheduled to move 2 days after our baby is due so I'm hoping this little one comes a bit early so they can at least meet him/her!) The shower was a bit bittersweet for me, knowing that my long time roomie, who knows all my quirks, is moving away. :o( Both of us mothers-to-be ended up in tears as she was leaving (ha ha, I'm sure the pregnancy hormones contributed a small bit to our emotions) but we're looking forward to many visits this summer where we will head to Portland and they will come stay with us here in Kirkland.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Baby Shower!
Jackie and her husband are moving to Portland next Saturday where they will deliver their baby and spend the summer closer to family before they make a cross-country move to New Jersey where Brant will attend Princeton Seminary in the Fall (they are scheduled to move 2 days after our baby is due so I'm hoping this little one comes a bit early so they can at least meet him/her!) The shower was a bit bittersweet for me, knowing that my long time roomie, who knows all my quirks, is moving away. :o( Both of us mothers-to-be ended up in tears as she was leaving (ha ha, I'm sure the pregnancy hormones contributed a small bit to our emotions) but we're looking forward to many visits this summer where we will head to Portland and they will come stay with us here in Kirkland.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Some tidbits on pregnancy
Monday, May 25, 2009
Day 8
Then we came upon a REAL rope swing which worked a little better
Day 7
After hours in the sun (one of which was a suncreen-less hour--oops!), we indulged in a treat from Starbucks (we'd made it over a week without one!) and then headed back to our condo. We were looking a bit like lobsters and decided we were in the mood for take out and a movie. We picked up some yummy Asian food---coconut curry for Graham and Peanut Chicken Stirfry for me, grabbed some Coldstone (yes they have one there!) and came back for watch No Reservations, a food-related movie I love. What a great way to spend our last full day on Kauai!
Day 6
And also at some dry caves up near Hanalei (it's hard to see but I'm in a cave...)
I'd always heard that rain in Hawaii is brief and passes quickly. This certainly was not the case for us today! Apparently though the north shore gets quite a bit more rain than the rest of the island (hence its green, lush appearance). We decided to forget our snorkeling idea and instead headed back to our condo to figure out our second best option. We opted to go see Angels and Demons at a (the only one on the island?) movie theater in Lihue. Now, I won't go into any detail regarding my thoughts about this movie as I know it is rather controversial. I will just say that Graham and I had been wanting to see the movie since we both read the book while traveling in Italy last year--we liked it because it talked about all the different churches and streets in Rome--sites that we actually saw in person. Anyway, the movie was very well done considering the crews were not allowed into Vatican City to film--how they made it look so real is beyond me!
After dinner, Graham wanted to spoil me (yet again) and take me to the Tidepools restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Hotel and Resort in Poipu. Although it hurt our wallet a bit, the trip back to the south shore was well worth it! The restaurant basically consists of a bunch of Tahitian-style huts that are connected and set over a giant koi pond. It is lit by candles and tiki torches scattered throughout the huts. Each table sits by an open-air window where diners can lean over and watch and feed the koi. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our camera yet again so I can't share photos. But I will say that I had the MOST AMAZING fish of my life here. I ordered the Garlic Chile Glazed Opah topped with Coconut Crusted Blue Crab and Lobster, Macadamia Nut Rice and Guava Lime Sauce. I don't even know what Opah is, but if there is any way we can get our hands on some here, we will!! Graham ordered the Grilled Huli Huli Chicken Breast with Okinawa Sweet Potato Puree, Sweet and Sour Reduction and Pineapple Relish (he became quite obsessed with the local purple sweet potatoes during our time on the island). I think we both agreed that this was the best meal of our trip.
Day 5
The kitchen with Wolf appliances!
The "guest" bedroom
The "guest" bath
The Master suite
That night, we went to this super quirky, earthy outdoor place called Caffe Coco for dinner. The menu was a hodge podge of healthy wraps, fresh seafood and Greek and Indian dishes. Graham had Mahi Mahi with Tzatziki sauce, Coleslaw with peanut sauce and a sweet potato samosa with banana chutney. I had a penne pasta dish with pork and mushrooms in a gorgonzola cream sauce-yum! We sat on the patio which was lit with random strings of white lights and enjoyed a funny middle-aged live band, the Rusty Pelicans, who serenaded us with Hawaiian songs. The ambiance really was quite nice and the music made us giggle.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Day 4
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Day 3
We quickly left the presentation and headed to 'Anini Beach for some calm snorkeling, swimming and reading. We had heard that there was an amazing fish taco truck there so we enjoyed a delicious lunch of ono tacos.
Day 2
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Back on the Mainland
DAY 1 (May 12th):
We were a bit surprised to find some farm animals at the top of the canyon--what on earth were mother hens and their babies doing out in the middle of nowhere? Hearing roosters crow from the mountaintop is not what you'd expect! We later realized that chickens are absolutely EVERYWHERE all over Kauai. We saw so many baby chicks at every beach we went to. Apparently a bunch of chickens escaped during one of the hurricanes a while back and because Kauai has no predators (coyotes etc) to get rid of them, they've pretty much taken over the island. Quite comical....
After our hike, we head back down the long windy road to Hanapepe where we stopped at the Shrimp Station for lunch. Graham had their coconut shrimp and I had their spicy Thai shrimp--yummy!