Halloween

Archer's convened at our house once again for Halloween.  Much to Nic's disappointment we ordered Chinese this year instead of pizza.  Kailei was a vampire, Syd was a clown and Uncle Mark surprised us and came as Marty Mcfly from Back-to-the-Future.  Have to admit his costume was great.  Keara handed out candy and loved seeing all the little kids costumes.  Had to laugh at Dad when he rifled through Sydney's haul of candy.  As usual we had a great time.

Kauai: Day 6

Spent our last day on Kauai on the beach. Grabbed a picnic lunch and went to Lydgate Beach and it was awesome. I read my book and Zeb played in the water. Great way to end our vacation. Happy 50th birthday to a wonderful man.

Kauai: Day 5

Today was a low-key day. Zeb went for a hike to Wiamea canyon for most of the morning and I spent it on the patio listening to the waves and reading my book. It was wonderful. 

This afternoon we just walked along the beach, did a little shopping and had some shaved ice.  Our big event for today was to go to the Grand Hyatt Hotel and to the Tidepools restaurant. It is a stunning setting all the way around. Wish we could stay there but alas we could only have dinner. After dinner we walked along the beach, sat and watched the waves come crashing to the shore. We loved looking at the stars and wishing we could make this night last forever.

Kauai: Day 4

Doing a lot of little things today. Headed over to see Opaekaa falls and then we went down to the Kamokila Hawaiian Village. I loved the village! It felt like I was on Gilligans Island. Really nice area down in the valley. 

We then set off to try and tour a chocolate farm but it turns out you needed reservations which we didn't have. So after visiting Hanalei late yesterday we decided to go back.

So we spent the afternoon walking through shops and going down to the beach. We watched the sunset over Hanalei bay but then it started pouring rain so we went to dinner at some tiki bar. Zeb had a pork and pineapple pizza. It was interesting but the best part of the day was probably the Jo Jo's shaved ice. I was thinking it was going to be like Colorado's snowcones which I'm not a fan of but the shaved ice here was amazing! It was a religious experience truly I'll be having another one tomorrow.

Kauai: Day 3

We were slow to start today so we had an early lunch at the Olympic Café. It was really yummy so we were glad we ate there. 

After lunch we headed up to the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge to see the 100 year old lighthouse. Neat area with waves splashing against the cliffs, tons of egrets nesting and lots of nene birds walking all about. 

When we were done viewing this area we headed to Hanalei. Is a cute little town but we didn't get to spend too much time there so we decided we would need to come back. 

Our big event for today was the Kilohana luau and it was wonderful. Set an old plantation it was quite the experience.  Space was great, entertainment was great, and the food was...interesting.  We both enjoyed it. Topped off my evening by reading my book on the porch while listening to the waves. 

Kauai: Day 2

Well, we had a plan for today but it all went to heck when we got a call from our helicopter company saying they had an opening for 1130 that day and if we wanted to move our helicopter ride up a few days. We really had no reason not to so he said yes. We had a great helicopter pilot who was it a former Vietnam veteran. He grew up in Hawaii and had lots to say about the islands, especially quiet. It was absolutely breathtaking and I loved the smile that it brought to Zeb's face. He looked like a kid in a candy store.

We spent the rest of the day kind of piddling around. We went to the Kauai cookie company and grabbed lunch and  of course grabbed cookies. Then we went to Kauai Coffee and listened to the demo about how they make coffee. Quite fascinating. Tried to do a little bit of shopping but It didn't really pan out. Zeb wasn't feeling well so we came back early and then just kind of stayed in the rest of the night which was OK since it was raining off and on.

Kauai: Day 1

Today we started off slow. We decided to go see spouting Horn and then we went across the street to the national tropical botanical gardens. There he went to the Allerton garden where we saw lots of amazing plants. It really was a fascinating tour. Then we headed over to the Sheridan hotel where Lynn and I stayed and grabbed ourselves some dinner at Lava's Restaurant. After dinner we of course had to have some ice cream. We are done for the day and will make a plan for tomorrow. 

Kauai Bound

My Work Buddies

Aren't we the cutest nerds ever?

Theatre Date

Zeb and I went and saw the show If/Then at the Buelle theater. It had Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp in it and it was great. I felt like I was on Broadway again. So great to see some of the giants in our town. Loved the show, loved Idina, and love the theater!

Keara's First Laser Project

Great Picture of Nala (taken by Caroline)

Shy Dog