Kauai, Hawaii

We were so taken with Maui when we visited that we decided to take our last vacation as a family of three to another Hawaiian island: Kauai. In hind sight, Maui is more approachable (at least as far as beaches are concerned) for young kids, but Kauai has a lot to offer as well and provided us with a terrific vacation.

What is a visit to Kauai without roosters? When Madeleine spotted one, we'd typically hear the following: "Ooooh, rooster! I chase it! I kiss it! I cuddle it!"

We had a lot of rain the first day on Kauai, so when the clouds parted, we took advantage of swollen rivers and visited Opaeka'a Falls and Wailua Falls, which both appeared to be running particularly high. 

Another day, we were pleasantly surprised by the beauty, scale, and magnificence of the Waimea Canyon, known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It is truly immense and very impressive...and has inspired us to consider attempting the real Grand Canyon again after it didn't quite work out last time. 

Madeleine was less taken with the scenery and very keen on watching the nearby mountain goats scramble along the cliff.

From the canyon viewpoint, we continued as far as the road would take us in order to catch a glimpse at the Na Pali coast, specifically the Kalalau Valley. It was every bit as beautiful as we were told, and I imagine our family returning with older children who can do a bit of hiking and/or cope with a few hours on a boat so that we can see more of it. 

Another day, we headed to the Kilohana Plantation to take Madeleine on their 40-minute train ride. I admit that I was skeptical about her ability to sit for that long, but it was the perfect length for her toddler attention span. The train traveled through the property's orchards, forest, and pastures. About halfway through, it stopped for everyone to get out and feed sheep, pigs, chickens (of course!), and goats. Madeleine thought the train was spectacular and had no hesitation in feeding the sheep straight from her hand. Why would she? She had already declared, "ohh, sheep! I kiss it!"

Another day, we headed north to check out the Kilauea Lighthouse, which happens to be near an island that is a bird sanctuary. While George enjoyed chasing birds with the camera and long lens, Madeleine wanted to spend her day knocking on the front door of the lighthouse. When I thought she'd done enough photobombing, we moved to the side, where Miss M discovered a little platform where she and another toddler spent a half hour taking turns jumping. 

Frigate and Red Footed Boobie

With a sleeping Madeleine, George and I drove the northern coast of the island until it ended at Ke'e Beach, but we didn't stop for any longer than it took to take a mental picture so as not to wake our exhausted kiddo. On the way back, we did stop at Hanalei and then at the lookout over Hanalei Valley.

All-in-all, we didn't get as much beach time as we would have liked due in part to rain and in part to less than child-friendly beaches. We did enjoy Lydgate Beach Park, which is widely regarded as the place to take kids to swim. Madeleine liked the water but was even more taken with sand this trip than our last - fortunately for playing rather than eating. She took her shovel work quite seriously! 

Even though we couldn't spend a lot of time in the ocean, we did take full advantage of the condo complex's pool, including the water slide. Madeleine would have ridden it from sun up to sun down if we would have let her. 

Madeleine was also a big fan of the Sunday and Thursday morning koi feedings at the complex's koi pond. "I feed fishies! Yum!" 

However, even with all that excitement, her favorite part of the complex was probably the "elegator" where she got to push the button. 

There were times when our little girl made it clear that our plans were cramping her style. 

There were other times when she found her own way to entertain herself while we were being boring adults. 

As a whole, I am grateful to have gotten to spend some dedicated time together as a family of three and, even though each one is another sign that our baby is growing into a little girl, it was fun to see Madeleine reach a few more milestones during our trip. Mahalo for the memories, Hawaii! 

Signs of Autumn

Autumn is certainly upon us. Our weather has gone straight from the best summer in memory to the wettest September on record. I must admit to being a bit depressed about the amount of grey and rain we've had these last few weeks as this weather usually waits until well into October to set in for at least six to eight months. Suddenly, June feels a looooong time from now.

Alas, even our rainy days typically include bursts of sunshine. Yesterday afternoon, one of those sunbursts overlapped with a shower to yield a lovely rainbow against the dark sky.

Autumn also bring spiders galore. This is my poor attempt to capture our lilac bush dripping with spider webs and covered with dew.

What signs tell you that the new season has arrived? Is anyone else jealous of the Southern Hemisphere as it prepares for spring and summer?

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Grand Canyon

...Or we went to Arizona and I came home without an appendix.

Here's a little much longer version of the story:

As much as possible (and when they want to), we try to meet up with our international friends when they're visiting elsewhere in the US. It's fun for us to see other parts of the States, to see our friends a bit more often, and to get to know their other friends.

Last Friday, we flew to Phoenix to meet up with some friends from overseas who were visiting Phoenix on their way east. Over the weekend, we had a beautiful time catching up with our friends, meeting and getting to know the friend who they were visiting in Phoenix, and exploring a bit of the area.

Desert Botanical Garden
This is the species I most tracked during my Earthwatch research in Costa Rica.

Desert Botanical Garden

At the Desert Botanical Garden's Butterfly Pavilion

Desert Botanical Garden

Madeleine enjoyed her first Vietnamese culinary experience.

Sunset

That was the happy part of the trip.

After I fed Madeleine in the wee hours of the morning on Monday, I didn't go back to sleep because I had this weird, dull but nagging pain. It was like a stomach ache and muscle pain put together...but clearly not either of them. By the time real morning arrived, I was exhausted and feeling like a fool. See, I'd been to a free yoga class the day before, and I figured that I must have pulled something while thinking that I was a lot fitter than I am in reality.

Namaste.

At the same time, the pain kept nagging at me and forced me to do things like leap up and scream when I bent in half to pick up something from the floor. Hmm. Doctor Google told me that pain on my right side could be my appendix, so I started to pay attention and noticed that my left side felt fine. Hmm. Then I had this voice in my head telling me that my mother listening to her body probably saved her life when she sought attention for what turned out to be a brain tumor. Hmm.

To summarize the rest of the day, the urgent care doctor had his staff register me at the local hospital, where a CT scan showed that I had appendicitis. By 5pm, my appendix was on its way out. Shortly thereafter, I spent my first night away from Madeleine. Would you know it - I got about 3 hours of sleep total. Who designs hospital rooms with a 24-hour flood light facing the bed? Who thinks that a patient can sleep through her blood pressure being monitored every half hour? I digress.

Not a bad view for a hospital room but not one I want to revisit.

Even though I only spent about 24 hours post-op in the hospital, I'd rather never have this view again.

While George wasn't busy entertaining, corralling, chasing, feeding, and generally caring for our beautiful but very busy 10-month old, he canceled the arrangements we'd had for the next two days in Sedona and Flagstaff and made arrangements for us to stay four more days in Phoenix. He's pretty much a superhero for all he's had to do this past week.

As part of those doctor-ordered recovery days in Phoenix, he and Madeleine did some swimming while I captured the moment on film. If there's a silver lining to this ordeal, it's that George and Madeleine got to build some really special memories while I was able to witness so many of them.

While George is the super hero of this story, Madeleine is super baby. She went where we took her, skipped and shorted naps where necessary, mostly slept overnight, and ate what we fed her. All the while, she brightened a lot of people's days with her contagious smile and sweet laugh and made us feel like good parents even though we were reading Brown Bear Brown Bear, Haiku Baby, and Very Hungry Caterpillar for the 8 millionth time.

We're longing to leave, too, Madeleine.

Where are we now? I am thrilled to tell you that we were able to fly home on Friday, and I'm not sure I've ever been so glad to be home. It's not just the bed and similar creature comforts, but I actually have some clothes that will fit my swollen belly (think of me, looking six months pregnant). If you could have seen Madeleine in her Jumperoo, you'd know that she's glad to be home, too.

The next month is going to be...interesting. I'm not supposed to lift more than 10 pounds for four weeks. More realistically, I'm trying to listen to my body (I'm pretty good at that) and stop when or before it tells me I've done too much (I'm not so good at that).

"Take me home, Alaska Airlines."

So, we didn't make it to the Grand Canyon or even out of Phoenix this trip. But, as I told George on our flight home, I guess this is life's way of reminding me that I can't plan everything.

Weekend in Photos

Another great weekend is in the books. The weather was fabulous, and my mom is here for a visit. What more could I ask for?

We worked up an appetite for Red Mill by posing for maternity photos taken by Evantide Photography (can't wait to see them!!).

We found space for my mom to sleep just one week after the great house reorganization. It's a minor miracle!

I'm not the only one nesting...
Photo by George

Our unborn child bought me a lily for Mother's Day. Shopping before even being born: impressive. 

I found the panoramic function on my phone...and it was a fabulous Sunday morning in Seattle. 

Mother's Day 2012...a special day indeed. (33.5 weeks)

Brunching at Salty's left us all satisfied for the whole day. 

The first (of many) loads of baby laundry is complete.

I'm looking forward to a great week with my mom in town and perhaps some more Seattle sun. How was your weekend? What's in store for your week?

Babymoon: Part 1

After consider several alternatives, George and I decided that we'd spend our last vacation as a childless couple exploring the Pacific Northwest. So, I devised a plan that would allow us to explore the coasts of Oregon and Washington in the week that we'd set aside for the vacation.

The babymoon started on a Thursday afternoon. We left Kirkland and missioned down I-5, only really hitting traffic south of Portland. We eventually cut west, driving through the beautiful, mossy, remote Siuslaw National Forest. Our destination was a little, comfortable retreat called Ocean Haven, located on the coast in Yachats, Oregon. It would be our headquarters for two nights. We arrived at Ocean Haven just in time to see the last light of day fade over the Pacific.

On Friday, we woke to the ocean at our doorstep and set out for Newport, Oregon to check out the Oregon Coast Aquarium. I'll be honest: I was a little disappointed in the aquarium after having heard that it was nearly as good as Monterey Bay. However, there was still plenty of cuteness to go around and enough underwater goodness to make me really miss diving.

Puffin

Shark

Otter

Otters

While we were driving to and from Newport, we stopped at several coastal viewpoints to get a better look at the rugged Oregon coast.

We explored the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area and did a bit of light hiking (read: as long and challenging of walks as my bladder and my clumsy feet would allow) to check out Devil's Churn and the Giant Spruce.

Entering Devil's Churn (at low tide)

Devil's Churn (at low tide)

Giant (500 year old) Sitka Spruce

The spruce started out on a nurse log, so you can now see through from one side to the other. 

Before rounding out our day with truly remarkable, incredibly fresh seafood at Luna Sea Fish House, we drove up to the Cape Perpetua lookout to catch the view from Oregon's highest coastal lookout. Remarkable, indeed...and these photos don't even begin to do it justice.

From Cape Perpetua, looking south

From Cape Perpetua, looking south

From Cape Perpetua, looking south (Devil's Churn in the bottom right corner)

No crazy hair here. Cape Perpetua, looking north

Proof that we were there...

On Saturday morning, we left Ocean Haven and headed for a detour: Eyrie Vineyards in McMinnville. We can't step foot in Oregon without visiting our favorite winery and chatting with Jacques. Even if I can only have a swallow or two, I loved every morsel of the 2001 Pinot Noir and 1989 Pinot Gris he was pouring.

Stay tuned for the rest of the babymoon recap, including our return to the Oregon coast and adventures on the Olympic Peninsula...

Part 2
Part 3