Aloha friends,

Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas! We went down to Kalapaki bay this afternoon to see the sand sculpture....it made front page news in the local newspaper. The sculpture held up well despite the 2” of rain we got last night! Here’s hoping that all of you held up just as well through the Christmas craziness! Mele Kalikimaka!

Aloha Friends,

After a few weeks of overcast weather we've finally got some sunshine! I thought it would be a great day to take the kiddos out to the beach. As I was standing in the waves this beautiful piece of sea glass washed up! It appears to be the bottom of an old Heineken! I've found a lot of nice pieces there but, I think this one is my favorite.

The beach in front of the condo is a fun place to go treasure hunting. Along with beach glass, you can also find shells and pretty drift wood pieces at Waipouli beach.

Cheers!

Merry Christmas all!

I hope that you all are enjoying a nice holiday with those you love. On Kauai the weather warmed up just in time for us to have a Christmas eve picnic on the beach. We stopped by Foodland for sushi, poi and fried chicken then headed over to Lydgate beach. I know, strange food combination but, it was tasty!

​Lydgate beach was full of visitors soaking up the sunshine and playing in the water. The sun felt so good! As I was lounging on the sand I looked up towards the horizon and saw whales! They looked like they were having such a great time! Doing giant whale belly flops into the water, making huge splashes as they landed! So much fun to watch. It felt like an early Christmas gift.

Wishing you the happiest of holidays!

Aloha Friends,
My hubby and I recently celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary! Surely a honeymoon to Kauai was in order! We had a great time on our little honeymoon. It was short and sweet, just 4 nights. Perfect getaway with my sweetheart.

As I was looking through our photos I noticed a lot of them were of food! You can tell we like to eat! LOL! I do enjoy cooking at the condo. The photo of the fancy looking tuna steak was from a dinner we had at the Hukilau Lanai. It was delicious. The grove of coconut palms is across from the condo on the mauka (mountain side). You can't see them too well in the photo but, there's a heard of tiny goats that graze there. They're pretty cute. All the beach photos were taken at the beach in front of the condo. We love that beautiful beach! Oh, and we saw whales breaching from there! Apparently whales love Kauai too!

Aloha and thanks for reading my diary!

Aloha Friends!

Here's a few photos from the second half of our vacation...

As you can see we really took it easy on this trip to Kauai. On the last 5 days we went to Lydgate beach again, it's a family favorite. The guys can fish (outside of the ponds), snorkeling and swimming is safe and it's lifeguarded! We did a little shopping at the brand new ABC store at the Coconut Marketplace, it's a short walk from the condo. There's also a Farmer's Market there where we picked up more fruit and veggies. The rest of the time was spent on the beach directly in front of the condo...just relaxing. On our last morning we went to breakfast at the Tip Top in Lihue and had a delicious local style meal. We ordered Oxtail Soup, Loco Moco, and 3 Grand Slams with Macadamia Nut Pancakes. You can't go wrong here friends...everything was great, staff was friendly and the portions were ample!

With full bellies we headed to the airport with my son's live betta fish in tow! The TSA guys were super cool and joking about the fish. We had a pleasant flight home to San Diego on Alaska Air. The fish arrived safe and sound :)

Thanks again for reading my diary!

Aloha All,

Feeling great with jet lag pau, it's a good day to share some photos with you from our recent trip to Kauai...

These photos are from our first 4 days on the island. We spent an afternoon relaxing on the beach in front of the condo, went to the Farmer's Market at Kauai Community College, had fun at the Kamalani Bridge Playground and enjoyed a day snorkeling and swimming at Lydgate Beach Park.

I'll share more photos with you in a few days...
Aloha Friends!

Aloha Friends!

Ted, myself and all the kiddos are enjoying a family visit to Kauai. The little ones especially love it here. Happiness is spending time on the beach with family! And having a beautiful beach just 200 yards away is awesome!

Having the ocean so close does put us at higher risk for hurricane and tropical storm damage. Thankfully, tropical storm Darby mellowed out by the time it reached us on Kauai. Big waves, cloudy skies and some rain. Not too exciting, which is a good thing! The overcast weather gave us an excuse to do some work around the condo. New blinds installed and touch up paint so far this trip. Little things make a big difference in keeping the condo looking fresh.

We're off to spend another day at the beach. The weather can change rapidly here on Kauai as evidenced with the above photo :)

I'll post again soon friends!

Aloha All!

It was a short visit to Kauai...just four nights but, we so enjoyed our little honeymoon!

We took a long walk along the Kauai Path. The wide concrete path stretches about 9 miles from Lydgate park through Kapaa and up past Kealia beach. The scenery is beautiful...

Breakfast with friends at the Olympic Café in old town Kapaa. Good food and good friends...perfect!

We went to dinner one night at the Bull Shed in Kapaa. The prime rib is absolutely delicious! Dinner includes a trip to their salad bar. Their portions are generous so let your tummy beware :) The leftover steak makes wonderful picnic fixings!

Foodland is a great place to pick up locally grown fruits and veggies. We did most of our grocery shopping there and at Longs Drugs.

Every day we spent time at the beach in front of the condo. It's nice to pack a picnic and relax a few hours away...

Wailua is one of our favorite beers made by the Kona Brewing Company. Unfortunately the Wailua is only sold in the state of Hawaii. Another excuse to go back Friends!

Cheers!

Thanks for reading my diary!

Aloha All,

Kauai was a beautiful place for us to begin healing the loss of my dear mother-in-law. We shed some tears but, had many happy moments as well. Here are a few photos...

We spent most of our afternoons on the beach in front of the condo. Pack a lunch, soak up some sunshine and let the hours pass...

Recent storms left a lot of driftwood...perfect for building forts! Lots of fun for the keiki!

My husband and son enjoyed fishing...

Caught one! For bait they used left overs from last night's dinner, bbq'd teriyaki chicken! :) The fact that the bait worked gave us a laugh! After we took his photo, we bid the little flounder a fond Aloha and released him back to his ocean home.

Thank you for reading the Coconut Diaries.

Aloha to you!

Aloha Friends!

2 blissful weeks on Kauai...

We felt so blessed to be there and made great memories of fun times with family and friends, relaxing sunsets on the beach, delicious island food, adventures and the incredible beauty that is Kauai.

I have so much to tell. I'll enjoy sharing our experience with you over the next few diary entries. Here's a few photos...

Our family walked often along the ocean-front path behind the condo in the evenings. On this occasion the girls discovered  a hammock. The perfect sunset hang out! :)

This is one of our favorite beaches on Kauai. Just a mile from the condo Lydgate beach boasts clear sheltered water-- perfect for swimming! The experience is like walking into an aquarium...there are so many fish and sea creatures to see! Puffer fish, striped Convict Tang, bright Wrases, BIG blue fish that swim in schools...too many fish to try to name!

Please keep the people of the Puna district on Big Island in your thoughts. Lava is flowing dangerously close to the town of Pahoa,and the highway, possibly cutting off thousands of residents from their homes. Hugs and positive thoughts to our friends on Big Island!

Aloha!