We’re back! Hubs, Q and I had a fabulous time on Kauai. I say, if you’re looking for a
relaxing, tropical vacation without a bunch scheduled activities, Kauai is the
place to go. And it’s perfect for vacationing with a toddler. Here’s how our usual
daily itinerary went:
We woke up and ate breakfast.
We walked over to the nearby outdoor shopping center while
we waited for the few morning clouds to blow away. Q jumped in rain puddles and
ruined his first outfit of the day. Then he pushed his stroller from one end of
the plaza to the other about 458 times, fell down 112 times, and cried 82
times. Not a bad ratio.
We spent the rest of the morning at the small beach across the street from our rental house. Splashed
around in the ocean with Quinn. Played in the sand with Quinn and tried to stop
him from eating it. Then chased Q back in the ocean. Then chased Q back to
sand. Then back in ocean. Then back to the sand. And so forth.
Then we went back to the house and ate lunch.
Quinn then took a nice, long, post-lunch, worn-out-from-all-that-playing-in-the-ocean
nap. Hubs and I enjoyed the silence. One of us would head back down to the beach
for a solo hour while the other stayed back at the house with the sleeping Q. I
went down to the beach a few more times than Hubs did. He’s sweet like that. Armed
with just my towel, phone and a vodka tonic, I soaked in the Hawaiian sun, and
now I actually have more tan lines than just ones on my feet!
After the beach, I squeezed in a quick shower, and by the time Q woke up from
his nap, it was happy hour!
We headed to one of several local happy hours most of the days, and fed Quinn a
snack while Hubs and I slurped Mai Tai’s and other tropical grown-up beverages.
Q usually smeared food all over himself and ruined his second outfit of the day.
Then we went back to the house. Hubs usually handled dinner
on the barbecue while Q and I played with trucks and trains and watched endless excruciating episodes of Thomas and Friends. Then the three of us
enjoyed dinner outside on the front porch. Despite the bugs (and lizards!), I
think dinner always tastes better outside.
Then we left all the dirty dishes right where they were and
went back across the street to the beach to catch the tail end of the sunset,
wine glasses in hand.
Q ran back into the ocean, plopped down on the sand and ruined
his third outfit of the day.
We quickly learned to just strip him down to his diaper…
… and sometimes less.
When we returned to the house, I plunked Quinn into the
bathtub while Hubs cleaned up the dinner mess .Then we put Q to sleep for the
night.
Once Q was out for the count, Hubs and I cracked open a
bottle of wine and played cards out of the front porch while we listened to
music with curse words in it. (My favorite Hubs quote of the week: “Just bring
the whole bottle of K.J. (our
affectionate name for Kendal Jackson) out onto the porch.” That’s how you
know we’re on vacation.)
Then the day of sun exposure and toddler chasing caught up
with us, and we passed out by 9:30.
Here are few more fun pics from our toddler-riffic vacation.
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| A monk seal took a rest on "our beach" one afternoon. |
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| I love this pic of Q's little footprints zigzagging across the sand. |
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| Q and Mommy at sunset |
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| We took Q on the short train ride through the Kilohana Plantation. He went bonkers over seeing the train. |
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| Q watched the farm animals from the train car. We got out for a closer look, but we didn't pet any. Maybe next time... |
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| We spent a morning at a local park, and Q went down the little tube slide. This park should be called "Toddler Heaven." |
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| Even rocks are fascinating when you're small. |
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| Muah! |
