Kauai with the Keikis

We started off 2007 with our first big trip with Spencer, an adventure on the garden island of Kauai, one of the Hawaiian islands.

We traveled with our good friends Grace and Alonzo (+ their 3 month old son Theo) and Phil and Nikki (+ their 1 year old daughter Gaby). 3 couples, 3 hapa babies .... this certainly was a new type of adventure travel for us! See below for slideshows of our motley crew of travelers, our adventures across the island, and our dramatic open-air helicopter tour.


Our home base was a fantastic beachfront house we rented in the south-shore beach town of Poipu, perfect for breakfasts on the deck overlooking the waves, strolls with the babies down to "children's beach" to see the sea turtles, sunset drinks at the local resorts, and card games and conversation by the sound of the surf after putting the kids to bed.
Click here for a slideshow of photos of life with the keikis in Kauai.


Poipu was a great launchpad for adventures all over the island. We loaded the babies (+ enormous amounts of gear) into our trusty SUV for all sorts of excursions. Highlights include finding a sheltered cove on the dramatic coastline of Mahu'ulepu Beach for Spencer's first dip in the ocean, hiking to the top of Waipo'o falls at the edge of Waimea Canyon, eating fish tacos and snorkling at 'Anini Beach, getting caught in a dramatic rainstorm at Secret Beach, hiking the first few muddy miles of the Na Pali coast trail, and getting pounded by the surf at Queen's Bath.
Click here for a slideshow of our island adventures.



The biggest adventure of all was an open-air helicopter ride across the island... nothing between us and the dramatic landscape but hundreds of feet of space. We zooomed up the "grand canyon of the pacific," discovered hidden beaches under the cliffs of Na Pali, hoovered in a lush crater laced with dozens of waterfalls, and even made a landing for lunch at a completely isolated waterfall of our own.
Click here for a slideshow of our helicopter tour.



So how was our first big trip with Spencer? Well, we think that this is a pretty adventurous kid: He didn't wail (much) on the plane, loved going on long hikes carried by his dad, and laughed at the noise of the rain when we got caught out in tropical storms. Hard to ask for much more (except for more sleep at night!). Look out, adventure travel... we're back!