Paradise Found Part 1 - Hawaiian Islands: Kauai

Oh, the anticipation. I planned this trip in the early weeks after Faye was born.
That was over a year before the holiday. It was my favourite past time, while I actually took a break from work and had 24hours to snuggle and feed Faye every day.

So how did our trip go with a one-year-old?
The flight and transit went smoothly with the little one in tow, thanks to great books (all based around planes and travelling), little toys, lots of singing and last but not least Faye being one ace little traveller. She actually really loves planes and thinks airports are pretty exciting playgrounds too. Car rides, on the other hand, are still pretty tricky, even more singing and fingerplays are involved here.

It was a magical time, I mean how could a three week trip to Hawaii ever be a bad idea?
Timing, however, was slightly off...
Natural disasters ensured that we couldn't do some of the carefully planned and researched sights of this holiday.
Very ironic, considering the time and preparation that went into it and also once again a great lesson in life. A reminder to go with the flow, to be open for surprise and to generally not plan things out too well or too far in advance.
My heart goes out to the people that were affected by the floods and volcanic eruption, many homes were destroyed and beautiful beaches washed away.

BUT maybe it's an invitation to come back another time?
Even though our Kauai trip was rather wet this magical place stole our hearts.
The town of Hanalei really has something special about it. We ate so many Acai bowls and yummy food from local food trucks, we swam every day, we met wonderful people, we played tennis, we played in the sand, we played in the pool, we saw monk seals and turtles.
We shopped at the farmers market and drank coconuts in the taro fields.
Our accommodation had ocean views and was just so comfortable...
I really didn't want to leave. The ten days flew by and it was way too short a stay.
Faye listened and danced to live Music and spend all her days outdoors.
Was this real life? I felt so grateful every day for this time, for the life we have and our little family.

Faye got to know her Grandparents from Germany and while it took both sides a little while to get used to each other there were tears on both sides at the end of the trip.

Oh, Hanalei...we will be back. And next time we will visit everything we have the missed this time.