36 Mosquito Bites

Cole and I decided to be spontaneous and go camping at 6:30 pm last night. So we threw everything in the back of our Subaru and drove an hour and a half past the Anderson Ranch Reservoir and down into a little river canyon.

We thought that we had everything we needed until we found a camp spot and got out of the car. Mosquitoville!!! We didn't have any bug spray. Ugh. We sat in the car and thought about whether we should just go back home or stick it out. We decided to stick it out. And even though I counted 36 mosquito bites today, I'm glad we went! We had a good time sitting around the campfire and waking up to the beautiful river. We decided to sleep in the back of the car and it was pretty comfy. We even had s'mores for breakfast. You can't beat that.

It's a race!

We went to the horse races yesterday and had a "hog killin' time". Yes that is a real cowboy phrase. I looked it up on a cowboy language website. :) Horses scare me. They are huge. But they're amazing and fun animals to watch. Naturally, I wanted to place bets on Lucky Sis to win.

The day and the life in Cicily's cubical

This is me not wanting to be at work. Understandably since coming back from Hawaii, work has been a little hard to get into. I have piles of paper to deal with all over my desk.

It's so freezing in here I have to make myself some herbal tea just to warm my paws on. I hate that I have to wear my winter coat/sweaters to work when it's 100 degrees outside.

I like to accumulate different cups and bottles as you can see.

Welcome to my cubical! :)

They're pretty cute

I have a couple nieces that are pretty darn cute. We got to hang with them tonight.

We went to the park tonight with my brother and sister-in-law and their two cute kiddies - Norah and Juniper. It was a great night with good weather and good company!

Norah named the little fishy Junie fish because it was small like Juniper. :)

Na Pali Coast and dolphins!

Today we started out early. We had a boat tour to see the Na Pali Coast. We had to wake up at 4:30 am in order to get to the harbor in time for launch.

The tour was amazing! Na Pali coast can only be seen by boat or air so it is mostly uninhabited. I've never seen anything like it. We saw dolphins and turtles swimming nearby.

After the coast, they took us to the forbidden island where we were able to snorkel right off the boat. I was really scared to be snorkeling in the middle of the ocean but I thought I'd better give it a try. It was cool, but I didn't stay out there too long.

The waters were really choppy on the way back. We all went flying around quite a bit. Overall it was a very adventurous experience. I got burnt really bad dangit!!

We all were pooped when we got back, but mustered up enough strength to go to a nice place to eat for our last night here. We went to Duke's Canoe Club and it was so fun and delicious.

I am so sad that we have to go home tomorrow. This trip came and went way too fast! Ugh...we made some good memories.

Canyons and Chickens

Today was a nice relaxing day despite the fact that I got chased by a chicken. Haha.

Today we explored the west side of the island. It was completely different then the side of the island we explored yesterday. It was dryer, but still so beautiful! We drove to what they call the grand canyon of Hawaii - Waimea Canyon. It was pretty cool. The elevation was so high it looked like we were above the clouds.

There are wild chickens everywhere here. I stopped to take a picture of one and it started following me all the way to the car and was looking at me in the car. I made Cole's mom roll up the windows because I was afraid it was gonna get me. Haha. I included some pictures of this scary event :)

Later we hung out at the condo and had dinner on our balcony.

Snorkeling

Yesterday was exploring and snorkeling day. We decided to just drive around part of the island and find snorkeling spots. We stopped to see different lookout points. We stopped at a lighthouse and at local farmer's market where Cole and I had a lady cut open a coconut for us to drink. We also bought some fruit that was amazing! Eventually we got to Tunnels beach where there was an awesome snorkeling reef.

I was a bit nervous because I've never been snorkeling before, but it wasn't too bad. We saw some really cool tropical fish and even came across three sea turtles. They freaked me out at first because they were not shy at all and the turtle was swimming right towards Cole and I.

After snorkeling we headed to Bubba's Burgers for a late lunch and walked around the cute shops in Hanalei.

We got back to our condo and just relaxed. Cole buried my legs in the sand and we watched a couple get their wedding pictures taken on our beach. Like how I call it my beach. Haha I wish I could stay here longer!!!!

Here are some pictures from yesterday. I can't figure out how to make them go in order or label them. Sorry.

Kauai: day one

We got up this morning for a short 30 min plane ride to the island if Kauai. The feel here is a much slower, relaxing pace. Honolulu was bustling and fast paced.

Our condo is amazing! We did have a garden view, but because it's Cole's parent's 35th anniversary they bumped us up to an ocean front view. We are just steps away from beach!

When we first got here we went to grab lunch at the Mermaid Cafe. Then we took a dip in the ocean. Afterward we hung out on the beach and patio. It was a nice relaxing evening.

Here are some pics from today.