Aloha!

Did you miss me? We got home from Kauai about a week and a half ago, and I've been busy creating a video memory of our trip. Well, that's finally done! Now on to the pictures :oD

What made this trip so special was that my friend, Mary, and her family came to join us! We've been online friends since 2005 and met IRL two years ago in Cleveland. We were worried about the hubbies... if they didn't like each other, this was going to be a looong week! But, no worries. Everyone got along fine!

Here is our first day. We picked flowers and made leis at my aunt and uncle's house for Mary's family's arrival. Then we dragged them out to a late night Obon in the evening. With the time difference, we kept them up until 3am Eastern time.

Here are some pics sight-seeing around the island...

We went ATV-ing one day. My family has never done this before and it was a BLAST! The kids were on 4-wheelers. Doug, Mary, Jim and I were on 2-seater mud buddies. We drove out to a private waterfall for a swim... what fun!

Another one of our prearranged events was a snorkel cruise to the Napali coast. This was Mary's family first time on the ocean and first time snorkeling! We've been on this trip a couple of times before. It was so fun seeing it all new through their eyes!

Mary and Doug took the day off, while we took Carley kayaking with us! It's completely safe. In all the years we've been kayaking, no one has ever fallen out. Carley paddled in a double kayak with Jim... and they rolled it over. Chalk it up to a full kayaking experience, lol! We paddled up to a trail, parked our kayaks and walked to a beautiful waterfall!

And lastly, no Hawaiian vacation is complete without a day of surfing!

It was a whirlwind vacation! All that in one week!
What made it BEST, was that it was a great time with great friends!