Karl and Angela Rees

Monday we headed to the Wailua River for a kayaking adventure.   Since they had a life jacket for Thomas and they allowed him to go on the kayak, we decided to do that instead of the Canoe ride.  Thomas hated the life jacket, almost as much as the kayak.  At first he screamed bloody murder when we sat him with Angela, so he rode with Daddy on the kayak while Angela paddled the first leg.  Our first stop on the river was the Fern Grotto.  It was a short hike up to the cave.  We left the life jacket on Thomas and he seemed to get more comfortable with it.  He was able to ride with Mommy the rest of the way.  In fact he fell asleep on the way to the "Secret Falls" trail.  We let him nap for a little bit and then he woke up as Angela tried to get more comfortable.  We decided to try to catch up to Angela's family whom we had told to go ahead.  We unexceptedly took the longer trail around to the falls and missed Angela's family.  It was a nice trail except for the mud.  We had to cross the river a couple of times, but none were like the first crossing, where we crossed in above-the-knee water.   The Falls were beautiful, but Karl missed out on the waterfall swim since Angela and Thomas were hungry (the trip took much longer than expected and we didn't bring lunch). 
We got back to the kayaks and met up with Angela's parents.  We then went out to eat for lunch (we had intended to make our lunch every day, but it was so late we ate out for lunch instead).  Thomas was given the most disgusting milk (spoiled, we think) in the world, so the waitress gave him free Guava juice instead.  The milk was seriously the foulest drink Angela and Karl had ever tasted; good thing Thomas only had a sip before Angela tried it.  On the way to the car, Karl experienced the joys of parenthood as Thomas' mustard-colored diarrhea slid down all over him as he carried Thomas to the car.  Good thing we had a swimsuit for both of them to change in to.  The next stop was Lydgate park.  We would have gone home for Thomas' nap but it was already late, and since he slept some, he probably wouldn't have gone down.  The Lydgate park visit was short  due to cool wind making the cool water less bearable.   Karl did not feel so well that evening (either the milk or Thomas' stomach flu) and he went to bed as soon as we got home. 

All of Tuesday was spent in Waimea Canyon and Kokee State Park.  The scenery was beautiful.  There were many lookouts and we did a nice short hike before lunch.  We had a picnic lunch in the misty rain and cool temperatures.  After lunch we did another hike and then drove to the end of the road.  We wanted to do the hike there, but it was steep and slippery so just the 3 young guys did it.  It was definitely the muddiest hike Karl's ever done (especially the last quarter mile, which was at 60 degree slopes in many areas).  But the view over the Na'Pali Coast was worth it.  We arrived at Jo-Jo's Shaved Ice just before it closed.  We decided to take Thomas back to the rental and "feed" him there and then go out to eat later; the others instead went out to eat.  Thomas wouldn't eat or drink, and vomitted again in the evening. 

We didn't have any plans for Wednesday, so we hung out on the beach in the morning.  It was a great morning to do this.  Many of us tried the boogie boards (Angela wished she could have).  Lots of fun.  While Thomas napped, Karl worked, Angela and her parents shopped for goodies, and Richard and Jonathan took a helicopter tour.  The last of our day was spent looking for the Barking Sands (which we never did get to, due to a road closure).  Instead, we ended up on a very nice beach near Waimea with soft sand and warmer water.  We wished we had discovered this beach earlier.  The evening ending with a dinner out and a vomiting kid in the car.  (Angela did so much laundry this vacation.  Just when we thought he was better, he would surprise us.  Perhaps there were too many distractions and too much stress for him to fully recover in Kauai.  He really didn't eat or drink well at all.)

Thursday morning we left bright and early for Honolulu.  We rented a car for our long layover.  We thought about seeing the U.S.S. Arizona, but the wait seemed too long to be worth it.  We went to see the Iolani Palace instead.  Since Thomas was not allowed inside, we took turns.  It was a beautiful house but it did not compare to many European Palaces we had seen in the past.  After that, we had lunch on the beach and then returned to the airport.  Thomas seemed to be doing much better.  He slept for an hour of the flight and ate a lot.  He was so excited to be home and see his toys.  So we were surprised after we got home that he once more vomited in the middle of the night. 

Friday we called his doctor.  She was concerned that he wasn't drinking as much as he should and that there were few diapers, but that he could wait to see her at his scheduled appointment.  She thought that the lingering vomiting had more to do with dehydration than still being sick.  We were told to give him many liquids.  We are happy to say that that has been the end of it.  His appetite has almost fully returned and he is drinking much more.  Yea for home. 

On Friday, Karl skipped work and surprised Angela with many flowers for their anniversary.  We also ran a few errands and cleaned up our vacation mess. 

Saturday we were having a lazy morning.  Thomas wanted to get going, so he brought Daddy his shoes.  I told him that Daddy could not put the shoes on without socks, so he would just have to wait longer.  Thomas instead went into our room, opened up Mommy's sock drawer and brought Daddy a pair of Mommy's socks.  That was sure cute.  He had seen Mommy get her socks from here many times before, but this is the first time he ever got them for us.  Too bad he doesn't know where Daddy's socks are.  Thomas is also getting the hang of saying please.  It is cute except when you are trying to get him to eat something he doesn't want to eat and he asks for something else and says please.  We have been trying to get him to use his words more and more since he knows so many.  If he wants up and just says up we tell him to say "Daddy Up Please."  He also can count to 2.  He also knows the letters G and O.  He also says part of the title when he brings us a book to read ("Monster," Go Dog Go," "Teeth," "Dance, " and so on).

Today we had stake conference and were basically told not to move from California.  Becky and Wayne and Paela came over for a little bit.  Thomas and Paela sure love to play together.  It's fun to watch, especially when they don't know they're being watched.