Travel Tuesday - Kauai

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You know the rest of the world thinks American's are crazy, right?  I mean, their list of reasons is probably long, but I'm specifically referring to our resistance to taking vacation.  I simply do not understand this.  According to a recent Fortune.com article,  "U.S. employees typically leave about 429 million paid vacation days on the table every year."  WHAT?  Not me.  I will use them every chance I get.

While unfortunately I do not work for an employer who offers unlimited vacation days, so we typically plan one 'big' trip a year, then smaller 'long weekend' trips a couple times a year.  One of our favorite 'big' trip destinations is the Island of Kauai, in Hawaii.  It is basically our heaven on earth.

Room view at the Sheraton Kauai

Room view at the Sheraton Kauai

I had been to Kauai with my family as a kid, but it had been many years since by the time we went on our honeymoon.  It was an amazing trip (and not just because it was our honeymoon, ;) )  Our favorite place to stay is the Sheraton on the south shore near Poipu.  They have a great pool and beach.  If you're going with a group and want a cost-efficient place to stay, we've had a really good time at the Koloa Landing Resort. They have great, spacious multi-bedroom condos with full kitchens and big lanais (patios).  Its a great place to stay with kids, there are activities and a great family pool.  The south shore is the sunnier of the shores, with calmer waves and beaches.  But the Island isn't very big, and you can easily drive to the east and north shores and back in a day.  The western most part of the island is privately owned and can only be visited by air and sea (with a few private exceptions.)

Tree tunnel on the way to Poipu

Tree tunnel on the way to Poipu

Small falls on the way to the coast

Small falls on the way to the coast

Kauai is called the Garden Island because it is so green, and it is home to one of the wettest spots on Earth (Mt. Waialeale.)  Everything is so beautiful because it is clean and alive and so refreshing.  The atmosphere of the island is very relaxed (there really is such a thing as "Island Time") which helps force you to chill out and relax.  We always return home feeling refreshed.  Which is the point of vacation, right?

Can you believe these colors?

Can you believe these colors?

Nature is amazing.

Nature is amazing.

If you're going to go, you HAVE to get this book:  The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook.  Kauai is not super resort-y, so this book will help you find the best places to eat and best activity vendors to use and best hikes to take.  It is written by a local who knows the best little local food joints that you wouldn't know about otherwise, and we take it everywhere with us when we're there.  It was actually first given to us by a friend who had recently honeymooned there, and as a wedding gift to us she gave us the book with post-it flags and notes about all the places they'd tried and liked.  We have since lent the book to several friends on their Kauai trips, and everyone adds their own notes when they go.  Its a fun, now extra-customized Kauai bible.

 
kauai light and falls
 

We have gone kayaking, hiking, whale watching, zip-lining, horseback riding, and on a helicopter tour and a catamaran tour.  The food is always good and fresh, and we've never had bad weather (we've gone in January, April, July and August.)  The rain comes and goes, and the sun can be intense, so be sure to bring lots of SPF!!  And then RELAX!!

Pictures don't do this justice.

Pictures don't do this justice.

toddlers first trip to kauai
Pretty much a daily occurrence.

Pretty much a daily occurrence.

Flashback Friday - Denver Trip

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Flashing back to last month, when we were able to finally visit some friends of ours who have moved to Denver.  The wife was throwing a birthday dinner for her husband, so we took a long weekend and flew out Saturday - Monday.  As the trip approached I was looking forward to escaping the crazy heat we'd been having in Los Angeles, but it turned out it wasn't any cooler in Denver, and it may have even been a record high while we were there. 

But hot days usually equal great evenings once the sun goes down, and that was the case, which was good, because as you can see, dinner was on the roof.  There was a beautifully set up and catered dinner which included cold cucumber soup (almost like a smoothie in a bowl), a fresh salad, and perfectly cooked short ribs (which I remembered to Snap, but didn't save the photos. They didn't do it justice anyway.)  After dinner we moved from the roof to the ground level patio, where there was a custom cigar roller (I don't smoke, but the guy was nice), and a Frank Sinatra impersonator to serenade us for a couple hours.  It was a small party (about 16 of us) but met some very nice people and had a really nice time.

(Click on some of the images below for captions.)

All the ladies.

All the ladies.

All the gents.

All the gents.

Got out and saw some of the country. Visited Red Rock. Beautiful country.

Got out and saw some of the country. Visited Red Rock. Beautiful country.

The dinner was Saturday night after we arrived, so we had Saturday to explore. We went to Red Rock Amphitheater, which was closed when we got there due to a concert to be held later that day. But we were still able to get a taste of the land and rock formations.  We had to get some ice cream later in the day, and play in the water fountains a short distance from our friend's townhome.  Denver is a very pretty city, with a lot of history, but it's also very burgeoning.  Would love to go back to visit longer (when it's cooler.)

Links I Love

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Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

  1. I did my own, Kate did too.  Beauty guru Bobbi Brown shares her tips for doing your own wedding make-up. (yahoo.beauty.com)
  2. Turn your own handwriting into a font for your computer, for free. (myscriptfont.com)
  3. Bloggers always need good photos, and sometimes you can't take your own.  Here are the top 10 websites for free, non-cheesy stock photos. (creative boom.co.uk)
  4. He may have left us in person in 1991, but he lives on in his works. Dr. Seuss' new release will need to be added to our library. (amazon.com)
  5. 6 super-weird beauty tricks that work wonders: I'm trying the first one tomorrow. (thebeautygypsy.com)
  6. Check out this guy's Instagram: he brings beauty to doodles. (instagram.com)
  7. You had me at "chocolate".  They've compiled the best chocolate recipes in the universe. (purewow.com)
  8. For you frequent travelers, find out the quality of your hotel's wifi before you book. (hotelwifitest.com)
  9. I'm always looking for new recipes, I might get addicted to this Tender app. Downloading now. (yahoo.com)

Family Travels - Arkansas

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No offense to anyone from Arkansas, but I don't think it is typically where people think of going when they take a family vacation.  And to be honest, we wouldn't have gone on our own accord either, except we had the special occasion of celebrating my husband's grandfather's 90th birthday, and we couldn't miss that.  He is the only living grandparent in my husband's family, and he had never met our son (his great-grandson) before, so the trip was very well worth it.  From the looks of it, we may be taking another trip out there in 10 years for Grandpa's 100th! :)

And Arkansas proved surprisingly lovely, to the point my husband and I were trying to imagine the logistics of us moving out there.  Ahhh, the grass is always greener....and in this case, I think it literally is.  I think the air is fresher, the sky bigger and bluer, and the grass greener in Arkansas than anywhere SoCal can offer.  Despite the short duration of the trip, and travelling with a toddler, it actually felt like a vacation. The country was lovely, the people were friendly, the pace was chill.  It's hard to feel completely chill in LA. Even if you turn everything off, there is always the hum of the freeway reminding you that you need to be on the go.

Flying with the Little Dude was my primary concern - he's flown a few other times, with mixed ease.  He's ever evolving, and now at 19 months I didn't know what to expect with him.  He's always on the go, and this was a 3 hour flight -- I came prepared with new books, Chuggington videos on the iPad, a coloring book -- and 10 minutes after take-off he'd fallen asleep. And slept the entire flight. BOTH ways!  It was amazing.  Mom and Dad were stuck in the same position and seat for those 3 hours with the sleeping toddler across our laps, but we are not complaining.  And every other part of the trip he was a champ.  He didn't sleep the nights quite as well as he does at home, but he still did really well, and we had so much fun with him.

The second day of our trip was our 5th wedding anniversary, so as a surprise to me, my husband got us a couple nights at this fun boutique hotel in Bentonville.   21c Museum Hotel is exactly what it implies: its a museum hotel. The lobby and ground level is a contemporary/modern art museum/gallery, then the guest rooms are on floors above.  It was a fun place to stay.  I'm assuming the displays/installations change occasionally, so you likely don't see the same art every visit.  Across the street from the museum/hotel was a park with a large open water fountain that the kids could run in.  It was heaven on earth for our Little Dude.

The last 3 nights of our stay we rented a small house in the hills, which was a perfect choice for a family with a toddler.  One morning we saw a deer right out our carport.  We were walking distance from a playground for Little Dude to climb and slide.  One day we went to Crystal Bridges Museum of American art, which was a very lovely museum with free admission.  The grounds are especially nice, and not surprisingly Little Dude liked the outdoors the best.

100th birthday or not, I would actually enjoy another trip out there sometime. Or if we ever plan a cross-country road trip, this would be a stop on that drive for sure.

 
 

Blue Belle

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I'd never been to Arkansas before this recent family trip, and I enjoyed it much more than I anticipated.  Typically the weather in that region of the country tends to be what I consider a less desirable combination of heat and humidity than what we have in SoCal, but this year its almost more humid in LA than it was in AR, so I felt like it was easy to acclimate.

I knew what would be most comfortable would be sundresses, so I picked up a few new ones from Forever 21 - they've been killing it this summer with their adorable, totally affordable yet look-more-expensive-than-they-are styles.  This dress is one of my favorites.  With the off-the-shoulder style and my wide-brimmed hat, I felt like a southern belle.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

You can find most of the exact items below.