A's first trip - Vegas baby! Nov 25-29 2010

I still remember D-Day - Nov 25 2010. A was up at 5.00 AM with us as if that was usual. No crying, no fussing. we changed her, fed her and she went right back to sleep in the car seat all the way to the airport. The minute the car stopped at the airport, she woke up. She was in a 'watching' daze for the next 4 hours. No sleep, no food - just soaking in the new place and people. Lugging around the big strolel with the carseat was a big mistake. She crashed for a bit once we boarded the flight and enjoyed the rest of her journey to Vegas. As uneventful and pleasurable the flight was, Vegas airport to hotel was not as much fun. G left us at the airport to get our Fox rental car - which was a mistake since he had to transfer two shuttle buses before he reached Fox for a long wait to get his car. On top of it, there were issues fixing the car seat as the luggage tags got entangled with the belts and was a whole maze. Here poor A was tired sleepy but very patient. She whined but we managed without a full outburst. I could not even change hr diaper as I could not leave our luggage unattended! As soon as we set her in the car seat, she escaped to slumber land so that we could have lunch at an Indian buffet without any interruptions.

Our room at Platinum hotel was just as we expected - spacious, classy and loaded with amenities. G wasted no time getting into the Jacuzzi and we followed suit. A enjoyed all the bubbles and the splish splash. A and I settled into a cozy long nap. We left our hotel room just to get dinner which turned out be an excursion in itself. Being Thanksgiving, the places we were interested in were either closed or serving special reserved dinners. After a wasted trip to the Forum shops, we settled on Buca Di Beppo takeout as we crossed over to A's bedtime.

Adieu to R and D! July 5 2009 Bye Bye Kauai July 6 2009

Today we checked out of our condo, rented and set up our tent and hiked down the very steep path near Ali'i Kai condos to the rocky shore below. We were treated to the scene of many turtles feeding off the crustaceans on the rocks. Working against the rocks and with the waves, they really put in every bit they had for for every bit they ate. Seeing these turtles work for their food gave us some insight into why they needed those long snoozes - the typical posture in which we have observed all other turtles so far.

We went down to Larsen's beach and G and R walked down the beach for some people watching and ended up delighting in the sight of 3 snoozing monk seals - a male, a female and her cub. We then got some last minute shopping done and G got me a dress (as a Thank You for the trip planning he says :)) We had some Italian food and bid farewell to R and D as they hurried to catch their flight home. We came back late to settle in our tent with the sound of the locals partying in the next tent and some mosquitoes outside. Nevertheless we spent some quiet moments with the waves in the moonlight before retiring to bed.

The restroom facilities at the Ha'ena beach campsite were pretty comfortable the next morning before we packed camp to snorkel in Puu Pua Beach. We took the stairs at the site of renovation and snorkeled at very low tide (not recommended) Beautiful fish and coral but no turtles. We headed back to Larsen beach and thankfully for me the mom and the baby monk seal were there snoozing. So we started and ended our trip with monk seals. We headed down to Lydgate beach for a quick shower before heading to the airport. Very eventful and filled up trip indeed!