Take Your Mom on Vacation

The last two days of our vacation featured a beach day at the gorgeous Hanalei Bay and a pool day at our hotel.  The water of was warm, clear and shallow.  The waves were just enough to make me jump but not enough to scare me too badly and once again I saw no fish!!  It was the 4th of July, but I doubt the beaches were no more or less crowded than any other day.  What are you going to do on the 4th didn't really feel like a thing because people are doing the same thing that people are doing in Kauai every other day.  The Beach, the pool, relaxing.  That night MJ grilled burgers that we ate with french fries from the hotel bar and grill.  We ate from there once and the food wasn't all that good, but the fries were perfect.  There were only two places to see fireworks on the entire island and we really didn't feel like seeking them out after a long beach day so we spent a nice night in the jacuzzi drinking wine instead.

We circled the entire island during our stay.  Our hotel was on the South shore in Koloa.  Our Catamaran boat tour took us from the South all the way up the Napali coast on the West shore.  We went biking in Kappa on the East shore and then went even further to the North Shore for Hanalei Bay.  We covered Kauai as best we could in the amount of time that we had.

The last day began with shopping and ended at the pool.  The moms really wanted to hit the little row of shops in what would be downtown if Koloa could even be considered a town, so we turned in our beach rentals and went straight there.  MJ went into exactly one store with us and then parked himself in a bar for the duration, which was very smart.  I'm not a big shopper so I was mildly interested when we started out, but started getting antsy after the first hour and a half when it became clear that they intended to peruse every single square inch of every single shop.  It was our last day and I was ever so anxious to get to the pool.  I tapped out towards the end and sat with MJ until after almost three hours they were done. 

Finally we hit the pool where I could lounge, read, eat giant steak fries and suck down a cocktail--or two.   Every time we go to Hawaii we take the latest flight out that we can get.  It's really nice to have that last day to soak up every minute of Hawaiian sunshine that we can before it's time to go.  And soak it up, we did until the designated time that would give us enough time to change and get to the airport with a little extra time to spare.  We went to the locker rooms and showered away the sand for the last time.  I was so sad to see my mom go at the airport, but so grateful that she was able to come and that we were able to spend such an amazing time together.

When I mention that we invited our mothers to go on vacation with us, I usually get a raised eyebrow or two and a questioning, "Well, how was that?"  Well, it was fine.  MJ and I have been fortunate enough to go on a lot of vacations since our 2010 honeymoon and we have two more next month.  Since we had spacious hotel accommodations we decided, why not?  I treasure our alone time together on vacation, but also thought it would be awesome to experience Hawaii with both of them.  His mom has never been on a 'real' vacation before and it was something that MJ really wanted to do.  My mom has been on vacation recently with my Dad and actually had already been to Kauai years ago, but I can't remember the last time we even traveled together.  Growing up our family vacations usually consisted of a lot of time traveling by car and/or visiting family out of state, so I have never done anything like this with my mom.  She is the best.  I loved having her there.

MJ was definitely outnumbered, but he handled it like a champ.  The moms had their own room and bathroom.  Everyone got along fine and they liked all the plans we made.  In the mornings we ate breakfast in our hotel and got ready for our day.  Now that I think about it we only went out to eat twice and both of those times were on the same day.  Breakfast on the way to hiking and the luau.  In the evenings we went back to the hotel and ate either take out or whatever we picked up from the grocery store and watched TV or a movie until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore.  MJ and I got sleepy at night way before they did, and I'd say we were the old ones, but we also had a tendency to wake up earlier.  Our mother's have only seen each other a few times so it was nice for them to have the chance to get to know each other better.  There is a thing or two I could say (isn't there always?), but I won't.  It was a really pleasant and relaxing trip for everyone and I'm so glad it worked out for all of us to go together.

And that concludes my Kauai vacation recaps.  Phew!! 

 
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