Shauna, Paul and Joaquin Mayer: Family Vacation

We had been planning and replanning our biggest family trip so far because the timing was not quiet right with a baby in the family. Finally earlier this year in January, we pulled the trigger and paid for flights to Kauai. Shauna's parents have an timeshare at the Marriott in Lihue. We have been several times before, but not with the entire family. This time was the first time for Ruby and Sam.

Needless to say getting a crew of six (four of which need various levels of help) is somewhat of an undertaking. We were able to cut down on some of the cost because Shauna and I both got Southwest cards and were able to basically pay for all of us to fly free to San Jose were we caught our flight to Kauai. We spent the night in Cupertino and then woke up a 4 am to get ourselves to the airport for our 7 am flight. All the kids were pretty good, but Laney had a melt down because she was tired and Joaquin told her if she did not get out of bed, we were going to leave her. Well that did not go over well and she sobbed and sobbed out of bed and into the van.

The time we were most worried about arrived as we left San Jose with a 15-month-old baby on a 5-hour flight who had thrown up a couple of times two night earlier. He took a short nap, but was soon up and moving. He was pretty good most of the flight--we just traded him back and forth and brought snacks, books, and toys for him. Toward the end of the flight he started to get fussy and I has been smelling gas for the past 30 minutes or so, but he did not have a dirty diaper. Well, soon it was getting too fragrant and since Shauna was in the isle seat she had to take him. Several minutes later Shauna arrived and gave me that killer gaze that says--If I could I would rip your head off right now if I could. She explained that Sam had diarrhea and it was on is clothes and legs. Fortunately we were not far out and we soon landed without more incidents. The kids were good because we brought media and coloring books that kept them completely occupied the entire flight.

We landed and as we got near the door to deplane, I started to sweat just sensing the humidity. We got off the plane and gathered up all the luggage and carseats and made our way to some benches. The wives and kids stayed at the bench while John and I went to the rental car lot to pick up the cars. Well, as I was standing in line I realized that I had taken my driver's license out of my wallet and put it in my carry on when we went through security. So, here I am already sweating and I need to run the quarter mile back to the bags and get my license. It is also, 11 am Hawaii time. Well, there I went, I had to run because there were only a couple of people in front of us. I took off running and was able to find my way there (Kauai has a tiny airport) and grabbed my license and headed back. John was at the counter and I was able to join him and not have to wait in line. I was sweating like crazy and was glad when I could get in the car and turn on the AC. I noticed that I was fine if there was a breeze, but if there was no breeze I was hot and sweaty.

We went to Costco and got groceries so we would not have to eat out every meal, which is very expensive. This is the ideal thing to do so you don't come home with a credit card bill of $4,000 because you had to eat out. We hung out at the beach and pool until the room was ready. We got into the room and rested a bit before we went back down to the beach to walk around.

The next day we hit it hard (after everyone woke up at 4:30 because of the time change) and ate breakfast and then went to the pool and beach for pretty much the whole morning. We came back for lunch and then hit hard again in the afternoon. The beauty of the Marriott in Lihue is that the pool and beach are just feet from each other. You can get sandy and salty at the beach and then just walk to the pool, rinse off and jump in.

We generally hung around the hotel given it has everything you need, however, we did take the kids and visits a couple of places on two separate days. We also, celebrated John's and Joaquin's birthdays while we were there. We were afraid we might have to postpone the celebrations when John got sick. It was short lived and continued on our merry way.

We drove to Waimea canyon one day and also the spouting horn. These are pretty cool places and made for a nice change from the sun and water. We also tried to go to Ko'kee State Park to look down on the Napali Coast, but it was raining heavily and we jumped out and took a quick look and all you could see was the faint surf on the beach way down below.

We celebrated Joaquin's birthday by going to Duke's and have fish and Hula Pie. This was Joaquin's request when we asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner. I thought it was pretty cool and we had a great time.

In addition to all of these activities, we also went to the tide pools on the west side of the beach and found sea urchins, fish, sea slugs and star fish. We captured a few of these things. Laney also saved a fish the washed up on the rocks. She put it in a bucket and eventually released it.

One day we went Poipu and went snorkeling. There was a Monk seal there and the kids thought that was pretty cool. The surf was pretty rough so the kids had a hard time getting out to see fish. They did find a place that was more sheltered, but it was right next to a small coral reef and Joaquin cut his foot on the coral. It was not bad and--planning pays off--we brought our little first aid kit and put a bandage on it right away.

Shauna and I went running often and went to the little gym a couple of days as well. I can see how in such a place (if you have money) you could be in the best shape of your life. We swam, did sprints on the beach and ran around the grounds 4.5 miles. The weather is great and even if it rains it will not stop you because it is more or a misting than rain.

We went to church on Sunday along with a bunch of other tourists and were greeted warmly by the locals, and as is this ward's tradition, the gave all of us a lei made out of yarn. We kept all of them, so when we go back to see these wonderful saints, they don't need to give us another one.

We were sad to leave, but we have lots of reasons to come back and visit. God's creations are wonderful and inspire the human mind. Loved every minute of it.