one week to go...

Well, we are down to 7 days, it doesn't feel like a lot of time, but it is the length of an average holiday. We really have taken in every single thing this island has to offer (well, not every single thing, but you get the idea). In fact, I was shopping at a store in Hanalei, and when she saw Melody, the store owner told me about their childrens store in Poipu. Naturally, I had to track it down :) So, Melody and I dropped Jon off to his deep sea adventure and spent the afternoon shopping all the little towns on the west side. When we came across the store that had been recommended, it took me 30 seconds to realize I had already been there! Speaking of shopping, one of my best finds were a silver pair of baby Havaianas. Actually, Melody pulled them off the shelf herself, honestly! You can tell by the picture how proud she is :)

This week we attended a Luau. There are many to take in all over the island, but we chose the Smith Family Luau (an interesting name for a Luau, but they explained that their great grandfather had come from England and married a Hawaiian woman). The Luau really is family run, from the chefs to the dancers. After we were ushered in and presented with leis, we posed for a photo that they would sell back to us later. We took a trolley ride of their gardens, lots of different plants, a lagoon and many, many peacocks. At 6:00, we all gathered around for the Imu ceremony (this is the unearthing of the pig that has been cooking underground all day). Jon went in for a closer view, and I hung out near the back with Melody. I noticed a woman, fixing herself drinks (complete with ice) from her cooler and kind of laughed to myself. Little did I know that in a matter of minutes this woman would be my dinner companion! After the Imu ceremony, we moved into the Hale to eat!! Delicious food, kalua pig, teriyaki beef, mahi mahi, roasted chicken, rice pudding, coconut jello...It was buffet style and we were seated at long tables. Our dinner companions were, the cooler lady, her husband and their 2 year old daughter October Skye on one side, and Sadie and Thomas from Florida on the other, they were on their honeymoon. It really was an interesting meal. October was going through a "diva" phase (according to her Mom), and although Melody was up past her bed time, she was a trooper! After dinner, we all moved over to the theatre and were entertained by Tahitian, Polynesian, Chinese, Japanese, Maori and Hawaiian dancing. We had to carry our sleeping baby to the car when it was all over!

This week, after being tossed about too many times in the waves to try surfing, I decided to try my hand at stand up paddling. I really enjoyed it. I had no problem standing up, and even mastered turning around. After a little practice on the Hanalei river, I was able to paddle out into the ocean and right through Hanalei Bay. I didn't even fall off! I would really like to try it again at home. I think it would be fun to stand up paddle around the lake.

There are many more things that happened last week, but those will have to wait for a later post. Thanks for reading!