August 3

When we were here in April, the day that we chose to visit the Waimea Canyon, the Kalalau Lookout and the points in between wasn't a great one, weather wise. Although I'll always smile when I remember Brady collecting clouds in a water bottle to find out if he could grow more of them at home, I was disappointed to find the gorgeous view of the Napali Coast completely socked in. But there was no repeat disappointment today; today, it was absolutely majestic. Beautiful. A stunning example of God's incredible handiwork.

We hit the road shortly after breakfast. As we wound up the mountain, Adam and I both marveled over the near-perfect blue of the sky. I didn't say so because I was afraid to jinx it (which I realize is totally silly), but I kept detailed mental notes on how the clouds moved and thought to myself that it didn't look too overcast ahead. And it wasn't. I've already said it once, but the view from the Kalalau Lookout is incredible. Though I'm not a huge fan of heights --my body actually stops and won't let me move when I get within 10 feet of an edge-- the beauty of the scene makes it one of my favorite places in the world.

On the way back down, we stopped for a picnic lunch at Koke'e State Park and Adam thoroughly amused the kiddos by challenging the many (many, many, many... seriously, they're everywhere on Kaua'i) chickens who wanted a share of our food to races around the meadow. Fortunately, he wasn't attacked by any angry roosters, and the kids laughed themselves beyond silliness. After a visit to the Koke'e museum, we stopped by the Wailea Canyon lookout to get a closer look; when I took the photo of the canyon in the collage, I didn't notice the tiny blue heart in the clouds.

We, of course, stopped for more shave ice, this time at Jo Jo's, and headed home. After some pool time for everyone but me --I checked out the fitness center-- we had dinner at Pizzetta in Koloa. Our tired kiddos were very good; Abby and Brady colored while Isaac watched part of the A's game that happened to be playing on a TV over the bar. When the food arrived, Brady blew on his little cheese pizza to cool it down, but I love how it looks like he's reacting to the grown-ups' food!

All in all, another good day for us; another day filled to brimming with more blessings than I can count and more anecdotes than I can hope to recount here.