On our second morning, Makai woke up at 4:30 a.m., which was one hour later than the previous morning. Ahhhhh.. but we’re getting somewhere, if we can add an hour each morning! Dallas made macademia nut French toast for breakfast for everyone. If you look close you can see the grilled SPAM too.
Dallas’s dad, who has been renovating their house for years, was currently working on a project to replace all of the bathroom and kitchen cabinets. Dallas helped him move all of the heavy cabinetry from the driveway where the delivery drivers dumped it off to the front porch.
After that, Dallas, Makai and I headed to Salt Pond Beach Park. We decided on Salt Pond 1) because it’s close, 2) it’s calmer than Kekaha, which is also close, 3) it’s not crowded and is more of a locals beach. We went early in the morning and no one was there! Makai LOVED the sand and the water and running around like crazy and chasing chickens and digging holes. He was up in the sand playing next to me at one point and goes “Mom! I burped in Hawaii!” I didn’t realize this was going to be a theme on vacation. Him telling me every time he burped somewhere new- Mom! I burped in the swimming pool! Mom! I burped at the restaurant! etc etc.
There’s a sheltered area of Salt Pond, but we were not in that spot. I was trying to hold on to Makai at one point and got knocked down and my knees totally skinned. Dallas laughed. Makai was pretty good in the water. He’d go under and come up and want to get out of the water and then immediately want to go back in. At one point, I was on the beach and Dallas had him in the water. Makai was crying to get out of the water and Dallas called him a baby. Makai got out and stood on the beach and yelled to Dallas and anyone within a half mile earshot that he IS NOT a baby, he is A BIG BOY!
We went home for lunch and had manapua! YUM!
Makai took a nap and Kathy and I took a walk down the driveway to Waimea town.
Our first stop was Kauai Granola. Kathy had never been there, even though she goes past it on her daily walks. I was interested, so we went in. It’s a very small building and in the front are a few tables with granola and cookies for sale. There are also samples available of everything they sell. We tried a few things and decided to get two packs of cookies. We talked for a minute with one of the employees. In the back is where they make everything, right in the building there. Kathy said she’d seen their products in the stores on Kauai, and sure enough. After that I saw the cookies everywhere!
Next we crossed the street to go to the West Kauai Craft Fair, which is held from 9am – 4pm Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on the grounds of the old sugar mill. It’s small and I think the stands vary by day. I saw food trucks parked there too, so you could go and eat and browse the wares. Kathy told me this is where she got Makai’s honu quilt that she gave him for his first birthday. Grace’s first birthday is coming up so she custom ordered a quilt for her too, with a plumeria pattern.
This guy was carving wood by hand. Amazing work.
Kathy bought me a necklace from this woman, she signed “Designs by Lea”. It’s a silver honu hung in front of blue sea glass.
The most impressive booth was the one run by a 12-year-old artist named Pua, which means “flower” in Hawaiian. Interesting since all of her artwork is made with flower petals and leaves and whatever natural material she comes across in nature or even in the supermarket! Kathy and I talked to her for a long time. (The girl on the left in the photo was the daughter of another crafter from a different booth.) Pua told us about how she makes everything by hand. She even makes the paper by hand. It takes six hours to press the leaves and flowers. Kathy asked her how she got the idea to do these and she said she learned about it from a Chinese history book! Really talented girl, very well spoken, very humble. I bought the fish notecard she is holding in the bottom photo. I plan to matte and frame it. I also threw in a few extra bucks, since she told us she hadn’t had any customers all day!
Our last stop was Coconut Corner. I got a fresh coconut there and they chopped off the top so you could drink the coconut water. There was a price set for a regular coconut and a price for a large. We asked for the smaller size and Kathy yelled for them to make sure they picked a good one. She was talking to them and they knew she lived up the street, so I think they upgraded us. Our coconut was pretty large! It was a hot day, sunny, in the middle of the afternoon and we had an uphill walk ahead of us. The coconut was chilled and it was SO refreshing. I had to make myself stop drinking it so there would be some left for Makai when he woke from his nap! (Pay no attention to the mosquito bites on his poor face!)
Maybe I never paid attention before, or maybe there are some new things in town, but Waimea has quite a few shops now that it’s worth it to get out and walk around. In the past it was just a town you drove through to go to Polihale or the canyon. Maybe a shop here or there to stop. But now, you could totally get out at the strip by Big Save and walk up and down stopping here and there.
At this point, when we got home, I think I took a nap too. We had plans that evening!
Left side: Mr. Hee, George, Mr. Ragasa, Eleanor, Janet, Makai, Kathy. Right side: Uncle George, Owen, Uncle Bob, Xavier, Linko, Aunty Nancy, Aunty Linda.
For dinner we went to Aunty Nancy and Uncle Bob’s house. They live just over in Waimea. Kathy and George drove the car there and Dallas, Makai and I walked, taking an overgrown path that they used to use when they were kids. Makai was freaked out when we turned the corner and there were like 20 people sitting there. He mostly hung out in the house where they have a ton of toys because Nancy and Bob babysit for their grandkids, Safina and Swede, every day. Too bad the kids were sick and couldn’t make the party! Dallas and I were inside with Marissa a lot. Marissa gave Makai a cool Monsters University toy and some Japanese candy. And some coffee for us.
We ate so much that night! The one thing I remember is Janet seeing me take seconds on the fish balls and asking “oh, you like those?” I told her I’d eaten about six of them and to my surprise she told me she had made them the night before with fish that Xavier had caught! They were so good. I thought someone brought them from a restaurant or something.
I was just thinking recently how not many of our friends or family have cats and how I couldn’t even remember Makai petting a cat. Well, he pet Aunty Nancy’s old cat, and that was just the first of several on the trip!