As Jalen has repeatedly noted, we are in paradise. Who wouldn't want to live here? I'd give up skiing in a heartbeat to wake up every single day to hundreds of different bird songs, to be able to grow my own fruit, to be able to surf whenever I wanted. Everyone here truly seems happy! So why don't more people move to Hawaii? What are we afraid of? High prices? Inability to get a job in our chosen profession? Does any of that really matter compared to paradise? However, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I live in my own paradise, even in Minnesota in January. I like the life that I've made there, and I also like that I can get out of there once in awhile and experience other forms of paradise.
Everything closes early in Kauai. The first night here I went to get a beer at the poolside cabana and it was last call. At 6 pm! We got some burgers tonight at a famous burger joint (Ono Char-Burger) and it too closed at 6 pm. I think it's because the island caters to tourists, most of whom are from the mainland U.S. and are still 3-6 hours ahead of Hawaii time. I actually like it. The kids fall asleep by 8 (I did too last night), and since we're up before dawn, we get a whole lot of stuff done before noon.
Today I went for run along the beach. I discovered an ad hoc campground with a dozen primitive sites only 100 yards from our condo. Had I known that, I would have packed a tent and we would have saved a ton of money! We were on the road by 8:30 am and started with a hike to a waterfall, where we went swimming in our own private swimming hole. The we drove the the northern coast of the island to a snorkel beach, where we rented some snorkel gear and swam
among the fish in the coral reef. The kids loved it! And learned that coral is sharp and can injure a person.
The day was busy and spent outdoors. Claire got a bit sunburned yesterday, thanks to our distracted parenting. With four, it is easy to forget to apply sunscreen to one of them, or make sure they all brush their teeth. Actually, Lisa is 90% sure she did sunscreen Claire yesterday, but the waves probably knocked it off of her skin when they knocked her down 40 times.
Oops, it's 8 pm! Time for bed! Go ahead, call me at 5 am tomorrow. I'll be up, I'm sure.
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