Hawaii--Part 9--Helicoptering Adventure, a Blowhole, and More Good Food

Alright, alright, this was our last full day in Hawaii and it was a good one (mostly planned by Glen)!   Here's the recap:  

TUESDAY MAY 31

• First things first, we woke up and took a long overdue  50th state photo before everyone started scattering. Yes, don't mind the tired faces....we spent the last week playing hard and we were all exhausted. 😑
  
  
  
  
•  The next thing on our agenda was a quick trip back to the Lihue airport to drop off Adam for his trek home.  His FSY counselor training was originally supposed to have been a week earlier (meaning he would have had to miss our time in Oahu completely), but thankfully they opened up an alternate training week, which meant he only had to go home a day early.  I may have single-handedly prayed that alternate training week into existence. 
  
  
• After the airport run, everyone, except Lucie and I, headed out for a HELICOPTER RIDE along the Napali Coast!  Glen planned this activity and they were all beyond EXCITED!    They had an absolutely amazing time!  

• ... the views were pretty spectacular.  

• While the rest of the family was off on their grand helicopter adventure, Lucie and I hung out at the hotel.   We walked around the resort and along the beach, enjoyed lots of snuggles, had a little nap, and had the cutest giggle fest ever!  

After coming off the high of the helicopter ride, we did our last Hawaiian taste test of some It's-It ice cream sandwiches.  They were a favorite of Aunt Mika's growing up in California and we highly approved...though to be totally transparent...they were glutenous, so I didn't actually eat any...though I feel confident that I definitely would have enjoyed them too!  haha! 

•   After the taste test (our final in Hawaii),  the kids headed to the beach/pool, ate a picnic, and  Glen and I  went on walk and out for lunch to The Plantation House by Gaylord.  This lovely meal was a gift to us from the kiddos and we very much enjoyed the delicious food and time to be alone for a while!  

• Chill time at hotel (this is the view from our balcony...so even staring out the window is relaxing).  😍

• After researching one more thing to do in Kauai, we decided on Spouting Horn Beach Park...a crazy place where the incoming waves interact with some lava tubes and water spouts up like a geyser!   It was a beautiful drive to get there...
  
  
  
   and a unique place to see that "one more Hawaiian thing".  

• I'm not sure if I've mentioned all the wild chickens in previous posts, but we were struck by the wild chickens EVERYWHERE in Hawaii...but especially in Kauai.  Local lore has it that a big hurricane in the 1990's destroyed many commercial chicken coops, setting the chickens loose into the wild.  They've spent the last couple decades doing what chickens do and there are cute little chicken families wandering all over the place--in the cities, in parking lots, on the beaches, wandering under your table at restaurants with outdoor seating,  etc.   I understand that they're quite a nuisance to locals, but we found them quite endearing and wondered if there were little nests full of free eggs for people willing to look.  Probably not, since they're likely fertilized eggs ready to grow into baby chickens, but it still made for good suppositions.  haha. 

• Here's one more shot of Spouting Horn with a lovely rainbow in the spray of the blowhole!  

• After enjoying the blowhole for a while, we headed to our final Hawaiian dinner at Kalapaki Joes!  They served good burgers and the  fries may be the “best ever” ( according to a couple kids).   

• Though we weren't really hungry, we decided to get some ice cream at Skinny Mike’s—an ice cream shop right across the street from our hotel!  The sundaes were amazing and we left satisfied that we'd eaten our fill of Hawaiian goodness!  

• Thus ends our final full day in Hawaii.  Stay tuned for one more post, before venturing on to real life, which has been far more eventful than usual of late.