Day 232
I found Simon had wrapped himself up in his blanket early this morning. We usually put him down stretched out lengthwise and his head the other direction. For some reason, he finds sleeping across the short width of the crib more comfortable so tosses and turns until he moves this way. Silly baby.
The morning view from our room.
Happy to be out and about to start our day.
We headed to the North Shore today and stopped by Kilauea Fish Market for lunch. We had the refreshing yerba mate iced tea.
The sesame ahi poke. It had yellow onions, green onions, and sesame seeds plus a soy-wasabi dipping sauce. Very fresh and good texture. Chunks of ahi were cut in awkward pieces though, some were really big or small and some in-between.
The grilled mahi mahi taco with salsa, cheddar cheese, and a garlic-cilantro cream. Pretty tasty and the mahi mahi was grilled well, not dry. We gave Simon a few bites of mahi mahi and he seemed to like it so maybe we’ll have to try to feed him some fish when we get home.
Ron ordered the ahi wrap which is wrapped in a sun dried tomato tortilla with brown rice, carrots, cucumber, mung bean sprouts, green onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, organic greens and creamy oriental dressing. All the vegetables were very refreshing and it didn’t feel heavy at all even though there was plenty of seared ahi tun wrapped in.
After lunch, we dropped by the Kilauea Lighthouse.
We took a closer peek ($5/person, <16yo = free) since it is also a wildlife refuge. Recently, a bunch of babies were born and were nesting in the ground. This is a wedge-tailed shearwater nesting bird hatchling, if you can see that fuzzy gray colored thing in the hole.
I think this is the ne ne bird that Kauai is famous for.
As you can see, the lighthouse is undergoing renovation right now and it is slated to be complete by it’s 100th birthday in 2013. Right now it does look pretty weather-worn with windows broken and the lens boarded up. If we come back to Kauai, I hope to see it restored.
On our way to Hanalei, we stopped by to check out the view of some taro fields. We ended up stopping by Hanalei Taro & Juice Co. which makes smoothies with a taro base rather than a milk or yogurt base. We ordered a mango papaya smoothie (even though they ran out of bananas so they weren’t going to sell any smoothies today) and although it was refreshing, you couldn’t really taste any taro, maybe just a little grittiness of the taro base but that was it.
We continued driving and stopped at Tunnels Beach for a fresh coconut drink.
There was strong currents today though so not appropriate for swimming.
The best scuba is usually here but with the big waves during the winter, people do not go scuba during this time of the year. Also, we should have known better to not sit too close to the water’s edge but our things got a little wet when the water surprised us when a big wave splashed down and the edge of the water came all the way up to where we were sitting. At least only our feet got wet.
We tried to let Simon drink some coconut juice but he couldn’t suck that hard through the length of the straw. Simon has figured out how to drink from a straw but only if it is a bendy straw and if it has been cut in half. He doesn’t have enough “sucking power” yet. He has also learned how to drink from a water bottle since it is sort of like his milk bottle but without the nipple so he pulls the bottle towards his mouth, either puts his entire mouth around it or on the lip and I help to tilt the water into his mouth. I’m surprised whenever he can actually take a few gulps. I think it entertains him a bit.
The beautiful green mountain behind us.
Right below the green mountain is a dry cave. Not much to see but pretty cool.
We continued driving and reached the end of the highway at Ke’e Beach.
Along the beach were these visible tree roots since the water had washed away all the sand underneath it.
Ron held Simon to let him put his toes in the sand.
Right after this picture was taken though, a big swell caught us again and we got wet up to our knees! Ron almost lost a shoe but it stayed at the edge of the water so he was able to retrieve it. Simon wasn’t affected at all though since Ron was holding him in his arms. I understand now why where was a lifeguard tower and there were actually lifeguards there, it’s easy to get caught by these big waves. We’ll have to go back to South Shore for some calmer beaches.
We then slowly made our way back to our hotel. First we stopped in Princeville to walk around the shops and have some ice cream at Lappert’s. On the left is Kauai Pie (Kona coffee ice cream swirled with chocolate fudge, coconut flakes, macadamia nuts and vanilla cake crunch) in a chocolate-nut waffle cone and on the right is Big Island Inspiration (Vanilla ice cream with chunks of fudge brownies and chocolate) and Pumpkin Crunch (seasonal) in a regular waffle cone.
Simon enjoying a toe while we’re enjoying ice cream.
Then we stopped by Kapaa Farmer’s Market to get some fruits to try. They had this neat sign.
Then we went nearby to this place called Chicken in a Barrel to pick up dinner. They smoke their meats in an old oil drum. It smelled really delicious, a very good smokey smell. The beef was maybe a little too charred but everything else was delicious, including their chili which had big chunks of ground meat.
We bought Simon a big Hawaiian avocado. It’s supposed to be creamier than Haas but it actually didn’t seem that way. It seemed harder even though it was ripe but still able to mash easy enough for Simon’s little gums. He seemed to like it. His favorite foods now are avocado, puffs, and cookies. Not really healthy huh? I hope it’s a phase he’ll grow out of soon.
Other fruits we bought include the apple banana, starfruit, and cherimoya (I think) plus a Haas avocado thrown in (we bought it just in case we couldn’t find a Hawaiian avocado so Simon would have something to eat). The apple banana is supposed to taste a bit like apple and also turn pinkish or reddish with cooking or ripening, we’ll have to see if it does that. This starfruit should be sweet since it’s almost orange in color. Cherimoya? Not sure how that will taste. There is also something called an egg fruit that I’d like to try. It’s shaped like an egg and inside texture is like a hard boiled egg (kind of dry and pasty) and supposed to taste like sweet potato.
We did pick up some baby yogurt with peach for Simon to see if he would eat it. He ate about 1/3 of it (most of it on his face) before he stopped. He would only eat it if we let him hold the spoon and direct it into his own mouth.
We worry that Simon isn’t eating enough solid foods and seems to prefer to drink milk. It’s been tough feeding him while on vacation as there isn’t much of our food that he can eat since it usually has too much salt or is fried or he just can’t gum. As I mentioned, he tried mahi mahi today and seemed to enjoy it so we’ll keep on trying to feed him whatever he is willing to eat. I just hope he’s getting enough nutrients. I guess I shouldn’t worry too much as long as he keeps on growing.
Also, I would like to say thank you to everyone for the birthday greetings these last few days! I feel very loved 🙂 We’ve been having a wonderful time here on Kauai, what more could anyone ask for on their birthday? 🙂 Thanks again!