We headed back to the Wailua River to give kayaking a second try.  Luckily the river had receded enough that it was safe to kayak and to hike today.  Most of the group split off and went to hike Secret Falls.  But there was no way I was convincing my boys to do that hike again.

Halle and Rusty went to Secret Falls,  but the boys and I and Grandma and Grandpa made our way to Fern Grotto.  What a beautiful spot!  Today I kept my waterproof bag on the iphone and my photos are terrible.  Sad.

The ferns just grow down right off the rocks making a stunning green curtain.  We walked the little loop taking our time to explore all the fun plants along the way.  The kayak landing spot is not an easy in and out and we had to scramble on tree logs and through mud to get back to our kayaks.  There is a dock, but we were told it was private and that we couldn’t use it.  Dumb.

About this time Rusty and Carlie and Mave came kayaking up.  Mave was not a big fan of the hike.  Mave was not really a big fan of the kayak either.  We waited for them while they went and explored Fern Grotto.  I tied Rusty’s Kayak to mine and Blake climbed in and we double kayaked around while we waited.  When we were getting Mave back in the kayak Carlie bent over a little too far and her sunglasses slipped into the water, never to be seen again.  Darn! Here’s the river crossing at Secret Falls and some pics of the hikers.

Halle and Jhena at Kings Bath on the way to Secret Falls.

If Halle took your picture on this trip you were also treated to an awesome selfie 🙂

The falls:

(I think that barefoot guy taking the pic is our guide Forrest from last time)

And Landon’s pic of Fern Grotto.  He’s a master!

Next we tried to find our way to the swimming hole for a little cliff jumping.  The guide in the beginning told us it was only about a 10 min paddle from the Fern Grotto.  Well, we paddled for a good 25 min until we got to some upstream rapids that we couldn’t get past.  We decided we must have missed it so we turned around and tried again.  We eventually made it to a spot that looked like it could be right but there were no signs and we weren’t sure.  Well, along comes a local guy paddling down the river.  We asked him if we were in the right spot and he confirmed we were.  He asked if we were going to jump and we were all a little hesitant.  He said, “I will show you how.  And if a senior citizen like me can do it, then so can you.”  He proceeded to scramble up the cliff and jump off!  Josh was debating back and forth about jumping.  He said, “I regret not jumping in Wyoming when we were camping this summer and I don’t want to regret this too.”  So, after our cute local friend made the jump Josh decided to do it too.  I was really proud of him!  He climbed right up and didn’t even hesitate–he jumped right off!  After seeing him make the jump I knew I could be brave too.  So Josh and Carlie came up with me again and the three of us jumped.   Mave was losing it.  She did NOT like to watch the jumping.  She kept saying, “I want that man to come back!  I don’t want him to jump!”  And then when Carlie went she was just crying and saying, “No mommy!  Don’t jump!  Come back!  I want to go home RIGHT NOW!.”

My mom and dad decided to put her out of her misery and kayak her back to the village while the rest of us finished jumping and playing in the water.  Blake was loving to splash around and paddle in his life jacket out in the swimming hole.

We made our way back to the Hawaiian Village and explored around a little bit.  It wasn’t super impressive, but we did see a huge banana tree with big bunches of green bananas and everyone thought that was pretty cool.

I was really proud of Halle for trying the hike again and she had a great time.  She and Jhena came back with war paint on their cheeks.  They had decided to embrace the mud.

A few of us left before the hikers got back to go and get fish tacos to take to Lydgate.  We got everyone’s orders and made the long 3 mile drive back to the beach.  I swear that 3 miles takes like 30 minutes to drive!  But, we had to have more fish tacos from that food truck.  I also tried a Pastor taco this time and it was equally as delicious.

Lydgate is just the best beach ever.  The beautiful palm trees, grassy areas, picnic tables, and shade make it the perfect spot.  There is also a protected area for the little ones to swim and a more open area for the bigger ones to catch some waves. The boys are STANDING in this giant hole that someone generously left behind.  It was awesome.

Michael, Jack and Blake had a way fun time snorkeling here.  They saw tons of zebra fish!

At Lydgate we built the biggest and the best sand turtle you’ve ever seen.  There was a guy a little further down the beach making a big whale and Dan was determined to beat him.  Ours totally won.  The kids had a blast making the turtle.  They did not have a blast when we made them take cousin pics on this very picturesque log.


We went home and Nat and Carlie stopped at Costco for some Mac and Cheese we could feed the kids for dinner while the adults went to dinner.  We went to Keoki’s Paradise.  It was great to get cleaned up and have some adult time.  Dinner was just ok.  The fish was delicious but the portion was too small and the price tag a bit too high.  But….the Hula Pie was delicious.  Totally worth the stomach ache I had moments after indulging in so much dairy 🙂

We brought a piece of Hula Pie home for Halle to say thanks for watching the kids. We hid it in the freezer until after the boys were in bed.  Then she got to stay up and watch a show on her ipad and indulge in her Hawaiian treat.  I think it was a trip highlight for her. So fun. And the other kids never found out.  (Until they read this blog post)