Ahhh, another lazy morning. We slept in. REALLY slept in. Late. It sure felt good!
We hung out in the sun for awhile, enjoying the ocean breeze and the crash of the waves. Then we left around 1:30pm and headed to Chucky's again in hopes of meeting him.
The cute store...
When we got inside, he wasn't in there and we were getting kinda bummed. I asked the lady at the counter if she had any idea when he'd be in and as we were talking, in walked Chucky! His wife was there as well! We were so glad to finally meet this brother-in-Christ that we've felt like we've known for a long time.
He blessed us with a pineapple...mmmm, so yummy! Us with Chucky and his wife, Pam. Don'tcha just love his smile?!
Chucky is a very busy man and he was getting ready to go perform a vow renewal for someone's 25th anniversary, so we didn't get to visit with him long. We enjoyed every moment we had though!
Then we left and headed to Wahooo for a late lunch/early dinner! I wasn't too adventurous....got the same yummy sandwich I had the first day! Eric ordered a french dip sandwich and that was good too.
After our belly's were full we drove up north again to Princeville, and headed to 'Queen's Bath'. I fell asleep on the way! It was a short hike--maybe a quarter mile or so--from the parking area to the shore. The trail ran along a freshwater stream through a beautiful forest.
Looking back upstream at a small falls. It was probably 8-10 feet or so. Look at all that beautiful green!
When we got out to the water we decided to walk to the right first, opposite direction of Queen's Bath, just to see the shoreline. Lots of big lava rocks, little tide pools, etc.
You can't really tell in this picture, but it's quite a drop from the edge of the rock down to the water.
It took us a little while to figure out what the 'white stuff' was we kept seeing on the rocks....we're pretty sure it's salt...duh!
There's a cross at the base of the tree on the left....the north shore can be a very treacherous place, especially in the winter months. A lot of the beaches had a sign with tally marks showing how many drownings took place there. Sobering.
Eric by a tide pool. It was fun to look for little creatures :0) I was REALLY glad to have my Keen sandals for hiking on these boulders.
We found a spot we call the 'washing machine'. Looks like it was once a cave. It was VERY turbulent water. As we walked to the edge of the rocks we saw something jump in the water. At first we thought it was a seal, but soon saw it was a turtle! And he wasn't alone! There were at least 10 or more in that little area. We stood there for a long time watching and snapping pictures.
These next two pictures are to the left, then the right of the 'washing machine'....if you look close, you can see rock sticking just below the surface of the water (easier to see in the second pic). The two 'points' were only about 10 feet apart.
It was so fun watching the water swirl in and crash against the rocks. I have no doubt that if you were to fall in there you'd probably drown. It was beautiful though.
We headed back to where the trail came in a went to the left to find Queen's Bath....this the where the freshwater stream fell into the ocean.
Lava rock...red dirt hillside...scummy, green water...eww.
By the time we got to Queen's Bath (not far, really, we were just taking our time) the sun was at an angle...well, it just didn't make for getting a good picture. But here's a view of it anyway! 
Walking tree seed pod thingy. They looked like giant pieces of corn on the ground! Each one is about an inch around and two inches long!
Birds we found...Red Crested Cardinals. (I had another name in here and just found out I was wrong...sorry for the wrong info!)
After we left there, we drove a few miles to the trailhead to hike down to another beach called Hideaway's Beach. I wasn't sure I wanted to commit to snorkeling there since we couldn't see what the surf was like, but we hauled all the gear with us. And boy was I glad we did!!!! It turned out to be a great spot to snorkel! A very secluded beach with only 4 other people on it....and two of them left after we got down there! We changed into our swimming stuff behind a big tree and got in the water. The cool thing is, the sand went out a long ways into the water. Not much lava rock, so it was really nice! There's a small reef there and we saw a lot of little fish. I got really excited when I saw a Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, Hawaii's state fish! We had so much fun! I really wish now that we would have had a waterproof camera......oh well, next trip maybe!
We got out of the water soon before the most beautiful sunset EVER! These pictures don't even do it justice...it was simply amazing! What an Awesome God we serve!
On the way back to the Resort, we picked up a hitchhiker. A 22 year old, born and raised on Kauai. It was kinda neat to get a perspective from someone raised on the islands...he told us about his first trip to New York. That would be quite a shock! He wasn't a believer, but did attend church as a child. Our prayer is that some seeds were planted in his heart from our conversation...
When we got back to Kapa'a, we stopped for some coffee and did a little grocery shopping and other shopping. Then we headed back to our room for showers and bedtime. We had a BIG day coming up that was going to start with a very early morning! Mmmm, our room smelled like pineapple......I could get used to that!
And that pretty much concludes Day 8 on Kaua'i!
It isn't just anywhere that you can watch the sun set over water one night and get up the next morning to watch the sun rise....over water! We actually didn't feel like getting up at 6am. Body clocks must have been getting switched over! But we scurried out to the beach to watch the beautiful sunrise. I took a GOB of photos, but I just picked two to share....don't want to bore you and all, but you can't deny how beautiful it is!
We got a kick out of watching the sand crabs...even got some fun videos. Man, they're fast!
We sure enjoyed God's beautiful sunrise, then we went back inside to get ready for church. We decided to attend Koloa Church--it was recommended by friends/family--and arrived just in time for the 8:00am service. It felt kinda weird to be without our children on Father's Day! When we got out of the car, there was a sweet older lady who asked Eric if he was a 'Dad'. She had made yarn leis for all the father's...how sweet!
After worship, the pastor's wife had all the fathers come to the front. The women of the church had made little goody bags for the children or wife to hand out to the dads. It was a bag of homemade cookies with a candy bar tied to the outside! How special! Then she prayed a blessing over the men before they returned to their seats.
Unfortunately, the pictures I snapped were a little blurry, but this one has Eric in it anyway...and the lady seated on the end of the bench (middle of the pic) is the one who made the leis!
Pastor Kilborn had a very good message...He talked about Jairus, whom he called the 'Unashamed Father'. You know, the man in the Bible who had the daughter that was sick and ended up dying (Mark 5:21-43). Well, I won't get into the whole sermon, but here are the key points he made:
#1: Jairus wasn't ashamed to let his daughter see him seek out Jesus,
#2: Jairus wasn't ashamed to let Jesus into his home and let HIM have the authority there, and
#3: Jairus wasn't ashamed to show his daughter the love he had for her.He challenged the fathers (and really the mothers too) to live unashamed, as Jairus did. To show our children just how important the Lord really is in our lives.The women's ministry prepared a breakfast to honor the fathers that morning and all were invited to stay for that, so we did!
They served Loco Moco, a unique Hawai'ian comfort food. It's rice, topped with a hamburger patty, an over-easy egg and smothered in brown gravy! Very interesting! They also had the best ever pancakes...THICK, with a slab of butter, coconut syrup, maple syrup and fresh coconut on top...they were amazing! They had other choices for pancake toppings too, like strawberries and whipped cream...Mmmm. And that wasn't all....hash browns/veggies, spam, little wieners, and I think that's about all. Oh, but just looking at that pancake is making me drool!
Pastor Harold Kilborn and his wife Christy. I only got this one picture before my camera battery died, so closed eyes will have to do. Ha ha, I love the 'hang loose'! They're a pretty neat couple and so in love with Jesus, you could just tell! I wish we could have had more time to spend with them!
The church...
We left with STUFFED tummy's and headed to Spouting Horn--very cool! (that's a link to someone else's video)
'This natural wonder occurs as water rushes under a lava shelf and bursts through a small opening at the surface. Every wave produces another spray. Spouting Horn frequently spurts salt water 50 feet into the air. The phenomena is especially exciting at sunset when the spray becomes incandescent with the colors of the rainbow. This particular blowhole is different from others found throughout the state as another hole nearby only blows air, making a loud groaning sound.'
This picture makes it looks small, but it's really pretty good size.
A hen and her chicks...a very common sight!
This view is a couple hundred yards to the right of the Spouting Horn. We walked out there--it's off the beaten path--and enjoyed the view for awhile....just so much beauty to take in all at once!
Beautiful red hibiscus.
We left Spouting Horn after spending some time in the shopping area--just long tents set up with individual vendors and their booths. We found some goodies to take home to the children, shark tooth necklaces for the boys and a yellow plumeria one, like my white one, for Miss G. The Botanical Gardens Visitors Center was close and we stopped there to ooh and ahh at the flowers.
These trees were in the parking area and I just could not get enough of them!
See how pretty they are?!
Rainbow Eucalyptus...the bark has red, purple, grey, etc...really pretty.
Orchids
Sugar Cane
Seed pods inside the Visitors Center. The one on the left is a mahogany seed pod. We can't remember what the one on the right is, but it was super soft and fuzzy like a rabbit's foot.
HUGE vinca! I didn't know it could be a bush, it was about 4 ft tall! My parents plant these at their mailbox every year. Same colors too!
The following three flowers I don't know the name of...and I'm too lazy right now to try to find out!
The lotus pond was in bloom. It only blooms once a year. SO BEAUTIFUL!
And see how huge?! That's my hand!
More of the trees in the parking lot! We just walked around the gardens at the Visitors Center. We would have had to wait about an hour for the next tour and it was quite expensive, so we decided it was something we'd do on our next trip!
Then we drove to Shipwreck Beach and hiked on the lithified sand dunes. The cliff/hill you see here is called Makawehi Point. 
To get to where this picture is taken, we hiked through the bushes that you see. When we got around the corner we freaked out a little to see that we had been walking on a washed out ledge!
Amazing view of the lithified sand dunes, the water, the sky.......oh to be there again!
After a couple hours along the coast, we walked back to the car and drove to Salt Pond. It took some coaxing, but I finally agreed to get in the water and snorkel for the first time! We don't have any pictures since we don't have an underwater camera, but we did see quite a bit of fish! I never did get comfortable though...it's just different to lay face down in the water and...breathe! Besides my mask kept leaking off and on. I figured out I just couldn't smile, it created a crack in the seal and let water in! We brought home a golf ball we found in the water!
We arrived back to our room around sunset (7:30-ish) and finally cut up our pineapple! It was AMAZING! I'd always heard they were better in Hawai'i...picked ripe and ready to eat ya know! Well, it's true! This particular variety, 'Ele Ele' is super sweet and only ripe 7 weeks out of the year. I think we timed our trip right! Look at that, you just don't see them in the grocery like that!
The pineapple was so good...we ate about half of it! We were sure to rinse our mouths out so we wouldn't get canker sores! Also, we had some more of the salsa and chips I made and other snacks that was laying around. Then, oh yes, out for our dip in the spa and swing in the hammock. (Gee, I really want one!). On our way back to our room we saw this gecko up by the ceiling, on the third floor no less!
Ahh, such a wonderful Day 7 on Kaua'i!
