After a good night's sleep, we decided to take it easy for another day as we wind down our week in Kauai. We took a short drive to Wailua Falls.

Even though it was another hot day, we just had to get some noodle soup at Pho Kauai in Lihue, which I highly recommend.

Later that night, after dinner, we went to the Coconut Marketplace to get some ice cream from Lappert's, and everyone enjoyed their scoop!

Back at our resort, I took the kids to the beach to light up the rest of the sparklers, and I managed to take some awesome pictures using delayed exposure. Here's one with 1/3 second exposure.

And 0.6 second exposure. This turned out to be my favorite shot.

And 1.3 second exposure. Very cool looking!

Lastly, 2 second exposure.

After 2 hectic days of driving and sightseeing, we took it easy on the 4th of July. Sudi got a bunch of beautiful flowers for only $5 and some fruits from the Farmers' Market.

And Isabel was enamored by what I could only call "hanging Birds-of-Paradise" flowers.

The kids were getting very anxious about seeing the fireworks, so I let them light up a couple of sparklers.

After dinner, we headed over to Lihue and got the perfect spot for viewing the fireworks show. I repeatedly played with the settings on my camera until I capture some really good shots.
 

We had a couple of hours to kill before the luau, so we hung out at Po'ipu Beach, where the boys had a lot of fun getting splashed by the waves.

Upon arriving at the Grand Hyatt, we saw a couple of rare black swans.

The hotel was definitely very nice!

There were probably 500 people at the luau, and the weather was just perfect.

Isabel couldn't get enough of the very sweet pineapple. She must've had 8-9 pieces!

And I couldn't get enough of the Kalua pig! I had 3 big servings of it!

I managed to get seats very close to the stage, so we got a very good view of the dancers.

And she was definitely my personal favorite! :-)

Known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific," the Waimea Canyon was something that we just had to see. On our way there, we get a little teaser view it from a scenic lookout.

And it's another hot day in Kauai -- about 90 degrees!

About a 1/4 of the way up the road towards the Waimea Canyon lookout, we saw a cool little water fall.

And then, after another 20 minutes of driving, there it was -- Waimea Canyon! Truly grand and beautiful!

I just love this picture of me and Joseph!

Sudi and Bambi cut up some very sweet papaya, and we just sat there talking about how amazing this place was.

And then we took one final picture before leaving the canyon.

We stopped by a scenic overlook of taro fields.

And it was great to see the kids being so happy and playful.

We then visited the famous and grand Princeville Hotel, where Isabel (after having such a nice, long nap at the beach) kicked back in the lobby.
 

Everyone together now .. except me taking the snapshot. Joseph was not happy because he was extremely hungry and tired at this point.
 

On the way out the door, we saw a couple of Tahitian dancers.
 

Since there wasn't a reasonably priced restaurant in Princeville, we went back to Hanalei in search for a quick dinner and found the Polynesian Cafe in the Ching Young Village, where we ordered authentic Hawaiian twice cooked pork, which Isabel loved.

On the way back to the car, we saw a couple of a very cool looking tree with leaves that look like butterflies!

After 50 minutes of driving on our way to Ke'e Beach for our hike on the Kalalau Trail, we stopped at Ha'ena (a.k.a. Tunnels) Beach to check out its cave. Marichu and Sophia stood in front of the massive monolith with roots of trees dangling all around. It was weird and awesome at the same time.
 

Here's what the whole monolith looks like.

The cave structure is located at the bottom left of the monolith, and it is massive! Yes, those tiny figures in the middle are us!

Here's a close-up shot of us.

After waiting 20 minutes or so for the rain to subside, we drove for a few minutes to reach Ke'e Beach and then started hiking the Kalalau Trail. Marichu carried Isabel about half way up to the top, and amazingly, Isabel hiked the rest of the way, which was about a 1/2 mile of steep, rocky climb.

At the top, we rested, enjoyed the amazing view and fabulous breezes, and decided that it would be safer for us to head back rather than proceed onward for at least another hour through a steep, wet, and treacherous descent down the other side of the trail.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and snorkeling at Ke'e beach, which had a large reef that provided fairly calm waters and plenty of colorful fish.

And Isabel was exhausted and took a 2 hour nap!

The girls were up very early today. They're still on Seattle time, I guess.
 

We started our Sunday by going to the local St. Catherine's Catholic church for mass.

Then we had very tasty burgers at Bubba Burgers near Kapa'a. I can now vouch for their slogan, "Always Juicy, Never Greasy."

I decided to start our week by going to the highly rated and popular Lydgate Beach Park, and it definitely did not disappoint. The kids had a marvelous time. Joseph said, "This is the best day of my life!"
 
 
 

It's hot - 85-90 degree temperatures at 6PM!

And the kids are loving it!

We see a few mountains (and a volcano, I think).

And pass over the famous Diamond Head of Oahu.

Joseph already adjusting to the 3 hour time change.

And Isabel, too.