Whoo...Whoo...Hawaiian Luau

Sorry I didn't post last night.  We went to a Luau and didn't get home until late.  I just didn't have the energy to post.

It was pouring rain when we got up and the rain continued to come down throughout the morning.  We noticed something that cracked us up. The rain comes and goes and when the sun breaks through the clouds a little, people come rushing out of their villas and head out to the pool.  Then when the rain starts up again, there is a mass exodus with everyone scuttling back to their rooms.  It is hilarious!

About mid-afternoon, we headed to the Luau because there was a boat ride on the grounds that could be taken to  a place called the Fern Grotto.  Sounded fun....so off we went.

One of the first things we saw as we waited for the boat, was this peacock.  He was obviously used to people and was hoping for some food.  The kids scrounged up some crumbs to feed him and he ate out of their hands.

On the boat...Are we having fun kids?
After a 20 minute boat ride, we got out to walk to the Fern Grotto.  We walked through a jungle with some really beautiful flowers.
And lots of mosquitoes.

And here is the grotto.
It looked better in real life.
There are a lot of weddings performed here.
I hope the brides wear lots of bug spray.
Just sayin...
Cheesy tourist photo op by the grotto.
We then returned to the boat and rode back to the dock--scratching and feeling itchy.
The Luau entrance was right next door, which was good because we were starving!

 This pretty much speaks for itself.

 To our surprise, we saw many peacocks wandering around the grounds.

 There are some gardens there and when I saw this bridge, I knew I had to take a picture of the kids on it. 
They were thrilled.

We continued to walk around until the festivities were ready to begin.
In Kauai, there are chickens walking around randomly.
At the airport.
At the beach.
At the grocery store.
It's crazy...and rather endearing.  Except when all the roosters start crowing at 4AM.  UGH.
This rooster got chased off by the peacock.
I felt kind of sorry for him.

Then, finally....it was time for dinner.
YUM!
There were lots of choices and the food was really good.

 During dinner, there was an announcement that volunteers were going to be needed to do the hula.  SaraGrace and Jordan decided they wanted to help out.  And Jake decided to glom on.  In the meantime,SaraGrace had to go to the bathroom so we got in a very long line to use the facilities.  We were almost to the front of the line when the announcement was made...."Calling all Hula dancers...."
Of course we had to abort our trip to the bathroom.
Sigh...
Priorities, people!

 

Jake tries--unsucessfully--to master the hip-action required to do the hula.

 I love this shot of the two of them after they finish.  It captures both of their personalities to a T!

After dinner was the show.
It was a nice show but all the slow hula dances got a bit repetitive and Chloe and I were just wishing they would cut to the chase and bring on the FIRE DANCERS!

Yeah!  Fire Guy!

We ended up getting back to the villas pretty late.  The kids were exhausted and so were Jeff and I.  After we got them all settled into bed, I checked my email and to my surprise, our Make A Wish rep had set up another fun activity for the next morning.
Early.
As in...we had to be there at 7:30AM and it was a 45 min. drive to the venue.
Wheeee!
Getting to bed late and up at 6AM had potential to be disastrous but we decided that the fun would outweigh the grumpies.
And it did.  But that blog post will have to wait until tomorrow.