sand and sun.

Kauai has some of the most beautiful beaches.  We spent 3 of our days visiting some new places we hadn't been to before.  Monday morning we drove to Salt Pond State Park.  It ended up being a camping site but had a reserved beach access perfect for kids.  It was the softest sand, calm waves and a beautiful view. It was really windy when we first got there but after a while the sun came out and made for a fun morning.

 I couldn't believe how empty the beach was!  Kauai is known for their lack of tourism (compared to the other islands) and it's true!  We saw a local school group that stopped by to pick up the grounds but otherwise it was only us on the entire beach!

 I just love those sunglasses on her.

 This picture is one of my favorites.  Lucy just adored Tom all week.  Her whole face would light up when he'd walk in the room.

 Carter spent some time just relaxing in the sun.

 Attempt #1 at a family shot where we are actually all looking at the camera.  Didn't happen.

 Later in the week Matt, the kids and I headed over to Lihue to visit the other Marriott Resort.  It is huge (more pictures later) and has a beautiful private beach on this little inlet.

 Our first morning (sorry, pictures are totally out of order and I don't have the motivation to move them all around on this post!) the kids woke up super early, thanks to jet lag, so we took them over to Poipu State Park.  It's just a 5 minute walk from our resort, has a huge grassy field, big playground, lots of chickens to chase and a kids wading area and beach to play in. It was such a beautiful morning, quiet, peaceful and we were the only ones there!

 First time she ever touched the ocean! She didn't like it at all.

 And, she really didn't like the sand touching her toes!

 Gorgeous rainbow early in the morning.

 Carter immediately got to work getting sand in every little crevice of his body.

 So beautiful!

 Stepping in the ocean for his first time this trip.

 And, on our date night, Matt and I drove over to Spouting Horn.  We visited this before on our honeymoon but it's always fun to see, plus it was just a beautiful night.