kauai: day four

One of the great touristy things to do in Kauai is drive an all terrain vehicle around the island through trees and mud puddles to see the sights. You will get dirty. My family has taken this tour before and prepped Wes and I for all the mud. We put on some crummy clothes and shoes and left to meet our tour guide. In fact, you get so dirty on this little adventure the company provides you with some baggy camo pants and t-shirts so you won't stain your own. Wes and I rode in a "mud buggy" together. They look like big go-carts and I think they are designed to get you as dirty as possible. Of course, I didn't want to sacrifice my camera to the mud of Kauai so there are no pictures of us on the actual trails. Throwing caution to the wind and not caring about how dirty you get is the best way to go. Hit the puddles hard and fast and no part of your body will be spared. However, I do advise you to keep your mouth closed. I learned that one the hard way when I was having too much fun and got a face and mouth full of mud as we gunned it through one of the biggest puddles. The sights were gorgeous and we learned some great history about the sugar plantations Kauai used to have. And we even went fishing with bamboo sticks. Wes caught a cat fish and a tilapia and I caught a tilapia myself. The only problem was de-hooking the fish and sending him back home. Those are some slimey little guys. I am pretty sure those fish are trained to eat the bread off the tourist's hook and then get thrown back into the waterI did get some pictures of the aftermath mess all over us after the ride. Such a fun little adventure.

A quick note about dad: Our tour guide wanted us to give him the hang loose sign (called a shaka sign, and if you don't want to look like a tourist when doing it make sure your palm is facing towards you) in every picture he took of us. I always feel a little strange doing that when I am not Hawaiian, but we did it because he made us. So, as I took a picture of dirty Ryan and Dad they did a shaka sign, only dad gave the "rock on" sign instead, we fixed it for him. He claims he made the right sign in all of the tour guide's pictures, I'm still wondering about that.

Halle spent the morning with Grandma playing with toys and eating cookies, basically living the good life. When we got back that afternoon we all went out to the pool at our resort. You've never seen a cuter little swimmer with her life jacket on trying to kick her legs. I wish I could spend more of my days like that.