Wylie Report

I'd like to take a brief intermission from blogging about our Hawaii trip to update you on a few projects Wylie has been working on this past week.

Ever since he learned how to get himself drinks from the water dispenser on the refrigerator, my little boy sometimes fills his cup and repeatedly dumps it on the floor. I also caught him one day dumping water into a roasting pan stored in the cabinet by the fridge. I measured the amount of water in that pan and it equaled one gallon. This was no small feat. As impressed as we were by his persistence, we now make a point to lock the water dispenser to prevent as much damage as possible.

 Here is some artwork Wylie did on the bathtub:

And here is some decidedly less sanitary artwork he did on his bedroom wall during nap time. Yes, the brown stuff is what it looks like. And unfortunately, this was his second attempt to work with human excrement as an artistic medium, although I did not document the first.

He has also been experimenting with some furniture rearrangement when he is supposed to be sleeping:

In addition to the visual arts, Wylie has also been dabbling in musical composition. Or defacement. It depends on your interpretation.

Wylie's recent artistic endeavors even inspired his sister to write about him in her homework:

My little boy is such a joy.
I really do love him.

Illinois Hawaii Part 3

Our Friday in Hawaii:

Forest booked us a doors-off helicopter ride in the morning.

I sat next to our pilot and guide, Kalena, in the front. Forest was on my right, next to the open door. Another couple from Texas sat behind us.

Hovering over the island in that helicopter was absolutely exhilarating.

Waimea Canyon from above:

The Nualolo Cliff Trail we hiked the day before:

This was our chance to see the Na Pali Coast, since the road to get there was washed out by flooding in April.

Hanalei Bay:

Wailua Falls from above:

Before we knew it, the tour was over. But still, it was $400 well spent.

Next, we drove over to see Wailua Falls NOT from a helicopter.

And then we grabbed some ramen for lunch.

Amazing.

Possibly even more amazing: Shave Ice from Tege Tege for dessert. Little did we know how lucky we were to get this treat--later we found out that this truck is only open part of the week with limited hours of operation, and some people wait in line forever to get their order.

Forest ordered papaya with lime.

I got blackberry. Each cup is an absolute work of art.

Hideaways Beach near our condo was the next destination. You can see our condos on the hill above me in the photo below:

On our way to dinner that night, we got to see an actual Hawaii rainbow.

I think my only complaint about the island of Kauai is that dinners are mediocre at best. It seems like the best places to eat are food trucks that close around 4pm. Here we are at Kintaro Restaurant:

As we ate our sub-par rice, dry sushi, and uninspiring tempura, we dreamed of incredible lunch options we might find the next day.