Waimea Canyon Camping!

Yep... That's Kalalau lookout. It seriously is like the coolest most serene spot in the world. We were lucky because sometimes this lookout point is all clouded up and you can't see a thing. It was so sweet.

Clouds kept moving in and out of the valley and we seriously were up higher then they were. It was very cool.

The weather was perfect too. I think I need to start coming up here to do some High Altitude Training to get ready for Xfit next year.

This Pic below is our campsite. Seriously we were right at the at the edge of a cliff that looked out over the sea. Don't ask me how we got there cuz i don't remember...we weren't the ones driving.





We decided to do some Sunset poses and i went to my classic Karate Kid pose...someday I'll get that kick head-high....maybe.

-----NIkki's got some Karate Moves (her real name is Mulan) too as you can see! Hi YAH>>>> Nice Kick!

Then We decided to see what we'd look like if we were a giant Nikki/Kai Monster... here it is.... UGLY!

This is me failing at a handstand on the cliff edge....don't worry...I pulled a Tom Cruise from MI2 and caught myself on the ledge and one-armed it back up to safety. (jk)

What's this???? Nikki's got more Karate moves?!!! Whoa ...straight up Morpheus pose here! Nice! .... Don't Mess!







SUNSET!!!!

Thought I'd be paleo and flint and steel my fire to life.....it didn't work...but it did get me all sweaty....and stinky =( (jk)

On the cliff edge!!! Scary! (not really....but seriouslly nikki had some vertigo going on and was almost freaking out!)

Whaaaat!?!?! This was awesome...there was this rock you could go sit right on the edge on! That serously is like 1000ft high!

The cliffedge again....right at the edge of our campsite!











Thanks to our good friends Kevin and Tylie - we again had an awesome outdoor adventure in Kauai!

Here's a picture of them cooking up a some delicious hippie muffins (minus the weed of course)! mmmmm scrumptous!

So this camping spot is way up waimea canyon and on the way there we saw a place that reminded us of home (*sigh*)
This awesome redrock is up there and it looked just like southern utah... it was kinda cool

So after stopping there we took a look at Waimea Canyon.  Its super cool because it is so much different from the other side of the island.





Welll this trip was awesome! Camping is soo fun. We ate tasty paleo dinners and non paleo smores and bananaboats...mmmm it was the best! Time to go buy an SUV and real camping gear! (like a dutch oven!!!)

Hideaways! Perfect Surf Spot ... FOR EXPERTS!

A couple weeks back some good friends of ours from CrossFit took us to a sweet surf spot here called Hide-a-ways. It was sweet. It is a little bit of a treacherous hike down some scary cliff/stairs to the beach (next time we go we'll take pictures, but carrying a surfboard down doesn't exactly make for easy picture taking), but it is worth it. The beach is pristine and gorgeous and the waves are super nice.

This pic doesn't do the beach justice. It was so pretty.

So we told our buddy we were beginners and so we shouldn't be going into anything too heavy. He said Hide-a-ways may be out of our league, but there may be a section to the right that would be mellow enough for me and Nikki. So Nik and I loaded up our longboards and headed out there with him. He showed us how to paddle through a break in the reef so we wouldn't ding our boards or rip up our hands.

Here I am with a sweet board from an awesome surfer lady in my ward. She rules and she can shred.

As we got out towards the waves, we found that they were pretty mellow...but the further we got out there the more crazy it got! ... and it got crazy fast! Nikki was behind me when a huge wave crashed on me. I popped up quick to look back to check on nikki and all I saw was her board flying in the air. She's a trooper though and she got back on and kept paddling.

Another big wave came and I was in a good position to just paddle over it. Nikki is loco though and she charged it! She turned her board around and paddled into it. Again, the only thing I saw when I looked back was nikki's board flying in the air.

I paddled into the next wave, and actually caught it surprisingly, and made it right close to nikki who was coming out of the water and climbing on her board. The waves were getting bigger and bigger and she looked at me and said..."I think i'm done." hahahaha! We paddled it in after that.

I went back out with my buddies after a bit while Nikki caught some sun on the shore. All in all it was a fun day. The waves were huge and the beach was amazing. We love this place.

This is me paddling back into the waves after we crashed...it was huge!

Btw...nikki got water in her ear and now she can't hear out of one ear! She went to a doctor straight out of the 70's on Oahu (seriously, they still used typewriters at his office) and he was no help! He gave her NOSE spray....NOSE spray! Come-ON! She's got an EAR problem doc! hahaha.

HANAKAPIAI!!!!

HANAKAPIAI!!!!

This hike was Gnarly!!! We woke up early on saturday, 6am, made breakfast and packed some lunches and drove to the Napali Coast on the north. We got there early enough that not many other people we around and we found the trailhead and got to hiking! I carried our 30lb baby - our bag of sandwiches and towels - and nikki carried NOTHING! hahahaha... jk she offered to carry it, but I love her too much. haha cheesey!

Starting the hike / 1/2 mile mark / along the coast / me and the 30 lb baby

So the hike meanders up and down along the Napali Coast for two miles until it reaches a secluded beach. This beach is dangerous! Seriously, I saw a discovery channel bit about it before we moved out here about how dangerous the waves/current are there. In fact, right before you get to the beach, there is this SCAREY sign that says how many people have died at Hanakapiai beach. BEWARE!

The sign

We were a little bummed when we got there. There was NO SAND! Every picture I saw showed the most beautifully sandy beach, but apparantly the sand has been washed away recently because it was completely rocky! It was still super pretty though and we relaxed and watched 10ft swells crashing into the nearby rocks! Also, little stray kittens roamed around chasing birds. It was really nice!

The former beach / What is left now (notice the cave to the right of my head)

Then we kept on hiking. From there it is two more miles inland along a muddy river trail to the most beautiful 300ft waterfall I've ever seen. The trail was crazy and we had to criss-cross this river multiple times.

By the time we finally made it to the falls (4 miles of hiking in), we were exhausted! It was hard work! It was so pretty though and we had left early enough that we were the only ones there! The water was ICECOLD! I got in it very gingerly and then swam my freezing way over to the falls. It was amazing! The water is crashing down and as you approach by swimming it gets louder and louder. You think to yourself, "What am I doing?!...What if I die?!" Finally, you get under the falls and the water comes crashing down on your head. It stings a little, but feels great and you swim through to the other side behind the falls. You do the same thing as you swim out and after you clear the water you can turn over on to you back and stare up the 300+ foot cliff at the gallons of water pouring over! Its surreal.

Freeeeezing cold waterfall!

Nikki ALMOST did it! haha...the water was tooo cold for her. She did make it in waist deep and she promiesed me that next time she's going all the way. We'll do it in the summer time and it will be better.

After that, we dried off and set up a picnic spot and ate our delicious sandwiches Nikki had made and took a nap. While we were eating, droves of hikers started arriving which made us glad for the early start so we could miss the crowd.

Our lunch spot

Finally, we packed up and started heading back. Going back was soooo tiring and all the downhill hiking killed our knees. We stopped at the 'beach' again, which was full of people and Nikki found a nice rock recliner to rest on before we started the final leg back.

The most comfortable rock resting spot / The water / The view

Also, on the way back we saw a naked lost boy. That was fun. hahaha. Apparantly, some punk whiteboy teenager was out there with his buddies and I guess he got dared into taking is trunks off....well of course his buddies stole his shorts so next thing we see is this white butt come jumping out of the trees ahead of us chasing down his friends to get his shorts back! HAHAHA!

Swinging on the vines after the hike!

So we finally, made it back and were sooo tired. We watched the movie Drive that night and ate at Hamura Saimin...an awesome and tasty noodle house. Ahhh hawaii life is nice.

Tune in next time for more adventures in Kauai!

Ka ... Ka ... Ka ... KAUAI!!!!

Hey Everybody!

So we made it to Kauai! Actually, we've been here a month already and it has been awesome! We've been busy bees though lately so we haven't had time to post anything. We're gonna do a quick round of catch-up and then maybe we can get the blog rolling again on a weekly basis... whatchathink?!

So, I've gotta give you the past month and a half in speedy drive-by form. Sorry, but I don't have all day to update this thing.

First of all, moving here was awful! I mean the moving part. We did it cheap. Because Nikki has status with Delta, she could bring like 5 70lb bags with her for less than $100...so we did just that. We packed everything we own into 5 huge boxes, 4 huge suitcases, and couple of carry-on's. Moving that stuff sucked! And Nikki, being the trooper that she is, carried it all up to our new apt (on the 2nd floor with no elevator) by her self while I was working! GO NIKKI!

When we got here, we couldn't move into our apt right away, so we stayed at the Marriott hotel for a few days over new years! It was beautiful!

Clockwise from Top Left: Beach from our hotel, eating the delicious fish n chips by the hotel fire, checking out the beach, relaxing by the pool

Our first couple of days here we hiked this awesome hill right behind our house called, Nonou, or the sleeping giant. It was only 2 miles round trip but it seriously was hard and felt like forever! The view though was amazing! And it turns out that Nikki actually is quite a hiker!

Clockwise from Top Left: Nounou is the peak above Nikki's head, hazardous cliff halfway up, views from the top both directions (P.S. - don't be scared of the gangsta with the orange doo rag! - Nikki)

By the way, our apt is awesome - more pics on that to follow later!

Our next hike we went on (sorry, no pics of this one) was the coolest one ever! In our church we met an awesome young couple who have been here since August. They know all the good hikes! They took us up to these sweet canals kinda close to our house and we went TUBING down the canals! Trust me... this sounds easy and breezy, but it was INTESE! These canals are tiny and sooooo long and pitch black! We had some headlamps, but it was still WAAAYYY dark and freaky! We rode them forever! They took us to a deep pool with a rock water fall and a rock swing. Then they just kept going on and on and we kept on going. Funny Part - i accidentally bought the wrong size tubes for nikki and i... seriously like baby-sized and so nikki's kept flipping her over backwards...hahaha and i had to try to fit TWO together under my butt to even stay afloat. When I tried using just one, I didn't even float at all... i was like up to my neck in the water! hahahaha! If anyone comes to visit, this is for sure the hike you're going on!

Next, last weekend we were in Oahu. We decided to hike Koko head. Nikki had just got a new Iphone and so she was all excited to figure out the new features so she said"Hey I'll get us directions on my new phone." FAIL! her phone led us to Diamond Head instead and we didn't realize it till we had already paid for parking. So instead we hiked that one! But it was still amazing! We booked it up there too, making it up in like 40min flat!

Clockwise from Top Left: Kai working on his L-Sit on the way up, at the bottom of the first set of stairs (which we ran up), at the top seeing Koko Head, the view of Waikiki

Finally, I joined and started coaching at Kauai Crossfit! THis place is awesome - so paradisacal! I'll post some pics later, but be warned, if you come to visit me I'm taking you there to get your ACE handed to you in a gnarly workout!

Cruisin'

I realize that our blog has been pretty much ignored for the past while so I finally decided to post about our One Year Anniversary/Kai finished the bar cruise!

I had never been on a cruise before and thought what would be better than a cruise with all you can eat food 24/7...not to mention it was going to Catalina and Ensenada for 4 nights! I found a decent deal online, so we decided to book it.



Day 1: Bon Voyage!!!

So the first day, we boarded the ship and they gave us raffle tickets for spa treatments. You had to be present to win the raffle and we were literally the last people to put in our tickets before they started picking out the winners.

The first treatment was for an Ionothermie treatment, valued at $160 and that is supposed to help people lose an average of 8 inches off their body in 1 treatment. Then they read out the winner...Kai Lawrence (which was the same as if they called out Nikki Ige...eh, I mean Lawrence)!

Our room had a secret cubbyhole!

Day 2: Catalina

Tuesday morning we were in Catalina, but before we started our day on the island, I got to go to my spa treatment. I was all excited and ready for some quality R&R, not to mention losing 8 inches off my body :)

So the girl comes and takes me in this room and explains that this procedures gets rid of toxins that cause cellulite. Then she gives me this panty thing that is really baggy, and tells me to put it on and we can look at my 'trouble areas'. I put it on, and she starts looking at my body and tells me, 'See how your legs come out and touch in the middle? That is cellulite and its probably been there for about 6-7 years.' I realize that my body is not in tip top shape, but I think the obvious would've been to address the love handles before cellulite on my legs!

Then the girl starts measuring my body so we can see how good the treatment works. I'm skeptical at this point, so i'm watching her measure and she is being very generous with her measurements. Once that was done, she puts this algae stuff on me and tells me to lay down on this table. At this point, I asked her if she could turn up the heat in the room since I am basically naked and freezing. What does she tell me? 'Unfortunately we can't control the temperature in this room and it has to stay this temperature for the procedure to work.'

The actual procedure involved a clay mixture and those electrode things that can flex your muscles (think those 6 min ab belts that use electric currents to contract your muscles). She puts them on my abs and my thighs and turns it on. It was NOT relaxing at all...in fact, it was uncomfortable the entire time! I had to stay on this machine thing for like 20 minutes, and while i'm being electrocuted, the girl starts telling me about how this treatment is just a start and how 'no amount of diet or exercise will get rid of the cellulite'. The solution? Buy the 36 day package (because she thinks thats all it will take to get rid of everything), which btw costs $600! I told her, um, thats alright...its not in the budget and i'm not dieting as it is, so obviously I am not committed to getting rid of it. She keeps explaining and drawing on her paper how cellulite forms, and i'm just waiting to be done.

Finally, after the electrocution part is done, she tells me, the results actually were really great, so now she thinks I would only need the 24 day package, which only costs $300! So, I had to go through the talk with her again on how i'm not interested. And if anything I told her I would research it online and buy it there...to which she says, 'You can only buy it on the ship.' By this time, I was over it, and she took the measurements (and she was pulling the tapemeasure really tight) and surprise...I lost 8 inches! Hahaha! Then she asks AGAIN if I am interested in the package! Basically, I was so happy when the treatment was over and I was done.

Sooo, after the electrocution treatment, we got off the boat and went to explore Catalina. It was a nice day and so we decided to rent a tandem bike and bike around a bit. The lady at the bike rental place told us there was a botanical garden that we could bike to, so we decided to go there first. There was a gradual incline all the way up, and then the gears on the bike weren't working the best, so we were getting tired quickly. Of course, while we are going up the hill on our bike, tons of people are passing us on golf carts and looking at us with pity :)

One of our breaks on our ride up to the botanical gardens.

We finally made it to the garden...and didn't even go in since it cost money (yup, we are cheap) and bikes were not allowed in :)

After that, we coasted down the hill and biked around to the other areas before we had to to return the bike. I failed on the picture taking front, but the rest of the day included walking to this little beach, trying to get a spot to lay out on the tiny little beach area while Kai swam out in the FREEZING cold water, hitting up the local Vons to buy motion sickness pills, and waiting in a LONG line for the little boats to take us back to the ship.

To top off the day, it was formal night, so we got dressed and went to a nice dinner of steak and lobster…and of course, chocolate molten cake with extra scoops of ice cream!

We were in the later dinner group, so by the time we finished dinner, it was almost 10pm, which was when the ship’s dance performance was going to happen! Our server told us it was a great show, so naturally, we went to check it out. It was amazing! I wasn’t expecting the best performance of my life, but seriously…the dancers were horrible (not on beat, not in sync with the other dancers, ugly facial expressions, etc.)! It was so bad I just had to laugh! Then, to top it off, the 2 singers were a mother-boy looking combo! The woman looked like she could be the man’s mother (although she was in great shape), but they were singing their little hearts out. Plus, at one point in the show, they started tossing out beach balls and one hit the cocktail waitress who spilled about 5 drinks on this one man, so he was SOAKED in alcohol! Long story short, it was a classic performance…we left early cause we couldn’t take that much excitement.

Thats all for now...i'll blog about the rest of the trip later :)

Kai Takes the Bar - So the Bar Beard is GONE!

Hi Everyone,

Kai writing here.... so three weeks ago I took the BAR! Woohooo! Finally! After 3 years of school and then 2 intensive months of all-day studying for 6 days a week I am finally done (hopefully!)!!!

In preparation for the big event - the exam - I grew myself a "playoff beard!" Eh ladies... do you love it? Here's a pic of Nikki and I the weekend before the exam as we attended a Dodger Game. The Beard is looking good eh!

So, then the Tuesday of the exam finally rolled around. I was really nervous the night before and had that jittery feeling you get before a sporting event. For those of you who don't know, the exam consists of 3 days of testing. Days 1 and 3 are the same format consisting of 3hrs of 3 essays in the morning, followed by a 2hr lunch, and concluding with a 3hr written performance test. Day 2 consists of 3hrs of 100 multiple choice questions in the morning, then lunch, then 3hrs of 100 multiple choice questions in the afternoon.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were so taxing, painful, and stressful for me, but FINALLY, the exam came to an end. After it all I just felt numb. Seriously, I was like a zombie for like an hour. Luckily the hotel (where the exam was administered) had a jacuzzi so I took a dip for an hour or two. After that Nikki and went to Outback (thanks Mom for the gift card!). Here is a pic of me so relieved as I'm about to order at outback.


















After all this was over, it was time for me to ... dun dun duhhhh... SHAVE THE BEARD! So I did, to Nikki's great relief, but I decided to have a little fun with it. Here is my first go at the shave... I went with the Fu Man Chu.

















After that, we shaved it down a little bit more with the Zorro!



Ha ha ha... Now, unfortunately all the facial hair is gone and Kai is back to being regular old Kai. ha ha.