Frolicking at the beach, Kauai style

View from the beach

Sandy toes

Pete and his boogie board

Wave and sand

Leafy canopy

Chris laying out

Pete frolicking in the surf

Sunset at the beach

Today we spent the day swimming, laying out, boogie boarding, eating, sleeping, swimming some more, and shaking sand out of our swimsuits. It was a rather treacherous climb up and down to this beach, but well worth it. Pete is lobster red from the day in the sun, so he's moving a bit gingerly, but I used spray sunblock and have a nice, sun-kissed glow.

This evening is turning out to be relaxing and quiet. Pete is whipping up one of his famous seafood pasta delights right now, and we've got rosemary olive oil bread to go along with it. He's reading a World War II book I got him that's crammed full of interesting pix and stories. I'm sitting back with a beer and a good book, "The Worst Hard Time," which is all about the Great Depression. Tomorrow we might do more swimming and perhaps go to Hanalei for some shopping and dinner, to celebrate our one week anniversary (a day early). There's a nice steak and seafood place in town, as well as some local fish and burger joints.

Life sure is rough these days (NOT!), but boy, am I thankful for everything I'm experiencing. And it's been great to be in contact with everyone back home, due to the magic of the Internet and cell phones. The best part is just unwinding and not having too much of a schedule. I haven't set my alarm at all this week, and the most planning we might try for is a boat ride around the west coast of Kauai on Saturday. There's a snorkeling package that Pete's interested in, but I can't really swim, so we're debating on which one to choose. Appetizers, champagne, and dinner are also served during the trip, and they said I can hang out at the bar and take pix while Pete snorkels, so it sounds good to me.

Anyhow, tomorrow I'm going to have me one (or two) of those frou-frou Hawaiian drinks with the little umbrellas during our anniversary dinner in Hanalei. I've had some Heineken, but it's just not the same. That's the only thing on my agenda, besides working on my tan. How radically different this all is from my life just a week ago, when I was a little ball of stress and freaking out about the wedding, work, the house, etc. I really, really needed this. And I've been destressing a little every day. I'd say I'm at 70% stress right now. It sounds high, but it took me a few days to come down from my spastic stress state that I was in. I haven't had an upset stomach or migraine at all since Monday, if that says anything, and I get them both all the time, if not almost every day.

Wonderful.