Daddy! Mommy Forgot Underwear!!

The slide…it’s one of the main reasons the girls love the Hyatt. We had not been to Hawaii in a couple of years and this year, my younger daughter started begging to go to Hawaii. We thought it was a bid odd, her perseverance and her insistence it had to be this particular hotel. It’s a nice hotel so there is good reason to want to return to it but didn’t seem to warrant persistent begging in our minds; until my husband figured out that it was the slide. Our younger daughter has not been able to go down the slide. She’s been too short and it was a sore point with her. You can’t go down with an adult. You have to be able to do it on your own. Before I booked the hotel, I called the hotel and learned the height requirement was 42”. I measured her with a measuring tape and she was just about 43”. She was going down the slide this time!

So slide it was and our whole morning was spent going down the slide. Usually the line for the slide is long, but because an entire wing, about 400 rooms were shut down, the hotel seemed a bit emptier than usual. This allowed the girls to go down the slide so many times we all lost count.

Unlike the Orchid on the Big Island where the casual café served incredibly bad food, the Docks restaurant at the Hyatt actually had good poolside food. The chicken tenders were crispy, moist and tender! We also got coupons everyday for free small frozen yogurt. The girls were hooked.

With kids you never know what will come out of their mouths. Parents, you all know what I am talking about. We had one of those moments while waiting for our lunch poolside. Instead of sitting in wet swimsuits during lunch, we usually bring a change of clothing for the girls. Nothing more than coveralls; and of course I bring their underwear as well. However, I forgot their underwear this time. My husband had finished helping the girls out of their swimsuits when I approached the girls and my younger girl asked me if I had their underwear. I told her I had forgotten. Then my younger daughter proceeds to yell loudly at her dad who was coming towards us from across the other side of the pool “Daddy, Mommy forgot underwear!” The couple at the table next to us burst out laughing, naturally. My younger daughter didn’t know what was so funny and was confused and embarrassed. I tell you, things that come out of babes’ mouths.

We’ve always like Kauai because of its lush and wild landscape but also because it wasn’t as developed as Maui or Oahu. Slowly that seems to be changing. Since the last time we were in the Poipu area, there are now many new condos being built and a new shopping center. Fortunately, I thought the shopping center was in good taste, evoking a sense of old plantation homes.

With no plans for dinner we decided to wander around Kukui'ula Village and see if there were any good possibilities for dinner. There were a number of choices but we settled on Merriman's Downstairs Café, mostly because it was new for us and the prices seemed reasonable. First off the ambience could use a little more punch. The shopping center was mostly deserted. It applied to the Café as well. We wondered if the closure of a wing at the Hyatt was having a measurable impact on the number of tourists in the Poipu area. I ordered an eggplant flatbread which I thought was good, not fabulous, but good. One of the girls had pasta with marinara sauce. I tasted the sauce and I thought it tasted very fresh. She didn’t much care for it. My other daughter had a burger. It was plain (off the kids menu) with french fries. My husband was too full from breakfast and lunch and figured he would eat the girls’ leftovers of which there was plenty. Would I recommend it? I would…you can tell they use fresh local ingredients. Unlike the ‘local’ eateries, it wasn’t too heavy. But I wish atmosphere was more lively.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010