back in the midwest

Hey all! We're back on the mainland, and Brenda is back to work. Not that she stopped working while we were in Hawaii, she's just putting in more time now that she can use a real piano instead of the piano app on her iPad. In case you're wondering, the rest of our time on Kauai was great. We hiked, swam, snorkeled, laid on the beach, mini-golfed, and ate. We also took a four-hour boat ride along the northern and western coasts of the island, which I quickly discovered I didn't have the stomach for but Brenda loved. Now that we're back on the continent we're spending the rest of our time in the U.S. visiting friends and family before heading back to Germany next week.

 We went on an eight-mile hike (roundtrip) along the western coast of the island. All that hiking in Santa Fe made it much easier.

Can you find Brenda? She got a lot closer to the waterfall than I wanted to. 

 There was also a secluded beach two miles into the trail.

 We played a round of golf at a botanical mini-golf course that had native Hawaiian plants on display.

 The day we left we got on a boat before getting on a plane. We enjoyed some gorgeous views of the island as we cruised around the Na Pali Coast, although I could have done without the four hours of nausea. 

 We filled our brief time in Minneapolis with a lot of activity, including a trip to the Minnesota State Fair. The goal was to have the broadest culinary experience possible (i.e. we wanted to eat a lot of fried stuff). Pictured above (from right to left) are Brenda, Drew, Dan and Whitney enjoying some cheese curds.

No trip to Minneapolis is complete without some quality time with Drew's dog, Amadeus. He's a handsome fella.

I said I would make dinner tonight so I had better get to it. I hope you're all doing well, and we'll talk to you next week!