This Week in Pictures (and a few words)

Brady caught a terrible cold, I worked through a running injury, and Zac had a few fussy times, but otherwise this week was fantastic. It helped that we had a three-day weekend last week to contribute to all these activities and pictures.

Last Saturday, we decided to go snokeling at Ke'e Beach. After our shark experience the night before, we were a little wary of going much beyond the reef! Brady was braver than me (I barely approached the reef), but it was fun to snorkel again.

Zac hung out with us under the umbrella while we took turns in the water. His belly is not his favorite position.

He loved his turns in the water, too. (Let me tell you, that 50 SPF sunscreen really works, because this kid is still as pale as can be...)

Heidi and Nic met us at the beach, too. Ty was busy building sandcastles almost the entire afternoon. He wants to do construction like the big boys.

I picked this picture because you can't see as much drool as normal. Everyone thinks Zac is teething because of the amount of saliva that hits their legs when they hold him.

I took this from our car window, and Brady said it would make "Picture of the Month" if not for the powerlines.

Memorial Day, we woke up early and did our runs, then went to the pool together. Zac splashes his hands constantly, with this focused look on his face anytime we go there. He really doesn't smile a lot while in the pool, but we think he likes it. ???

This is Zachary's typical pose--hands in mouth, or towel in mouth, or toy in mouth, or book in mouth, or...

Monday afternoon, we went with friends to do the "Jungle Adventure." The government carved out a tunnel to relieve water pressure when necessary, and it is far back in the mountains. We took our boogie boards and rode through with Zac on our backs.

Ha! Just kidding. Zac went with a girl around the tunnel and met us on the other side to watch us jump off a small cliff into the water. (Not as good as Kipu Falls, from what Brady says, but still very fun. Actually, if I'm being honest, I was completely freaked out.)

This picture shows the mountains around the Jungle Hike. If you are religious follower of our blog, you might notice that this is also the location of the infamous Tunnels Hike from last year. Whew. I feel like I need to take a shower just thinking about that hike.

Recognize this? It is the entrance in "Jurassic Park." We definitely didn't visit TRex, but Brady did almost fall off the side of a cliff trying to take a picture. No kidding. As Cory and Kristen know, there is a lot of foliage covering the ground, and it can be deceiving. It looked to Brady like there was plenty of ground cover, so his heart was racing when he saw how close he was to his demise.

After our little adventure, we kicked it back for a BBQ, playing with Brady's tiny football and watching Zac try on his charm.
Here's a cool view of a Eucalyptus Tree. It looks like it's been through a game of paintball, but those are natural colors!

Wednesday, I woke up as a 26-year-old, and Brady did a great job celebrating, despite his inability to breathe (with his cold). He arranged for a sitter, and took me to an Italian Restaurant called Donderos.

The setting was formal, and the scenary unbeatable.

"One year older, and wiser, too!"

I ordered Dungeoness Crab on a bed of pasta. They had the shell on the top, but the server removed it before we snapped this picture. See the scallops as eyes? I initially didn't know how to attack this plate.

Brady helped out, though. We would have taken a picture of his seafood lasagne, but it looked like Goolash (but 100Xs better-tasting).

Here are the pools next to the restaurant, where we snapped some cool pics, and got eaten by mosquitos.

Heidi, Nic, and Ty waited at our place to eat an ice cream cake (my favorite!). It was pretty fun having a birthday with my little boy in my arms!!!

Ty wasted no time eating his portion, and he helped blow out the candles!

Later this week, we purchased a high chair for Zac. Doesn't he look like a little boy (not baby) in this picture??? Wild.

Like everything else, he wasted no time trying to chew on it.

Rice cereal and Zac have good days, and bad days.

Overall, this was a good day.

Saturday, Brady was still sick and wasn't up for swimming. He did decide that a 6 mile hike was a good plan, though. We tried out our pack for its first real hiking adventure, and hit the Kuilau Trail. It was moderate-easy, and a perfect way to get back into hiking.

How many shades of green do you see above???

I loved how Zac's little feet kicked me in the bum with every step.

He fell asleep at the halfway point. It was funny to hear the mix of sounds--tropical birds and snoring.

Brady took him when he woke up. Zac kept trying to eat the straps (no surprise, eh?), so he had his head in a position where it looked like he was trying to say, "Hi, guys!"

The hike was a success! Zac didn't get upset until he very end, at bottle time. We'll definitely do that again soon.

There you have it: one week in pictures. What did we learn?

#1: We can hike with Zac.

#2: My white hat makes it on every adventure.

#3: My husband is a trooper, even when sick.

#4: I still don't like scallops, even when they are from a fancy restaurant.

#5: Brady's tiny football is missing ever since the BBQ.

Cue the "Jaws" Theme Song...

Da-duh...

I was out in the water with Nic and a few other boogie boarders for our favorite Friday night hobbie at Brennecke's. The waves were huge and far-between, so I only had one good ride.

Da-duh...

We saw a group of three divers coming into shore. I heard one joke about a shark. He pretended to go under water, like he was being attacked. (Much like Brady's rendition here.)

Da-duh...

I, of course, assumed they were kidding. Nic wasn't so sure. He had heard some conversation that I did not, and thought they were serious. You don't have to tell me twice, so I booked it into shore.

Da-duh, da-duh, da-duh...

The divers beat me onto shore, so I approached them and asked if they were kidding. They said no. I figured they didn't hear me--three times. So, I continued to rephrase my question, until they finally answered me with a, "Yes, a shark is out in the water, and followed us in. It attacked our fish twice, one of them right there," pointing to a place in the water very near where we had just been.

Da-duh, DA-DUH, DA-DUH, DA-DUH...

I asked them if we should alert the other three boogie boarders, but they said they figured the shark was long-gone. It was only after the fish on their line, and the fish was now out of the water. I ran up the beach to fill Brady in.

....AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Within seconds of telling Brady, the shark popped up, just ten feet from shore! What a rush, seeing those two fins and realizing that I had been in the water not minutes before. It was dusk (i.e. feeding time), and the shark was after fish. I thought I looked like a pretty colorful fish in my suit.

The whole beach waved in the three boogie boarders, one who decided to stay in the water anyway for a few minutes (and later freaked out when she found out the news). We were all on the lookout for another sighting, but Brady and I didn't see it again.

On the way home, Brady told me that he had so much adrenaline, and was ready to hand off Zach and dive in to get the other swimmers. That made me really nervous, so we looked up information on Grey Reef Sharks, the one that we spotted.

• They are very common in Hawaii, particularly our island.


• They are especially common in the evening.


• Sharks like places that go from shallow to deep water. (That fits the description of Brennecke's last night perfectly.)


• They will rarely bite humans. However, Tiger sharks will.


• You have a one-in-a-million chance of dying from a shark bite. The odds are much better for getting a bite, though.


• Scientists do not know why sharks bite humans. There are plenty of theories, but no solid answers.


• If a shark approaches you, it is best to act limp. No sudden movements.


• If he bites, punch him anywhere in the face. (Brady claims if a shark tried to bite him, it would not pierce through his skin.)


• If another swimmer is attacked, you should go help. They are more likely to die of loss of blood and shock than constant biting. So, yeah, Brady should go after the swimmers if someone is screaming. He would likely be left alone.

Here are a few pictures of the fish the shark went after twice. He basically ate everything but the eyes. ("Old Man and the Sea," anyone?) The fish is a Parrot Fish, and is seriously beautiful!

Needless to say, the whole thing was an adventure. We are still reeling from the experience. We are really glad it wasn't just hanging out at our beach--it was after the fish on a line. That makes it a whole lot more likely that we will continue our Friday night tradition.

Making Waves

We are not terribly picky with the waves. We try to have fun no matter what the wave size. However, this weekend we have nothing to report, other than the waves were very small, and the vog on the island was very thick.

For you potential visitors out there, we thought of some wave indicators to help you decifer waves:

You know the waves are too small if...

-There are parking spots right next to the beach

-You don't take any pictures

-The tourists/toddlers are the only ones in the water

-There are snorkelers in the water

-You have to lean over to catch waves

-The only reason you got in the water was to pee

-You catch better waves at the apartment's swimming pool

You know the waves are too big if...

-There are parking spots right next to the beach

-You photoshop yourself into the pictures

-The locals are the only ones in the water

-There are more than 3 visible sea turtles in the water

-You have to lean back to see the crest of the wave

-The only reason you got in the water was to pee

-You don't catch waves: they catch you

We hope this information will serve as a guide on your trip.

Edwards B & B

We are finally getting some use out of our upstairs bedroom! Previous to this month, we had Eric and Jill, and my Grandparents stay with us, but it's been a bit of a visitor drought until this month.

It started with my parents, which I blogged about briefly. We did everything you can imagine on this island in 10 days. Brady and Dad actually caught some MahiMahi and Ono, which they grilled up and served the same day. Yum. Maybe not a $170 of yum, but yum.

Erica and Jared popped in for a few nights to celebrate their ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, and kept themselves very busy! They went on a dive, surfed, ate out, BBQed on the beach (with our BBQ grill lit by a tiki torch), kayaked, and hiked within a short couple of days. We really loved getting to know Jared more, since we'd only been introduced at our last meeting (and of course Erica is always a delight).

Hula Pie, baby...
We were thrilled to have Scott and Natalie come a day after Erica and Jared left. They had a great couple of days--Brady and Scott boogie boarding, Beach House dinner, beach hopping, and sampling Kauai's BBQ pork--but Scott and Natalie opted to stay at the island's most expensive resort for the remainder of their stay...

Wilcox Memorial Hospital. We won't steal their thunder, but they both handled things so well, especially considering the circumstances. We hope their next trip to Hawaii is a little more relaxing in the lay-on-the-beach way, rather than the lay-on-a-bed way. Even so, we really loved seeing them and stealing some one-on-one moments.

Ang called a few days later from Oahu. She was able to get away with Logan for 24 hours, and we felt so spoiled to have her! We finally got in on the "cousins pictures" with Logan and Zachary. We can't wait for these two to be running around like some of the other cousin-buddies.

We went out to Duke's Barefoot Bar for dinner, and indulged (once again) on some Hula Pie.

Yesterday morning, we went up to Hanalei Bay for some surfing. Angela caught many waves and was SO CLOSE to standing--including several times up on her knees. It was a beautiful, clear day, and quite warm, so we decided it was time to let Zachary get to know the ocean.


Sexy Ang...OW OW!!!
Another cousin picture...


My sister Natalie will be joining us for the summer starting Wednesday. We are excited for her arrival, and plan to surf the summer away during her last gig as a single gal. You are all still welcome to join us!