Kicks and Giggles

From Sea to ATV

Hanakapiai Beach...my favorite scenic beach on Kauai. A short two mile hike on one of earth's most scenic trails and you're there. Plus there's a bit of spelunking.
We're in process of finding a good infant pack for hiking. Zac has grown out of his little carrier and it's time for something a little more rugged. For evaluation purposes we borrowed a Kelty pack from one of my co-workers--we were sold!
The beach day was as good as ever.

Karen challenged me to a race (imagine that) and for some reason I accepted. Take a close look at the picture--who do you think won?
I've hiked this trail probably five times and each time there's something I didn't see before.
Zac loved the Kelty pack. In fact he slept nearly the entire hike back. To cool off we went to Queen's bath. These kid's were crazy to be jumping off the ledge into such shallow water.
Our 7 year anniversary is Monday. To celebrate, we opted to substitute a fancy dinner for a Kipu Ranch ATV tour. It was fantastic--a must do for visitors. It was Karen's first time on a four-wheeler and I've got to tell you, she made that four-wheeler look good!

The tour began in Kipu Valley. Anyone recognize this movie backdrop? Let me give you a hint. An archeologist and two kids are running through this field amongst a herd of dinosaurs being chased by a Tyranosaurus Rex.

Here's your next try at movie trivia. Anyone recognize this river? Another hint. Harrison Ford launched out over this river swinging from a rope from this very tree. If your thinking "Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark" then you're good. It's possible that Harrison Ford looked slightly more graceful than Karen.

I have always wanted to see this area of the island, but few seldom get the chance. Kipu Kai is a beach that is only accessible by boat. All other access to this beach is on private land that is strictly guarded. As part of our tour (and the reason we chose this tour) we were able to ride to this view point. I realize this picture looks to have a fake backdrop, but that's just how cool this place is.
On our way back we ran into hoards of wild pigs. It is said that for every one resident on Kauai, there are three wild pigs. This little guy was little more squirmy than Zac. Our tour guide called this pig "microwavable"--haha!

We love this island. If you look really close you can see our house.

First Taste of Mommy's Cooking

Zachary loves his baby food and rice cereal, but when we mashed up a banana, it was a different story. Watch his eyes.

Featuring the Nikon

Zac's reaction when he realized he was in for a photo shoot with Dad's new camera.


Like any good father, I bribed him by telling him there would be squash and bananas as a reward for good behavior. He lightened right up!

The next generation of tree huggers.

Mama's boy.

Zac and me chillin' at my lunch spot.

Zac wanted a turn.


This past weekend we visited a new beach--Hideaways. This is where we wanted to go snorkeling last week, but forgot our gear. The snorkeling was terrific. Apparently, this beach has been known in the past to feature some nudists. We couldn't talk Nic into it so we kept our suits on, but I won't speak for Zac.

Birthday Boy

For Brady's 2-9 celebration, we started the day out surfing. We think it's time to upgrade from a foam board to something that looks and feels a little more savvy. Unfortunately, those run a little more than the $100 we spent to get our Costco boards. Is it too soon to think about Christmas???
Brady's major gift this year was a camera. He has coveted Heidi's camera, as well as a few other friends' cameras, and thought that by talking about it long enough I would finally give in. A year later, I threw in the towel, and he purchased a Nikon D60 SLR.  Here are the first results of surrender:

Later in the afternoon, we went and played tennis for the first time since moving here. We are terrible, but there is something magnificent about hitting a ball hard, and having it go exactly where you want it to go. (When I reach that point, I'm sure tennis will be even more fun.) Zachary was not into sitting in his stroller with toys, and we discovered that he was an exhaused little chap the minute we gave in and went back to the car. He'd hardly been buckled up when he fell asleep.

We decided to use a sitter for the first time (discounting the five months he was with Heidi). She is a really great girl from our church, and loves kids. Her family will be watching Zachary on our kayaking adventure next week, so we wanted to get her aquainted with Zac. We left detailed instructions, including our 2 cell phone numbers. Unfortunately, we did not leave a phone, and we did not have a home phone. She didn't end up needing to call, but we thought that was pretty funny rookie mistake.

We ate out at Roy's, Paul's favorite eat-out on the island (right?). Brady ordered a tasty steak and shrimp dish, and I ordered a three-course special, which included chicken spring rolls, mac-nut snapper, and a delightful chocolate souffle. (When Kristen, Emily, and I made chocolate souffle at our cooking class, it tasted like eggs. This tasted nothing like eggs.)

The food was terrific, but we felt like we were eating at a mall food court. Not quite the ambience of Beach House. The restaurant made up for it by offering Brady a complimentary dessert (a gal he works with works nights at Roy's, and had this served up).

Of course, we had to come home and eat cake. Brady's mom gave me this recipe two years ago, and I screwed it up. The second time around, it turned out just fine. We sent half of it home with our sitter (instead of money...just kidding). I decided that I do not want to make cakes for our birthdays. I'd rather get a fancy dessert and eat it at the restaurant than have all kinds of leftovers. Cakes are for kiddos birthdays, or birthday parties. (We'll see how long I can stick to that.)

Speaking of birthday boys, Zachary hit the 6 month mark this week. He has chunked out overnight! A month ago, he was a relatively small kid for his age. I highly suspect he no longer fits in that category!

He's down to 2 naps a day, and that leaves him pretty exhausted around dinner-time:

He's a great little napper:
He loves to hold his own bottle now.
I think his two bottom teeth will pop in this week. It's delightful to watch him progress through these stages!!!

Independence Day

July 3rd, we went to the Air Force Base to eat, talk with friends, and watch the fireworks. It was Zachary's first go with fireworks, so we were curious to see how he reacted. Mostly, he watched wide-eyed:
To give you a feel for the scope of our small-town fireworks, this was the finale:
July 4th, we waited for Zac to wake up...
...then headed up the North Shore for some hiking. We've been dying to do a hike our friends told us about a year ago. We followed their directions only to realize they were a little incorrect in their directions, and we had already done the hike. It was raining where we were, so we went down to Princeville for some exploring.

We found 2 different paths, and spent time at both beaches. When we left in the morning, we took boogie boards, backpacks, and everything but snorkel gear. Of course it was the snorkel gear we wished for at the beaches.

A lot of people say this is the best snorkel spot on the the island. The current was really strong, so we both swam close to shore. The water was unbelievably clear and warm! We're coming here next week to try the snorkeling.

Later that day, we went to Will and Karen Summerhay's house for fireworks and dinner.
We had to take a picture of his daughter wearing a BYU shirt (they are hard-core Utah fans):
Karen's famous 4th of July cake:

We are so grateful to live in America! There is so much conflict in our nation (and the world) right now, but this holiday was a nice time for reflections on our freedoms.