VEM Reunion, Part 1

Brady and I were never certain that a "VEM Reunion" would really happen. It's no secret that the Varneys, Edwards, and Millers (VEM) were best buddies at BYU, and we have talked constantly of doing a reunion. We were pretty amazed they pulled it all together and came out to Kauai.

On the way to the airport to pick them up, I told Brady I had nervous butterflies. What if the magic wasn't there any more? What if kids, work, and time wrecked our compatibility? What if I drove them all crazy? I didn't need to worry, though, because within an hour, it was obvious we still had the spark, comfort, and laughs of old friends.

This post was so overwhelming, I decided to take it in chunks.

Brennecke's

Right after the airport, we whisked them to Brennecke's for waves, turtles, and plenty of sun. We went through a can and a half of 50SPF in the afternoon!

Duke's

Thanks to the generosity of Nic and Heidi, we left Zachary for the night and spent the evening chatting it up and eating by the ocean.

Aaron and Julie:
Coleman and Roni:

We saved enough room for the Kauai favorite, Hula Pie:

Friday morning, we started getting ready for camping. Brady and I think this is the all-time best camping on the island. 17 miles of uninterruped beach, crashing waves all night long, a beautiful mountain backdrop, and gorgeous night-time scenary. One of our friends, though, was not initially impressed, stating, "Now Karen, what is it that you like so much about this place???" OUCH! haha...(and yes, this is the last time I will mention that...)

Call me old fashioned, but there is something so quaint and precious about watching our boys having a good time.
Brady's body surfing "shark fin":

I think the scenary, sunset and warm water eventually won over our guests to the glories of Polihale.
This is Brady's fire stick. He found it on a campout probably five years ago, and takes it every trip. We almost lost it in the sand, but it was recovered!
We kept the evening going strong with tin foil dinners, s'mores, a couple mean games of "Password," stories, and taking turns skinny dipping. It was our first time in Kauai, and wow, what a feeling to body surf sans clothing and under a full moon! Highly recommended...

Aaron and Julie also introduced us to "Woof Ems"--a fire toasted pastry with pudding, berries and whipped cream. Nothing tops marshmallows for me, but these were tasty, too!

We enjoyed a great night of sleep, with no raves or drunk teenagers (the typical con for camping at Polihale). Aaron caught the gals sleeping in:

Seriously, what could I possibly love about this place???

Zac helped make pancakes in the morning. Coleman was nice enough to let Zac dip his entire pancake in sand.
One of the best parts of having these guys over was how much they played with Zachary.
Zachary is still in his "ball obsession" phase:

Oh, good times. See you in a month, Polihale!