Kauaian January: Surf, Sunsets, and Swells

While in Ohio, Brady took off to see the huge swells hitting our north shore. They sure didn't look like 40+ feet, but they were plenty large!He also snagged a few gorgeous shots on the north shore:

Brrr...it's been so cold; cold enough to stay out of the water on our Aloha Friday beach nights. Instead, we picked up Subway and hit a sunset--all by ourselves. It was lovely. Zac died over his cookie, and he and Brady spent a good hour throwing rocks into the ocean, and cheering over them. I thought I preferred an action-packed Friday night, but it turns out this was a huge highlight of our last few months.

"Clean off my hands, Mommy!"

He did, in fact, throw this rock, but it did not land in the ocean.

It didn't matter--he was still stoked.

Oops, let's go ahead and tell you that's not Brady's Diet Coke. (Not mine! I've been off the good stuff for 3 weeks!!!)

We've had some bad luck with surfing shots. So far, our best day surfing met with a camera battery that died. Our second try was a lousy day--choppy waves and huge swells. It was hard to find each other in the water, much less catch a good shot. The time below shows us having a blast, but the waves were pretty small. Granted, though, they were great rides--starting from way behind the pier all the way up to the beach. They were probably some of the longest rides we've ever had, though certainly not impressive to look at. The truth is, though, we don't generally go for the large ones!

Good job, baby:

Zachary's sand fettish has not disappeared. I brought him a yogurt, but failed to bring the spoon from the car. No worries! He just dumped the yogurt on the sand and then dipped away. Cute little Shay, walking and gabbing away. I love this little gal!

We decided not to do Hanalei every week this winter, and mixed it up a bit with a hike. We did this hike almost 3 years ago and loved it. Zachary insisted on carrying his new ball (thanks Ty!) the entire way. 8 miles--carrying his little ball. Precious.

The entire drive up the canyon, we were in clouds. It looked like an awful hiking day. We went anyway, and we were rewarded with this beautiful view.

The best part of the hike was when a 100 lb pig started to charge us. YIKES! We both grabbed sticks and were ready to fight to the death. Thankfully, the ugly thing left us alone. About 5 minutes from the turnaround part of the trail, we lost Zac. He still clung to his ball, but I took it away fearing that he would drop it. He had a death grip on it!One of our adoption pictures for our profile was right here, with just the two of us. We almost got it this time around with three. Ah, sentimental.

Don't worry, we only kept him in this position long enough to snap a pic. That stump next to him meeting with his head...bad thoughts.

Of course that meant he woke up. So cute, the little sleepy eyes... Five minuutes after catching our views, the rain started...and continued...the entire way back up the muddy slopes. What a mess! Our poor kid was freezing.

After the hike we picked up my Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Mark from the airport. We had a nice weekend with them. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible for all but the pictures below. Boo.