Camping at Queens

We've camped at Polihale quite a few times now, but never at Queen's Pond, a couple miles down the beach from where we normally camp. Queen's Pond is nice because it has a cove and the waves are small--terrific for the kiddos. The weather was perfect and the stars were bright without the moon.

Photography by Karen (with Brady coaching the Iso settings):
Zac eating his "fishies"--clearly we didn't get him in his swimsuit in time.

Porter hamming it up for me:

Chad and Mary--they seem to know the more "local" spots on the island--including getting the key to the gate that enabled us to skip the 5 miles of potholes to the beach.
Melissa and Lance claim to not be outdoorsy, but have now come on 2 camping excursions within weeks of each other:

While we were setting up camp and getting dinner started, Zac and Will found a sand dune to play on. They loved it. In front of a bunch of teenagers, Zac took the hill rolling down (from the halfway point) and floored them all. We are just happy he survived without injury! Of course that meant he wanted to do it over and over again.

I love Polihale sunsets so much--they're the best on the island.

Apparently when you camp local-style, it's okay to have a fire on the beach. It was actually exciting, although I felt kind of guilty.
Ever since we started taking our tri-fold mats camping, our sleep on the beach has been exceptional. It's like a new world. It's obnoxious to bring them, but we never regret it in the morning.

The morning started out with us taking our runs. I actually ran barefoot on the beach for the first time and fell in love. My calves still hurt today--3 days later. I will never be the girl running in a bikini in front of a bunch of people, but on a seemingly empty beach (with running clothes), it was exhilarating.

The story of cameras and Zachary--here he is running away and shaking his head "no":

"Mommy, can I have this?" The next day at nursery, Will came up to me, held my hands in his, looked up at me with huge eyes and asked, "Do you remember that time we went to the beach?" What a darling.

We splashed the morning away with a football. This picture would be more exciting if he caught the ball.

Ah, there's a catch:
Not exactly setting up for a spiral:

The best part about camping--besides the roasted marshmellos, scenary, ocean waves crashing all night, and hours of conversation and laughs--is that you come home feeling like you were away for longer than just a night and a day. It's simultaneously refreshing and exhausting. Can't wait to do it again.

Spring Surprises, Drawing Crowds, and New Traditions

For a surprisingly delicious meal, check out the blog "For the Love of Cooking," and find the Penne with Shrimp and Roasted Vegetables in a Roasted Garlic Lemon Sauce. Yum...mmm...y.Zac found it suprisingly distasteful that we wanted him to eat the pasta when it was mixed with, well, anything.

But he was surprisingly content with the banana chocolate chip muffin.

It's no suprise that we spend at least one morning a week throwing rocks into the ocean.

But it is almost shocking how fast Zac can zip along in his new trike. He absolutely hates it when I chase him and slow him down.

Zachary has kept himself (as well as many Hyatt guests and passerbys) entertained riding his trike down this hill. He absolutely flies, but don't get upset at our recklessness. It is a very short, grassy ride with low risk of injury.

It's hard to believe that when he takes his wild spills at the end. He does it on purpose, but you wouldn't know that if you were just walking by. He has groups of spectators gasping each time he falls.

Every spring when this daisy field is in bloom, I think it is one of the prettiest views in the whole world.

Saturday night, Brady came home from Conference with three bags of Easter candy. I couldn't think what we needed that much candy for, but all right. We discovered that our idea of Easter--you know, the secular part--was quite different. After 9 years, we are still figuring this stuff out. My family: put the basket on the table with the candy in it. Brady's family: hide candy all over the house and collect it for your basket. I was a little disturbed with the candy-all-over-the-floor bit, but we gave it a shot Edwards-style.

The trail leads to the basket...

Zac saw the trail after breakfast and started eating immediately. That slowed him down too much, though, and soon he was grabbing it and putting it in the basket as fast as he could. Every time he found a new candy location, Zachary exclaimed, "OH, OH, OH!"

Chill out a little about the 3 bags of candy: we gave him 3 eggs with candy and took the rest to Brady's office (aka our garbage disposal).

That afternoon, Matt and Megan, Chad and Mary, and Todd and Megan came over with their kiddos. Dinner was excellent, and topped with a French pastry. It was Megan's birthday, too, so there was no treat shortage. I love, love, love gatherings on holidays!