Shivers, Sunshine and Siblings

The weekend after Zachary's birthday, we headed out with friends to Polihale. Usually, this beach is hot, hot, hot. You never wait to put away the camping gear in the morning unless you plan to burn your feet in the sand. There have been a couple exceptions, and this weekend was one of them. Brr... The campfire was nice and toasty, the stars were beautiful, and lots of friends showed.

Jeff is so patient with his sand castles, and even made a special one for the kids.The best part of any sand castle, at least for kids:
The following weekend made up for the chilly temps at Polihale. We had a perfect family beach day at Poipu. Zachary has really warmed up to the ocean and loves "surfing" on the "waves."

Kristen E said the most rewarding part of parenting is seeing your children interact and love each other. I'm loving the developing relationship between Kate and Zachary. They adore each other. Yeah, I still only leave Kate in a room alone with Zac for 2 minutes or less, and sure, he will freak out when she grabs his eyes, but isn't that just part of being siblings?

Brady went to work trainings in Utah and Vegas for 10 days at the end of January. This is my first solo effort as a single mom of 2, and we survived. I would go as far as saying it was good for me and Zachary to have so much one-on-one time together. It certainly made me appreciate all the weight Brady pulls at home! Zachary and Kate loved talking to him nightly on Skype, and also seeing their grandparents. Brady had a nice time seeing family, meeting Scott's fiance, and visiting with Grandma Richards. He also got in another round of skiing with Jeff, Bryson, and Tanner, and even ventured onto his first double blues.

I'm certainly not counting down the days until this happens again, but I can hack it if I know it will end soon (and if I know I will have unwind time when he returns...gotta get the crazy out of me with some long runs and time in the water!).

I took a bunch of pictures to send to Brady while he was on his trip. They never got emailed, but they make the blog cut.

While Brady was gone, Kate grew up. She cut her first tooth and finally got mobile! From last Saturday to this Saturday, she's become a scooting champ.

She kept taking my hat off and putting on her head upside-down.
So, is it the shoes that make my baby seem so big?
During preschool, she patiently let the girls hold her on the couch for 15 minutes. C'mon, you do want to kiss her little cheeks, huh?
She's also decided that throwing food on the floor is giggle-worthy.
Like I mentioned, Zac and I had a grand time together. We spent a couple days jumping in puddles, visiting the Kauai Zoo (aka Humane Society), and lots of time playing in the sand.
Ever since our trip to Utah, he thinks he needs to wear socks when the weather is not good.
Completely unrelated: We see a lot of bugs around here, and a lot of bugs doing icky things--like eating dead gheckos. Brady found these spiders fighting to the death the other day. Up next: chicken fight? Nah.