Thanksgiving and Beyond

Thanksgiving came and went in a hurry!  We got kicked out by our dear landlord for the week of Thanksgiving break, so the two weeks before were a frenzy of deep cleaning and preparation for their arrival.  I was really bugged, but I forgot all about how mad I was when we checked into an air conditioned condo just down the road.

The condo was beautiful, new, large and a fun change for the week.  It was steps away from a new pool, and close to Brennecke's.  We took advantage of the location.

Heidi and Nic had us over for dinner with the Chadderdons, Woods, and Chad Peterson.  It was a yummy meal and having friends like that makes me feel so lucky.  The day of Thanksgiving was surreal--my long-standing tradition of a distance run in the am, Brady playing football with some guys while I took the kids to the beach, Thanksgiving dinner itself, and then hanging out at the pool the rest of the night and eating many, many pies.  This was the most relaxing T-Day we've ever had--obviously in part to the fact that we did not host, but also because Zachary is so self-sufficient now and off with his friends.

Saturday morning, we headed up to Hanalei with the Clarks, Chadderdons and Atkins.  The surf was fun, but the boogie boarding was better.  You can't see very well from these pictures but the waves were huge.  Zac played in the water for hours and the weather was perfect (after dumping rain the day before).

Zac is stoked that our tomato plant is producing.  He won't eat them willingly, but he practually squeels with excitement when he sees any red on that plant.

My favorite time of year has arrived.  This year is nuts--getting told that we had to move in Feb rather than June as previously discussed with our landlord made it stressful for a while.  We found a place and we're set to move right after vacation.  However, we've frantically had to furnish it (including a washer/dryer) and that is not so easy when you live on a tiny island!  We're getting closer and our house is now boxed up, so I will forget the craziness very soon.

We've still been able to do all the traditions.

Decorating the tree (We have most of our Christmas stuff out which is hilarious because almost all our belongings are now boxed up):

  Gingerbread house (and some sugar cookies):

 This is "Kate":

Lights on Rice Parade (this is a smoke-blower):

Even a stop by Kauai Coffee for their petting zoo and bounce houses:

Finn and Zachary kept watching the goat's bum after it pooped.  They wanted to catch the action live.

Zachary got to "surf" with the three Peterson boys we watched last weekend:

I love this picture of Katers:

Pass-the-binkey:

We've caught beautiful sunsets and lamented leaving Poipu.  Everything feels like "the last time," as though we will not be living only 15 minutes away from this place...

We've also watched Kate grow up by months the last few weeks.  She is saying so many words, coloring pictures, and (finally) running.  She is a tiny bit braver and definitely easier to communicate with. 

Every night, we sing "Jingle Bells," "Christmas Bells, and "Samuel" all while ringing our bells.  Kate knows all the actions and Zachary all the words.  Every morning, Zac pops up next to me to ask, "Can I turn on the Christmas tree?"  (We made him ask ever since day 1 when he woke up at 4am to turn on the lights.)  He and Kate race around to find our elf, Ralphie, run around the tree, and talk about Santa ("DANTA!!!" according to Kate).  They both loved making Christmas crafts and we have an assortment of them all over our tree.  They've seen most of the lights of the south shore, they've sat on Santa's lap, participated in a live nativity, and helped wrap presents.  They can't wait for Christmas, and neither can we.