Hanalei with Hadleys

The weekend after Ritchies left, we headed to the north shore for the Sand Castle competition.  No, we did not compete.  We are more in favor of water sports than sand castles, but we did decide that the minute Zachary shows interest, we will do one with him in their keiki (children's) competition.  Instead, we went to Pine Trees--about a mile and a half down from the pier--where there happened to be (small) waves.  The pic above is me on Zachary's 5'8" board.  I am not proud of wave size or anything, but I am excited to get up and feel more comfortable on a short board.  Someday, I will be legit.

We met up with the Hadleys.  Most of our friends were there, too, but competing in the competition.  We figured we would head over after an hour or two, but the day was so perfect in the water, and the kids were having a great time.  It also rained on and off all day, making us less motivated to move all our things and our umbrella.  Also, parking was a nightmare that day.  Kauai is beautifully undeveloped for the most part, but sometimes I really wish for a parking garage or some other landscape-wrecking parking solution on the north shore.

Garrett had the best faces of the day.  Face #1:

Me again

Yes, overkill on the pictures, but I want to remember these moments when I am very hopefully pregnant and unable to participate in a few months.

Todd, my surfing mentor:

Face #2:

Zac started riding his boogie board like a surf board to be like Tanner and Garrett.

Zachary:

Face #3:  Todd pushing Garrett into a wave.

Derek and Hilary brought their family over as well.  Here's their daughter, who is about 18 months older than Zac, riding a longboard:

Face #4 (the best one):

Tanner and Damon:

Brady and I were bummed that Zachary didn't want anything to do with surfing this day, when his friends were out there riding wave after wave.  Zac is capable but still nervous in areas he can't touch.  The water was cold, and he had a wave topple him at the beginning.  We decided to back off and let him do what he wanted.  Next time!

Jack, Kate's bestie:

Sand-disaster Katers:

The big part of our day was before the beach: we bought ourselves a paddle board!  We've wanted one for years, but only now pulled the trigger.  I sold my longboard, and that went a long way towards paying for this thing.  Since the purchase, we've taken it out about 5 times, so it seems like a worthwhile entertainment investment.  Here I am, out with Hilary and Megan:

Todd, riding our board.

That night, we ate at the pier with lots of friends and checked out the sand castles.  They were spectacular, but we did not end up with photos due to the rain.  It's Hanalei.  It rains a lot.  We love Hanalei, despite the long drive and the often uncooperative weather.  We wish there had been waves when the Ritchies visited.