Labor Day Colors are Green and Brown

The kids and I were so excited Brady had Labor Day off.  It's one of those holidays that I can't remember if he works or not, which is silly after almost 10 years with Layton.  We wanted to hike Hanakapai Falls with the kids, but after 2 passing hurricanes and a significant amount of rain, we figured venturing on something less intense would work out better for everyone.  We invited a few families along to do the Kuilau Trail.

This trail backs up to Mt. Waialeale, home to the wettest spot on earth with an average rainfall of 452 inches.  It's no surprise that the trail was muddy (brown), but I found myself gasping at every turn by the lush, green scenery.  In the picture above, you can see a bunch of waterfalls in the distance.  In the picture below, you can see what most of the trail looked like.

It's like green lava.  Or God vomiting green.  Or a thick, green carpet.

 We stopped with 5 families to eat at the picnic tables.

 Will and Luke (and Allie, our babysitter) came with us.  I'm pretty sure that this is the first time we've ever hiked with them despite living on the island together all these years.

 Zachary pretended he was grossed out by the mud at first but he wasn't fooling anyone.  He did ask me if I would be able to get his green shoes from 100 Mile Club clean again before he submerged them in the mud the first time.

 Our new friends the Hursts came with us.

 Owen thinks riding in the backpack might be his favorite thing.  He loves sitting up tall, and alternates between silence and cooing--never crying.

 The turnaround point was at a (sketchy) bridge with a (barely noticeable) waterfall.  Mosquitos were everywhere but we all sprayed up and took pictures anyway.

 Zac had to fish out a shoe...

 And he's in trouble for this one.  He hiked ahead so we didn't see him much.

 The best part of the hike was washing off in the stream at the end.  So convenient and the kids had a blast!  Then it was off to join a bunch of families on the north shore at Kalihiwai Beach.  Within a few minutes of arriving, I joined a couple girls to paddle board and ended up going upstream to the bridge.  It was exquisite and I wish I had a way to capture the views--the north shore foliage, tucked away gazebos, and tall grasses on both sides.  I did hit a log and fell into the shallow, very brown water at one point and flashed back to my fears of what lies beneath murky water.  I popped up out of the water and back onto my board in three seconds flat, pretty sure that a gnarly eel was going to nab my foot first.  It was hilarious then and I'm still laughing now.

On the way home, we tried sushi burritos for the first time.  Love trying new food, especially with our scant options available.  The day was lovely, full of family moments, friends, and beauty.

Later that week, we had picture day and I snapped this quick shot of my kids looking more grown up than I'm ready to acknowledge.  The normal stuff filled up our days, plus a surf session with a babysitter watching Owen on the beach under an umbrella.  Perfect.  Zac (and all of us) are bugged that he now has practices on our beach night Fridays.  He begged me to take him surfing after practice "for a few minutes" on Friday night, and Brady watched Owen and Kate at the pool while I lived out my dream surfing with Zachary while the sun set.  I don't know how much it meant to Zachary--he ran into some friends in the water and loved seeing them, too.  I do know that it was everything I hoped for on my end--both of us lined up at the break, paddling into a few waves together, and encouraging each other with "awesome wave" and "long ride!" comments.  The sun set and lit up the sky.  We were the last two leaving the water.  He talked my ear off as we walked our boards to and from the beach.  I've thought for years about how much fun it would be to surf with my kids and my expectations were met.  Now I'm in a rush to get more sessions in before he is way too skilled for me.

The next morning was soccer Saturday.  Both kids are improving and it's fun especially fun to see Zachary's team playing like a team and passing so well.  Kate is more timid but runs hard on the field, pumping her arms furiously.  She is one of the faster kids out there.

 We spent the afternoon watching BYU lose another heartbreaker to Utah, then went to enjoy another sunset before closing out the weekend.

 It's a cliche hashtag, but #luckywelivehawaii.  Sigh.  I only wish Brady could have joined us.  He's been working extra hours here and there for a difficult job on Big Island.  Thanks, Love, for all your hard work and making these moments possible.

Keeping it Real

 I've been on a drippy, gooey emotional kick lately, reflecting on my kids, how much I love my life with our little family, and this piece of paradise we wake up in every day.  Coming off of a nearly-perfect summer with my snuggly baby and constant wind and ocean in my hair, it's been an adjustment to go back to the routines of "real life."  The last two weeks have been full of ups and downs, with some anxiety and several times, feeling completely trapped.  Brady's been traveling more for work, and that combined with church responsibilities has made it tricky to get a few minutes to myself.  We are working that out, figuring out ways to give me a breather from the mommy duties and trying to get more involved with other moms, too.  I also have my favorite sitter back in town, and left Owen with her for an hour while I surfed this week.  Fantastic.

The kids are a month into piano lessons with Ms. Lois.  I love listening to her teach them and see for myself what makes her stand out compared to others.  She's been encouraging better technique with Zachary and pulling out more musicality from him.  She's very patient with Kate and I can't believe what Kate can do already after four lessons.  This is what Zac does during Kate's lesson, while I keep baby O quiet in her studio.  He just finished reading Harry Potter #5.

 The kids playing with their besties...  Kate is so excited to show off her piano.

 She also played house with her friend and read scriptures to her.  Hilarious because her friend is not religious at all, so the dialogue between them had me in stitches.

 We've kept our Friday night beach nights alive, even on days that are less than smooth and when Brady can't make it.  I almost never regret a trip to the beach.

 Soccer Saturdays are in full force.  We love watching both Kate and Zachary participate.  Kate was so excited for her first game last week.  She could barely fall asleep the night before, and had her uniform set carefully by her bed.  Her coaches are adorable and full of enthusiasm.

 Owen keeps himself entertained while we cheer.  Zachary scored the first goal of the season for his team, but we didn't get any pictures!  His team plays together better than any team he's participated with in the past and we love the pace of the game at the U10 level.

I've been trying to get the kids interested in snorkeling for years.  Kate asked if we could get snorkel gear a little over a week ago, and I jumped on it.  We bought them gear, with the promise that it will be used 20 times before Christmas or they owe us a dollar for every time less than that.  We used them in the pool, and then last Saturday tried them in the ocean.  It was not a calm ocean day, and we were concerned it might freak them out, but they were both naturals.

Snorkeling with Zachary was one of my favorite experiences of all time with him.  He's always been anxious about what is under the water, although has basically no fear on top of the water.  However, within minutes of spotting his first few fish, he could not be contained.  He dove down to the reef again and again to explore.  He held my hand as we swam around for ages.  He pointed out the fish he was most excited about, in particular the Hawaii state fish, the humuhumunukukukuapuaa.  He's the only one who can say that fish from memory.  

Kate went out with Brady for her first time.  She was not worried at all and loved the needle fish.  She asked if we saw the angel fish and rainbow fish, and Zachary went out for round 2 to make sure he saw them, too.  I love that her excitement about trying something new led us to find a new way to adventure together as a family.

 Lots of naps on the beach, between the soccer games and snorkel outings.

 We finally ordered furniture for our front lanai and Zachary initiated it within days.  He sat and read Sunday afternoon for hours.

 Owen is a doll, but is also making me a tiny bit crazy (some days a lot crazy).  He has never been a great napper, but he's been especially inconsistent with two 20-30 min naps total for the day.  He wakes up irritable and fussy and that keeps up for hours.  It's gone on long enough that I think I'm going to get tough and see if we can get him into REM sleep in his naps.  I'm a total wuss with his crying, though, so we'll see how this goes.  But you'd be a wuss, too, with this darling little face begging for your attention.  If he looked happy like this regularly, I would let him sleep 20 minutes total every day.

 Kate, practicing her songs on Owen's toy.  Ha!

 Another Friday, another beach night.

 We packed up the car Friday night for our long soccer Saturday and turned it into a beach afternoon.  Brady and O are both sick right now, and spent the afternoon snoozing under the umbrella while the kids and I paddle boarded and build sand castles.  We planned on getting stuck inside all weekend with two hurricanes threatening to hit us, but they both missed our island (although stole our trade winds, so we are cooking hot).

 Looking forward to our Labor Day holiday and the rest of "real life" this week.