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.