Oct: We've Got Spirit and Fall Break

The kids had Spirit Week the days before fall break, so while we worked on assembling clothes for them each night, Owen charmed us with his naked bath shots.  

Cups in the tub are perfect for washing out hair and for drinking dirty baby water.

Do I get a prize for tie-dying shirts for their Tie-Dye Tuesday?

The kids were bummed the colors faded so much in the wash but still excited with the finished result.  I was nervous about the pink on Zachary's shirt, but he told me he likes pink now.  Phew.

Wacky Wednesday was all about the hair for Kate.

For Zachary, I think he confused it with Tacky Wednesday.  Wacky and tacky.  He loved it.

Throwback Thursday had Zac scrambling for a white tee-shirt to dress up like Elvis.  We realized the only white tee he had was now a lot of colors from Tie-Dye Tuesday, so we spray painted his hair black, threw on a white polo, drew on sideburns and called it good.  I think the scowl is his new "cool face."

 Kate dressed a little 80s, with her side pony, leggings and big shirt tied on the side.

 Fashion Friday was their favorite.  They told me they were supposed to dress in their very trendiest clothes.  I let the kids fly alone on those decisions, and I love that Zac's best clothes included his Disney watch, shark tooth necklace, hair styled a little differently, and shoes/socks.

 Kate wore her maxi skirt and shirt.  She said, " I look very fashionable."

Pictures of Owen's favorite hangouts lately.

 That night, we went out for our weekly Aloha Friday beach night at Sheratons.  It felt like the start of summer vacation, knowing we had a whole week to play for fall break.

 Zac out surfing:

Owen loves to be outside but this night he was crazy grumpy.  Brady was on Big Island for a couple days to work, so he missed the sunset, surf, and tears.  

 Soccer Saturday, followed by Super Saturday at church and yard work Saturday at home.  People comment that our life is always a vacation, but it turns out we do chores, too.

Owen kept clapping for the Lava Girls.

Kate SCORES A GOAL!

Brady THROWS A BABY!

We took so many pictures of Kate's game and none at Zachary's.  He had a great game, with some clutch passes and defensive plays.  His team lost 3-2, their only loss of the season coming from the mighty Kalaheo team with his buddies Luke and Garrett.  The boys were supercharged at the game, and it was fun to see them play friends.

Sunday shots.  Nic texted us later that night to say he had a high fever and felt terrible for holding Owen.  He ended up in the ER with a severe kidney infection.

The kids have been helping us do dishes, and now have more responsibilities with setting and clearing the table and cleaning up.  It's more helpful than I expected!  I knew it would be rewarding long-term for everyone involved (teaching responsibility, etc.), but I anticipated it would be harder in the short-term.

Owen eats so much table food now.  He likes to gnaw on food, especially sweet potatoes and peas.  He tried eating a banana today with the peel on (yikes).  He chows down pears and mangos.  He's like his brother and would eat bread or crackers all day if we let him.  Mum-mums are his favorite snack.

Zac still struggles with food texture from time to time.  This night it was pomegranate seeds.  Ha!

Monday morning, we did quick runs and cruised up to Hanalei.  We've been looking forward to Hanalei time and Brady took off 2 days to spend up north.  We originally planned to stay the night there but decided it was no biggie to drive back and forth and guarantee that Owen would sleep all night.

Kate was brave and surfed for her first time.  15 waves!!!  Hooray!  We caught a few on camera, although her best was the very first--a long ride to shore.  We were all so excited to watch her.  Then, she surprised us by saying she wanted to jump off the pier.  None of us have ever done that, so we all tried together.

Zachary was nervous his first jump but then wanted to jump over and over again.

Alisha volunteered to hold Owen while we played with the kids.

Brr....the day started out chilly.

After spending time at the pier, we met up at Pavilions with the Smiths and Johnsons.  The waves were fun, and Zachary, Brady and I all had long turns in the water.  Kate had the time of her life playing with Penelope and Selah.

Closing out the day, Kenyon (age 12) surfed with Zachary for a full hour.  Zac had been feeling bad that some of his friends he planned to meet up with couldn't make it.  Kenyon made my heart explode with gratitude when I watched the two of them doing tricks and having a good time.  When they came out of the water, he said, "Nice surf sesh, Zac."

Zac taking a wave backwards while Kenyon does crunches.

I hope my kids are this gracious to younger kids when they are older, too.  Zachary is great entertaining young kids now, and I hope he's never too cool to have a good time with someone younger.

We stopped to eat at Brick Oven that night.  The kids were practically sleeping in their food, but not Owen.  He was ready to party.

Tuesday morning, we jumped out of bed and had an exact repeat of Monday.  We thought the long drive north might be annoying two days in a row but when you are driving to sunshine and a north swell, it's not bad at all.  We arrived to find bigger waves.  I say it all the time: a sunny day in Hanalei is hard to beat.

Kate surfed again, but only a couple waves.  The break was choppy for her and too big where we spent most of the day.  She was in heaven with Penelope, though, and they jumped off the pier together a few times and played in the water for hours.

Zachary and I surfed near the pier after he was washed out a few times at Pavilions.  He was grinning ear to ear and keeps begging to go back to Hanalei and surf those perfect waves.  After we all came back to Pavilions, I had the surf session of my life.  I don't think I have ever been so consistently successful, and being out there with a bunch of friends and their kids was a dream.

I hesitated putting this one in because it looks so small.  Waves always look small this far from shore.  For instance, Spencer is 6'8" and that wave above doesn't look big, but obviously is when you know his height.  Brady was holding O while I surfed and I was holding him while Brady surfed, so getting shots isn't easy.  I try not to have wave ego.  I know I don't surf monsters, and I like small waves and green ski hills.  I also know I surfed some big waves that day and I'm super excited about it.  Brady also had a bunch of success surfing and even expressed interest in a new board.

Owen stayed completely out the water.  He does not like waves.  He is happy at the pool when he isn't getting splashed.

Coolest pic ever of Derek and Spencer.  Spencer makes Derek look small--pretty unusual for 6'6" Derek.

Party wave.

Zac with his new friend, Jack.

Hilary, my weekly surf buddy.

Jenny, my other surf buddy.  Owen loves hats.

Derek took a few shots early on in the day.

He also captured these sweet shots of Penelope and Kate.  Don't they make you want to be 5 again?  

We left the beach just as the sun set.  It was my favorite series of two days together as a family since our vacation in Vancouver.  We talked in the car, each of us happy and satisfied (although wishing for more and making plans for next fall break).

 Hooray for a sunny day in Hanalei.  Hooray for beautiful waves.  Hooray for 4 Edwards surfers.  Hooray for a content baby that loves being outside as much as we do.  Fall break...sigh.  I love this random break in the middle of October.

 We had a typical Wednesday with piano lessons, soccer, and work.  For the rest of the week, Brady went to Big Island to run the Ragnar with Team Layton.  (More on that in another post!)  Heidi ran the race as well while Nic stayed back to recover from his illness, and I watched the kids.  Our kids play so well together and were busting with excitement over the sleepover ("helpover," since we all oppose sleepovers).  Magna tiles, legos, art, entertaining Owen, the pool, shuffle board, and a trip to the beach filled the remainder of the week.  We finished off with another soccer Saturday (where Zachary scored a goal!), piano performance class, and another beach trip with the Clark kids, and welcomed Brady home on Sunday morning.

The boys made a restaurant and shave ice:

 Did I mention TV?  There was a little bit of that, too.  Just a lil' bit.

 "Dadadadadadada": his favorite babble.

Fall break was over days ago, but there's so much to look forward to with the holidays around the corner that I didn't even get Sunday blues before they headed back to school.  Loved it.  Love them.  Love what we have to look forward to.