Winter Break 2017! This year, in the chaos of our home-building, we only made plans last minute, but somehow every day had a big event, kid-filled beach day, play date or dinner/party planned. We only have so much planning bandwidth and it is all directed at the house right now. Our fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants social mentality paid off and we loved connecting to friends and spending long afternoons in the water, sand, and around tables playing Wackee Six.
The first week of break was chilly, cloudy and rainy. We spent gobs of time playing with friends and Christmas presents. I made it to the beach a few times and sat in the rain under umbrellas while our kids played in the water. We came home to cold showers and hot cocoa. The kids also played a lot of futsal.
Brady snuck away one Saturday for a cold afternoon at the beach. This monk seal agreed that the water was too chilly.
Brady made the mistake of telling me he planned to have a dumpster at our house--one that cost a reasonable $600 a dump. I convinced him into making trips to Kekaha instead with his own big muscles and truck. Insert guilty smile. He now has my complete blessing to buy his new fancy camera lens for our upcoming trip to Italy.
Nic had a birthday on New Year's Eve, so we had a loud, laugh-filled dinner and game night with their family and the Ellis clan. Our kids love him so much.
Best shot of the post:
Kate's sign to her "2nd Daddy":
Brady made him the "Birthday Boy" tag that he wore all three hours at church. Ha!
We played Hilarium, Wackee Six, and did a Lego Challenge that included very impressive sticky note awards. The Clarks and Ellis families took off to watch fireworks and we watched a rerun of the ball drop before plopping our exhausted and happy kids in bed at 8:30pm.
New Year's Day, we celebrated with a trip to Hanalei where KATE SURFED 6 waves!
Hooray, you courageous girl!
When you are little and laying down on a board, these waves look big. They look much bigger, in fact, then when you are boogie boarding, because you know you are going to have to time it right and stand up instead of easily slipping down the face or riding the whitewater, and all while holding on to a giant board. She was so brave!
This kid is cooler than a teenage boy in skinny jeans.
A photo of Papa Bear on a wave.
Boss Baby:
He and Kate had the sweetest moments on the beach while Zac and his friends played in the water for hours. They ran laps around each other for a full hour. I had grandmas telling me that Kate would for sure be a track star.
Brady and Robert on a wave:
Joy and a lack of inhibition:
Brady captured Owen and Kate's personalities in dozens of images:
I had a blast paddling over to the bigger sets and surfing for a full 90 minutes in gorgeous waves, while Zac and his friend Caleb loved messing around in the gentler, closer waves.
If it's been a while since you've seen her, this is Kate. Right here. Funny faces and expressions, energy, sometimes demanding, and with huge pockets of sunshine in her personality.
She and Owen are still twinners.
She wants to grow up so badly, and if she's home, she's dressed in my heels and pretending to be pregnant or a teacher.
Binky. Belly Button. Happiness.
Zachary loves to surf, but lately his favorite beach is Brennecke's. The giant boogie boarding waves are a perfect place to work on his tricks--360s, riding on his knees, riding down the line inside a barrel, standing up after the wave crashes, etc. He is entertaining to everyone on the beach and won't get out of the water for 2 hours straight unless I flag him down. I kept Owen shielded from rain, took friends with us several times, and walked a long way with Owen (no parking in Poipu during the holidays!) to make five outings to Brennecke's happen for this kid.
Kate started Winter Break terrified by Brennecke's, but ended the break convinced that she was skilled enough for these waves and asking to go, too. She's since boogie boarded there four times.
Another trip to Brenneckes. Look at the crowds! There were 68 people boogie boarding at the tiny break that day! Whew!
"Ahoy, matey! Be that a pirate ship?" Also spotted: whales and dolphins.
Faced with another long day of work at the house for Brady, I opted to take the kids up to Hanalei with the Stebbins. It rained all the way to Hanalei and once again, I wondered if we were making a bad call on the 90 minute drive, but it was beautiful and refreshing! The kids played in the water all afternoon, Owen was a gem, and I even indulged in a 30 min surf session while Mahjinka kept her eyes on my kids. Lovely! The drive home with my kids glued to books and electronics made me realize how long the trek to the north shore really is without Brady!
Playing tug-o-war. And...I just noticed what appears to be a noose on the right side of this tree??? Yikes.
After so much time with the Stebbins, who are home-schooled, I've been fielding a lot of pleading from my children to home school them, too. In their minds, it means they will play all day and occasionally read. Ha! I miss them like crazy and my mornings with Owen are so quiet now! Soon enough, it will be Spring Break!
