Polihale New Year

Camping is so much work.  So. Much. Work.  We had a rough start getting out the door on New Year's Eve, with a hiccup that included 3 hours leaning over this sweet girl's hair and combing out lice.  Ay-yay-yay.  We should have picked up on the signs over the previous weeks, and looking through pics it is very obvious.

 She was so patient and watched 8 "Liv and Maddie" episodes.

 We finally finished setting up camp just before 6pm (sunset).  I drove in expecting to do the unselfish thing and give Brady a turn boogie boarding, then saw the perfect waves and was easily talked into 24 minutes of the some of the best surfing I've ever done.  I did get stung 3 times by jellyfish, but it was worth the dozen gorgeous waves.  Michael was out for a few minutes with his GoPro and snagged this little treasure for me.  I love it so much, especially my leash dangling below and the darkening water.

 Brady was on shore capturing his own treasures.

One of my favorite Polihale pictures of all time:

We spent the evening watching kids fly glow stick helicopters, run wild on the beach and in the sand dunes, and exploding fireworks.  Nic even set up the projector on the side of our tent and the kids watched a movie for a while.  We did a pot-luck style curry meal that was so much better than our typical Subway/hot dog campfire meal.  We celebrated Nic's 39th birthday.  We burned our Christmas trees.  We talked late into the night and watched the fire change colors.

Owen was delighted with the fireworks, jumping up and down and screaming, "YAY!  YAY!  YAY!"

We slept terribly, woken up again and again by drunk hippies banging on drums and random fireworks/celebrations.  That's ok: New Year's Eve is not famous for getting a good night's sleep.

Sadly, the surf was messy and full of rip currents the next day.  We played in the water, fought currents, and even watched Robert save a tourist teenager from drowning.

This series of pictures cracks me up:

Owen is becoming a sand baby.

Linnaea and Kate:

Caleb and Sam took turns pushing Owen so he could "surf":

Polihale: the perfect way to start 2019.

Family Pictures 2018

Family Photos: most dreaded day of the year.  We hired Francys this year, and we were happy with the work she did.  I do wish we had more casual shots, more with individual kids, and in a few more poses, but when you come away with at least one good shot, it is a success.

The prelude to pictures is so dramatic on an island where nothing gets here on time and you can't try it on until it arrives.  I ended up in a white top and jeans after failing on a few dresses.

 It was painful to get to this rock outcropping with bare feet!  Our fault, though: this location was our choice in our attempt to avoid another family photo shoot at Shippys.

 Owen loves to "comb my hair":

 I try not to be annoyed that Owen finally looked at the camera for the funny faces. 

This was our winner for canvasing:

  Zac and Kate were rock stars, and Owen had a million funny expressions.

 Zachary tried to match Owen's crazy.

 My favorite of Kate:

 His toes were in the water with every wave.  "It going to get me?"

 My favorite of Owen:

 Owen will say "CHEESE" if you give him a bag of M&Ms!

 Francys wanted us to kiss and we are not super into that for pics.  We have plenty of wedding photos.

 My favorite of Zachary:

 I know Owen is wildly over-represented, but that is what happens when you are 2.

 She is such a tough, fun gem:

 My favorite of the shoot:

 The kids were relieved to be done and played with sticks.

 The sunset kissed us goodnight and fell behind the water with a chorus of my favorite parrots singing in the trees.