Mid-February was filled with chilly beach days and soccer practices. My favorite two parts of the day are picking up my kids from school and hanging out at their soccer practices while running wild with Owen. It is so fun to watch them progressing in skills, while still having quality time with O. When I found out Kate was practicing several days a week in Hanapepe (30 minutes away if there is no traffic), I dreaded the days. Now, I remember that it almost never rains in Hanapepe and with the chillier temperatures, it is the perfect weather to bike, kick balls, play in the dirt, and find ways to entertain ourselves.
With all the rain and our Saturdays filled with soccer games, we opted for Sheraton and Waiohai most often in the afternoon. I loved watching our lineup of ramping pros. None of them pictured below looks like a local and we imagined the tourists thinking, "WOW! Those kids got so good at this on their vacation!"
A bunch of kids plus 42-year-old Robert:
Potty training round 1 was a total fail, and Owen and I decided to go for round 2. This time, I went against all my previous advice to take kids out of pull-ups/diapers and go straight to undies. The undies were too stressful. Instead, we made poop charts and pee charts, and he stayed protected from accidents and my wrath. I ordered boxes of his favorite character cars and every 5 poops, he picks a car. We are now 25 poops without an accident! Yee-haw! It definitely helps that this kid goes three times a day lately, and I've even suspected that he's holding out on me the first time he goes just to play the system. He's 3, though. Could he really do that? I do not know. I'm too happy to care. We are about 80% on pee, so it might be time for him to switch to unders soon.
The big event of February was my aunts and uncles, Kathie, Lee, Robin, and Rick visiting. We packed the week full of time with them, starting off with a gamble for February--Polihale. The waves were 25' the week before they came, and the wind was so strong, the sand whipped across the beach. Not so for the day we picked--a gorgeous afternoon/evening packed with fun boogie boarding waves, sand dunes for the kids, and star gazing around the campfire. I made cashew chicken so we did not have to suffer through hot dogs. I was also smart this time and invited friends for my kids to play with since there were no cousins. Brady was a team player and even after a very early morning leaving for Oahu, he booked it clear to the beach after he got off his flight and arrived in time to make the fire.
Kathie and Lee:
Lee rode 50 waves that night.
I am so desperately sad that next-door-neighbor Ava will be moving away in August. She is a staple at our house.
I wish we took the pictures before boogie boarding.
Yeah, Kate! Skim boarding!
Lee was so fun with the kids throughout the entire trip: making special efforts to jump on the trampoline, play card games, and ask them questions. It's perfect that we have a picture of him catching waves with the girls.
Saturday morning started early with 8am games, so we left before 7am. That doesn't sound difficult until you factor in that we got home at 10pm, did laundry so we had beach towels that did not reek of campfire, and packed completely for the games and Hanalei the next day. The soccer games were the first of the season. Kate scored 2 goals and we had to stop Zac at 8. Kate's team is still undefeated (although one tie game) despite being an all-girls team that plays all-boy and all-girl teams. Zachary's team does not have a deep bench and has some really new players, so they are 1-2 right now. He has had two rough games after pulling his groin, although he's still playing well and quick to be a good sport.
Next up: Hanalei. It is unbelievable to me that the weather was this nice after the windy, closed north shore beaches the weeks prior. In fact, it was too flat--no boogie boarding or surf waves. We had the paddle board, and I paddled around on my surfboard with both Kathie and Robin--a highlight of my week. Zachary and Owen played in the sand, Kate built a "really comfortable" hammock on tree branches, and all the kids raced Rick.
I love this picture so much.
Owen warmed up quickly to Robin and wanted to show her treasures.
With the ocean so flat, I recommended they check out the north shore snorkeling. It seemed unlikely the conditions would be good for snorkeling anywhere on the north shore during winter, but worth a shot since there were no waves to play in at Hanalei. They were lucky to score a parking spot and snorkeled Hideaways successfully for 25 whole minutes.
That night, we picked up a sitter and went to Keokis together. Kathie anticipated and broke her several-months-running sugar fast on Hula Pie and Rick hammed it up for photos.
Sunday was Kathie's 50th birthday! We started the day at church, and then they went up the canyon for views and hikes.
The kids were helpful getting the house decorated and we took turns inhaling helium and laughing hard. Kathie was a perfect sport, agreeing to wear her "50 and Fabulous" sash and pose with giant balloons.
We toasted the occasion with this dark chocolate tart and a lilikoi pie.
They gifted us with Utah specialities--a BYU shirt for each kid, Utah truffles, brownie mix from Lehi Mills, and gifts from Robin and Rick's mission.
It was finally time to give Kathie her gifts. Ours was a shooting star necklace in memory of last summer's magical night under the Polihale sky. Robin knows Kathie best and had her busting up over her card, then misty-eyed over her thoughtful gift: a pack of playing cards with things Kathie has done for people written by family members and friends. As Robin accurately pointed out, Kathie has no idea how much she has touched the lives of people around her. For me, Kathie has always gone the extra mile--inviting us to countless dinners in college, making my wedding veil, making a Hawaiian quilt, texting me, sending me books to read my children, and rushing to hold Zachary immediately after he was placed with us. She's always been an inspiration to me for fitness, parenting, and cooking. We adore her and it was fun to have her to ourselves that night.
We finished off the trip with another dinner at Keokis. Lee thoughtfully arranged to play more games with Kate and we all had some final laughs together. We hope they will make this an annual event!
1 comment:
Looks like another awesome visit! Happy 50th to Kathy!
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