Moms and Bros

David, Jojo, Zac, and Kaimana: a tight-knit crew all through their school years.  D, J, and Z have been friends since Kindergarten and still eat lunch together every day.  We find that we go months of the summer without the boys seeing each other.  We planned a day to do just moms and bros and hike together in the canyon.

The Mamas:

The boys kept commenting that all the mist made it feel like they were in a spooky novel.  The mamas kept commenting that we have never ever seen Kokee so deserted.

The boys found raspberry bushes and that was all the entertainment they needed.  They collected probably 300 in several bags.

Initially, I told Zac that I thought they were blackberries, which he is very allergic to.  Joy grew up here and was convinced they were raspberries, so I let him pick and gobble them up.  It was a mama-fail moment that could have been a bad situation.  Last time he injected blackberries, he swelled all over his face and had respiratory difficulty.  The doctor told us to never test his allergy on our own since his reactions were so severe.  To let him try a berry in a canyon that looked like a blackberry when we were 45 min away from the hospital and 40 min from the car could have been awful.  I was upset about it all night, as I laid next to him in bed so I could hear his breathing and fret.  It was a terrible misjudgment and came right on the heels of Owen's situation at Polihale.  I was beating myself up something fierce.  Lots of tears, regret, and anxiety!  Ultimately, Zachary has either outgrown his allergy, never had a blackberry allergy and reacted to something else as a young child (several times), or these were indeed not blackberries.

I'm so relieved and I can finally like this picture.

Another fail on my part: taking us the to the wrong lookout.  We hiked 7 miles roundtrip, but not to the lookout we wanted.  The last time I did this hike was when Zac was a year old, so I probably should have consulted a guidebook and not my own confidence.  Argh.  Brady said he would have turned the same way and did not remember that we should have gone left, either.  It was still pretty-ish.

Drinking the mist.

I think we look so similar.

Tunnel of trees.

Vicki and David.

All of us.

The boys flexed their muscles, I raced Zac up the mountain, and we all laughed and talked on the way home.  Love these bros and their mamas.