School Starts, We all catch COVID, Rachel and Milla Visit

Almost immediately after we returned from our trip, I returned to work.  I told my Aunt Kathie that work rarely if ever takes me away from time with my kids and I learned the last two weeks of summer that this was a LIE.  Teacher prep days full of meetings during summer are the second worst thing I will reference in this post.  I found ways to break up the days, hired sitters to take the kids to the beach, and they had a couple play dates with friends, but mostly I was a wreck knowing I was missing my favorite days of the year with my favorite people in the world all so I could feed into some idea of "giving back."  

My best planning was sabotaged when I returned home from a long day of teacher correlation in Oahu.  I heard Zachary came home from an activity Brady shuffled him to and knew within 10 seconds of him walking in the door that he had COVID.  My CO-dar was correct.  Luckily, Zachary's school started a full week after public school, so he laid around and healed up, then surfed the rest of the summer after he was off quarantine.

I quickly went down after Zachary, though, and my school was in session.  That meant I took an entire week of PTO for my first official week with students.  #fail

Kate and Brady had COVID in May, and Owen showed all the symptoms of COVID back in May, so we hoped the family was in the clear.  Owen went to his first day of school and loved his classmates and new teacher.

He even had a double rainbow to greet him back to campus.

After-school smiles:

After day 2 at school, I picked him up and he immediately started sobbing.  "Mom, I went to get my backpack at the end of the day and I had a headache."  

Alarm bells.  Uh-oh.  But then he jumped on the trampoline and boogie boarded in the ocean for the next 3.5 hours and we thought he was probably in the clear.  We kept him home anyway and a full day and a half later he tested positive for COVID.  5 out of 5 Edwards.  Check.

Here is what his quarantine looked like:

Owen, Kate, Zachary, and I all attend different schools.  Of all 4, Kate was the only one at school that week.  She loved her first week, except the bus.  She thinks riding the bus is one of life's great challenges and I think that her life must be pretty awesome for that to be the case.

Later, Kate was lucky enough to meet her idol, Bethany Hamilton.  Bethany is the reason Kate decided not  to be scared of reef and sharks, and started surfing independently.  (Read: not alone, but with me not pushing her anymore.)  Bethany had already signed autographs for the lucky few whose names were drawn, but when she saw Kate, she asked if she wanted a photo and Kate was so happy and shaky and thrilled.

Owen was happy, too, but you definitely can't tell.

Speaking of surf, before sports kicked back up, we spent a lot of evenings at the beach the first couple weeks of school.  I cannot believe how close Zachary gets to the reef, but I'm writing this two months after the photos were taken and his board took a beating and has a big hole from this exact surf sport, so....it doesn't always work out.  

Zac's first day of school.  He biked himself from his seminary ride with Isaac to his school ride with Tanner and we are so proud of his independence and responsibility he's assumed as a new high school student.  He misses his dog and she misses him too.

At the beginning of August, we had the privilege of hosting Rachel and her running friend from high school, Milla.  They were the most conscientious teens/adults you could ask for: gracious, playing with the kids at every turn (including so many 3pm trampoline sessions in the baking sun), dishes every meal, and completely aware of their surroundings.  My kids could hardly wait to see them at the end of each day, and we spent some time at the water with them, too.

On the weekend, we took them up to Pihea and the Alaka'i Swamp Trail.  They views could not be beat, although we think this hike is probably a pass.  It used to be one of my favorites for the kids but really, the swamp section is really long and not very scenic, especially when the view bridging the west side with the north is completely obstructed.

The Pihea section is still spectacular.

An evening watching Zac surf with the girls.

A Sunday walk:

Brady and Kate took off work and school one day for a North Shore outing.  They packed it in: Holey Grail, Hanakapaia Beach hike, beach caves, Hanalei pier, Secret Beach, fish tacos and beach swings.  Kate loved being one of the big girls and they made her feel like gold.

Kate did the hike without shoes!

I'm misty-eyed looking at this precious picture:

We also made sure they got a viewing of the nesting turtles late at night.

Every time we are around a mainland Edwards, we are inspired to eat a little more creatively.  What's creative about Avocado toast?  Nothing much, but it hasn't been on my radar recently and now it's a regular occurrence.

So many joint family dinners!

Lapperts run, of course.

Saying goodbye to those two was heartbreaking for us.  Milla feels like family and we all know how much Rach is loved around here.  Until next time!

Shortly after their departure, Kate and Owen ran in the Kaua'i Marathon keiki race.  Kate WON!  It was so exciting to cheer her on.  Owen came in 4th for his age group and ran so well, too!  This is the same race Zachary won years ago and earned a free year's worth of milk.  Kate felt a little unrecognized (by that I mean, no one acknowledged the win at all and maybe that is good for a keiki race but certainly not great for the winner of the keiki race...), so I took her out for sushi after ballet.

Kudos, my long-legged, determined speedster!

The same day, Zachary had an early race and did well for his school.  He is consistently placing 3rd or 4th for his team, which is pretty exciting as a freshman runner.  Their team was #4 in the state last year, but they are missing a couple clutch runners to round out their scoring varsity squad, which means they will not quality for state as a team this year.

Brady signed up for the half marathon last minute, and up to the start line, wondered if it was smart to race.  Two weeks before at the Spartan, his two hernias emerged like limes on his belly and he knew it was time for surgery.  He looked up tons of info and made a race time decision to run the half as his last hoorah before going under the knife.  He flew, even though he held his hernias intact most of the way.  HA!

After the race, Travis (an ER doctor here) told us that his repair was considered urgent and medically necessary and he was lucky to not rupture the hernias.  

Another Saturday, another race!

Zac's friends from the ward have been getting together at different homes every Friday night.  We each take turns hosting.  It's fun fostering these relationships!