Raw Pig and the Parents"In" Crowd

Friday, Brady's work celebrated an exciting event, two and a half years in the making: their building permits were finally issued! Koloa Landing at Poipu Beach will shortly be on it's way to vertical construction. For the party, an Emu specialist came in (the bishop), and dug a hole for the pig on-site (I guess they can actually do things with the land now that they have that permit...).

Here's the beauty, prior to getting smoked.




Saturday afternoon, we learned what it means to be in the Parent-only "In Crowd." Our friends Matt and Meagan had their baby girl a week ago, and invited people over for a potluck at their place. We got there, and realized that everyone there had a baby, and ours was one of the oldest! Ages ranged from 7 days, 12 days, two weeks, etc. For two hours we discussed nothing but sleep patterns and eating habits. This is not something I would have ever envisioned myself participating in, but it was actually pretty fun to babble about homeopathic remedies (of course, I did nothing but mock the methods in my head while listening courteously) and constipation for two hours.

The proud parents:



All the mommies: (Side note: That shirt I'm wearing had a tag that screamed "Medium" all the way down. No one told me until about halfway through...)



We spent the afternoon boogie boarding at our favorite hangout, Brennecke's. The waves were TERRIFIC--fast and frequent--but apparently we don't take pictures boogie boarding anymore. (Which is sad, because I don't think we have many good ones on waves.)

That night, we had the pleasure of meeting up with our friends Matt and Heather from Antioch! It was fun seeing them as new parents, too. While we were at the BBQ joint, a man came up to us and asked about the twins. We realized he thought their little boy Andrew (8 mos) and our Zac were twinners.



What do you think? They could probably pass as brothers.





It was good to see old friends! We'd love to see more of you, if anyone can hack the increased air fare.

Po'omau Canyon Ditch Trail

Finally...we made it with our camera!   Third time is a charm.  We went about 8 months ago with some friends, but our camera died on this overlook.  Last week, we attempted the hike again, but forgot Zac's backpack, and we didn't want to risk it.  Yesterday, we remembered everything--expect for sweats.  It was a little chilly for someone not hiking, and poor Zac was having none of it.  It even started sprinkling, so we felt tremendously guilty.  Brady even ripped the shirt off his back to spare this little lad's chilly legs.




The second half was much better, and warmer.  We were sporting our new Teva's in preparation for our three-day kayak/hiking trip next month, so Brady's feet got pretty bloody and beat up, but other than all those complications...it was fun.




A rare happy moment for this kiddo (on this hike)...



We almost lost his hat!  That would have been almost as sad as his cold legs.




Zac says he's fine now, and wants to go on more hikes.

Happy Father's Day

 

Caption This!

Select which caption best fits this picture:

a. Zac's reaction when we told him he was going to see his cousins and grandparents in 2 months.
b. Zac's reaction when we told him he was going to get shots at the doctor's on Thursday.
c. Zac's reaction when we told him he would be going camping for the first time.
d. Zac's reaction when we told him he had a full-time mom now!
e. Zac's reaction when we told him we were done changing diapers.

Zac's First Campout

Our weekend started out with a bang--for this little puppy dog. Brady was driving down the street and saw this little guy tumbling out of a truck. He wasn't hurt, and the owner waited for Brady to bring him to the Humane Society.

We camped with another family at Hanalei this weekend. We were convinced Zac was old enough and a good enough sleeper to hack it.

I took this incredible picture. Kudos to me. (It is usually Brady who can credit himself with the photography.)

Oh yeah, this is me too.

But I do have to credit these two shots to Brady.

A county worker cut down some coconuts for us, and chopped them up so we could indulge in some coconut milk. It was quite bland, but a fun new experience.

The rest of the night, we listened to banjo players butcher songs (until 3am), until the late hour of 5am, when we got up to race the Ha'ena to Hanalei Run.

Dale (on the right) works with Brady, and made those medals to celebrate their introduction to running. This is one of only 2 pictures we took, even though we knew many people at the race. Oops!

Brady did great! He ran 6:49s for the 8 mile, hill-packed run. I didn't fare as well. I wanted to run a one-hour flat, but I was over by 15 seconds (and to make it worse, that was the difference between me and the girl in front of me...grrr). I also barfed after the second major hill. Embarrassing.

The overall winner ran it in 45 minutes, but we still think Kristen could take him. We both came home with small awards, and (most of) it was really fun. We are now getting ready for the Provo Half Marathon in August! We'll see if altitude really impacts performance...

This Week in Pictures (and a few words)

Brady caught a terrible cold, I worked through a running injury, and Zac had a few fussy times, but otherwise this week was fantastic. It helped that we had a three-day weekend last week to contribute to all these activities and pictures.

Last Saturday, we decided to go snokeling at Ke'e Beach. After our shark experience the night before, we were a little wary of going much beyond the reef! Brady was braver than me (I barely approached the reef), but it was fun to snorkel again.

Zac hung out with us under the umbrella while we took turns in the water. His belly is not his favorite position.

He loved his turns in the water, too. (Let me tell you, that 50 SPF sunscreen really works, because this kid is still as pale as can be...)

Heidi and Nic met us at the beach, too. Ty was busy building sandcastles almost the entire afternoon. He wants to do construction like the big boys.

I picked this picture because you can't see as much drool as normal. Everyone thinks Zac is teething because of the amount of saliva that hits their legs when they hold him.

I took this from our car window, and Brady said it would make "Picture of the Month" if not for the powerlines.

Memorial Day, we woke up early and did our runs, then went to the pool together. Zac splashes his hands constantly, with this focused look on his face anytime we go there. He really doesn't smile a lot while in the pool, but we think he likes it. ???

This is Zachary's typical pose--hands in mouth, or towel in mouth, or toy in mouth, or book in mouth, or...

Monday afternoon, we went with friends to do the "Jungle Adventure." The government carved out a tunnel to relieve water pressure when necessary, and it is far back in the mountains. We took our boogie boards and rode through with Zac on our backs.

Ha! Just kidding. Zac went with a girl around the tunnel and met us on the other side to watch us jump off a small cliff into the water. (Not as good as Kipu Falls, from what Brady says, but still very fun. Actually, if I'm being honest, I was completely freaked out.)

This picture shows the mountains around the Jungle Hike. If you are religious follower of our blog, you might notice that this is also the location of the infamous Tunnels Hike from last year. Whew. I feel like I need to take a shower just thinking about that hike.

Recognize this? It is the entrance in "Jurassic Park." We definitely didn't visit TRex, but Brady did almost fall off the side of a cliff trying to take a picture. No kidding. As Cory and Kristen know, there is a lot of foliage covering the ground, and it can be deceiving. It looked to Brady like there was plenty of ground cover, so his heart was racing when he saw how close he was to his demise.

After our little adventure, we kicked it back for a BBQ, playing with Brady's tiny football and watching Zac try on his charm.
Here's a cool view of a Eucalyptus Tree. It looks like it's been through a game of paintball, but those are natural colors!

Wednesday, I woke up as a 26-year-old, and Brady did a great job celebrating, despite his inability to breathe (with his cold). He arranged for a sitter, and took me to an Italian Restaurant called Donderos.

The setting was formal, and the scenary unbeatable.

"One year older, and wiser, too!"

I ordered Dungeoness Crab on a bed of pasta. They had the shell on the top, but the server removed it before we snapped this picture. See the scallops as eyes? I initially didn't know how to attack this plate.

Brady helped out, though. We would have taken a picture of his seafood lasagne, but it looked like Goolash (but 100Xs better-tasting).

Here are the pools next to the restaurant, where we snapped some cool pics, and got eaten by mosquitos.

Heidi, Nic, and Ty waited at our place to eat an ice cream cake (my favorite!). It was pretty fun having a birthday with my little boy in my arms!!!

Ty wasted no time eating his portion, and he helped blow out the candles!

Later this week, we purchased a high chair for Zac. Doesn't he look like a little boy (not baby) in this picture??? Wild.

Like everything else, he wasted no time trying to chew on it.

Rice cereal and Zac have good days, and bad days.

Overall, this was a good day.

Saturday, Brady was still sick and wasn't up for swimming. He did decide that a 6 mile hike was a good plan, though. We tried out our pack for its first real hiking adventure, and hit the Kuilau Trail. It was moderate-easy, and a perfect way to get back into hiking.

How many shades of green do you see above???

I loved how Zac's little feet kicked me in the bum with every step.

He fell asleep at the halfway point. It was funny to hear the mix of sounds--tropical birds and snoring.

Brady took him when he woke up. Zac kept trying to eat the straps (no surprise, eh?), so he had his head in a position where it looked like he was trying to say, "Hi, guys!"

The hike was a success! Zac didn't get upset until he very end, at bottle time. We'll definitely do that again soon.

There you have it: one week in pictures. What did we learn?

#1: We can hike with Zac.

#2: My white hat makes it on every adventure.

#3: My husband is a trooper, even when sick.

#4: I still don't like scallops, even when they are from a fancy restaurant.

#5: Brady's tiny football is missing ever since the BBQ.