Not-so-Unlucky Friday the 13th

 Yep, it's another post about Polihale.  We love it here.  We go back all the time.  We swim in the huge waves, take pictures of the sunset, watch our boy go crazy in the sand with his friends, eat campfire food, and roast marshmallows.  We stay up until 2am gabbing around a bonfire.  Our daughter wakes up at 3am and doesn't ever go back to sleep.  We get up in the am, have pancakes, lounge and play in the water for hours, and finally fry our feet in the hot sand trying to get back to the car.  It's the same story every time, but also the same result: totally refreshed and ready for more.

 Catching up on the Zzzzs she missed the night before (grr!).

 I love the Kauai babies who still can't get enough sand time.  All these kids have basically grown up here, and yet they still think it is the best entertainment.

This was our last camping trip with Megan and Matt Ellis, who introduced us to the glories of Polihale camping and once explained the Milky Way under the starry sky.  We're glad Matt didn't drown there years ago.  We're glad we knew you before kids and after kids.  We'll always remember the hikes, kid trade-offs, and camping adventures.  We will miss you more than you know.

Easter

We kicked off Easter weekend with a bike outing on the Kapa'a bike trail. I love that path because you basically taste the ocean the entire way. Zachary whipped around on his bike for nearly an hour, and when he was bright red and exhausted, hopped in the trailer with Kate. What a darling picture, and I wish we had captured it. It was our first time using a bike trailer, and it won't be the last.

We prepped our Easter eggs that night. Zac was so excited all night, and it was infectious.


The Easter Bunny hopped its way across the ocean.

"Look at the camera, guys, and say cheese!"

Getting all the Easter stuff prepped, the kids dressed, and us dressed in time to take pictures was a major undertaking. How do people do it with more kids? I mean, we do the Sunday prep thing every week, but for some reason, it is so much harder with the "gotta get a picture" deadline looming.

It did not start out well for Kate, and we thought we had a 2011 repeat coming up.
But a few candy-filled eggs will dry those tears, right little one?


Compare last year...
...to this year.
Heidi bought Kate this dress and made her the darling bow to match.

Beep, beep! Gotta get to church.
That night, we had the Hadleys and Petersons over for dinner, a walk in the rain, and the annual Easter Egg Derby. It took me 2 tries, but I finally got my bread roll dough to rise. Ironic, considering the holiday ("He has risen!"). The boys ran around like crazy, we ate yummy strawberry trifle, and Chad took the crown with his undecorated beast.

Climbing Trees and Scootin' Along

Zachary climbs the tree in our front yard at least 15 times a day. Each time, he descends by swinging from a branch. That branch is starting to look leafless and nearly-dead. Uh-oh.
Conference weekend, we avoided getting too cooped up by taking a short surf break.
The kids played together and took naps while we watched the sessions at home.


We also got outside between sessions to scoot around the neighborhood. Zac loves this thing, and I only wish I'd bought it sooner. He is getting better at it every day, and he can really cruise. Yes, I should be a good example and also wear a helmet.



Kate is done scooting, and she can cruise along furniture and book it around the house if she is crawling. She loves to walk around, holding our fingers. I love this stage, even though I know that in a couple months, my life turns to crazy following around the turbo toddler.

We finally took a few one year pictures. We've had to wait to take any others, because somehow we lost all her bows between our stay at Koloa Landing and unpacking at the house. Argh. I love dressing up my bald baby's head, so the photos had to wait until my new ones arrived! They are here, so more pictures to come soon!
Kate would lean into the rock, and people walking by kept saying, "Look at that baby posing!"


Here, she is waving to the passerbys:



This is a really typical Kate expression, and it cracks me up because her cheeks are chunking out:

When she decides to walk, the chunk will disappear and I will really miss it.