Post-Alaska: Scott and Maycee Visit, My "New Mom Life" Starts

After such an awesome trip, it is hard to come back to reality.  We didn't have to come all the way back to reality, though, because Scott and Maycee came to visit a few days later.  They caught a few sunsets, got really sunburnt, camped with us at Polihale, boogie boarded, snorkeled, played with our kiddos, and relaxed before heading back to school.

Polihale camping and boogie boarding:

 Their trip corresponded with the Saturday of Brady's company party.  They joined us for tubing, Scotties BBQ, and Paddle Boarding all afternoon.

 They both did well paddle boarding.  I wish they had tried this on the ocean because it is so much more fun, but on the river is good, too!

 I had my first ever go at wake boarding.  Now, I just wish someone would buy a boat out here!  I loved it, although I don't think I fared so well!!

 Another sunset at The Point (behind our house):

Thanks for getting a little family shot for us, too!

My favorite shot of Zac and Kate from the last little bit:

Throwing rocks and watching big waves crash.  I think it is cute that Kate has to mimic me and do exactly what I am doing.  Here she is, hands in her lap and sitting next to me on a rock.

While on vacation, my "new mom life" started.  Zac is now in school 5 days a week and has soccer 3 days a week.  I finally get it why moms with kids in school say they are busy.  It is busier, even though I am without my sweet boy for several hours a day.  All the back and forth (the school is 20 min away), organization and schedule change add to a much more hectic afternoon.  (And why-oh-why is it so hard to get to soccer practice on time???) 

We still get our pool time, though.  Here is Z after sun-screening himself:

Cannon ball!

Zac and his favorite gal pal, Olivia.  (Side note: we just found out they are moving to the mainland in a month.  Zac is going to be so sad to lose yet another one of his best buddies!)

Here is Zachary at his first soccer game.  Much to our chagrin, his team is named the "Dragonflies."  The last ref kept calling us the "Green Dragons," and Brady and I are on a personal mission to make the team name a little tougher and keep the Green Dragons around!

No surprise here:  Zac is a tough little player and very involved in every play on the field.  His first game, he scored 2 goals.  Last Saturday, he took the ball the entire way down the field and scored twice.  Not bad, kiddo!  He is also one of the youngest players.  He is playing in the U6 league.  I coach his team one practice a week (which is nuts because Kate is on my hip the entire time...)

He still has plenty to work on, but soccer is FUN!  We plan to keep this sport around in our family. 

Kate has to join in on the soccer craze around here, so we got her a tiny, size 1 soccer ball.  She dribbles this thing around everywhere.

It is more accurate to say she carries it around everywhere.

Like her little whale spout?  I know, there are only about 5 hairs coming out of that ponytail holder!

She and I are little pals all day long now, although the transition from 2 naps to 1 hasn't been easy!  She still charms the whole neighborhood on our morning walks with her cheesy grin, squeaky "hi", and wave.  She misses her brother at school and it is so cute to see them play together in the afternoon.

Peer Pressure and Hanakapai Falls

At the end of July, we decided to join our friends hiking to Hanakapai Falls.  It is 4 miles in, but we knew we'd only make it 2 miles to the beach and turn around.  Hanakapai has a lot of rock hopping, mud, and distance to cover with a 4 year old--even if he is a super tough 4-year-old.

 We went with the Chaddertons and Rustin and Monika, some friends from church.  Zachary had to lead most of the first 2 miles, and every time he caught a whiff of "someone on his tail," he booked it ahead.

This is a very typical Zachary face, and one I will sincerely miss when he grows out of it.

 We commented at this point that it was the first time we've been to the north shore in months where we had such clear views and blue skies.

 Rustin and Monika are on the right.  We hope they will come visit Kauai again.  They were only here a few months, but we adored them.  Curtis is on the left and we hope the Chaddertons will also stay forever.

 Drake, Paislee and Courtney:

 Kate does not love being confined in the backpack, so she was living it up at Hanakapai Beach.

 ...but the binkey does make the backpack a little more tolerable.

 Well, when Zachary saw his friends going further on the trail, there was no question that he had to go all the way, too.  We were pretty nervous about this decision because it is a solid hike for adults, much less a little kid.  We felt like Zac had proven himself a few months before with his 6.5-miler, so we thought it was as good as a time as any to test an 8-miler.

 We were really steady heading into the falls, and he was a super trooper!  We swam in the freezing water (well, a few of us did) and hiked back through rain and a whole lot of mud.  At the 6 mile mark, our little muddy man was fading fast.  We stopped for a break, let everyone get ahead and got him snacks and water. 

 In the end, it was Kate who had the hardest time with the hike.  In her defense, it did take us 8 hours to hike 8 miles.  Whew.  That is a long time to be confined!  Poor little gal.  Looking back, we probably made a poor decision to go in so far, but that is peer pressure for you!!!

 And it hasn't hurt our pride any that our kiddo can hike 8 MILES!!!

 

Yes, he is holding up 7 fingers.

Day 8: 7-year-olds, Pinkeye Salmon, and Calving Glaciers

 Day 8 was the "big" day of our trip: 1/5th-of-the-entire-cost-of-the-trip kind of big.  A year ago, I read about this trip where you take a boat out and they let you off into kayaks to explore a glacier up-close.  The pictures were magnificent, and the thought of kayaking through glacier breakaway sent chills up my spine.  Brady said no way initially, but was eventually won over on the idea once we cut down some of the other expenses of the trip.  I knew we were in trouble after Orca Island, though.  After 2 full days of kayaking, this trip would have to be unbelievable to reach our expectations.

I'll save you the suspense and tell you that it was not.

 It was pretty, it was unique, and it certainly had some elements of adventure.  However, I think that none of us are really tour people, especially after 7 days of rugged freedom.

I will tell you what was pretty and what was unique, and leave the disappointment alone for the most part.

 Ah, a pretty view from the boat.

 My favorite picture of the day:

 Proof that I did end up using my sunglasses one time on this trip.

 Oooohhh, puffins!  We saw fellas like this on our Orca Island excursions.

 This was cool: dozens of porpoises.  They are much bigger and faster than the dolphins here in Kauai, but they don't do tricks or spins.  One tour guide asked if we "wanted to act like 7-year-olds" and watch them while laying from our bellies on the ship's bow.  This was a major highlight of the day.

 Brady was fascinated by the way their fins cut through the water.

 Stellar Sea Lions:

 We reached Aialik Glacier and boarded our kayaks.  Within a few minutes, we heard some of the "white thunder"--aka the glacier calving into the ocean.

 We paddled to within 1/4 mile of the glacier and watched icebergs collapse.  It was fairly active while we there.  This breakage was the most substantial, and the sound preceding the crash into the ocean did sound just like loud thunder.

 The best part was kayaking among the ice chunks, dubbed "bergy bits."  This part of the experience lived up to my expectations, and we liked navigating through the icebergs and bergy bits.

 We had lunch on the kayak and watched the glacier calve for a while.  At this point, our tour guide, Buddy, asked if we knew the five types of salmon.  Earlier on the trip, Aaron taught us a memory trick with our fingers representing each major kind.  While brainstorming answers, I exclaimed, "Pinkeye!" instead of "Sockeye."

 In the spirit of the Olympics (Mckayla Maroney), Aaron is not impressed. 

 We were ahead of schedule, so Buddy (our tour guide) took us over to a small arch/cave.  Hmmm...

 Check out the color of the water when the sun hits it:

 Then, we got shepherded back onto the boat for the ride back.  Everyone inside the boat was sound asleep, but I was going absolutely nutso looking for orca whales.  I had already spotted a couple humpback whales (yawn....remember, we have tons of those here every winter), and I fully expected to see some orcas.  The only one I've ever seen was beached up and about to die here in Kauai.  I knew the orcas were out (I was listening to the captain's radio and talking to him for hours on the way back), and that poor captain worked his tail off to find me some.  We literally went all over the place trying to spot them and circled areas they rarely take people on the boat, but we came up short.  I think I was giving the guy a heart attack with my intensity. 

Finally, the tour guides tried to get us (me) excited about some sheep on a hill.  Sheep?  Double yawn.

Don't worry: the captain ended up staying the night at the lodge where we were also staying, and I got the chance to thank him for his extra efforts.

 A picture toward the end of the trip, after our discussion determining this was most definitely not worth the money.  (I should note that if we had seen orcas, I bet we'd be singing a little different tune.)

 That night, we went to a stream with tons of salmon, feeling a little melancholy.  Here we are, "watching Olympics" for the first time on the trip.  We did get over our moody moment, discussing the highlights of our trip and all the things that exceeded our expectations (Orca Island, Denali, Harding Icefield, etc.).  If we had the chance to do Day 8 over again, we would still go to Aialik Glacier, but instead in a bigger (read: cheaper) tour boat. 

Day 8 Totals:
Kayaked: 6 miles
Wildlife: pair of bald eagles, sea otters, puffins, other seabirds, stellar sea lions, Dall's porpoises, 2 humpback whales, Dall sheep

Day 9 was our return trip home, where the only notable thing that happened was going through security.  Between the 4 of us, there were 3 knives in our carry-on bags.  Ha!!!  That's what happens when you camp on a trip and spend no time prepping bags for the return trip home.

We said good-bye until next time to our dear friends Aaron and Julie, and rushed home to see our babies.  They were so happy to see us the next morning.  Kate went around the house squealing, "MAMA!  DADA!" all morning, and although Zachary has asked me many times, "When are you going on a trip so I can stay with my friends?,"it was obvious he was happy to have us back, too.

I'm so sad that my year of planning is all over, but this trip was worth the effort, preparation, and expense.  I feel like if we had to plan the entire thing all over again, there are very few changes we would make.  It was exactly what we needed to scratch our adventure itch and it was a great time to spend as a couple and with friends doing something we loved.

Last note: coming back to Kauai was the very first time we felt any sign of "island fever."  Hearing Aaron and Julie talk about the Pacific Northwest and all the new areas they explore made us a bit envious, on top of being in such a vast wilderness with all new experiences for our week in Alaska.  We have done just about everything we can do in Kauai--multiple times in most cases.  We obviously got over our fever in a hurry, though, because we are once again house hunting.