With an entire summer and no trips planned, we knew we needed some kind of incentive to keep the kids from fighting and get them excited. We came up with Summer Fun. Each day, the kids had three things to do: reading, piano (Zac), and KidBizz/Journal. After the three things, the kids could do extra chores, extra reads, and several other options to earn money for fun activities or treats: bowling, Lapperts, shave ice, and food at the pool were some of their choices. It packed their morning with productive activities while Owen napped, and each afternoon, we took off for a beach day, pool time, or hikes.
The kids go to school tomorrow. It's a dangerous time to write a blog post, but it's now or never. (I say this while glancing at a folder of pictures called "Kate: End of Year" that never made it here.)
After the weekend of the 4th, we went camping at our always-favorite Polihale. The Clarks and Israelsons joined us, and a few others came up for the evening. The water was rough that night so we cooked our food and talked around the fire. It was Owen's debut camping experience and he slept like a champ! Score.
In the morning, Brady took his paddle board and Nic and Heidi kayaked around the cove and swam with dolphins. I was able to swim out with the dolphins on my 30th birthday and was so excited for Brady to finally, finally get that experience, too. Conditions have to be good (and you have to haul the huge board/kayak on the dirt road), so it's been tough to find a time to get over there. Brady loved it.
Zachary was the only one who could (or wanted to) hack it in the rough water, and he was stayed very close to shore.
Later in the morning, we spotted a manta ray! Karl braved the seas on the paddle board...only to discover it was actually a giant black garbage bag.
That night, we finished off the fun with a movie--Zac and I at the BFG and Kate and Brady at "Life of Pets." I would usually skip mentioning a movie except that sitting with Zachary giggling over that movie was a huge highlight. After reading the book together in May, it was fun to anticipate the movie release.
Owen turned 6 months! We went out a little too early for pictures and they turned out squinty. We are planning to retake them, but since he is now 7 months and about to bust a tooth, I might as well post.
We adore Owen. Baby #3 is awesome. Everyone says that, and I'm guessing it is because you are more comfortable as parents by #3, but is absolutely true. This baby is so content, so calm, and so cuddly. He drools to his belly button every day, blows raspberries for hours, and tries to suck his thumb. He lays on our shoulders and snuggles his head in deep, staying in that position for several minutes before moving. He laughs and laughs, eats his toes, and licks sweat off my shoulders after a run. He loves having his brother and sister around, and they patiently play with him and fetch him toys all day long. He's been strong since he was a newborn, and sits confidently now. He can pick up cheerios and sometimes get them in his mouth.
At his 4 month appointment, he was 1% for weight-for-height. Since the introduction to solids, he's beefed up to a mighty 15%.
This is the game that dads love and moms do not.
Owen, Owen, Owen, we love you, little buddy.
A dangerous picture for me right now, the eve of Kate's first day of Kindergarten. Look at how grown up she looks. Argh.
Zachary and I had a perfect summer together. The only thing that would make it better was if I could get out and surf with him. With a baby and a messed up rib, that wasn't going to happen, but someday soon it will!
The kids wanted to play with friends every day, and we almost achieved that goal.
One of O's first times in the pool:
Tate, Shay and Garrett were with us one Saturday. We made it up to the wooden playground and beach at Lydgate. The kids ran and played for hours.
Pictures like this remind me why kids love Brady. He comes up with games and throws them around.
We finished off with Uncle's Shave Ice.
This was Brady giving my 6 month old sugar for the first time. We vowed not to do this again until he's a year.
The kids created movies.
The boys battled on the trampoline. A fun, full day with extra kiddos around. I have lots of pictures from this day which equals lots of mention on the blog.
This is what church looks like every Sunday.
I prefer the beach over the pool, and so does Zachary. Owen doesn't care. Kate likes the pool more, but she got more confident with boogie boarding and the waves this summer and might even tell you she now likes the ocean more, too. I would guess that we went to the beach 4 out of 5 days of every week (except Kate's sick week).
O and I hung out under the umbrella most of the time. He consistently napped in my arms at this spot (give or take 10 feet) 80% of summer afternoons.
This is one of Owen's first times sitting.
The kids love to craft and some days they crafted several hours before or after the beach. Kate made a lot of fake food (her plastic food is apparently no longer exciting), and Zachary created an improved food-making machine, which specialized in pizza.
Kate and I did a few new dos.
Zachary watched a surf movie in Aloha Exchange for 20 minutes, and became convinced that the reason he wasn't doing tricks off waves on his surfboard yet was because he needed a new board. Ha! His surfing has improved by a mile this summer and he's so much more confident. It's hard to drag him out of the water.
Kate attended Kindergarten Camp for two weeks to get the groove of the school and meet new friends. She loved it and came home wiped out after a half day. Kindergarten here is a full day so this will be a transition for sure! She was assigned the same teacher for Kindergarten as she had for the camp, and I'm relieved to know she's already so comfortable.
Cheese. Those porker cheeks don't look like 15% to me.
Owen's Sunday morning routine is to fuss/cry all morning and then fall asleep minutes before heading to the car. (Forehead slap.)
Zachary read all five Fablehaven books in five weeks. When his best buddy asked him his favorite thing to do last week, I completely expected to hear boogie boarding or surf. However, he confidently answered, "Read." There were a few days this summer when he read three hours straight.
More pool time, and Brady joined us before heading home to power wash the house. Construction neighborhoods are a lot of work! Nic showed up with his pressure washer and helped us get it done in half the time. You've got to be careful what you tell the Clarks you are up to in the afternoon!
Kate wished for more girlfriends this summer. Haven is sweet but also 2 years younger. She did get quite a few playdates, but wanted one every day with her besties.
Owen swings for the first time!
"Mom, Owen will love me doing this behind him!" Huh. Sure looks like it.
This makes my top three favorite shots of summer.
Zac surprised me by dressing up Owen in ninja wear.
We hosted a little end-of-summer BBQ with Zac's school besties, David and Jojo. These kids are inseparable during the school year but they rarely go to the beach, so we don't see much of them during the breaks!
Another typical summer shot. Zachary has decided he likes to mismatch jammies on purpose and I'm trying not to be annoyed by that.
I took these pictures and sent them to Brady. Moments later, Owen face-planted. This kid (mostly) loves to play in the sand.
Nicole's boys are older than Zachary but so awesome to include him in their surf sessions. I love having an umbrella buddy, and she often took Owen so I could swim with Kate. Her boys also saw me coming across the lawn lots of times and set up my umbrella and chair before I even got to down to the beach.
Kate's reading took off this summer. Her favorite book to read is, "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish."
She also loves to quiz herself on sight words and numbers with her flashcards.
Finally getting in a playdate with one of her favorite gal-pals, Daysha. Daysha is a mermaid and helped Kate feel more comfortable in the water without me.
Surfing was a priority this summer, but boogie boarding is Zac's first love. He and his buddies call this ramping. He's done it for years but I never had a name for it.
Almost everything I have is in video, but here's an accidental picture.
Here are the boys surrounding Kate and making her day with tons of swimming and teasing.
This picture is also in my top three summer shots.
A trip to Salt Pond with David, who hasn't been to the beach in years!
Celebrating 15 years of marriage with the most beautiful flowers he's ever given me. Love these, love him.
Our last hoorah of summer: camping in Kokee. We got fishing licenses and went to the reservoir first. By the time we baited hooks, we had only half an hour to fish. The kids thought the idea of fishing was fun but I'm not sure that we sold them on actually standing there long periods of time and waiting. As soon as the bubble started to drift, they claimed their lines needed to be reeled in and recast. I've never been big on fishing, either, so I'm excited for Brady to teach us that this is fun.
Owen's thumb giving us a subtle message that we won't be having trout for dinner.
On the way up to the site, we captured spectacular views of a rainbow over the waterfall.
Unfortunately for us, that rainbow meant rain. We were misted with rain for a lot of the evening. We had a nice time eating dinner at the site, but disappointed without a fire (even though we knew and prepared for that in advance). It's just not the same being a little chilly without a flame to congregate around. We did makeshift s'mores over coals. By 9:30pm, I had tried putting Owen to bed three times and he hadn't settled, so I bailed out. It was so quiet there without the ocean, and I knew it was going to be a struggle all night. He'd had a low-grade fever the past few days and had one again at the campsite, and I figured it would be a miserable night for him. Megan and Lindsay joined me and we got back to our own beds by 11pm.
Zachary had the time of his life and that almost makes all the work for this trip worth it. He went pig hunting with Garrett and Tanner that night. They set out green glow sticks, hoping the pigs would pick them up and run around so they could shoot them with a bow and arrow. Haha!!! They did see one pig. They also all slept together in a small tent, telling each other stories and laughing their heads off. They went to bed crazy late and woke up at 5am. They ran around the fields, explored, and created adventures. It was the perfect situation for Zac.
Kate had fun with Shay, but definitely prefers camping "where there is sand." Awesome. Me too, Katers.
We camped in Koke'e years ago and got poured on. That experience soured us for trying again, and in the early am, it was a repeat experience with excessive rain and mud. Our little tent was a lake inside. When I asked Brady where he put it, he said, "Where it goes: in the garbage." Packing up was a bit of a disaster, but it's all taken care of now, so oh well!! This was definitely one of those experiences where we felt like we put a lot of effort into living like we are homeless.
Next time, we are following Kate's advice and camping where there is sand.
We told our kids to close their eyes for a few minutes when they got home, even though they "weren't tired," and they landed like this for 2 hours.
Tonight, I'm kissing our beautiful summer goodbye. It wasn't perfect, but it was close. Family, friends, beach time, sibling time, new adventures, old adventures. My heart is full and aching. I love change--the variety keeps life from getting stale--but I'm going to miss this.
The Trace Atkins song keeps rolling through my head:
"You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are the good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this."
The thing is, I do know it now. So glad I got to soak up these moments with my children.
