Pictures of the Day...Wednesday

On a rocky ledge at Shipwreck Beach.

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Boogie boarding at a beach near our hotel.

Star Spotting

Corey is absolutely positive that Napolean Dynamite walked past us in our hotel and said "Excuse me" in a way only Napolean Dynamite could say it. He did resemble the guy, but I'm not quite as convinced as my husband.

Picture of the Day - Tuesday

We were greeted by this monk seal on Shipwreck Beach this morning. He was just chillin' out, basking in the sun.

Picture of the Day - Monday

We snorkeled at Anini Beach on the north side this morning. One of the reasons I really like swimming in pools is that I know I am not sharing the water with sea creatures, so actually putting on this gear and going in search of the little creatures I'm sharing the water with is not my ideal thing to do, but it was relatively entertaining once I got past being weirded out by it. We didn't see a lot of fish. Corey saw way more on the south side the other day.

Picture of the Day - Sunday

Mmmmm...Hawaiian Shave Ice. Can you tell what flavor we had?

Picture of the Day - Saturday

To Carter, Owen and Lewis - Daddy went snorkeling today and saw some really cool fish. He also found a couple cool rocks at the bottom of the ocean for you. Love you!!

To any Baywatch fans out there - "Eat your heart our David Hasselhoff!!"

Postcards from the Edge...Literally

(This is my attempt to let my boys know what we are doing on vacation. I love you guys. See you next week!!!) View from the Kalalau Trail. Without a doubt the most difficult 22 miles I have walked in my life. On the 11 mile trail, there is approx. 8000 feet of elevation change. That means we were either walking up or down, very rarely did we have an even path. I could definitely feel the burn in the old calf muscles!!

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Our lunch spot the first day. A small grassy area on the edge of a cliff. It seems like we were either deep in a valley or on the edge of a cliff most of the time.
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Kalalau Beach. That little yellow spot in the middle of the picture is our tent. We showered in the waterfall in the background.

Kalalau Beach. Gorgeous. The only way to get to this beach is to hike the trail. There were probably about 30 people out there. Some of them are natives who live there for extended periods of time. It's too dangerous to swim, the 10-12 ft (that's our guess) waves crashed all day and all night.
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We moved camp the second night. This was our view.
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Student Driver?

We have had this little car since Carter was a toddler, but I think Lewis is getting more enjoyment out of it than either of his big brothers did. Probably because he has a motor.

Hula Girls

Owen was looking through a Kauai magazine that I had left out on the counter and found a picture some girls with grass skirts and coconut tops.
"Who are those girls?" he asked.
"Those are hula girls," I replied.
To which he asked, "Are you going to be a hula girl when you go to Hawaii?"

Hee, Hee. Maybe I can find myself a grass skirt, but I've never been much for wearing fruit. Is coconut a fruit?

Snow Fort/Igloo

It was 1 degree with a wind chill of -15 when these guys were out working in the snow. When Owen has an idea, he doesn't easily let it go. Thus, he convinced Daddy to build him an igloo in the frigid temps.

It's Not That Easy Being Green

Don't let those sad, innocent looking eyes fool you. I believe this boy knows when he's being naughty, he just thinks the enjoyment of the wrong-doing is worth the punishment. Lord, help me with this marker eating, crayon on the wall writing, utensil throwing, cute as can be toddler.

Mr. MOM?

How a man vaccuums with a toddler.

My Big Purchase

I am a frugal person. Some may even call me cheap. Corey makes fun of me because I get excited about finding a good deal at the grocery store and I always register for freebies online. I get these wonderful samples in the mail. Samples of cereal, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, coffee, granola bars....I use most of them too. And some of them are great travel sizes for camping, so my husband really should appreciate my efforts.

One thing I have learned from Corey and from experience though is that sometimes the saying "you get what you pay for" really rings true. And sometimes saving money is really not a savings at all. It is for that reason, that I finally gave up my $1 (One Spot at Target) flip-flops. Tired of having sore feet all summer (I spend a lot of time in those cheap flip-flops), I took a trip to the Crocs kiosk at Jordan Creek and splurged on these beautiful cotton candy and chocolate (not to be mistaken with pink and brown) flip-flops. They will get a nice trial run at the end of the month when Corey and I take our 10th anniversary trip to Hawaii!

New Years in Fremont

Garrett and Ian brought their new Wii. It was a hit with pretty much everyone.

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Ian watching Owen take a turn on the DS.

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Carter got some cash from his cousin Steven for Christmas and used it to buy the game Operation and some Bakugon. (Thanks Steven! He was pretty excited about all those one dollar bills.)

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Lewis and Shaan were buddies. I think Shaan got a little irritated with "Baby" Lewis now and then, but they played together pretty well.

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The Human Jungle Gym

It seems that every time we visit Fremont, Corey finds himself under a pile of kids.