My Little Hiker

Saige and I went on a short hike with some friends recently and here are a few of the pictures I took of her. We didn't get to the shoreline; which is where the hike ends, but she was quite happy to be independent. She stopped to touch every burr she saw and to pick up every rock that caught her attention.

Some Pool Time Fun

Scott and I broke down and bought one of those large blow up pools for the kids to play with this summer. They've outgrown their little plastic pool and we figured that despite the work involved in filling it, emptying it and storing it, that it might be easier than trying to pack 3 kids up for some time at the beach this summer. We also thought it might be fun for Abby while she was visiting. We managed to have one fun morning in the pool before all 3 kids came down with fever and spent the next couple of days on the "sick" sofa watching TV. I suppose I should have taken a picture of the pool itself...next time.
Saige in her little lobster bikini. Daddy says she isn't allowed to wear this one anymore. =( Personally, I thought she looked cute.
Dayton grinning from ear to ear on the slide in the pool.
Dayton checking out how bouncy the sides are.
Abby excited by the slide as well.

There Is Nothing Better Than A Friend

My sweet husband surprised me recently by flying an old friend out here to visit me. I haven't seen her since my wedding and since then I've had 2 kids, she's had 1 and she's gotten married. Somehow we've managed to keep in touch since we were 10 years old despite living apart most of those years. I was able to spend some wonderful quality time with her, meet and play with her beautiful little girl Abigail and meet her loving husband. Throughout the 2 week visit, all of the kids were sick as well as us moms, but we managed to have a great visit and do some wonderful things. One of the first things we did was have a girls day beach trip.
Shannon & Abby admiring the view.
Shannon & Abby taking a walk together.
Saige playing in the sand.
Saige finds a seashell.
My beautiful friend Shannon.
Saige & Abby playing at the beach.

An Attempt To Catch Up

In an effort to catch up on old news and pictures I have to go all the way back to my visit with family. Our day visiting the Byodo-In Temple in the Valley of Temples. The Temple was established in 1968 and was built entirely without nails. Very cool if you look at all the details close up. It contains a very large carved figure of a Buddah and is an active Temple. Visit if you ever have a chance because it is a neat place. A Buddhist kitty?
The Byodo-In Temple
Brandon feeding the birds and fish.
The Bell House containing the bon-sho (sacred bell). It is customary to ring it before entering the Temple to spread the eternal teachings of Buddah.
A beautiful plant/flower. I have no idea what it is.
Another view of the Temple.

Growing...

Just for something different, I thought I'd post some pictures of the growing baby rather than my quickly growing children. It is amazing how fast your body grows..and even more so, how LARGE it grows. Just a short 10 weeks to go! My surgery date is scheduled for July 1st but I really don't think I'll make it that long since that is my actual due date and I was early with the other two. I'm still thinking the end of June our second sassy little girl will make her arrival.20 weeks
24 weeks
29 weeks
29 weeks
29 weeks
29 weeks

Just To Clarify

I should probably have titled this "Conversing with a 3 year old." The setting: lunchtime at home. The meal: noodles with butter and cheese. "Mom, I hab a question to ask you." What now? "Why you hab so many noodles on your fork"? "Because I'm a big girl and can eat a lot of noodles in one bite." In Dayton's terms: "You're not a big girl, or a big boy, or a big dog." "You're a big mama." Amen. From Saige's perspective: "skooze me burp" (she says this when she burps or passes gas) My thoughts on it all? How would I survive motherhood without moments of clarity like these?

Family Beach Day Part Two

I'm sure you're not at all wondering about the sudden blogging holiday again...wiping noses, doctors appointments, antibiotics, diarrhea, vomiting, coughing, sleepless nights. Yes we have sick kids again...or should I say "still"? I'm not really sure anymore. We are looking forward to the end of preschool on May 29th. Yes you'll hear frequent complaints then as well because I have no idea how I'm going to occupy a now preschooled busy 3.5 year old, but I'll survive. We all need to rest our immune systems before the baby arrives and preschool starts up again in August. Until then, we have a busy schedule of visitors coming the end of this month, part of next month and then June into July. Lots to look forward to. Here are the remainder of the beach pictures from our visit with family.
Saige loving her new sunhat.
A cute picture of Saige looking thoughtful.
Dayton practicing his surfing pose.
Aunt Sannie trying to prevent Dayton from getting washed away by the waves.
Cousins (Brandon & Dayton)
Dayton pretending to be fishing with something he found on the beach.
Dayton looking for boy things to do.
I saved the best for last. (Sorry mom) My mother mowing down on a much needed lunch after getting eaten by the waves. Feeling a little exhausted. Sitting on a boogie board...yes, seniors like to boogie board too.

Family Beach Day Part One

We didn't have very many beach days while my family was visiting so this one particular day we decided to risk it even though it was mostly cloudy and the weather outlook didn't sound promising. It turned out to be a little windy which made it chilly, but it was beautiful while the sun was out. Every so often the sun disappeared and you could see rain moving in across the ocean, but we all had a great time anyhow. I sat up under the umbrella with the kids and we ate our picnic lunch and I tried to capture some pictures of my mom, sister and nephew braving the big waves. Unfortunately you can't really tell from the pictures, but the waves were quite large. Well, large by a Canadian's standards since they don't ever get to experience the ocean.
Here's a picture of mom getting pounded by the waves. I think my sister was a little nervous.
The same wave knocked her into my sister, who fortunately caught her. What I didn't catch on film was what happened next. The two of them were knocked over and I saw 4 legs up in the air and then they were dragged back out into the water. I soooo wish I had caught that on film!
Dayton giving me his best surfer boy smile.
Saige inspecting the lunch cooler.
Dayton eating his lunch and looking all grown up in his beach chair.
Saige inspecting snacks in someone else's bag.

The Makapuu Lighthouse Hike

I hadn't been on this particular hike in a long time and thought it was a good one to start with for my out of shape pregnant state and to ease my mom into the steepness of the hills around here. It's also stroller friendly and since I had Saige with me, it was a good choice. Turns out, being pregnant, pushing a 20lb stroller with a 25lb child in it was much more difficult and tiresome than I had thought it would be. And here I was worried about my mother...A rare upclose photo of the actual lighthouse since it is closed off to hikers.
My sister demonstrating her illegal tendencies. We'll add this to the aloe plant situation.
My nephews checking out the bunkers at the very top of the hike.
My nephews on their way up to the check out the bunkers. Fortunately not stroller accessible.
A rare picture of my mom since she always hides from the camera.
A picture of my sister with my mom. Also known as a resting opportunity for me.
I always like to take pictures of things that are out of the ordinary and for some reason I am still surprised by the amount of cactus that grows here on the island. I always think of cactus as only growing in the desert. So this picture of a cactus growing off the mountain side with the ocean in the background is kind of cool. (At least I think so)

More Adventures From Our Visit With Family

We also managed to fit in a trip to the Botanical Gardens again (since both Mom and nephew Ryan hadn't been) and we checked out The Spitting Cave Of Portlock...something I had never seen. It was actually a VERY steep hike down to the cliffs and cave and we all sort of held on to one another and tried not to slip. Probably not the safest thing for a pregnant person to be doing but oh well..all in hindsight right? Once down there, the view was stunning. The cliffs were amazing and pictures certainly don't do the actual beauty of it any justice. The boys (nephews - Scott was at work) actually climbed down the cliffs, a scary looking metal ladder and right to the mouth of the cave. My mom and I couldn't even watch...we were certain one of them would plummet down the rocks into the ocean. The Koko Crater Botanical Gardens this year were a wasted trip. Hardly anything was blooming and much of what was alive looked barely alive and infested with disease. Second to that, we sort of got lost on the trails and it took much longer to walk it than we had anticipated. My shoe was pierced by two thorns. My mom had a bad blister on the bottom of her foot and the boys were burnt to a crisp from not listening to me when I told them they should wear sunscreen. I won't even mention the Aloe section. Fun times anyhow.
Mom having her picture taken with a plumeria behind her ear. When worn on the left side it signifies "single" and on the right, "taken". Actually, it might be the other way around...I'm not sure. Regardless, it's a good thing you don't have internet in the bush Mom cause you'd probably fuss at me for posting your picture! Love you!

Some of the very few plumeria blooms to be seen in the gardens. They always make for a beautiful picture.
A cool picture of the cliffs at the Spitting Cave. The specks for people at the top of the cliff are my mom and I. We weren't into climbing down them and instead sat and watched for whales at the top. Didn't see any whales but did spot a giant sea turtle.
A closer picture of Mom and I sitting at the top and a shot of the huge house built right into the cliff. How cool is that? Not sure I'd want my house on a cliff being worn away by the ocean though!
The boys having their picture taken on the cliffs. You can kind of see the cave in the background. What was really neat was the sound you heard each time the waves pounded into the cave. You could almost feel the vibration under your feet.