Sunday, May 31, 2009

Awana award night

Evan getting his T&T second book award.
Owen getting his Sparkie last year award for completing 3 books.
Erica with one of her leaders completed her first book.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Farewell Friday

Michelle, Charlie, and Hope spent their last night in Hawaii hanging out with us. One last mini-vacation.
What the...Charlie...cooking dinner???
Erica getting her nails done,
That's more like it-wrestling...Hope gets right in there with the boys.
Playing games,
Michelle made me the MOST amazing gift!!! She made a book of our trip to Kauai with our pictures. A cherished gift for certain!
Glass painting,
Dropping off at the air port,
Hugs all around,
Love this picture,
Ready to head home...
We can't wait to plan a camping trip with you guys!! See you soon-promise!

Flowers and Fruit for Friday

Erica found these, I love them...


Did you know bananas grew up side down?
Guava

Bird of Paradise


Girls having fun


Thursday, May 28, 2009

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

How to top off a morning of kayaking???

With lunch local style of course! This is THE most ono-licious pizza ever-I totally promise you will never eat a better pizza than the kanaka at Da Big Kahuna.
They used to be in a tiny green beach shack with a screen door but the road was widened and they had to move to this shopping center so the atmosphere was lost but the food still "broke da mouth bra."
The kanaka which is the kailua pork-I promise-it is unbelievably delicious.
Byron's, another locally loved cash only place which has something incredible for desert.
Strawberry slush with soft serve...mmmm....

Wet Wednesday

Oh my gosh! What a fantastic day we had! We kayaked from Kane'ohe Marine Corps Base to a little Kapapa island which is the only visible part of a 1,000+ acre sunken island. At low tide a hidden beach is there. We only went to Kapapa which was 4.25 miles round trip. It was a blast. Michelle got way better pictures so hopefully she will post them on her blog.
Here we are starting out at low tide trying to get the kayaks past the reef.
This cracked me up...Michelle reading a map...most of the map was blocked off and said "off limits.:
Erik and Owen were a great team.
Today was voggy so no spectacular mountain views like we were hoping for.
Michelle giving up on the map...
We landed on a little island inhabited by giant grasshoppers, shearwater birds, and some pretty crazy plant life.
Charlie and Hope.
Erica with the tinniest hermit crab I have ever seen. We put him back.
The only flowers I found.

I think it gets pretty windy here...
Here is a shearwater bird flying and the kayaks in the background.
We saw a few nesting pairs of shearwater birds.
A beautiful shell. The majority of shells on Oahu are snail shells and it is illegal to take any.
Heading back. Evan was my paddling buddy, he did an awesome job.
Good thing the kayaks aren't too heavy. We had so much fun and can't wait to go again and explore some more of the little islands.

Monday, May 25, 2009

THE Most Awesome Day

Oh my goodness, I don't even know where to begin. Today we did the Waimano Ridge hike in the Ko'olau's (pronounced Coe-oh-lou as in loud). We didn't make it to the top though so we have a bit of unfinished business. We won't mind coming back to finish though because it is a gorgeous hike and the miles pass pretty quick. Today we only did 6.5 miles but with the right kind of planning and on a clear day we will try to do the whole thing. Those of you who are trail runners this is the trail for you. It is gorgeous! You can practically go forever.

You should know by now those are the Wai'anae's (pronounced why-uh-nye's).
Hope eating the hugest guava berry I have ever seen. The strawberry guavas were everywhere and super ripe! This was the first time Amber has ever eaten anything out in the wild. It was really funny when Dan told Amber she was starting to break out. Of course he meant into a sweat.
This was one of the 8 (I think) tunnels on the hike. There are trails around the tunnels but going through the first couple are fun for the kids. A few are rather long and all are pitch dark.
Erica's pockets are stuff full of guava berries, she wanted to bring them home to make a pie.

Dan accidental lost Amber's camera off the side of the hike. It was a riot as they went to retrieve it, especially when Michelle asked Charlie to go back because she missed getting a picture. Luckily the camera didn't go over a cliff.

These tunnels are man made irrigation ditches for when sugar cane was grown on Oahu. In this picture you can get an idea of the water level.

Charlie and Dan were cracking me up with the most hysterical stories about their little adventure to Iraq. I am sure it wasn't very funny while they were there but it's good they can laugh about it now.
Owen was hanging out in the tree above us.
The ridge was socked in-that's why we didn't mind turning around today. It is gorgeous wilderness out there.








And sadly we are done. I wish we could have stayed out there longer...but another day for sure...
Evan was fulling around with the camera on the way home. I love Erica's expressions.
He took a picture of himself sleeping he said.