Another beach dinner

Saturday after Will's basketball game and after Eric's nap we loaded up the car with the beach stuff and a picnic dinner and drove to a beach.  It was raining at our house but we hoped it wouldn't be raining on the beach.  We drove past Ko' Olina all the way to the end of the road at Ke'aena Point (the side we haven't been to before).  We found a beach that looked promising for boogie boarding and stopped and unpacked the car.

The "dry" side of the island was nice and green.

The mountains right next to the water are incredible.

Paradise

Bonus was we got to watch several whales move and play across our beach view!  They were slapping the water with their fins and got to see lots of tail views!!  It was amazing!

Will had fun in the waves.

Eric just pulled the board behind him and walked back and forth.

It was pretty cloudy but not windy and no rain.

This was the most we saw of the sun.

When the sun was setting it made the water so blue looking.  Beautiful!

We stayed until it was dark.  Nothing better than a little relaxing on a beach with the ones I love most!!

Rainy season

So for the past month or so it has been really cloudy and rainy around here.  Things just don't dry out very well and mold is growing like crazy.  The insulated lunch boxes in the the pantry started to grow mold and the bathroom door when the kids bath towels hang was moldy.  The cloth furniture feels damp to the touch and I haven't tried mopping since I'm sure it would take forever to get it to dry!  I have set up some small fans to help circulate the air and it seems to be helping.  The all day everyday rain is getting old but I am glad that it isn't snow and cold!!

The back patio doesn't get lots of sun right now and with the rain it was getting slippery.  So one Friday morning I spent 2.5 hours pressure washing it.  How do I spend that much time with Justin at work and 2 kids at home?  Have a friend come over!  It's amazing how adding more more kid to the mix makes everything new and better.  My friend had to go get her prenatal blood glucose test done so I watched her 4 year old.  It worked out perfectly.  You can see the difference and how bad it was.

SO much better!!

The clouds hanging on the mountains on the other side of the island.  I was hoping to see the water falls that will happen when it's raining but there weren't any this day.

We had 2 or 3 days this week where it didn't rain.  Yippie!  But the rain is back and even though the sun shined for a few minutes this morning it was still misty raining.  Everything is so green and beautiful though.  I still LOVE Hawaii!  Just feeling bad for all the visitors that are here from cold places and all they are getting is rain and more rain.

Sweet baby

Sunday afternoon we went over to one of Justin's co-workers for dinner (and to meet the new baby).  Mary is the person that met us at the airport when we first got to HI.  SHe also has another little girl that is 6 months younger than Eric.  Well after she returns to work after maternity leave that sweet little baby is coming to my house!!  I am going to watch baby Leilani until a spot open up at the child development center.  I can't stand the thought of the itty bitty babies going to daycare so I am excited about loving on this sweet girl.

Caroline is really excited about having a baby around too.  She asks me at least weekly if we can have another baby.  I'm hoping this will satisfy her!

Not sure how Eric will take being somewhat dethroned as the baby of the house.  He let go of her as soon as I took the picture.

Quick beach trip

This morning after dropping Caroline off for her 10am start time at school, the boys and I had to do some birthday shopping in Hale'iwa.  After we did our shopping (maybe 15 minutes tops!) we headed to the beach for a little sun and sand.  It has been raining like crazy here the past few weeks.  Duh, it's rainy season I know but the sun hasn't been out much.  With the sun and blue skies it was a perfect morning to enjoy living so close tot he beach!  The boys had a great time wading in the water, playing in the sand, and throwing rocks in the water.  We also played some football before coming home for lunch and a nap for Eric.

Holding their shorts up.  They still got wet!

Checking things out.

They played mostly by themselves while I read a book.  So wonderful!

It's hard to believe just a few short weeks ago that beach was getting pounded with 40 ft waves!!

Do you want to build a snowman?

Ever since we went to the movie Frozen the kids have been singing the catchy songs.  Eric and Caroline really get into it more than Will.  Make sure you don't miss the eyebrow action during the interlude.
This kid makes me mile for sure!

Makapu'u light house

Saturday morning we headed out towards the south eastern most point of the island.  It is past Honolulu, past Diamond Head, past Hanauma Bay.  We had stopped in Honolulu to look at a used car and then continued on to the hike.  It didn't stop raining but I had heard and read that this was a great place to see whales.  I have wanted to do this hike for a while now so we did it despite the rain.

Some of the scenery on the way.

Neat stuff to look at while riding.

Nit really wanting to go out in the rain.  She sits like a Crissman!

Caroline and Will looking out over the edge.  The clouds on the right bought some pretty heavy rain for a little bit.

Looking back towards Koko Head.  That rain was coming our way!

Seeing all the white caps on the water and the clouds and rain I didn't figure our chances of spotting a whale were all that great.

The light house.

There is a momma whale and her baby down there somewhere!!  We did get to see one!  Made it all worth it.  It was raining pretty good at the top and I was having a hard time taking pictures since I couldn't get my finger dry.  That mound in the water is what you see looking to your right when sitting on the beach at Bellows.

The rain stopped on the way down and you could see Koko Head a bit better.  We were almost to the parking lot and it started raining again.  I did have a towel and most of us had a dry sweatshirt in the car.

Wet but happy.

It was paved the whole way.  These too enjoyed each others company on the way down.

I am really looking forward to going again when the weather is better so I can see more whales.

Pro Bowl

(I started this post on Monday and am just getting back to it!)

Last Sunday we went to the Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium.  When we found out we were coming to HI the fist thing Will said was, "We can go to the Pro Bowl!"  So of course I got tickets.  We were planning on tailgating with friends but it was raining.  Instead we met at a restaurant close to the stadium and shared appetizers.  I still had packed a picnic lunch with sandwiches, pretzels, carrots, apples, clementines, and dessert.  We had also picked up some trash bags to wear at the game.  

Walking to the game

Pregame stuff.  We ended up two rows under the over-hang and was able to stay dry.  It misty rained almost the whole game.

Half time entertainment

I pulled a "Mark Crissman" move and went and sat on the 3rd row!  I had taken the boys to the bathroom and then went to sit in the closer seats for the last few minutes of the game.  The boys really thought it was cool.

Happy Vikings fans!!