Happy Halloween!

Another halloween has come and the kids have just finished sorting and trading candy.  Now they are eating!  Eric was tired before Will and sat on the porch with me, eating his goodies, while we handed out the last of the candy.  We had hundreds of kids come by and some great costumes.  As one little girl told me, "trick or treat, I'm bat girl, look at my face (she had a mask on), thank you!"  All in one breath!  Miles sat on the porch and loved all the attention he got, then went with Justin and Will after they dropped Eric off.  Sometimes I think Miles loves Halloween more than the kids!

A vampire, ironman, and captain america

Justin and I hosted an adults only costume party Friday night.  So much fun!  We had about 35 people come, all in costumes.  I tried to get pictures put didn't do a great job.  There were garden gnomes, James Bond and a Bond girl, flappers, football coach, referee, Peter Pan and Wendy, Vikings, Germans, Mary Poppins and Bert, and a trophy buck and his hunter.

Justin and his buddy Ken.  

 Justin and I made candy corn jello shooters!  Yummy!

 We went as Popeye and Olive Oil.

 A fairy, Carmen San Diego, flapper, Bod girl , and hunter.

 Bond, coach, and popeye.

 People everywhere!

 Mary Poppins, and she made her whole outfit!  I thought she was the best costume.

Now I realize I'm too old to stay up past midnight.  It's no fun the next day!  But it was out of the house by 9 am for a swim team event and Justin and Will went to his football game.
Hopefully we'll get to see Andrew tomorrow and go to the beach!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday, Caroline!

My sweet daughter turned 11!  How can this keep happening?!  Wasn't it just yesterday that I was cuddling the sweet little baby in the picture below?

 Caroline had a great birthday.  She did have to go to school even though she didn't want to.  It was an early release day and they had an evacuation drill, so really not much schooling going on.  Then she enjoyed playing and reading the rest of the afternoon.  For dinner she chose fried chicken, mac and cheese, and limas.  She didn't want a cake or cupcakes, instead she wanted a stack of chocolate chip cookies.  I didn't get any pictures of her with her stack of cookies and she didn't blow out a candle.

 She did get a new to her lovie though.  She had mentioned that all the grandkids but her had a lovie made by Nana.  So I snuck her back-up lambie out of her room one day and mailed it to Nana.  Nana took the plain white blanket part off and replaced it purple and pink fabric, then put a pretty ribbon around the edge.  To say Caroline loves it would be a huge understatement!  She told me the next morning that it sleeps really good!!  Glad she's still little enough that she loves lovies!

Happy birthday darling Caroline!  We love you dearly!

Catching up

I'm way far behind on blogging.  It's been a little busy, as usual, around here.  Friday night Caroline went ice skiing with her bible study group.  Someone bumped into her and she fell face first on the ice.  Busted her lips, scraped her chin, chipped a front tooth, fractured a bottom one, and knocked another bottom one loose!!  Her bottom teeth are still sore.  We spent Saturday morning at the dentist.  They have to wait to fix the fractured tooth until the loose one tightens up and the top one has a temporary fix on it right now.  So that means more dentist visits.  We had just gone for cleanings Friday morning too!

Saturday continued to be busy with Will playing in his first flag football game of the season.  Then finishing prepping for the birthday party.

There has been time to watch football!  

 The back patio was getting slippery after all the rain we've had.  So Justin and I pressure washed it one weekend.  He drew this with the washer and left it!

 Eric joins me when I do yoga.  He's getting better.

 The community center had a Halloween event last Friday.  Miles was a hit and got lots of attention.  The kids enjoyed decorating pumpkins, getting treats, and having their face painted.

 She did clean her face off before going ice skating!

 Will played the whole game and LOVED it.  The rules changed this year to the NFL play 60 flag football rules.  There's no rushing the QB and Will was very disappointed.  He only got 1 penalty for rushing the QB in his game.  I'm looking forward to watching him play this year.

 Then Saturday we had a birthday party for all 3 kids!  They play with the same kids so it just makes sense to have everyone just celebrate once.  It was a very nice cookout and everyone had lots of fun.  Will had a shark cake, Eric chocolate cupcakes with mint chocolate chip icing, and Caroline had oreo ice cream pie.  The kids helped with decorating, setting up, and with all the clean up.  They realized it's lots of work to host a party!

 Also going around the neighborhood with the usual "We've been booed" this year is a "we've been boozed"!  So fun to get a package on the doorstep with alcohol in it!!

 Eric's favorite type of book is Halloween stories.  Every time we go to the library he always always picks Halloween books.  So when a pair of halloween socks came in the mail he was thrilled!

This week brings more fun things as Caroline's birthday is tomorrow and we are hosting an adults only costume party Friday night.  I must be losing my mind!!

Lava tubes

When we were checking out the Captain Cook  monument a local guy told us about some caves near Hilo that we needed to check out.  He said they were better than the Thurston lava tube in HVNP and were completely dark inside so bring a flash light.
So Monday morning we went to the black sand beach then back to the cabin for lunch then off to Hilo to find this lava tube.

Kaumanu Caves were fun!  Justin tried to go in the caves but just couldn't.  So it was just the kids and I. We had fun exploring and noticing the different formations on the walls, ceilings, and ground.  Once it got too small for me to crouch through we turned around and headed back up.  Then we went in the tube on the other side of the stairs.  It was a much better one (bigger, longer) and we even came upon a group from the university on a geology field trip.  Will hug out with the group and learned a lot and had a blast keeping up with the big kids!  Once we got to a skylight we turned around and headed back to Justin.  The tube was formed from a lava flow in 1881.

 Roots have grown through the top of the tube and dripped water.

 You could see the lava flows on the walls.

 Heading down to the caves.  There was one on the left and right.

 Inside the cave was exciting adventures!

 This is the sky light and the college kids.

So many fun adventures!

Videos from the Big Island

At Punalu'u beach park is the black sand beach.  Super cool looking sand that really is all black.  We were walking along the rocks looking in tide pools.  Justin calls us over to this nice sized pool that had 2 turtles in it.  Caroline was the first to jump in and the turtle came right up to her.  Then when Will jumped in is when it came around and puts it's head right at his legs.  I thought it would take a nibble, it didn't.  At one point it tried to swim between Eric's legs!  What a neat experience.  We enjoyed hanging out in the tide pool watching the turtles, finding little fish, and even little eels.  The water was crystal clear and a nice temperature too.

Volcanoes

Staying inside the park allowed us to see lots of different things and not have to rush or cram it all in in one day.  

Seeing the steam from the volcano during the day is very different than at night.  I wasn't feeling well one day so Justin took the kids on a 2 mile walk/hike.  I took a nap!  I was much better later that evening, thank goodness.  

 I love the way Eric is looking at his big brother in this picture.

 One of the best pictures EVER of Will.  That kid is king of goofy smiles.

 Look, a RED fern!!

 The glow of the lava off the steam cloud was really neat.  Once it got all the way dark the stars and milky way were beautiful as well.

 We also walked through the Thurston lava tube.  (Later found a much bigger better one!)

 All that was once filled with lava!

Kileuea Military Camp

Inside Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park is a military camp.  We rented a 2 bedroom cabin for 4 nights.  It was pretty awesome.  Chilly nights and mornings being up at 4,000 ft, but it really made it feel like fall!

Here are pictures of our cabin.

Friday

Friday morning Justin took the kids to the pool while I did some laundry. Then we checked out of the Hilton, stopped in Kona to check out all the Ironman hubbub, then drove a long 2 hours to Hawaii volcanos national park. We are staying the next 4 nights in the park at Kilauea Military Camp ( pictures to come).

 Lots of fancy bikes in there!  That's the transition area. 

Finish line!

Silliness!