Budding Filmmakers

Sela, Nina, and Lauren worked very hard on a Christmas video to enter in a Disney Contest. There are thousands of entries, but they are sure that theirs will be chosen! They had a few songs provided by Disney to choose from. They chose "Naughty, Naughty Children."

Sela celebrates her 11th at Sky High!

When my friend, Jayne, suggested a joint birthday party at Sky High back in November, I jumped right on board! Knowing we would be gone all of November and returning two days before Sela's birthday, the last thing I wanted to do was stress about a party. So the Boys vs. Girls party was born! We had the girls come to our house and the boys met at Hunter's. After some mild trash-talking phone calls made to the boys' car on the drive over, we met up at Sky High and the kids (and dads!) had an absolute blast challenging each other in Dodge Ball. Jayne and I enjoyed watching these fun, competitive kids try to outlast each other. The party was the easiest birthday either of us had ever planned. They even cut and passed the cake for goodness sake! Sela had so much fun celebrating with her favorite friends and there couldn't be a nicer birthday boy to share the party with. Happy 11th Birthday, Sela and Hunter!!


Her party was on the 10th, so we had a little family celebration on the 9th.
What a fun night! We love you, Sela!

Secret Beach

The surf is too rough to swim this time of year, but Secret Beach is a fun little adventure. There are tide pools in the black lava rocks, caves, critters, a view of the lighthouse, and a stunning, often empty beach. You literally drive into what feels like someone's driveway, find the tiny path and walk down about 7 minutes. You come out of the trees onto a pristine beach. We found shelter in the caves when it started to rain, and Rollin found someone's clothes and sleeping bag tucked way in the back of the cave. I'm sure this person was in for a surprise when he returned to his bed to find it rearranged just a bit

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Packing up

The sun is setting on our time in Kauai.

 We're less than 24 hours and counting. The sun is out the kids were making a fort under the trees and now they are splashing in the pool. Our last day here couldn't be more beautiful. I am getting ready to pack up the computer and store it away until the next time, which hopefully isn't long.

Back to the cold we go!

Nina's 8th Birthday

Since this is Nina's year for a family party, she wanted to celebrate here in Kauai so Mom and Dad would be here to join the fun. We had some friends over for dinner and Nina had a Lilikoi Macadamia Nut Cake. The kids played all evening and at the end of the evening, Coppin performed a fire knife dance and played the guitar. What a fun surprise! Happy Early Birthday, Nina!

Jingle Bells? What's going on here?!

Now "Happy Birthday!"

It must be said, this man's physique puts men half his age to shame! Kauai living does a body good! And he was just getting started!

 Sela sang a song while Coppin played guitar.

Happy Birthday, Nina!

There's nothing good about "Goodbye!"

We were so lucky to spend nearly a month here with my parents. But boy are we bad at saying goodbye. The morning they left was awful. I felt awful, the kids were balling, they waved goodbye at the driveway and then chased the car. We were a pretty pathetic little bunch. I was already feeling so sick so I declared a school holiday and we all watched movies for the bulk of the afternoon. And everyone recovered. Mom and Dad made it home safely after a very LONG flight and we have many beautiful memories to cherish. Who wouldn't miss these two?!!

Taking refuge from the passing rain shower in a cave on Secret Beach.

We love you!

Bigger Fish

So much to catch up on here. Mom, Dad, and Zig left on Thursday and I spent the next 4 days flat on my back in bed sick with the flu. Family here for three weeks to help, but when do I get sick, hours after they leave. Can't a mom catch a break? Actually, I can't complain too much as this has been such a nice, relaxing vacation. Finally I am on the mend today and I wanted to get a few posts up before we hit the ground in Seattle and the hustle and bustle of the season hits me. There are few commercial signs of Christmas here so I haven't even thought much to shopping or decorating. I haven't purchased one Christmas gift or planned much of  anything. We'll see how that all plays out for me when I get home! I know where the Christmas music and Christmas books are so that will get us started! I predict lots of other things falling by the wayside this year, but that's okay.

Anyway, I wanted to post a few more fishing pictures since the evenings fishing at the reservoir were some of the most memorable for the kids, especially Rollin. We packed up the poles when Dad left, and Rollin made his own one with tape, fishing line, a hook, and a stick. He has caught the bug

The fish got progressively bigger as Dad started experimenting with different bait and line. The bigger fish were breaking the line at first but once that was fixed, the kids brought in some huge catfish.

And here is our friend, James, with his "slippery" catfish!

 Dad got Evan his own little pole.

 He always had a fish on!

Watching big brother closely.

 There were some beautiful sunsets over the pond.

 Everyday, something different.

I think this bonding with Poppy and the introduction to fishing will be one of Rollin's greatest childhood memories! Thanks, Dad!