The Sights of Kauai

Poipu Beach

Na Pali Coast Trail Head...We didn't make the hike with the kiddos.

The playground at Lydgate 

Berkeley and Pattie on the Beach at Lydgate

Snorkeling and Gymnastics on the Beach at Lydgate

Attending the Hannalei Bay Branch.  It was sunny the kids couldn't bear to look at the camera.

Making the hike to Secret Beach.  I think we brought the first stroller ever to this beach.

Secret Beach was our favorite.  The waves were gigantic.  Perfect for professional surfers.  We even saw Bethany Hamilton, famous for a shark chomping off her arm.  It was cool.

Burying in the sand.

Exploring the tide pools.

Our favorite restaurant, The Garden.  

Exploring the North Shore

On the way to Na Pali

Now I have run out of storage on my blogger account, so I have to figure out what to do.  Bummer.

Happy Three Emmy!

This is what happens with a 7 year old and a lot of time and streamers and love!

There are so many things I want to remember about Emmett right at this moment...

Out for birthday bagels for breakfast, carrying his new toy boat.

He loves his dad.  He loves his papa and his grandpa.  When he really wants attention from a male he starts a very rambunctious, rolling laugh.  It is hard not to join in.

Waiting for a lunch time gift from dad.

 Emmett continues to be extremely attached to his "nukie and bear."  One really doesn't go without the other.  By this point my girls were attachment object free.  I just don't have the heart to deprive him.  Emmett has been disciplined about once in his life.  He just doesn't cause trouble, so it is very hard to refuse him.  I may have to pay the piper later...but I don't think so.

 He would much rather sit quiet as a mouse on my lap during church, than attend the children's classes.  Just today, he wanted to "snuggle, read" so he marched himself upstairs climbed in my bed and fell asleep.  

Blowing out candles on his train birthday cake. 

 Emmett gets a bit confused with his colors.  He just hasn't seemed to grasp the concept yet.  His favorite poem is "Daddy Fell Into the Pond" by Alfred Noyes.  He loves to browse through landscape photography books.  Emmett is so particular about his clothes.  The outfit you see here, he refers to as his "Hawaii clothes," and if it were solely up to him, he would wear them everyday.   (I hid the swimming suits.)

Emmetts nose and ears and lungs are one continuous faucet on full-blast.  We used to call him "goo man" but the name as faded.  He only allows himself to be referred to as "good boy" or "big boy."  He breaks down in tears if he thinks he has been mean, or if it is insinuated that he has been naughty in anyway.  He becomes devastated and immediately contrite.

The cutest thing Emmett does is talk in 3rd person. He refers to himself as Emmett.  Emmy wants more.  Emmett is a good boy mom. 

Love, love, love Emmett.  He is an absolute joy to parent and adds an irreplaceable, tender dynamic to our family.  February 22, 2008.

Swimming in the Pool

This little rockstar caused quite the stir in her itsy bitsy yellow rose bikini.

Emmett was in heaven in the sand-bottom kiddie pool.  He belly-flopped off the rocks and swam to his little heart's content.

Every morning we couldn't miss the feeding of the Koi.  The children loved it.

We had a lot of overcast weather, but it was warm enough to swim.

Certainly the waterslides were a huge hit.  We went down hundreds of times.  Often it was very difficult to pry the kids away from the pool to do some island exploring.

I loved the "aloha" spirit on the island.  We hardly bought anything.  "Pattie" the so-named blow-up you see above, was given to us, along with tractors, sand toys, food, coolers...we passed along in return.

We spent a good deal of time in the family hot-tub keeping warm when the clouds felt cool.

This is the walkway along in the beach in front of the condos.  I spent a lot of time wheeling Berks in the stroller to try and get her to nap.

More fun pool shots!

Did I mention Berkeley loved the water!  I did have to be sure to keep a bow on her head with this swimming suit or else she was "So handsome!"

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane...

...Don't Know When I'll be Back Again....

This was our family them song for a week before we left on our trip.  Emmett wins the prize for the cutest rendition.  It was fantastic to wake up at 4 am to the snow and know the same day we would be lounging in the warm sand.

Berkeley had a great plane trip out.  She was happy and cheerful the entire time.  She didn't sleep a wink but handled it marvelously since we didn't travel at night.

The children took turns watching their favorite movie on Dad's ipod,  Swiss Family Robinson.

Emmett was most enthralled by looking out the windows.  All the kids were as good as gold.  They kept quiet and behaved politely.  Callista brought a terrible cold with her.  Unfortunately it passed from her to Berkeley to myself through the course of our trip.  We went to the tropics and brought the sickness with us.  Go figure.  Despite this we were undaunted in our pursuit of fun.

We stayed on the East side of Kauai in a town called Kaapa.  We had a beautiful condo with 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a top notch kitchen, and sweeping view of the volcanic mountains in the background with a stunning Safeway in the foreground.  Wink.  I guess we couldn't do everything perfect the first time.  I was really hoping for a ground unit facing the pool, to avoid the hotel feel, but they were booked solid and we couldn't even upgrade from out Safeway view.  Oh well.  Still undaunted.  The East side of the Island spoiled us with fantastic sunrises, with humpback whales splashing in the distance right in front of our complex.

The beach our condo lay on was not the best for swimming.  It was a bit rough but we enjoyed strolling along it each morning, watching for whales, monk seals, crabs, and just splashing our toes.

You'll notice how few teeth Ellery has left in this photo!  In one week she lost 3.

Berkeley enjoying the sunrise from the stroller.

One of the amazing things about this island is that while everything was full, it still felt empty.  Usually we had the beaches and pool almost entirely to ourselves.  The traffic was a bit crazy during rush hour on the one 2 lane road that courses the island.

The weather was fabulous.  It hovered around 75-85 degrees the entire visit.  We had a couple rainy days but nothing we didn't relish in the hot tub and swimming pool.  If it were up to Brent and I we would have spent a lot more time searching out exotic beaches...

But this trip was all about the kids.  And boy did they LOVE the pool!  We chose the only place on the island we could find with a fabulous salt water pool.  We wanted that warm, saline water in their noses and lungs from air, pool, and ocean.

Aloha!

Twelve days in Kauai are hard to beat!   It wasn't the miracle cure for the children we hoped, but it was a miracle cure for mom and dad.  We had a fabulous time and feel so rejuvenated.  (I can say that now because I am recovered from the red eye which Berkeley only slept one hour!)  More fun photos to come.

Not So Peaceful Reading

What have I been reading lately...

War and Peace by Tolstoy

This book was quite the behemoth but certainly worth the effort.  Tolstoy has an uncanny gift of bringing war to life.  War, not only physical and literal but spiritual and emotional as well.  Tolstoy found a sympathetic patron in me.  I certainly find no winners in war.  It is provocative to feel a part of the defeat of Napoleon.  The paradoxical retreat of the Russians, the destruction of their own Moscow.  Their unwillingness to bargain.  From Tolstoy, I left the book feeling without the Russians, Napoleon would have conquered the world.  This said, there was nothing glorious.  No glamour.  Fear and humanity on so many levels.    Right now, I wish I could hear Natasha sing, or watch her nurse her own babies.  I wish Prince Andrei alive, and I am grateful Pierre developed temperance and honor.

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Another war, smaller in scale, but arguably of no less import.  Most intriguing to me in this book was the portrait of the South from the perspective of the slave-owning gentry.  The book is painfully offensive in its portrayal of blacks.  My stomach felt sick as Mitchell continually used animals like monkeys, children, old dogs etc to personify blacks.  But strikingly, the tone is never malicious, only loving.  In fact, the North comes off as far more inflammatory and prejudice.  The Ku Klux Klan is a brotherhood of loving fathers and husbands, protecting their victimized women.  I had never even thought to conceptualized a place like the South as painted by Mitchell.  My nature screamed against Scarlett for 1200 pages.  I kept waiting for her to embrace those pivotal moments she continuously came upon, to redirect her course.  She never did.  I could love Melanie, Rhett had moments, but mostly this was a book which allowed me to experience mistake after mistake, vowing internally never to act thus.

Latching on to the Moments

Emmett in the left nook with The Little Red Hen, Ellery on the bed...

Slivers of our little idyllic life resurfaced today.  The last 5 hours Ellery can walk again.  The antibiotic seems to be finally working out of her system.

I latch onto these moments with a vengeance.   We had a great time doing math, reading (we finished Old Yeller a week or so ago and now are reading The Secret Garden), spelling and then this precious way they arranged themselves for quiet reading.

I can snatch a moment at the computer and contemplate the recorded phone call from the library I just got:

  

...Callista reading Frog and Toad
in the right nook.

" You have 12 items overdue.  You have 12 items overdue.  You have 12 items overdue...."  

At some point I just need to face the facts, me and the library are not a good combination.  With the money I spend on library fines, I could have purchased the best of the books we love.  

The girls are going to yoga today.  I had high hopes they would love it like gymnastics, but after this punch card is up I don't think I will repurchase.  I think yoga is better suited to the older adolescent and adult.  It doesn't have near the engagement and excitement of gymnastics.  

We have been trying very hard to "force" Ellery back into a schedule even though she has still been complaining of significant pain in her tummy, chest and ears.  I have been doing my best to explain to her "distraction" is the only medicine we have to help her right now.  It can be quite a battle, but if this stomach cramping is finally gone, things should be much easier.

You will notice in prep for our getaway, the swimming
suits resurfaced as the clothing of choice.

Emmett's comment as he descended the stairs after quiet time:

"Mom!  I read my book.  All!  HUMONGOUS book!"

He has a very endearing way of attaching "all" as an adverb at the end of his sentences.  And he does it with gusto.

"Mom! I ate my sandwich.  All!"

Another side note...

I love the "retouch" feature in iphoto.  You would never know the darling quilt (you are seeing the underside) in the photos above has a huge bleach stain.

If only I had a "retouch" feature in reality.  Isn't it interesting how picture perfect we can make things seem?  :)