Polihale State Beach Park

We spent the weekend at the beach. The weather was fantastic, we had a great time. We are definitely a family that loves the water. When we finally decided to go home and take a shower we asked Kalia what her favorite part of the weekend was. Surprisingly, she had an entire list, so here we go...
swimming,
playing with our friends Rosie, Evie and Vida, Chaser and Saylor,
riding the waves in the baby ocean (reef protected) all by herself,
the roasting of marshmallows,
sleeping on the sand,
eating daddy's yummy cooking,
playing sand toys with brother,
collecting shells,
throwing the ball for Ishmael,
and watching the sunset.

We thought a lot about our Polihale camp crew, we realized it will never be the same for us on that beach without the four of them. We wish them well in NYC and well... on the radical sabbatical.

If we one day find ourselves homeless, we decided this might be the perfect place to squat!

Amateur Racing 2009

It's awesome to watch Kalia and Grady play together. Kalia takes after both mom and dad when it comes to competitiveness. If we have a short walk from the beach to the bathrooms the race is on! That being said it is no surprise that we have started to race around the house. It first began with duck duck goose, then soccer, and now auto racing. Sean and Tami continuing the winner takes all family tradition happily support the healthy competition with loads of coaxing and challenges.

Grady usually get a little extra help during the race, but not because he can't keep up. Kalia uses her secret weapon of funny. Grady ends up laughing so hard he loses focus and falls down. Little guy thinks his sister is hilarious!

Yes, there will definitely be a family night in the near future discussing sportsmanship.

Poipu Beach Park 2009

This winter has been extremely long and "cold". As I understand it, this has been the experience of many people around the world. We are so happy the first signs of spring are here. By signs I mean it is not raining. As rain and the 10 degree temperature differential are really the only indicators that a season has changed. Poipu Beach Park is just a short walk from the house and is awesome. The park includes a protected ocean pool for the kids and a play structure. We visit this park on a very regular basis and enjoy our time playing together very much.

Kalia turns 4

Kalia has now advanced from the standard one day birthday celebration to the weekend extravaganza!
This year we planned a trip to O ahu, HI, and while not the primary purpose for the trip, Kalia's birthday took center stage. We stayed at the Ala Moana Hotel located adjacent to the Ala Moana Shopping center, and used this location as the stage for the birthday party. The morning of April 4th Kalia awoke to a bathtub full of colorful balloons and a streamer explosion hanging from the shower rod. A note from her best friend Dora the Explorer wished our little princess a happy birthday and sent her across the hall to Tutu and Papa's room for her gifts. Tutu was in possession of a note from swiper the fox who during the cover of darkness swiped her gifts. Kalia being a well trained Dora explorer returned to our hotel room in search of Backpack who with the help of Map could help her find her birthday gifts. The adventure began down at the hotel pool where Kalia found her pink tutu and birthday crown. We then jetted over to the shopping center in search of the Build-a-Bear Workshop, and Thinker Toys. We finished off our search at the California Pizza Kitchen for lunch and of course a pile of gifts. The entire adventure was great fun for the entire family.
We returned to Kauai on Sunday April 5th (Kalia's birthday) and in the evening we had a small group of friends over at the Tao compound to eat yummy birthday cake.
While making her birthday guest list including Saylor, Chaser, Vivika, Tutu and Papa, Kalia looked up at me and said "can I invite Grady's friend David" it was a very cute request as Kalia rarely spends time with little David, I can only guess she was thinking of a friend for Grady.