Where's Walla: Kauai 2014

We returned from Kauai on December 9th. This year more than any other, we all found it incredibly difficult to leave. I don't know what it is about that place but it gets into your blood like a drug. The water, the air, the simple pace of life is incredibly intoxicating. I've grouped the pictures according to activity (roughly). Our days (mostly) consisted of pier jumping, surfing, and snorkeling; with some simple beach going and shave ice eating in between. There are LOTS of pictures (as pictures go), but I like to have them here - for memories sake.

Zi thought it was great fun to push Eden off as she was getting ready to jump. (We corrected him)

You can see his incredible joy after pushing her off. /:

Below was Zion's first major belly flop. He was bummed.

I grew up with the guy in this pic (although I really haven't seen him at all in over ten years), he married a girl from Kauai and we were randomly in Kauai with him and his wife. They were such a great fun and happy couple. Such a treat to spend time with them.

A cute little boy that Eden and Zi made fast friends with. Here, he and Eden are about to jump together.

Mamma (:

Zi started the trip with his traditional surf stance...

Then all of a sudden...

He decided to surf like an actual surfer.

After that it was on and he couldn't get enough.

Except when he was goofing off. 'Wiping out' was more fun to him than actually surfing.

Zi also liked standing up on his boogie.

He actually got pretty good at it.

Laying down was fun too, especially when sister was pushes you into bombers.

And when you can turn it and get 'barreled'.

Eden enjoyed bogeying too.

Body surfing was also a major part of each day...

This is by far one of my favorite pics of the trip. The kids were super into body surfing and in this pic you can see there little fingers poking through the wave.

Eden got a little bored with surfing (?!), as you can clearly see by her body language.

Isn't there a saying about boredom being the precursor to invention? I'm not sure, but that seemed to be the case with Eden's surfing. Because no sooner did she become bored than she became very inventive - dancing and spinning and doing all sorts of tricks on her bored.

E & Z each on their own boards, holding hands. (:

While Grammy & Grampy were with us, Jonny and I got to surf together, often times with this crew. It was so much fun to surf with each other and friends. What a GIFT!

I can hardly look at these pics of the turtles and the fish without an ache in my heart. Watching the kids swim so freely under water with these magical creatures was incredibly special.

The place that we snorkel is called Tunnels, because it's a reef system made up of all sorts of tunnels short and long, small and wide. This is one of the shorter tunnels that I was able to swim through - this is a picture I took coming out of it.

Eden loved to swim down to touch the reef. She was seriously such a little mermaid in the water. I could not believe it.

Zi loved to get a big breath and dive down deep with Jonny. Jon would say that he could tell Zi needed to come up for air cause he would make some weird noise. We never did get to the bottom of what exactly he was saying or doing, but it was their own little deep water language.

Eden had been swimming around in the deep water (the reef stops at a certain point and drops off to the deep water - it feels a little creepy right there but Eden loved to swim in it's depths), in this pic she turned around to swim back to the reef and this giant turtle was right in front of her. It was pretty startling for her actually.

In this picture, I can just 'hear' Eden saying: "Dad! I just ran into a turtle and it was 'this' big!"

Zi loved to dive dive and pick up the sand.

We got Grammy out there! It was so much fun!

This surfboard often served as base camp for super dad while snorkeling with the kids.

If you look closely you can see the turtle coming up for a breath with the kids (he is in my shadow).

This is one of Jon's good buddies from work. He and his family were ending their 3 week trip at the beginning of our trip. It was fun to have a few days with them before they headed home.

TRENT!!!

These boys and their friends blow me away each and every year. As they get older I keep thinking they will have less to do with our little grommies than the year before, but each year they are just all the more playful and kind to our little guys. And Eden and Zi just basque in their love and attention.

Kerry Eden & I in our 'matching' Pualani bathing suits (:

Sand castle kingdom complements of Kerry and Eden

San Art by Eden

Fred the duck - our stand in for Klamath during the trip.

We had a lot of rain and cold weather this trip. The kids and i are combing the beach for shells and glass on a cold rainy morning.

Grammy and Grampy were good sports joining us at the beach nearly every day!

One of our favorite things to do is go on an evening 'gecko hunt' after dinner each night.

On one evening we came across this hula dancing in the park (:

The grocery store is close enough that we would normally either walk or ride a bike for the daily groceries. Oh how I miss that simple chore.

The house we stay at has a big open lot next to it. Perfect for Eden who was just coming off of a major soccer kick.

Zi sleeping so sweetly in his 'surfboard' bed. We all share a room at the beginning of the trip while our friends are there. One night after putting Zi's pajamas on he asked if he could snuggle in Eden's inflatable bed for a minute. I said "Sure Zi, is Eden's bed more comfortable than yours?" He promptly replied: "Mom, ground more comfortable" (than the surfboard bed). Seriously, that kid cracks me up!

This is from when Grammy & Grampy were with us. They were so excited to share a room and bed. It was adorable but it didn't really last.

Just a sweet moment of down time.

Zi passed out in the living room.

Check out Eden's face - all bright and shiny looking at Trent.

Below is Eden with her two favorite things - Shave Ice and Kerry. She cried for hours after Kerry left.

Best waffle on the planet - as waffles go.

I didn't bring Zion any trains. He missed them dearly. Here he is making a train with pebbles he found in town.

Here are the kids at the monthly board swap. I love that board Eden is holding. Such a beautiful piece of art.

Pig hunting dogs. We sort of made a joke about these dogs on insta/fb that I feel badly about now. I guess these dogs are treated pretty cruelly which breaks my heart because they are such an adorable lot.

On a cave exploration looking for "Puff"

Dylan and Lauren showed us around the island one day - it was fun to explore all their secret and not so secret little spots.

Horse back ride in the rain. I didn't get any great pics because it was raining pretty steadily, but the kids had a blast and it was special as always.

Grammy & Grampy treated us to a pretty luxurious dinner one night. Everyone really enjoyed it - even the kids seemed to get how special it was and were super appreciative.